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Analysed Document: D.D.Bhatt_Final_PH D THESIS 15-04-2015.pdf (D17762052)
Submitted: 2016-02-13 16:52:00
Submitted By: sabhatt9@gmail.com
Significance: 100 %
Sources included in the report:

10_chapter 5.pdf (D16049595)
11_chapter 6.pdf (D16049596)
09_chapter 4.pdf (D16049594)
06_chapter 1.pdf (D16049591)
08_chapter 3.pdf (D16049593)
12_chapter 7.pdf (D16049597)
07_chapter 2.pdf (D16049592)
05_Executive summery.pdf (D16049590)
13_bibliography.pdf (D16049587)
04_Travelogue on my research voyage.pdf (D16049589)
Instances where selected sources appear:

10
URKUND D.D.Bhatt_Final_PH D THESIS 15-04-2015.pdf (D17762052)
I II III
0: 04_Travelogue on my research voyage.pdf 100%
IV V Whatever the task one wants to accomplish on the earth, it can never be materialized without
the divine inspiration and graces. The Supreme Will of the Goddess Saraswati (Muse) and
blessings of one’s Parents induce one to initiate the dream projects in one’s life. In addition to this;
the feather touch of the scholarly learning of the teacher-supervisor who always keeps the path
illuminated means a lot. Not only this, the atmosphere one works in acts no less than divine
graces, be it HOME or Work-Place. In my case all this elements have clubbed their hands and the
result is nothing but the accomplished task of the voyage in the area of Travel Literature. For years
together I hatched a desire to initiate something in the form of empirical Research. My Father’s
voracious reading even after his retirement from the job of a Primary Teacher and his dreams to
see us acquiring the highest possible degrees in the Higher Education has always inspired me to
undertake a task in the field of research. Literature studies and teaching of it for at least a decade
in my career made me realize the vastness and infinite possibilities in this realm of gold.
Sometimes drama, sometimes fiction, some other time non-fiction riveted my attention. More or
less I found myself close to Indian English creative writings. Still nothing took any tangible shape. I
kept on turning stones of possibilities upside down. At such juncture of mental exercise to
determine the direction of my research voyage, I happened to come across one book, Nine Lives:
A search of sacred in Modern India. Just going through its initial pages and the captions by the
reviewers on the blurb of it made me interested in the author; William Dalrymple. I was interested in
travel writing and had read some books of travel in Gujarati, this opened up a new horizon of
interest for me. But still, there was no concrete design-map or itinerary upon which I must ocean
the sail. This fog was cleared when a magic twist took me to my Supervisor sir, Dr. Jagdish Joshi.
In the very first meeting after my shy and hesitant approach and in tottered confidence on being
asked about my interest, when I told him about my topic and the writer of my choice; his confident
smile and beckoning that the topic was worth concentrating rejuvenated the flickering flame of my
gradually weakening confidence. He sent me some authentic reading materials and provided me
with the proper insights as how to frame the research hypothesis, what methodologies and some
dos and don’ts of the research temperament. In most cases, I have heard my friends relating their
research experiences; in them almost majority of them have never been even introduced to the
family of their supervisor. In some if there were any interactions, it might be on the nodding bases
or on superficial level. But in my case, not only my sir, but his entire family takes VI interest in me
and my research. How can I forget the delicious dishes I had dined at his place not as a guest or
an outsider but as the one of the family members…? My journey, thus initiated under Respected
Jagdish sir’s assuring umbrella of ‘Let us Grow Together’, in the realm of Travel Writing found many
new shores of understanding and new information. The challenges were not easy. My new job
demanded much attention and grounding efforts. Yet, the Authorities of Gujarat Vidyapith permitted
me to keep up my voyage of Research. For their inspiring support my humble gratitude is due for
Dr. Sudarshan Iyengar sir, Dr. Rajendra Khimani sir, and special thanks to Dr. Anamik Shah sir. At
home my better half (Deepa) and dear daughter (Ayushi) sacrificed their hours, days, weeks,
months and years which they deserved to spend on the real routes of journeys, tours and trips. But
my being on this travels of Travel Writing, they managed their time watching TV, Movies alone.
Friends (Dr. Utpal Patel, Dr. N.K.Patel, Dr. Mahesh Bhatt, Dr Chetan Joshi, Dr. Sunil Shah, Dr.
Kaushik Patel and Amarendra) kept inspiring and supporting. My dear ones be it my brother
(Gaurang) or brother-in-law (Umang) too have their share of credit by not demanding me at every
odd ceremony. Persons like Dr. Kanaiyalal Nayak, Motibhai Devu, Dr. Rajendra Joshi, Milan Bhatt
and Manoj Prajapati deserve a special space and place being the never failing supports in any
form. I must also thank some of my favourite students, to name Hiren Maheta, Nimesh Abasana,
Kuntal Muththa, for their support. Things start evolving the moment they acquire a concrete shape
and formula. My insights also grew likewise. The more I read, the better my visions keep
developing in the realm of travel writing and make me realize that it is a vast corpus of writing. It
has evolved in all the corners of the earth in one form or another in almost all the languages. And it
2
would never be an exaggeration to claim that at the root of almost all the disciplines of learning;
man’s travelling motives and the reporting the avenues of his travels back home has played a vital
and massive role.
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VII VIII
Travel is not something new to us. It is a fascinating part of human life. The human history is a
history of travel. Man had to travel from place to place either in order to fulfill his basic needs or to
retain his existence from time immemorial. Even it won’t be an exaggeration to claim that today’s
modern-developed-world has turned into reality as a result of man’s tendencies of traveling. Travel
is one of the indispensable activities of human life. Whether one travels to foreign lands or just
across the city, it is a journey, and from the journeying one shapes oneself, history and the stories
one tells.
Traveling expands the circumference of horizons of knowledge and insight of any human being. It
not only brings different cultures and cultural heritages closer but also induces understanding and
social integrity. In ancient times the apparent purposes behind any travel were either that of
religious- i.e. Pilgrimage or that of Trades and Business. But with the advancement of time, the
intentions have changed. Now, people travel to understand different cultures, for joy, for change, for
reducing stress. Even one travels for literary, political or economic reasons. A tendency to travel for
the sake of travel, just wander without any defined purpose, is also found in some persons. It is
noticed that, in the ancient times the ecclesiastical personalities traveled from place to place with a
view to spreading the scopes and horizons of their specific religious beliefs and attract people of
other religions towards their own. With these motives many Christian missionaries ransacked all
over the world. Same is the case with the Buddhist Lamas and the Jain Monks. The purposes of
European, Japanese, Chinese and Mughal travellers were different. It is very famous that travelers
like Columbus, Vasco-De-Gama, Fahiyan, Hue-en- Sang, Itsing, Alberuni, Ibn Batutta, Marco Polo,
even Indian saints like Swami Vivekananda, Shankracharya, Swami Ramtirth, etc. have travelled
for different purposes. Such TRAVELERS, who have got the creative bent and ability to mould their
experiences with due amount of fictional creativity give account of their journeys in artistic vein and
this gives shape to what can be termed as ‘Travel Literature’ – i.e. Travel writing of literary value.
Travel writing remains a loosely defined body of literature and the general assumptions about it
would be that Travel writing is a factual, first – person account of a journey undertaken by the
author. Whereas, in reality as a form of literature it involves absorption of differing narrative style
and genres, the writer’s captioning of the issues, attachment, etc. and hence, it can be regarded as
a relatively open-ended and versatile form of literature. William Dalrymple, born in Scotland and
living in India, has proved his merits as a competent History and Travel writer of the present day.
He captured the attention of the literary world with his first book ‘In Xanadu’ in nineteen ninety,
which won him Yorkshire Post Award, an award for the best first work and was also short-listed for
John Llewllyn Rhysine Memorial Prize. According to him, “Traveling to places is merely a starting
point for an intellectual journey through past civilizations and cultures.” The Researcher has
pursued the subject and brought forth the critical, analytical and literary significance of travel
literature with reference to travel writing of William Dalrymple. The study will be greatly IX helpful
for literary perusal of travel literature, to understand the focus of the author understudy, Viz. William
Dalrymple. Chapter 1: “Introduction” (I) Travel Literature: The first chapter Introduction focuses on
basic conception, part and role of ‘travel’ in the development of human civilization, the presentation
of panoramic history of travel literature and the modern scenario of Travel writing. It also introduces
the author, William Dalrymple. One of the many ways that human beings have bound themselves
to each other and have attempted to bridge culture and geographic distances is through ‘travel.’
