Travelogue, in simple terms, can be described as an experience by a person regarding his or her visit to some country or an area of one’s interest. It can be done in the form of a book ,column, a film or a blog etc. In general travelogue encompasses the knowledge about history , geography, weather condition , social and economic affairs of the visited area. It helps the people with more first hand information to those who may like to visit in future. J&K Cultural Academy has in recent months come up with few publications which includes 1st volume of a collection of travelogues .Such publications is a praiseworthy step by the academy authorities.
The compilation consists of 8 travelogues and 2 essays about technical requirements of the genre. One more essay encompasses the historical facts about travelogue writing with special reference to Kashmir. First essay titled safar nama : fun aur tehzeebi jehat is penned by Prof. Ikram u Din, 2nd one is titled as safar namay kay techniqi lawazim written by Prof. Zia ul Din while third one is titled Jammu Kashmir main urdu safar namoon ki Riwayat. The travelogues are personal experiences of eminent writers and academicians.
Prof.Ikram u Din starts his essay with a para by great thinker Dr.Abul Kalam Azam quoted here under ; I have acquired half of knowledge by travels. The seclusion of reading imparted mental richness but travels provided vastness to my vision. The people who don’t travel live under the dome of Bismillah. The travels provide people with affairs of nations and the knowledge about history of countries indirectly.
Writing about the technique of writing travelogues Prof. Zia ul Din opines that travelogue must be written in Ist person narrative. Whatever medium be used but the script must have ability to keep the reader glued.
The first travelogue in this collection titled as Safar Nama Rome wa Intanbul is by noted writer Abdul Gani Sheikh Ladakhi. Sheikh is an acclaimed author and has been using his pen in various geners. I believe he has travelled around a dozen of countries and in this volume his travel experience to Rome and Istambul is included which he conducted between 7th to 10th September 2007(Rome) and then (Istanbul).
LA PIEZA University’s Tibet section organized a function in which Sheikh read a paper titled “ Sufi traditions in Ladakh”. Sheikh has introduced some of the participants and their status which makes the essay more powerful. With details of other facilities rich information has been disseminated. In continuation visit to Istanbul is described in a very captivating manner. The relations between Ladakhis and Turkish families has added spice and change of Turkish script from Persian to Roman during Ata Turk regime is an added attraction .Istanbul city falls in two continents is an added information as it adds to the importance of the city.The Bosporus waterway gives passage to hundreds of ships and the details add to the knowledge. Some of the details about Tope Kapi palace are irritating and need not be reproduced here. Control over Istanbul has seen many battles. After taking over in one Crusade battle an English general is reported to have shouted at Salah u Din Ayabi grave ,”Sala Din we have arrived” which speaks of his arrogance. During a battle against the combined forces Mustfa Kamal led the Turkish army. In one such skirmish he addressed his forces ,” I don’t order you to launch attack but to die. With our death other commanders and soldiers can take over the positions.” This address is carved over a stone. Gaili Poli is an important battle field and the university students have fought the war like professionals .
Such details have made Sheikh’s travelogue very interesting.
2nd travelogue included is by acclaimed author, poet, journalist and translator Mr. Gulam Nabi Khayal.He starts his piece with a para written in lyrical prose. He delves into history and talks about Mesopotamia which was occupied by early man as water, fish and other type of prey were available.This was the time of Sumerians estimated to 6000years earlier. They established cities where their religious men went up the tall minarets to study movement of sun and moon giving rise to the knowledge of astrology and, subsequently, they taught their children astrology , cartography and Mathematics etc.
Sumerians were followed by Akkadians who lived in north west area between 2350 and 2159 BC and fought a few battles against Sumerians. One among them namely Sargone became the king who was a fatherless child and was let go by his unmarried mother in a pot in the Euphrates river. He was spotted by a farmer who brought him up and taught him the art of farming .Sargone later became the king with the blessings of Ashtar Devi.
Babylonians ruled the area between 1594 to 1894 BC under Hamorabi who is considered the first law practicing king. His law quotes are engraved over a beautiful pillar still existing in the Iraqi museum. Next Kassites invaded from eastern mountainous ranges and ruled between 1175 to 1680 BC. Subsequently ,Chaldeans king Nebuchadnezzar(Bakhat Nasar in Urdu) established what turned out to golden period for the area. In his reign hanging gardens were constructed which remain one of the wonders of the world. But the sky kissing minaret remained incomplete which finds mention in the old testament. However , Krush and Alexander invaded Babul restricting the independence of the area. Islamic rule was established in 637 AD when Saad Bin Abi Wiqas RA led a Muslim army to capture Iraq.
Khayal opines ‘ the story of construction is as splendid as is pathetic its destruction.’ Halaku and Taimur’s invasion resulted in the destruction of Baghdad which can easily be termed as the worst terrorism.
