Butterflies represent attraction, charm, and beauty, signifying life, freedom, and a certain surrealism because of the various designs, patterns, and colors found on them. I often wondered why we studied the life cycle of a butterfly, particularly in elementary science in school, and why not any other insect or animal. My recent visit to Dhirkot, a beautiful nestled locality in Azad Kashmir, answered some of these questions.
One sees various colorful butterflies in the meadows and gardens surrounding the Diyar Forest Resort within Dhirkot. I realized how this insect represents the entire ecosystem, with its co-dependencies. It has a simple life cycle to study, which makes us understand these co-dependencies and, thus, the role of pollination, plant reproduction, and co-relations within the food web. Therefore, it is a part of elementary school science. Unfortunately, these lessons are not built upon as life progresses, and humans keep harming the environment, resulting in this beautiful, versatile creature representative of life being on the verge of extinction.
Seeing the butterflies roaming around in Dhirkot represented peace, tranquility, harmony with nature, and happiness, which we often forget when living in urban settings. It also served as a reminder about the presence of a self-sustaining ecosystem that would thrive on its own if humans were not to intervene. The nestled Diyar Forest exists with its might and glory, and several birds, small animals, and insects could be spotted during the various hikes we took, which were a treat for an urban dweller like myself.
I spotted almost twenty varieties of butterflies based on their color, size, patterns on their wings, and the plants they were feeding on. The most dominant butterflies were the Himalayan Brimstone, Painted Lady, Common Punch, and Common Mormon.
Dhirkot is called the gateway to Kashmir, as it is the first town you cross when you enter Azad Jammu and Kashmir via Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. This town was not always a peaceful place or a haven for butterflies. It saw its share of conflicts and battles during the creation of Pakistan in 1947. This town was an important location for the freedom struggle and served as a base for the forces of Azad Kashmir. The first bullet, the locals of Dhirkot told me, was fired from the point called Neela Butt, which is located 6 kilometers from the town of Dhirkot, at a height of 6,600 feet.
Dhirkot transformed from a troubled locality that experienced its share of conflicts and battles during the struggle for freedom into a peaceful and scenic locality today. The Diyar Forest within the district is well-preserved, with the Forest Department actively involved in its upkeep and maintenance. The transformation resonates with the idea of metamorphosis that a butterfly goes through.
The Diyar forest of Dhirkot also reminded me of Princess Mononoke’s (a 1997 film directed by Hayao Miyazaki) enchanted forest, housing goblins and fairies. One of the characters within the Diyar Forest was the mother tree—a landmark on the hiking trail, beyond which the trail gets tricky and a little difficult. The mother tree is a 650-year-old tree with a four-foot-wide bark and is the tallest tree in the Diyar forest. It is located where the hiking trail bifurcates, and one trail leads the trekker towards the meadow, whereas the other leads towards a freshwater spring. As we trekked through the forest every day on an eight-day trip, we heard various birds chirping and spots where the porcupines had shed their thorns.
The writer is an academic, architect, and urban researcher based in Karachi. She can be reached at suneela_mail@yahoo.com
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