‘Travel’ has greatly and deeply influenced the developments of human civilization. Eric Leed
comments “Recorded history-the history of civilization- is a story of mobilities, migration,
3
settlements, of the adaption of human groups to place and their integration into topography, the
creation of ‘homes’.” The religion, the integral part of human life, also inspires ‘travels’-just as the
tradition of ‘pilgrimage’ is a secure- step for these who seek salvation .The ‘traveler’s tale, ‘travel’
,’travelogue’, -is as old as fiction itself. Earliest extant writing fairly represents ‘travel’ – as a form of
heroic adventure. In the western extant writings,
the earliest stories, composed in Egypt during twelfth dynasty, a thousand years before ‘Odyssey’
is a story of ship wrecked sailor alone on a marvelous island. The biblical and classical traditions
are also rich in examples of travel writing, literal and symbolic- Exodius , the punishment of Cain,
the Argonaut , the Aneid , etc .In Indian mythology too, ‘travel’ has secured important place. The
Vedic texts, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Purans all these are replete with accounts of
travel in which the protagonist undertake journey to the unknown lands. From the Ancient ones, the
modern conceptions have developed in exactly different directions. In the ancient times, ‘travel’
was taken as a painful chain of unexpected circumstances, as a curse, as a dome of sufferings.
Today- ‘travel writing’ encompasses all kinds of accounts- Scientific travels, Voyages of exploration
and discovery, description of foreign manners. It has equaled and excelled in popularity as well as
in quality as an independent body of literature. The general assumptions about it would be that
“Travel writing is a factual, first – person account of a journey undertaken by the author.” Whereas,
in reality as a form of literature it involves absorption of differing narrative style and genres, the
writer’s captioning
of the issues, attachment, etc. After an in-depth study of the various critical approaches to the
travel writing and having concentrated on several popular travel texts, the researcher has
pinpointed certain salient key-features of travel writing, which to a greater or lesser degree operate
in the composition of the travel narratives (
II) Life and Works of William Dalrymple William Dalrymple (born 20 March 1965 in Scotland) is an
award winning historian and travel writer, as well as a distinguished broadcaster, critic, art historian,
foreign correspondent. Dalrymple was born William Hamilton-Dalrymple, the son of Sir Hew
Hamilton-Dalrymple,10th baronet, a cousin of Virginia Woolf.
He was educated at Ampleforth College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was first a
history exhibitioner and then senior history scholar.
Dalrymple, who has lived in New Delhi on and off since 1989
is married to the artist Olivia Fraser and has three children, Ibby, Sam, and Adam,
and a cockatoo called X Albinia. The South Asia correspondent of the New Statesman since 2004,
he is a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Society of Literature Dalrymple's interests
include India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Middle East Mughal rule, the Muslim Traditions, Hinduism,
Budhdhism, Jainism, and Clash of religions in the Middle East regions. All of his seven books have
won major literary prizes, as have his radio and television documentaries. His first three were travel
books based on his journeys in the Middle East, India and Central Asia. His early influences
included the travel writers such as Robert Byron, Eric Newby, and Bruce Chatwin. More recently,
Dalrymple has published a book of essays about South Asia, and two award-winning histories of
the interaction between the British and the Mughals between the eighteenth and mid nineteenth
century. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages. Chapter 2: In Xanadu: This
chapter covers the critical evaluation of In Xanadu; the first book of William Dalrymple. It was
published in 1989 when the author was in his early twenties. It traces the path taken by Marco Polo
from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to the site of Shang-tu, famed as Xanadu in
English literature, in Inner Mongolia, China. William Dalrymple took a vial of holy oil from the
burning lamps of the Holy Sepulchre, which he is to transport to Shang-tu (Xanadu), the summer
4
seat of the King Kublai Khan. He traverses this journey via the silk route, which Marco Polo was
supposed to have passed. The author has recorded
his reflections of the places he visits and the people he meets. He nicely weaves the narration of
his travels sometimes in the serious Historical research vein and sometimes in comic. The core
success and the interesting part of his book lies in his mastery of enacting dialogue with the local
persons and his co-travelers and dramatization of his experiences and the characters with whom
he interacts. The entire work revolves round his scheme of following the route of Marco Polo and
thereby issuing his own reactions to the journey and observations of Polo, verifying the narrations
and the details provided by this senior traveler and marking his own observations on to how the
scenario has withstood the course of time and traits of development.
Chapter 3: City of Djinns: This chapter covers the critical evaluation of City of Djinns (1994) by
William Dalrymple. City of Djinns is a unique sort of travel book. Generally travel books narrate the
routes and travelling places and the writer’s own reflections on such travels. But, the City of Djinns
stands apart in the sense that it records Dalrymple’s year long stay at this Historic city – which
stomachs within it, like the layers of onion, layers of historic developments and destructions, adding
tastes to the Indian History but at the same time bringing gush of tears in one’s eyes too. William
Dalrymple claims it to be ‘the story of one year in Delhi’. He describes the city as the 'most
complicated city he knows'. Dalrymple had visited Delhi when he was of seventeen and was
instantly under its spell. His initial attraction and wonder stricken reactions gradually matured into
serious research stuff. He says in prologue: “Moreover - I soon discovered – (Delhi)
possessed a bottomless seam of stories, tales receding far beyond history, deep into the
cavernous chambers of myth and legend". [
Pp.08, City of Djinns] XI William Dalrymple records his quest of the Historic Developments of this
city and in the course of it he nicely captures his encounters with a variety of people which range
from a Sufi, a Taxi-Driver, Government officials, a clan of Anglo-Indians who have made India their
home with their numberless grudges for ‘new civilization’ emerging in Delhi, and India at large’.
Chapter 4: From the Holy Mountain: This chapter covers the critical evaluation of
From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium (1997)
by William Dalrymple. This book is again schemed to follow in the footstep of the famous historic
Figure. This time it is the great Byzantine Saint Moschos and
his disciple Sophronious, the sophist.
John Moschos’s “The Spiritual Meadows” provides the prime inspiration to William Dalrymple to
explore the parts of the Middle East and he tries to have the glimpses of John Moschos’s world of
Byzantium.
The visit, vista and encounters of John Moschos and William Dalrymple in this world stand far
apart. The experiences and presentations of both the travelers have polar differences as at time of
Moschos visit, the Byzantium was full of bustling Christian communities, glorifying Churches,
renowned Monasteries, but after hundreds of years, at the time of William’s visit, the scenario has
lost the tinge of Christianity altogether, and what remains has been in the state of decline and
decay and the remains can be said to have survived only through the chance of fortune ---
abandoned/deserted Churches, depeopled Monasteries waiting their destruction and a few
Christian communities with palpating hearts uncertain about their security. Now, it is only a Muslim
world ruling supreme the Middle East and constantly trying to drive the left over Christians out of
the region by hook or crook. The struggle of Christian cult to hold on to their roots seems yielding
5
to the socio-political forces engineered only in the favour of one particular group at the cost of the
other. To be more precise, the decline and disturbances started well at the time of Moschos’ travels
and are captured in his accounts too
and the traces of it are found Moschos’ pronouncements. What William witnesses is the
culmination of all atrocities to the Christians in the very lands where it first originated.
The Christian population was either crumbled and suffocated through consciously calculated
policies or
they
immigrated to the safer parts of the earth to save themselves from the atrocious treatments from
the powerful forces in the entire region of the Middle-East. The beginning of the process of the
decadence of Christianity which Moschos witnessed during his journeys, William finds it on the
verge of its completion.
Chapter 5: The Age of Kali: This chapter discusses Dalrymple’s fourth book, The Age of Kali. With
this book he once again comes to the subject of India. It was published in 1998 and is a collection
of essays collected through almost a decade of travel around the Indian subcontinent. The book
encompasses many controversial subjects such as Sati, the caste wars in India, political corruption
and terrorism. It was released in India renamed as At the Court of the Fish-Eyed Goddess i.e. the
Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai. He describes the various changes that have undergone since
independence and the also the cultural heritage being retained by the people since ancient times.