Khayal has efficiently tried to establish connection between Iraq and Kashmir in various forms like classical music and the Astana culture making his essay captivating.
Prof Zahoor ul Din’s Muritious visit is 3rd in the row. Prof Zahoor spends first three pages on the details about his health which could be done in couple of lines. The introduction of members from Pakistan including Ahmad Faraz has been devoted with few more pages so has been done with lunches, teas etc. The details about academic sessions has been done nicely including keynote address by Prof. Fateh Mohammad Malik which became a target due to its linking Urdu to Muslims. Such has been the reaction vociferous that demand was raised to expunge it from the proceedings. The papers regarding Urdu in England , Urdu in Uzbekistan and Urdu in Muritious have been found encouraging. Similar has been the case with papers titled Urdu in western countries and Translation of Urdu poetry and literature into Russian .Prof. Zaman Azurda’s paper titled Urdu text book in 3000. While some participants called it an emotional outburst but others felt the necessity to consider the issues which may creep up around 3000.
In nut shell Prof Zahoor Din ‘s travelogue has been informative and riveting except lot of space for his health condition and references to tea and feast breaks.
Next in line is the Lahore travelogue by Prithipal Singh Betab. Betab recounts the February 2014 when telephonic information and invitation for a bigger and varied item conference was scheduled between 23rd to 25th may . Betab is all praise for Pak embassy staff who happen nice and cordial in their approach. Betab has an interesting issue at Amritsar when a lady officer asks’ don’t you know our relations are bad nowadays so why you intend to go ?’ And Betab dilutes the tense situation saying ‘Modiji has invited Pal PM for his oath ceremony’.
Betab makes the content interesting by including conversation (both hot and cordial) with road side vendors ,travelers and HR crusaders like Ansar Burni. He discusses about linguistic differences and similarities between various areas of India and Pakistan particularly north Indian states. Details of the conference sessions ,people present there like Kathak dancer Nighat Choudhary, Zahida Hina, Sugra sadaf and others makes the content interesting. Betab is all praise for maintaining the original names like Krishna Nagar, Ganga Ram hospital, Dayal Singh college and proposal of rechristening Shadman chowk as Bhagat Singh Chowk.
One important observation is that In both countries, India as well as in Pakistan, the middle class has not risen to the deserving level economically and socially ,as such they remain politically and administratively dis empowered.
Taranum Riyaz , an acclaimed author toured Canada and her Travelogue titled Safar nama Canada appears next in row in the Shiraza edition. Taranum is not able to sleep and describes the environment in words as if the reader is present . And the mother child relation is explained in lyrical prose. The birth of a child in the flying plane is an absorbing episode. Next Taranum takes us to various spots of tourism interest and at places compares these to places in Kashmir making the scenes captivating. In the process she reaches the beautiful islands which have been developed into splendid hotels and tourist infrastructure. But then raises a pertinent question ‘where did the aborigines go?’ She goes on to describe the possible annihilation of residents, their properties, respect, human rights and so on. She bluntly raises a finger on the so called civilized western world. And the sale of local girls as young as eleven brings a tear drop.
Since Iran Kashmir relations have a strong foundation to the extent that Kashmir has been termed as Small Iran the Kashmiris getting a call to visit Iran has been a source of joy always. And when Dr. Ayaz Nazki received an invitation to participate in 4th international Bedil conference he felt overjoyed. Earlier in March 2011 on his first visit to the country he participated in Jashan e Navroz. Nazki starts his travelogue and describes the Iran Kashmir relations in a scholarly manner.He refers to the people who have added to the treasures of Persian language namely Sheikh Yaqoob Sarfi RA,Baba Dawood khaki RA, Mulla Mohsin Fani RA, Habib ullah Hubi Nowshehri RA and above all Mulla Tahir Gani Kashmiri.
Tea is a favourite drink of Iranians and Nazki adds a special incident about it. ‘ The Lahijan prince Mohamad Raza entered Kangda india masquerading as a french labourer in 1899 AD. He acquired knowledge about tea gardening and smuggled 3000 tea saplings ,established tea garden in Gilan. In Lahijan his mausoleum forms part of national tea museum.’
Touring Tehran, the capital city, Nazki finds it extremely splendid that he equates it to various genres of poetry. He is very fond of Iranian way of greeting and reciting Qur’an on every function .The presidential address mesmerizes Nazki with particular ability to talk extempore , and his urge to ignore bone of contention. Next day the session was purely literary and the President arrived in a very simple way without any huge security apparatus or pomp and show. He shook hands and Nazki feels elevated with President’s words ‘you live in our hearts’ in response to the information ‘I m from Kashmir’. This reminds me of prominent Persian scholar Maqbool Ferozi’s incident when in his student days Ahmad khomeni kissed his hands on learning that he was from Kashmir. Nazki tried to take a photo of President Najadi which he obliged smilingly. In response to the request by the authorities to talk about Iran, Nazki renders his late father Mir G R Nazki’s Gazal and few stanzas from Rashid Benawa.
