Written By: Solmaz Regi
Just opposite Balochistan University’s main gate, Café Paag is situated in Quetta, on the very busy Sariab Road. It serves as an oasis of art, in the middle of hustled commercialization. The 400sq feet building with three unique floors and a rooftop area is open to the public for chit-chat, coffee snacks meetings, and more. The ground floor is a general meeting lounge with sofas and hand-woven local wall hangings and a very private collection of paintings and art effects. Mir has further named the floors ‘The executive’ (ground floor), ‘The readers’ (first floor), ‘The chit chatters’ (second floor), ‘The View’ (third floor). It mostly caters to the youth and people associated to the university to have a fun and bright place to enjoy their evening, but it’s also absolutely open to the public and public gatherings.
It is not just a Café, but also a private Art gallery with the country’s most famous artists’ artworks displayed all around. These include Jamal Shah, Akram Dost Baloch, Kaleem khan, Jamil Baloch, and many more.
The interior of the café is majorly woodwork, from the furniture to the walls, the choice of color depicts the color of the whole province of Balochistan. The gallery is a rich collection, that includes, very antique treated embroidery work, Balochi motifs, paintings, sculptures, other handwoven handicrafts, and wall hanging objects, from a private collection of famous artists. It also has very rare and historic items such as personal staffs and swords of nawabs each handcrafted and painted for them according to their traits. One will see many other musical instruments, semi-precious stone collections, many unique and antique crockery displayed from ancient dynasties. The list of the art effects can go on and all of these are absolutely a treat to see.
The entire wall woodwork is handcrafted and all wooden motifs are hand-made by Mir Dostak himself. You will not find any machine cut or commercial items in the café cum art gallery.
The café aims at propagating cleanliness with an effort toward green efficient, recyclable, biodegradable items. The entire interior is made of sustainable material as per Mir “I made sure nothing is used from outside Balochistan including the wood, the ironwork or electrics, no readymade china patties from the market. I wanted everything to be genuinely local and crafty”.
The artwork and antique crafts of the Café are extremely unique. The detailed work in interiors is worth seeing. The owner of the café, Mir Dostak aims at spreading awareness for cleanliness and tranquility, regardless of where the café is situated.
Further to our surprise Mir Dostak is the founder of the ‘Miniature department’ of arts at the University of Balochistan, Quetta. Thus he is also the first miniature artist from the province. Mir is a graduate of the National College of Arts, Lahore. He has exhibited in several shows and participated in projects involving monuments and beautification of the city. Now he is juggling between running a café and teaching miniature at the University of Balochistan. He is inspired by this culturally rich province where art and craft are well known for their vibrant colors, motifs, and designs. He aims to take arts and culture forward in all aspects.
He partners with his younger brother, Mir Nouroze. Dostak considers him his backbone. They both came up with the idea of setting up a café near the university where students could have some quality time with the best of facilities and tranquil ambiance and beautiful views, just so people can come and relax, reflect and remind themselves of their roots. The interior of the café has its deep rooting in indigenous art forms. The two brothers observed how university students in other provinces have facilities and time to relax during study hours and they realized the lack of this basic facility in Quetta.
Mir Dostak says he always wanted to provide a place where one can read, observe, reflect and listen. He said he is already seeing change, how intellects come in and find this café suitable to read their books or listen to soothing tunes. He also plans on playing educational podcasts or those inclusive of wellbeing, during the day hours. They also offer exclusive bookings for special occasions or educational seminars.
The word Paag means ‘Turban’ for the Baloch people, turban metaphorically means honoring and serving graciously, keeping the core values intact. It also has to do with serving a guest without cultural boundaries. The Baloch are known for their generosity and hospitality remarkably. The owners of the café derived the name from the very notion of serving with utmost hospitality. Hence the logo represents a man wearing a turban.
Café Paag has now become Quetta’s must-visit destination, with world-class food and exquisite interior that is not to be missed on your next visit to this valley city.
Data collection by Durrie Baloch.
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The writer is the Creative Head at Ruralz Inc. It is an Interior Design firm in Karachi. She is also the Co-Founder of the platform Identity Pakistan – A Social Patriotic Initiative. She can be reach at ruralz.inc@gmail.com.