Being a traveler, journalist and Historian the varied and eerie things about this part of the globe
attracts him. And the outcome of his toil on the socio-political conditions of these XII Asian nations
is –this collection of essays.
On witnessing the bloodshed violence spread throughout the subcontinent, he states, he feels
convinced that the Age of Kali has in reality cuffed the human race here, and made them thirsty of
each other’s blood- no matter whatever is the ground. Be it social, political or the religious, or on
the grounds of morality, status or family feuds, the human race seems on the dagger drawing
stance. Tolerance and broad- mindedness are no longer in the index of human virtues, rather they
are considered to be the attributes of weakness in the social arena. Man finds himself entangled
with his own fellow people and he feels he has to struggle hard to get what, he thinks, is essential
for his well- being and happiness. The weakest points of Democracy have got surfaced and the
reins of power have been grabbed by the persons with criminal backgrounds..... The
book covers the
author's meetings with Benazir Bhutto, cricketer Imran Khan, his interview of author Shobha De
and Baba Seghal as symbols of modern India. Dalrymple covers Sri Lanka just as the IPKF is
pulling out of the country. He also visits Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean which is an
overseas department of France. Chapter 6:
Nine Lives: Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India
is again a new experiment of William Dalrymple in the genre of Travel Writing. During his stay and
travels in India, Dalrymple has come across a lot many characters. But out of them, he picks up
Nine special characters on the grounds of their special religious cult and practice of austere life on
the rules of it. The characters include a Jain Nun, A Devadasi, A Theyyam Dancer, a Budhhist
Monk, a Sufi Qualander, a Bronze Idol Maker, a nomadic Epic Singer, Baul Singers and the curers
of the Skulls from Kolkatta,,
In many of his interviews, news paper articles and in public meetings as a part of
6
the promotion of his ‘Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India’, William Dalrymple
clearly mentions that he has adopted a new scheme in this book. And he has been favourably
received on this plain too. In his column in the Guardian, in connection to his scheme of narratives
in Nine Lives, he asserts, “I decided to adopt a quite different form. When In Xanadu was published
at the end of the 80s, travel writing tended to highlight the narrator: his adventures were the
subject; the people he met were often reduced to objects in the background. I have tried to invert
this, and keep the narrator in the shadows, so bringing the lives of the people I have met to the fore
and placing their stories centre stage”.
Chapter 7: Conclusion: The chapter finally examines critically and analyses comparatively the
writings of William Dalrymple with the general conceptions of travel literature. It also analyses as to
what extent his travel writing touches the issues of modern civilizations as the pieces of creative
literature. It also establishes how indigenous critical/ theoretical tools of criticism can give us a
fruitful reading of travel writings of William Dalrymple.
In all the books studied, the researcher has found that William Dalrymple has carefully interwoven
his personal reflections, memoirs, historical facts which he collects through his toiling through
different Archives, personal or Institutional libraries, interviews of the natives who command the
authority in the area of knowledge of the topics/issues under focus, references to the earlier travel
accounts along with his journey and encounters with the local people and culture. He constitutes a
very jovial and free narrative with sparkles of humour and informative cubes. Close perusal of the
texts gives us an idea that William XIII Dalrymple has carefully developed his persona in the
narrative who is the centre or the hero of his narrative. His
first book, In Xanadu has been framed upon the readymade route of the historic traveler, Marco
Polo and his silk route from Jerusalem to ShangTu in China. The scheme of traveling on such a
readymade route gives the travel writer two privileges; firstly, as he is travelling in the footsteps of
the senior, more popular traveler whose travel texts are well- known, he gets a route and the
destination. Secondly, it gives him the opportunity to look into the measures of the cultural
developments from the view points of ‘then’ and ‘now’; the latent theme of his travels as to
compare and contrast and validate the previous version of the journey. His second book, City of
Djinns documents his travel in residence in the city. It covers the span of one year stay of the writer
in the city and presents the tale of the city. The scheme here is that of historical excavation of the
facts that have contributed greatly to the development of the city. As the author keeps travelling
among the recesses of the city, he comes across the various facets of the city which he brings in
his narration interweaving the past and the present scenario. His third book, From the Holy
Mountain again follows the framework of following the footsteps of the historic and famous traveler.
This time he travels in the central Asian territories. He follows the footsteps of the great Gregorian
Saint Moschos and documents along with the present day ethnographic scenario, the process of
wiping out of the Christianity from its very origin place which initiated in the time of Moschos which
Moschos noted in his book Spiritual Meadows. William here notes that the process which Moschos
saw initiated has reached to its culmination and he himself with pains found the wild play of
atrocities exercised on the left over groups of Christian faith. The Age of Kali and Nine Lives focus
on the Indian subcontinent. In The Age of Kali he presents the socio-political issues of India, Sri
Lanka and Pakistan whereas in Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India, he presents the
accounts of some nine ecclesiastical personalities who belong to different spiritual practices
practiced in India and takes an exercise to understand how faith and the spiritual practices have
retained their effectiveness and remained in terms with India’s switching over to the modernistic
western-centric developments. On the whole William has emerged as a luminous star on the
literary horizons who works meticulously on the projects on his hand, tries to get to the original
sources of the first hand knowledge and tries to contribute to the literary world with his meritorious
and best-selling stuff of travel narratives. 1 %
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c 2 Chapter 1 “To wander is to get education.” – Goethe
Travel is not something new to us. It is a fascinating part of human life. The human history is a
history of travel. Man had to travel from place to place either in order to fulfill his basic needs or to
retain his existence from time immemorial. Even it won’t be an exaggeration to claim that today’s
modern-developed-world has turned into reality as a result of man’s tendencies of traveling. Travel
is one of the indispensable activities of human life. Whether one travels to foreign lands or just
across the city, it is a journey, and from the journeying one shapes oneself, history and the stories
one tells.
Etymologically, the word ‘Travel’ originated from ‘Travailen’ meaning ‘to make a journey’. Originally
it meant ‘to toil, labour’. Thus, the semantic development may have been via the notion of ‘go on a
difficult journey’. Even there are terms meaning ‘Travel’ in the treasure of English language like:
‘Sojourn’, ‘Tour’, ‘Errand’, ‘Wandering’, ‘Trip’, ‘Movement’, ‘Mobility’, etc. almost all these terms
echo the movement from one place to another
one. Traveling expands the circumference of horizons of knowledge and insight of any human
being. It not only brings different cultures and cultural heritages closer but also induces
understanding and social integrity. In ancient times the apparent purposes behind any travel were
either that of religious- i.e. Pilgrimage or that of Trades and Business. But with the advancement of
time, the intentions have changed. Now, people travel to understand different cultures, for joy, for
change, for reducing stress. Even one travels for literary, political or economic reasons. A tendency
to travel for the sake of travel, just
to
wander without any defined purpose, is also found in some persons. It is noticed that, in the
ancient times the ecclesiastical personalities traveled from place to place with a view to spreading
the scopes and horizons of their specific religious beliefs and attract people of other religions
towards their own. With these motives many Christian missionaries ransacked all over the world.
Same is the case with the Buddhist Lamas and the Jain Monks. The purposes of European,
Japanese, Chinese and Mughal travelers were different. 3 It is very famous that travelers like
Columbus, Vasco-De-Gama, Fahiyan, Hue-en-Sang, Itsing, Alberuni, Ibn Batutta, Marco Polo,
even Indian saints like Swami Vivekananda, Shankracharya, Swami Ramtirth, etc. have travelled
for different purposes. Such TRAVELERS, who have got the creative bent and ability to mould their
experiences with due amount of fictional creativity give account of their journeys in artistic vein and
this gives shape to what can be termed as ‘Travel Literature’ – i.e. Travel writing of literary value.
