Cultural Odyssey of many countries is the content of a beautiful book written by Dr Fatima Hussain who is an Indian writer married to a Pakistani writer cum politician Fakhar Zaman.
Printed on art paper with colour photographs has made Afzaal Ahmad’s presentation beautiful. Dr Fatima Hussain did her M Phil and PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Issues like peace, conflict resolution, women emancipation especially within Islamic societies are close to her heart. Since in her trips abroad she was accompanied by her husband Fakhar Zaman, she has dedicated this travelogue to her husband. She also established at least one good reason for her visit to a particular city. Vienna, Austria for example is her first choice because it was the land of great musicians like Mozart, Johann Straus and Beethoven. This reviewer recalled that many music directors from the subcontinent took inspiration from Western symphonies for composing their film and non-film melodies. Salil Choudhry took inspiration from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony 40 G-Minor for his composition ‘Itna Na Mujh Sei Tu Pyar Barha’ sung by Talat Mahmud and Lata Mangeshkar for 1961 movie ‘Chaaya’ filmed on Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh.
Dr Fatima is the author of ‘The War that wasn’t: The Sufi and the Sultan’ a book published by Munshiram Manoharlal New Delhi in 2009. She is co-author of ‘The Palestine Question, a historical perspective’, Manak Publications, New Delhi in 2003. She edited ‘Sufism and Bhakti Movement: Contemporary Relevance’ published by the Classic Publications, Lahore in 2008 and authored ‘Sufism Revisited’ published by Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore. The same publishers published her book ‘Lahore, the city of love’ in 2016. Several of her articles are published in literary journals on both sides of the borders. Her most awaited book is ‘Constructing Paradigms of Religious Conflict Resolution through the Heer Warris Shah’.
Dr Fatima gives details of the connection of these great musicians with Vienna. She enjoyed Hungarian dish called gulash at the height of 252 meters in Danube Tower. She enjoyed the Puppet show performance at Corinthian Street. From Kartnerstrasse, the couple walked to Swedenplatz They enjoyed ride in Vienna in horse driven carriage. The couple visited all the notable places and had rented a small apartment owned by a grumpy woman who barged into the apartment to check if everything was in order. This reviewer recalls how he had met with the same treatment in Rome during his visit many years ago when he hired a room in a large villa and the owner was a middle aged woman.
Dr Fatima’s next sojourn was Stockholm in Sweden. Peter Curman was the couple’s constant companion. He took them to Horandal, a small village in the countryside of Dalarna. The latter literally means Copper Mountain County. The natural reserves mean pine forests, home of moose, wolves, bears, lynx, and wolverine. Peter welcomed his guests in his country side in Horandal. Pictures are published to establish his house.
As a matter of fact, this book could easily be categorized as a pictorial journey to these beautiful lands, hospitable people and their culture. Minor gestures leave a lasting impact on one’s psyche. For instance, this reviewer remembers when on a visit to journey towards Cappadocia from Ankara, our bus stayed for a few minutes in a village. A local lady came to the bus with a long round freshly baked bread, broken it to many pieces and offered a piece to each one of the travellers. Its smell and hospitality is still fresh in our minds.
The first thing that comes to our minds is visit to Eifel Tower while on visit to Paris, take a cruise ride to river Seine, visit palace Versailles, see Napoleon’s statute. Fatima visited Napoleon’s Mausoleum who had died in exile in St. Helena on May 5, 1821. In 1840 his body was taken to Paris by Prince de Joinville and buried in the Dome de Invalids. Dr Fatima visited the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris and Louvre Museum. Of course how could one forget doing window shopping on Champs Elysees and sip a cup of coffee on a road side cafe! A visit to Notre Dame Cathedral was a must reminding us of Gina Lollobrigida and Anthony Quinn’s Hollywood movie of our student life namely Hunchback of Notre dame.
Prague Czech Republic was a different place to visit as far as East European culture is concerned. Here the couple’s companions were Sufi Riaz and Ehsan Chaudhry who were Fakhar Zaman’s cousins. The snow covered trees were noticed on journey from Vienna to Prague. The latter is known as a city of a Hundred Spires comprising old Town Square surrounded by many medieval buildings. Prague Orloj is the highlight where the statutes of several Catholic Saints stand on both sides of the clock. This gesture shows the importance and respect given to scientists who invent new technology and religious clerics. Next is the visit to Copenhagen Denmark. It took this reviewer to his two visits one as a student in 1971 and the other as MD Nespak to attend four-day conference of FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) in 2005. Fatima and Fakhar’s hosts were Nasr Malik and Huma and they insisted that the visiting couple stayed at their residence. Tivoli Gardens was their first visiting place which was famous for characters from Hans Christian Andersen stories. Walt Disney had visited Tivoli several times to incorporate its ambiance in the Disneyland in California. City Hall Square Christiansburg Palace and Thorvaldsen Museum were the other attractions for the visitors followed by a visit to the little mermaid. This reviewer felt disappointment when during his visit he had found a small black stoned mermaid sitting on a rock on seaside. Much ado about nothing!
Dr. Fatima Hussain’s next visits were to Helsinki St. Petersburg Russia Tallinn Estonia Bratislava Slovakia Frankfurt Germany Istanbul Turkey Oslo Norway Rhodes Greece Amsterdam Holland the Hague Holland Rome Italy Venice Italy Venice Italy Riga Latvia Budapest Hungary and Beijing China. She explored the culture of these wonderful places. She wrote her travelogue giving details of the places she visited with colour photographs making her book attractive for travellers and explorers.
The writer is the recipient of the prestigious Pride of Performance award. He can be reached at [email protected]