Nazki has nicely described the celebration of Navroz on Tehran streets with display of Haft seen ,7 items believed as harbinger of good luck for the ensuing year.One interesting feature of Iran administration is refrain from vandalization of Reza shah Pehalvi palace located in Said Abad . The precious things once belonged to Pahalvi dynasty remain in their secured condition whileas world has seen destruction of belongings of erstwhile rulers who were deposed in public outcry. Iranians have respect for their great poets and intellectuals . Even the driver transporting from one place to other remembers their stanzas and their tall busts stand on the important crossings. Nazki ridicules the western press who paint a dismal picture of Irani women as captive to traditions and not allowed to work in offices etc. Instead Nazki finds them in workplaces like hotels, offices, hospitals serving enthusiastically.
Nazki’s second visit was in connection to the celebration regarding 17th century Persian poet Mirza Abdul Qadir Bedil. The proceedings regarding this event have been penned in a comprehensive style and need to be read out from the original script as this space can’t encompass very aspect in detail.
Egypt has always been an interesting place for historians, writers, tourists, scholars and the students alike. In Egypt there is enough for everyone to enjoy as the civilization is spread over thousands of years including the religious era.And when a scholar like Shahab Inayat Malik describes the events it becomes enchanting.
Malik starts his travelogue by the details like Musa AS ,Pharaoh , Yusuf AS, etc. His first visit takes place in November 2019 and second in February 2020.Egyptians have maintained distance with international language English which, Malik believes, saves their Arabic from the onslaught and those who preserve their mother tongue actually save their civilization.The river Nile is central to Egypt both economically and socially. It is instrumental in attracting local as well as non local tourists and helps in irrigating the crops.Urdu department is very busy department of Al Azhar university where 168 women students study and 3 1 teachers teach. Hussaini mosque is located nearby a market place and it’s believed that Hussain AS skull is buried there. In order to visit graves of Zainab RA, Sakina RA, and Aisha RA the group finds pieces of land encircled by walling and entry gates.Egyptians usually purchase pieces of land, constructing walling and entry gates and use the area as personal graveyards.
Cairo museum is an excellent example of old civilization where armaments, dresses ,utensils and boats dating back to thousands of years are preserved. Even the dead bodies of Pharaohs including that who proclaimed himself the god, in arrogance, are located here. Egyptian youth have to undergo military training and before marriage need to purchase a house for his spouse.Port Said is an important place and it’s here that water from Nile and Mutwast intermingle but does not change color with the grace of God. Reference to the event is found in the holy book.Egyptians do wear jeans but don’t subscribe to the western culture.
The govt has recreated a small village where artificially manufactured ancient tools of Pharaoh regime are placed .The place is called Fironiya .In the village busts of such people are found whom the people of the time prayed. Haram saqaya is another place of interest where the cage of Yusuf AS is placed. Big pyramids stand constructed in Egypt . The people in power would be buried there including their money and workers.The dead bodies were called Mummeys which have now been shifted to Cairo museum.
Alexandria is 2nd biggest city after Cairo . It being a port city has added significance.The area has graves of Danyal AS and Luqman.The group visits grave of Imam Bosidi the author of Burda sharif.
Other details of this travelogue are interesting and worth reading for which the original script needs to be consulted.
The last travelogue is by Mirza Shakir Bashir whose Pakistan travel finds place in the collection. This travelogue is concise as the time duration has been shorter due to visa restrictions. Still some interesting and important details have been incorporated in it. He gives details about the bus ride and the screening of travel papers by the security staff of India and Pakistan. Reaching across he faces difficulties in getting a hotel room in Lahore due to suspected presence of looters. Details are comprehensive about the mausoleum of Data Gunj Baksh. Similar details are presented about Shahi Masjid Lahore. He exhibits his utmost urge to visit Iqbal mausoleum and then visits.Arrival in Pindi was delayed which caused difficulties later resulting in non fulfillment of his desire to visit places of interest like Punjab university, Iqbal academy , Urdu Bazar etc.
This collection is a fine collection of the scarce genre in Urdu particularly in J&K .As editor Urdu Sheeraza Salim Salik notes in his introductory note , “In our land tradition of Travelogue writing started around a century ago but to our ill luck the process did not pick up resulting in very meagre items been written . When we scan the literary field of J&K we find non fiction contribution being very limited.”
In such a scenario JK AACL deserves Kudos and it is hoped the second volume will be out soon.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
The reviewer is Srinagar based columnist, can be reached at wanishafi999@gmail.com