As Richard Kerridge puts it: The traveler offers to be a proxy, venturing into foreign space on behalf
of the reader at home, but always maintaining contact with base, through the narrative-address to
that reader. He has stepped out of the web of attachments that normally holds him in place, in
order to search for something lost or repressed in ordinary life- but only to look at it, or brush
against it. (Kerridge 167) In recent times, Travel and travel writing activities have received a new
boost. It has acquired a new height as a flourishing and highly popular literary genre. The books
subjecting Travel narrations apparently acquire ranks in the lists of Best- Sellers or are Short-listed
for several literary award categories. Reading public also seem to have cultivated some special
bent for Travel Narratives, and in the same way, the creative writers too have started taking this
form seriously and moulding their travelling experiences in a vast array of both cotemporary and
historical Travel books. Presently, the books subjecting ‘Travel’ and the like experiences cover
almost all the debatable issues. There is a vast variety of views expressed from which the traveler
undertakes the travel to be able to document it. Travels are undertaken and represented from the
variety of angles such as that of a Pilgrim, Expeditions of conquistador and Explorers,
8
Anthropological pursuits to the backpackers. The advancement of Science and Technology has
widened the Horizons of Travel from Home land to foreign land; from the Oceans to the Polar
Regions and still further Astronomical Expeditions in Space too. The Historic events and literary
traditions of human civilization abound in man’s love and fascination for travelling activities.
Odysseus, Aeneas or the knights of Round Table would appear lacking their very essence without
their travelling spirits, or the world would not have been how it is today, had Captain Cook,
Columbus, Vasco –de-Gama, Boswell or Byron and in the eastern context the Aryans,
Shankaracharya, Buddha, Mahavir and many other Saints like them, had the moguls not left their
home to conquer the remote lands….and many others like not undertaken their risky, death
encountering expeditions. 4 Journey is the part of our existence, if taken biological foundation; the
existence of any being begins with ‘spermatic journey’. French philosopher Gaston Bachelard
speaks of the home, the house, as the first location, “Our corner of the world” in which we can
“dream in peace”. For Bachelard, this first home is a maternal site where the individual is nurtured
and from which one emerges to experience the wider world. The connection between home and
maternal shelter, and immobility has a biological foundation, for the female body is in fact the
child’s first place. As Julia Kriseva remarks, “the biological fate causes us to be the site of the
species chains us to ‘Space, home, native soil, motherland.’ This then is the home from which one
must depart to be a sojourner of life’s roads, the point of departure on the way to find one self…..”
The funeral procession takes the man to his final journey, the Eternal one- though this journey he
fares not on himself but on the shoulders of his kiths and kins, see, how nicely Barakt Virani
‘Befam’, a Gujarati Poet, has woven the line of life in a journey format: ‘બેફામ’ તોય કેટલ ુ ં થાકી જવ ુ ં
પડ ુ ં? નિહ તો જીવનનો માગર્ છે ઘર થી કબર સ ુ ધી (Virani Tahuko) How much it proved tiresome
‘Befam’, Otherwise, journey of life is en routed from Home to doom only. (Note: ‘Befam’ is the pen
name of the poet) In the general sense, life is understood as a journey, from birth to death, and the
very essence of our existence; the search of knowledge is also taken in the sense of journey. The
Indian Upanishdic Sutras; तमसो मा Ïयोितगर्मय [O! Lord, lead me from darkness to Light] असतो मा सɮगमय
[From absence of truth to truth] म ृ ×योर ् मा अम ृ तम गमय [From Death to Immortality] (Brihadakaranya
Upanishad) too express the process of journey. The concept of life as a journey signifies the act of
travel, of transformation, and of an errand. In the Preface of his book Travel: A Literary History
Peter Whitfield tracing the facts of Human history asserts: 5 First, humanity overspread the earth
through the process of migration, forming communities and cultures that flourished for long periods
in isolation from each other. Then, later, through exploration and resettlement, this isolation was
broken down, and the movement began towards the one world which we now inhabit. Now, as the
world has become the global village with the advancements and luxury of travelling facilities, it has
ignited this latent tendency of travelling and documenting such experiences artistically. Carl
Thompson, defining travel, states, “It (Travel) is the negotiation between self and other that is
brought about by movement in space” (Thompson 10). And all travel writing is at some level a
record or product of this encounter, and of the negotiation between similarity and difference that it
entailed.” Carl Thompson further comments: Sometimes the encounter will be directly described in
writing, which will accordingly offer a narration of the events that occurred during the writer’s
travels. In other instances, the encounter itself will only be implicit in the writing, as it offers an
account not of the actual travelling but of just the new perspective or new information acquired
through travel. (Thompson 10) If examined minutely, the desire to move, to explore the unexplored
has always grabbed the human sensibilities right since the time ancient. Among other desires, man
has always felt this basic desire to go elsewhere. This might be perhaps because travel takes man
to different places and places him against the variety of differences where he encounters the
differences ranging from garments, food-habits, whereabouts, trade and commerce, beliefs,
worships and entire culture. His eyes and sensibilities capture the appealing aspects of this
otherness, churn them through his imagination and then he prepares an account from a foreign
view point. Some journeys may lead the traveler to the known land or through the familiar cultures-
i.e. journey within his own nation, still, to use Carl Thompson’s words-all journeys are in a way –“a
confrontation with, or more optimistically a negotiation of, what is termed ‘alterity’” (Thompson 09).
Mark Cocker calls it: “(Travel) is one of the greatest doors to human freedom, and Travel Book is a
medium through which humans celebrate this freedom” (Cocker 260). Travel, thus, is a mode of
9
experiencing the world and it remains an ongoing activity with no terminal point. Travel will never
grow old or obsolete. Just as ‘Travel’ is an ongoing activity, so is the tendency to document it; of
writing Travelling Experiences. Ample texts are now available. In that case, a need to create a
criteria as to which is precisely considered as a ‘Travel Book’ avidly arises. A 6 wide array of travel
related material is available ranging from ‘Travel- Photography’, ’Travel- Maps’, ‘Travel-Guide
books’, ‘Travel based – Films’, even now the 24 hour Travel Channels too teem with telecasts of
expeditions of travelers nicely recorded in the form of Travel Documentary Films focusing cult,
cultures, festivals, Taboos, foods, etc. of foreign lands. From all this Travel Literature has to be
somewhat different in form and tone. It may be termed as “book length accounts of journeys that
have already been made, and personal narratives of famous and not so famous travelers ranging
from Marco polo and Columbus through to contemporary figures such as Bruce Chatwin, Dervla
Murphy, Bill Bryxon, and Michael Plain” (Thompson 13). In the field of creative writing the works
voicing the traveler’s experiences are labeled differently as ‘Itinerary’, ‘Voyage and Tours’,
‘Journeys’, ‘Reports’, etc. The common grounds that bound such works in the same category are
their ‘Travel- Subject’ and the most probably the first person account which presents a systematic
chronological narrative of movements and events with geographic and ethnographic observations.
The Reports of Travel often invest within their course some fictional devices and wonders along
with the descriptions of factual journey foundation. In his essay ‘Stirring and Searching’, William H
Sherman points out: (Even) the earliest English Travel Writing was marked by complex rhetorical
strategies. Its authors had to balance the known and the unknown, the traditional imperatives of
persuasion and entertainment, and their individual interests with those of their patrons, employers
and monarchs. Given such diverse purposes, early modern travel writers were often torn between
giving pleasure and providing practical guidance, between logging and narrating, between
describing what happened and suggesting what could have happened. These rhetorical
challenges, along with the novelty of their experiences, left travel writers with acute problems of
authenticity and credibility. The myths and stereotypes which could be reproduced in otherwise
sober and scholarly accounts led to associations between travel and lying, which accounts for the
assurance of writers like John Cartwrite (whose title page advertised a ‘true journal… of East
Indies) that they would only report ‘what mine eyes have seen in more remote parts of the world
…contenting myself with the conscience of truth’- claims that would, in turn, be mimicked in the
fantastic voyage.….. (Sherman 31) With its developing scopes Travel Writing ceases to be just the
account of the traveller detailing only the geographical aspects of travel as the earlier travel books
used to do, but it more intensely focuses on the dimensional discourses on society, 7 culture and
ethnography of the places with a concerning critique from a foreign view point. Travel Writer
constantly keeps gazing on the ‘otherness’ of the places and then in recording his/her experiences
passes some comments on these aspects of the places. The travel writer engages himself in
commenting on the manners, morals and customs, local social and religious beliefs, taboos and
the overall culture of the places he visits. Many times the traveler seems interested in some
specific aspect of the society or it may be the case that he undertakes his journey with a particular
design in mind. This diversification of focus distinguishes the traveler from the Explorers and the
Tourists. In this context Paul Fussel in his Abroad: British Literary Travelling between the Wars
draws lines distinguishing the categories of the three: “Explorers”, according to Huge and Pauline
Massingham, “are to the ordinary traveller what the Saint is to the average Church congregation
...”no traveller, and certainly no tourist, is ever knighted for his performances, although the strains
he may undergo can be as memorable as an explorer’s. All three make journeys, but the explorer
seeks the undiscovered, the traveller, that which has been discovered by the mind working in
history, the tourist, that which has been discovered by entrepreneurship and prepared for him by
the arts of publicity. The genuine traveller is, or used to be, in the middle between the two
extremes. If the explorer moves towards the risks of the formless and unknown, the tourist moves
towards the security of pure cliché. It is between these two poles that the traveller meditates,
retaining all he can of the excitement or the unpredictable attaching to exploration and fusing that
with the pleasure of “knowing where one is” belonging to tourism. (Originally quoted in- Travel
Writing and the Empire, ed. Sachidanand Mohanty, Publisher Katha-2003 P. No. Xi) The travel
writer, as said above, might have many designs, views and patterns in his mind while under taking
10
his travelling project. And as he goes to the foreign land he comes across the way of the life of that
place and people. He comes in a close contact with the local traditions and customs, and all these
things arrest his consciousness which draw his reflections out about them. In this connection the
prolific British travel writer, Geoffrey Moorhouse makes right observation that: The travel narrative
is indeed in a rather special category of literature: it can include topographical description, history,
autobiography, reminiscence about almost anything under the sun that you think your readers will
tolerate as having some relevance to your journey or your disquisition on a particular place.
(Moorhouse 18) 8 A travel book, sometimes, serves/holds panoramic details of an inner voyage of
the writer. The descriptions along with the outer voyages, also allow the reader to have a view of
the author’s inner conflicts, thought processes and his self discoveries. The narrative often shifts
shudder from the outer landscapes to the inner ones, writer’s own reflections, memories or
examples/parables from his stock experiences. In this context Carl Thompson rightly points out: Yet
insofar as most forms of Post medieval travel writing do incorporate some elements of personal
information and first person narration, the genre may be regarded as an important branch of what
is now often termed ‘life-writing’. That is to say, Travel Writing has frequently provided a medium in
which writers can conduct an autobiographical project, exploring questions of identity and selfhood
whilst simultaneously presenting to others a self “authorised” accounts of themselves. Moreover,
the generic requirement to include an element of personal detail ensures that travelogues will often
offer interesting insights into what is termed an individual’s subject position, even when travel writer
have not deliberately set out to write in such a self- reflective fashion. (Thompson 99) Thus in a
way just as the player arrests the attention of the spectator along with his/her interest in the overall
score-development of the game, the travel writer’s personality also becomes a butt of attention for
the reader along with the place travelled. It remains the same even when the writer strictly
maintains to be objective one and prefers to give only impersonalised details and descriptions- but
still as a rule, the selection of the issues arresting his attention would naturally reflect his bent and
preferences. In the accounts where the writer prefers to be eloquent about his self- the driving
motive remains simply to render what he himself felt and experienced and judged during the
journey. There are a number of narrative techniques evolved through which the writer inserts his
self revelation into the travel narratives. However, the amount and articulation of the ‘self’ may vary
depending upon the individual style of the writer. Some would pick up some singular sentences or
slider passages in order to reflect how they feel/felt; whereas in some cases we find the writer
manages to throw light on the entire flux of his consciousness at the given time of journey. Carl
Thompson aptly holds this as: In some travelogues, then, the journey functions to some extent as a
narrative device whereby the author’s whole life may be brought into focus. Many travelogues of
this type also present the journey as a key stimulus to a new understanding of the traveller’s life. In
this way, the travel account does not 9 just offer a larger history of growing self; it is also plotted as
a developmental narrative of growing self-knowledge and self-realization. It thus becomes a record
not just of a literal journey, but also of a metaphorical interior ‘voyage’ that represents an important
existential change in the traveller. (Thompson 114) Travel and travel accounts bring out the fact
that travel not only holds the traveler against the foreign cultures but it also exposes to his/her
realizations what is foreign within him/her ‘self’. The traveller finds an opportunity during his travels
to be face to face with the inner self which very often take place owing to his/her being away from
the home land or much familiar things and moreover when the foreign things appear much different
from the things and ways he/she is usually accustomed to, this makes him/her to probe into the self
and thus, begins the journey inside. Pico Iyer in his essay ‘Why We Travel’ nicely exposes this
point: Thus travel spins us round in two ways at once: It shows us the sights and values and issues
that we might ordinarily ignore; but it also, and more deeply, shows us all the parts of ourselves that
might otherwise grow rusty. For in travelling to a truly foreign place, we inevitably travel to moods
and states of mind and hidden inward passages that we’d otherwise seldom have a cause to visit.
And, We travel, then, in search of both self and anonymity — and, of course, in finding the one we
apprehend the other. Abroad, we are wonderfully free of caste and job and standing; we are, as
Hazlitt puts it, just the “gentlemen in the parlour,” and people cannot put a name or tag to us. And
precisely because we are clarified in this way, and freed of inessential labels, we have the
opportunity to come into contact with more essential parts of ourselves (which may begin to explain
11
why we may feel most alive when far from home). (Pico Iyer) Thus, in a way, ‘Travel’ proves a
catalyst-agent which arouses the writer to fare the journey not only outward but inward too. And the
text produced thus turns out to be product of both internal and outer voyages. The traveller first
fares the original journey, sometimes writing and maintaining logs and personal points of reflection,
then, at home once again he, in order to write, undertakes the entire journey in his mental domain,
selecting , enacting, creating and erasing and above all ordering and re-arranging the whole
enterprise of his travel with the hypothetical audience he addresses in mind. 10 Now in the style of
serving and presenting his material, the travel writers have their own preferences and personal
signature styles too. Some prefer to present the journey in its actual colour presenting every
details; how the routes were selected, distances were covered and what hardships he had to
encounter en route to the destination, whereas, some writers would not prefer to draw much on the
process of journey but rather they would comment on just the outcome of the journey undertaken,
and their own personal reflection on the culture and the people they came across. In the narration
techniques too, some travel writers present their own material simply in the form of the first person
singular account, with the narrative ‘I’, and allowing the readers to go through the text with his
opinions and observations, whereas sometimes, the narrator hides behind the mask and presents
the picture from his own superior infestations. In some other case, as does Dalrymple in Nine
Lives, the writer acts just as a link and apart from providing the framework and occasional
informative outlines, remains in the background and presents the tales of the tellers in their own
terms. Sometimes, there is a tendency among the travel writers to adopt the readymade route
upon which some earlier traveller/historic figures had travelled and presented the world with his
own full-fledged travel account, now the modern travel writer follows the footstep of that ancient
traveler and prepares his own brand new travel book, just as Dalrymple has done in the cases of
his ‘In Xanadu’; in which he has adopted the famous silk route which was trodden earlier by Marco
Polo, and ‘From the Holy Mountain’; the footsteps of the great Byzantine traveler-monk John
Moschos. Commenting over the motives of Modern travel writers behind adoption of such
schemes, Peter Hulme points out, “….
more often the routes are being retraced in order to mark the historical gap between the two
moments and perhaps to throw light on the earlier work, though the connection with earlier and
usually better known traveler can also serve as an attractive marketing device” (Hulme,
Peter 98). Many modern travel writers prefer to stay in the foreign lands for a considerable longer
span of period and then having encountered the culture and ethnography at the close quarters,
prepare the stuff of their books. This kind of scheme allows the author many advantages as he
stays for a longer period, he can collect ample material about the culture he observes, can pick up
details of the cultural beliefs, mythical backgrounds and social eccentricities of the people of that
land. William Dalrymple’s
City of Djinns, The Age of Kali, and Nine Lives,
Amitav Ghosh’s In an Antique Land are the results of the authors’ longer stays in particular land.
From the view point of the tonal varieties too, there are a variety of experimentations found in the
compositions. 11 The genre admits of both very serious and very humourous writing, and tonally
can encompass everything from earnest polemic to inconsequential whimsy, from poetic lyricism to
crude farce. It also spans the complete spectrum of what one might term ‘high-brow’, ‘middle-brow’
and ‘low-brow’ writing. This is to say some travel books clearly aspire to the status of ‘literature’,
through the gravity of topics they discuss or the sophistication of their writing, whilst others make
no such cultural claim, being unashamedly exercises in easy reading and/or sensationalism.
(Thompson 17-18) On the Structuralistic basis a creative piece of travel narrative works upon
‘Travel’ as its very foundation and the ‘story-element’ in it constitutes its framework i.e. form. The
study of different travel texts allows one to observe that though journey remains at the very
foundation, some travellers dig deep into the myths and history of the place, in other cases one
would find the travellers’ keen interests in the cultural variances and in still some others the writers’
focus remains concentrated over socio- political issues, demographic pursuits. Many travel books
12
may also address the audience picking up the socio-scientific issues in the realistic vein but
narrating them woven into purely fictional devices. The varying degree of subjectivity, weaving of
the realist issues in the fictional devices, the employing of socio-scientific strategies and
methodologies in the composition of travel narratives triggers the debate about the genre of Travel
Writing. Debbie Lisle points out the framework of Travel Narratives just identical to the fictional
narratives following the scheme of Beginning (Home), Middle (Away) and an End (Home). (Lisle
39) The traveller gets ready to travel and the preparatory prelude goes in the framing up of the
Beginning of any travel text. The middle constitutes the details of the real travel. And the End
constitutes the arrival at home and the writers’ exercise of collecting the filling stuff for the
composition of the Journey into the narrative. The end result that emerges is the outcome of the
writer’s creative competence. And at the root of all this exercise there always remains at the base
of the writer’s mind a hypothetic audience whom he engages through his narrative. Paul Fussel
observes in his Abroad: A travel book, at its purest, is addressed to those who do not plan to follow
the traveller at all, but who require the exotic comic anomalies, wonders, and scandals of literary
form romance, which their own place or time cannot entirely supply … aren’t all travel books really
romances in the old sense, with the difference that the adventures are located within an actual,
often famous, topography? (Fussel 203) 12 As the traveller finds himself in the foreign land,
observing the all the difference that come his ways and pointing out the peculiarities, trying to
bridge the gaps of communication and cultures, in all this exercises in the cases of travellers one
thing is common that the traveller toils alone and therefore it is natural that he turns to himself. This
fact makes the travel account personal and sometimes one finds flares of personal memoire and
traces of autobiography. In this connection Paul Fussel further suggests regarding a piece of travel
writing as: a sub-species of memoir in which the autobiographical narrative arises from the
speaker’s encounter with distant or unfamiliar data, and in which the narrative – unlike that in a
novel or a romance – claims literal validity by constant reference to actuality. (Fussel 203) Still, to
consider travel writing just as a subjective reporting would be not enough, but it imbricates other
forms too. Jonathan Rabban sums up this nature of travel literature with the metaphor of an open
house: As a literary form, travel writing is a notoriously raffish open house where different genres
are likely to end up in the bed. It accommodates the private diary, the essay, the short story, the
prose poem, the rough note and polished table talk with indiscriminate hospitality. It freely mixes
narrative and discursive writing. (Raban 254-55) The same nature of travel texts has been
described in somewhat different terms when Thomas Swick talks of it as: The travel book itself has
a similar grab bag quality. It incorporates the characters and plot line of a novel, the descriptive
power of poetry, the substance of a history lesson, the discursiveness of an essay, and the—often
inadvertent—self-revelation of a memoir. It revels in the particular while occasionally illuminating
the universal. It colors and shapes and fills in gaps. Because it results from displacement, it is
frequently funny. It takes readers for a spin (and shows them, usually, how lucky they are). It
humanizes the alien. More often than not it celebrates the unsung. It uncovers truths that are
stranger than fiction. It gives eyewitness proof of life’s infinite possibilities. (Swick, Thomas) In the
same attempts of making a decisive comment on the genre of travel writing texts, Tim Youngs
keeps the debate alive by stating: Travel writing feeds from and back into other forms of literature.
To try to identify boundaries between various forms would be impossible and I would be deeply
suspicious of any attempt at the task. (Youngs 08) 13 Travel Narratives’ and Accounts’ significance
in enacting the History is also beyond doubt. Herodotus, 450 to 430 BC, the father of History, wrote
the seminal histories which, if taken in general sense, were nothing but the travel accounts. The
main topics on which Herodotus presented his accounts were the war fares between Greece and
Persia. “Rather than merely narrating events in the course of war, he chose to portray the conflicts
as a clash between the cultures, to contrast the beliefs, practices and characters of the foreign
nations with those of the Greeks” (Whitfield 5). The most initial Historical Accounts, in this way,
were in the forms of travel narratives. Even the historical accounts of Xenophon ‘Anabasis’, also go
in the same line of Herodotus and present the War between Greece and Persia. Polybius, in the
second century BC, too presents the History of war between Rome and Carthage in the form of
travel narrative which present the reality of travel in a high mountain landscape. The concepts of
chivalrous spirits and valiant efficiencies started attributed to the person’s capacity and positions in
13
visiting several unknown lands and regions. Trade was a strong force for many travellers to
undertake long journeys to distant lands. Then in the course of time it was fairly replaced by the
urge to explore the unexplored and seek knowledge which other civilizations evolved in their own
unique ways. Many great explorers spent many formidable years of their lives in search of
knowledge namely Vasco-de-Gama, Columbus, Alexander the great, Marco Polo, Huen-Tsang, Ibn
Batuta, Gautam Buddha, Adi Shankara, Swami Vivekananda and many more. In this way, Travel
writing has flourished though the ages, and early travel accounts by explorers and other travellers
continue to be valued as a significant source of information about historical cultures and places.
Travel writing seems to be resulted from man’s natural instinct to know and record the things from
beyond his general surroundings. Peter Hulme and Tim Young put in the Introduction of Cambridge
Companion to Travel Writing: “The traveller’s tale is as old as fiction itself: one of the very earliest
extant stories, composed in Egypt during the twelfth Dynasty, a thousand years before the
Odyssey, tells of a shipwrecked sailor alone on the marvelous island” (Peter 02). William Sherman
in his essay Stirring and Searching asserts that the historic motive of mapping the world and
documenting the routes in order to provide ease and direction to the travellers who would follow in
their footsteps and fill in the gaps of geographical knowledge. Bavin, Columbus, Francis Drake,
Richard Eden, Richard Haklute—were some of the explorers who ventured to put on the paper the
unfathomable bounty of the world at the early stages. Another analysis, Sherman gives us is, the
‘Typology of Travel Writers’ of the first two centuries. “The two 14 centuries of Travel Writers”, he
puts, “...have sometimes been characterised as a period in which the Pilgrim gave way to
merchants, the Explorers and the philosophers,... when Sir Thomas Palmer published his chart of
various kinds of travellers in 1606 he included preachers, postmen, soldiers and spies” ( Sherman
21). Almost all the records of early travels exhibit specific patterns showing all these explorations
were based either on spiritual or on the commercial motives. And in turn, the textual
representations enjoyed extreme popularity on account of people’s basic fascination for getting the
details of ‘unknown’ and this attraction of people and ‘the gratitude generated in them for the
Wanderer for having experienced something extraordinary’ – lured the travel-story-tellers to
attribute something magical in their accounts as they stayed assured that whatever they would
narrate would, without a bit of doubt, go with ease among the people, rather it would attract them
towards it. “...authors played with the boundaries between eyewitness testimony, second-hand
information, and outright invention, and readers were often unsure whether they were reading truth
or fiction” (Sherman 31). These traits of fake, fiction and inventions in the travel accounts might
have earned the entire volume of travel writing ‘second rate’ title in the realm of serious literature.
Another major motive behind Travelers’ leaving Home and heading for the Foreign Lands has
remained the ambitions of expansion of the stately territories. The Royal Dynasties intentionally
funded the daring travelers to explore the unknown lands and collect useful knowledge about the
prospective lands which can be taken under their Regimes. After the formation of large imperial
states, travel accounts emerged as a prominent literary genre in many lands. In European
societies, after the Renaissance awakening people ventured to the distant corners of the world and
tried to expand not only their own knowledge but through the new born technology of printing
presses, brought out numerous travel narratives. These narratives presented the worlds they saw
from their own superior mental set ups. And at Home there were people who ardently waited with
insatiable appetite for news about the larger world. The spirits of Discoveries drove the European
Travellers with such intensity that they ransacked the interior regions of Africa, America and the
major parts of Asian Continents just at the begging of the 19 th century. The colonial administrators
had their own vested interests. Although there is a consistent pattern of travel writing through the
centuries, travelogues and adventure narratives became extremely popular during the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries, with great impetus provided to the realm through imperialism and
colonization of territories. The Western travellers ransacked the 15 recesses of the globe with their
singular mission to explore the undiscovered parts of the earthly planet. In the 20th century, travel
related writings evolved into several different categories, including a vast number of travel
guidebook series, travel-related periodicals, and travel diaries, recordings of scientific and
exploratory missions, adventure narratives, and semi-autobiographical accounts of personal
travels. The main trait behind the extreme popularity of this kind of the texts was it served the
14
reading public the elements of mystery, the imaginary adventures of the far and unknown regions.
After the years of enlightenment, the European spirits of discovery led many expeditions, the major
among them were those of Captain Cook’s Pacific Explorations. The travel accounts of these
expeditions gained great popularity as well as social reactions. The accounts on the Tahiti islands
by his ship ‘Endeavour’ collected much attentions as the descriptions of these islands and the way
of life of these islanders served the element of wonder to the reading public. Another great and
noteworthy paradigm of eighteen century travel was the emerging popularity of the Grand Tour of
Europe, which exposed the English Youth to the culture of the European Continent in entirety and
enabled them to have direct practice of the aristocratic etiquettes: A man who has not been in Italy
is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should
see. The grand object of travelling is to see the shores of the Mediterranean. On those shores were
the four great empires of the world; the Assyrian, the Persian The Grecian and the Roman. All our
religion, almost all our laws, almost all our arts, almost all that sets us above Savages, has come to
us from the shores of the Mediterranean. (Boswell’s Life of Johnson 505) (Originally quoted by
Peter Whitefield in Travel: a Literary History 154) Since the entire route to Italy was predetermined
and conventionalised, there was a little room for any variations and so few were the chances of its
varied recreation: Within this rigid framework, the promise of great travel literature would appear to
be slight, and there is undoubtedly a sameness about the records of the Grand Tour. The skill of
the writer was to ring innumerable variations on a few basic themes, to infuse personal colour, life,
adventure or eccentricity into the conventionalised experience. A competitiveness quickly arose
among writers as to who could bring back the most colourful stories, the most whimsical, eccentric
or bizarre. As a result, the artistic beauties of Florence, 16 Venice and Rome almost invariably
came second to stories about the roads, the inns, the local characters and villains, the grand
parties, the loose morals, and—if the traveller was of the elite – the life of the European courts
which he visited. Thomas Gray, who made the Grand Tour in 1739-41 in the company of Horace
Walpole, even wrote a satirical ‘Outline for a Book of Travels’, which makes it perfectly clear what
he thought of the typical literature of the Tour. (Whitefield 155) Eighteenth century produced
numerous texts on the Grand Tour, to mention chief and noteworthy among them are – The Diary
of John Evelyn, The Voyage of Italy, The Letters of Horace Walpole. When travel and travelling
activities were so much so in vague, how could creative writing maintain distance from them?
There were artists and men of letters who moulded their creativity into this pattern and produced
fiction on travel during the eighteen century. Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) enacts the
adventures of the protagonist in isolation. Jonathan Swift uses the travel phenomenon in his own
unique way in his Gulliver’s Travels (1726). Johnson Rasselas tries to drive the point home through
the extensive travels of the protagonist that though man journeys from place to place in search of
pleasures and happiness the ideal happiness is quite unobtainable. And the entire versions of the
Picaresque Novels modeled themselves on the wandering adventures of the roughish hero. The
nineteenth century bears the flair of romanticism and spirits of wonder in the travel accounts. By
this time, England had almost established herself in the many of the Asian and African nations.
Byron used travel as a poetic strategy and presented the world in the essence of remoteness and
escape. Swinburne, Thackeray and Ruskin also produced great stuff on travel. Moreover, there
were ample accounts on the English colonies spread on the earth. The new emerging travel and
information technologies have turned the world into a small Hutch, transforming the travel into a
mass activity. Even people started emigrations on the social, political or on the commercial plains.
There are generations of writers who have made foreign lands their second home and given rise to
what is termed as ‘Diaspora Literature’ in the modern creative literature. Writers and artists such as
T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Joseph Conrad, and Pablo Picasso were themselves
émigrés, living much of their adult lives outside the nations of their birth. The years between the
two World Wars proved much more prolific and productive, and Paul Fussel rightly hails the decade
of 1930s as ‘the Golden Era’ of travel writing, especially in Britain. In the hands of the writers like D.
H. Lawrence 17 and Andre Gide, travel writing obtained new heights of popularity. As Carl
Thompson puts it: In a decade that witnessed a global economic depression, the rise of
totalitarianism in Europe, and ultimately the outbreak of the Second World War, the travelogue
seemed to enable a more direct engagement with worldly affairs and with politics than was possible
15
in the traditional literary genres. Figures such as George Orwell, Graham Green, Evelyn Waugh,
Peter Fleming, Robert Byron, Ernest Hemingway, Rebecca West and Freya Stark accordingly took
up the travel writing genre, and utilised it to diverse ends: as a form of political and cultural
commentary (in case of Orwell and West); as a source of comic adventures (Fleming and Waugh);
or as a means of exploring subjectivity, memory and the unconscious (Greene). (Thompson 58)
After the wars too the genre sustained the interests of both the creative artists and the reading
public. The flux of new age travel writing displayed a variety of innovative approaches in the genre.
The chief among them can be enumerated as that of Paul Theroux’s The Great Railway Bazzar: By
Train through Asia (1975), and The Pantagonian Express (1979), Peter Matthiesen’s The Snow
Leopard (1975), Bruce Chatwin’s In Pantagonia (1977) and Robin Davidson’s Tracks (1980). The
travel literature of this time, thus, exhibits a variety of interests and tonal diversifications. Exactly
during this time came Edward Said’s seminal study Orientalism (1978). Said’s study evoked a great
attention towards and critical debates on travel writing. Said’s argument in it is: “the observations
on all the oriental lands, people and culture made by the Western Travellers are with a pattern of
constructing them as savage, primitive and as the antithesis of a supposedly more enlightened
West. Only these sort of superior motives have generally driven the Westerners to serve their
ideological ends and to justify their colonial ambitions in these regions”. The entire domain of the
travel literature, if taken superficially, exhibits the western hegemony. And the whole corpus of
travel literature reflects that the world was ransacked only by the western travelers and the
documentation of it happened in the western languages only. But the facts go in the different
directions. Actually in the initial phases, i.e. before 1500, the major travel accounts were produced
from the eastern sides, especially by the Chinese and the Muslim travelers. These travel accounts
were focused mainly on the trade and commercial activities and the spiritual concerns of
pilgrimage. A mural in the Mogao Caves from the ca. 7th century recounts the famous travels of
Zhang Qian, an imperial envoy of the Han emperor, who traveled across Central Asia 18 from 139
to ca.126 BCE and returned with accurate information about the western regions, which the Han
dynasty then successfully colonized. Pilgrimage, a spiritually-motivated journey distinct in many
religions, prompted thousands of Buddhists pilgrims to record their travels from East Asia to sacred
sites in India where the Buddha was believed to have lived and taught. In the Islamic world, Rihla
literature, an entire genre of Muslim travel literature, was born out of the fifth pillar of Islam—to
make the pilgrimage to Mecca. One writer, Ibn Jubayr, recorded his journey from Spain to Mecca
from 1183 to 1185 and is recognized as the founder of Rihla. While more men than women wrote
travel accounts in the pre-modern era, there were some women too who prepared their accounts of
Hajj. Christian women too left behind their pilgrimage accounts, including the famous, Itinerarium
Egeriae, or Travels of Egeria, a fourth-century Gallic woman who recounted her travels to
Jerusalem and other Christian holy sites. She made religious travel quite popular among western
European women who could afford the pilgrimage. After 1500, Muslim and Asian travel accounts
continued in large numbers, but now accounts of European adventurers, missionaries, explorers,
and merchants overshadowed their Eastern counterparts due to the newly-invented printing press
and an increasingly literate Europe that was eager to explore, conquer and eventually colonize
regions far beyond their borders. European publishers churned out thousands of copies while
editors, such as Richard Hakluyt in the sixteenth century, began to organize and compile travel
narratives. Scholarship in the past twenty years or so depicts the genre of travel writing as part of
the European imperial project, yet this Eurocentric view fails to take into account the numerous
non-European travel narratives, both historic and contemporary. The abundance and varieties of
travel and travelers in world history and the prolific literature produced on Travels offer not only
new scholarship, but also practical applications for using travel literature in the classroom.
(Maxwell, Mary) 19 Women Travellers and Their Travel Accounts: Basically, for centuries in almost
all the civilizations on the earth, travel and adventures are the qualities mainly attributed to the
masculine power and prowess. On the other hand women are soundly rooted with the household
responsibilities as that of bringing up the children and looking after the entire family activities.
Moreover even though women remained present on travels along with the men as wives,
caretakers or nurses, in the Patriarchal ideology to have their responses on such travels is quite
that of a remote dream. The stamp of ‘sessility’ that has been stuck on the women on the grounds
16
that they are firmly rooted in the family and that is why immobile and have nothing to do with the
prowess of travels and mobility, showed no sign of weakening late until nineteenth century. During
the phase of colonialisation of the different parts of the world proved the most fertile phase for the
production of the Travel Accounts and it is also true that in all the wake Women had accompanied
men, still, as Sara Mills observes: ......, women as individuals and as writers are always seen to be
marginal to the process of colonialism. A further reason why the colonial context is not considered
by critics is that women’s writing and their involvement in colonialism was markedly different from
men’s; their work was informed by different discursive frameworks and pressures. It is these
frameworks which I shall map out. Because of the way that discourses of femininity circulated
within the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, women travel writers were unable to adopt
the imperialist voice with the ease with which male writers did. The writing, which they produced,
tended to be more tentative than male writing, less able to assert the ‘truths’ of British rule without
qualification. Because of their oppressive socialisation and marginal position in relation to
imperialism, despite their generally privileged class position, women writers tended to concentrate
on descriptions of people as individuals, rather than on statements about the race as a whole. It is
in their struggle with the discourses of imperialism and femininity, neither of which they could
wholeheartedly adopt, and which pulled them in different textual directions, that their writing
exposes the unsteady foundations on which it is based. (Mills 03) And the few women travel
accounts, just like the oasis in the wide and far dessert, were full of subjective concerns and
lacking confidence and full of textual unease that the critics like Paul Fussel did not admit them as
the travel accounts or as 20 the stuff of creative writing at all. Carl Thompson too makes quite
similar observations in this regards: If the female traveller contravenes the patriarchal ideology of
separate spheres by quitting her home and venturing out into the world, the female travel writer, or
at least, the woman who publishes a travel account, contravenes that ideology twice over. Not only
does she travel, she then positions herself a second time in the public sphere, as an author; and a
reluctance to take up the latter role is a further reason why there are so few published travelogues
by women prior to 1800. Even the noteworthy point in some of the nineteenth century women
travelogues, the women travel writers have adopted the epistolary or the Diary format claiming that
the observations and reflections made in them were for personal references only and never
intended to be published. (Thompson 180) In the modern era, with the safe and speedy travel
technologies, women tread the world as freely and fearlessly as their male counterparts. They
receive ample room in publishing their accounts presenting to the world form a feministic view
points. Still, there rings the note of resentments from the women travellers that they often “find
themselves confronted with the cultural expectations and stereotypes which assume some types of
travel and travel writing, and arguably the very notion of travel per se, to be more commonly a
masculine rather than a feminine activity” (Thompson 180). Critical Reactions: Critical reaction to
travel narratives has a mixed history, with scholars such as Paul Fussell perceiving many of these
texts as a “heaven for second-rate [literary] talents”; yet their popularity continues unabated, with
travel writers having achieved remarkable commercial success. A notable example is the set of
memoirs by British author Peter Mayle about France's Provence region, his adopted home.
According to Patrick Holland and Graham Huggan, writers such as Mayle appeal to a mostly
middle-class readership, and while their success is to be lauded, both critics caution against travel
writing that “frequently provides an effective alibi for the perpetuation and reinstallation of
ethnocentrically superior attitudes to ‘other’ cultures, peoples, and places.” Holland and Huggan
concede, nonetheless, that despite its accompanying prejudices, the very act of writing about
another culture or place introduces it to a wider audience, allowing for the formation of new cultural
affiliations and links that promote analysis and reassessment. In contrast to eighteenth and
nineteenth-century 21 imperialist travel narratives, contemporary travel narratives cover a wide
range of points of view, including those of postcolonial travellers, women, and environmentalists. In
addition, the horizons for travel-related texts continues to expand, through venues such as travel
periodicals, the increased popularity of television programs focusing on travel and adventure, and
the incredible mobility provided by modern means of travel. Even, the advancement and the spread
of the computer technology and the facilities have given birth to a new kind of travel writings in the
form of “Travel Blogs” --- which are easily accessible as well as get publication with a click of
17
mouse..... Moreover, there are now ample travel accounts in English as well as in the other
vernacular languages which present the eastern reflections on the west. The African Continent’s
reaction to what was popularised by the colonial traders rings the agitations of the natives for their
unique cultures and traditions being painted with the labels of savageness and unscrupulous
practices. Writers like Chinua Achebe have registered their resentments for such practices through
their meritorious creative works. In the ‘Introduction’ to his edited book “Travel Writing and the
Empire”, Sachidananda Mohanty, commenting on the changing trends of Travel Writing notes that:
Travel Writing is more than a geographical account, local colour, spirit of place, or depiction of
manners and morals, and is actually a form of a memoir, an autobiography, dates back to Emerson
and Thoreau, if not to the earlier masters. What is radically new is perhaps the perception that
travel books map out the territories of mind, definé contours of nations and communities, and
determine forms of cultural and political representations. They mediate across disciplinary
boundaries and knowledge systems. Thus, while the earlier approaches retain their charm and
validity, the newer ones pose challenges to our earlier paradigms. Properly handled, they illuminate
our understanding of society and culture. (Mohanty xvii) In this way to conclude with the words of
Evi Misti, “Travel, like translation – a word semantically related to it – functions as a cross-cultural
process challenging and eventually changing the boundaries of both geographical and ideological
insularity”. After
an in-depth study of the various critical approaches to the travel writing and having concentrated on
several popular travel texts, the researcher has pinpointed certain salient key-features of travel
writing, which to a greater or lesser degree operate in the composition
of
the travel narratives: 22 After an in-depth study of the various critical approaches to the travel
writing and having concentrated on several popular travel texts, the researcher has pinpointed
certain salient key-features of travel writing, which to a greater or lesser degree operate in the
composition of the travel narratives:
Salient Features of Travel Writing: ? Travel writing centers on a key event, text or on the route
designed by the writer. ?
Sometimes, the writer picks up major happenings on his travelling experiences and narrates with
his creative bent. ?
uses background information that builds up to this event/text or the route. ? may incorporate
research to enhance the background information— even if the writer didn’t know the information
things at the time of the visit. ? clearly describes the location and focuses on elements that are key
to the story or experience. ? clearly describes any important people so that readers feel as if they
know them a little. ? clearly presents the geographical and ethnographic details. ? focuses on the
special festivals, conventions, taboos of the culture of the place he visits. ? uses dialogue where
possible to help the story “happen” for the reader. ? mixes reflections on the experience with the
retelling to help the reader see the importance of the experience. ? may present the writer’s own
journey within as travel offers him/her to be more with ‘self’ in the different culture and environment.
? caters the interest of the readers by keeping the narrative free, jovial and replete with the clues
that keep the reader’s curiosity alive. ? may invest the myths/beliefs or any other popular story
about the place. ? presents the historical details of the place in an attempt to link the past and the
present of the places under focus. ? tries to represent the things and experiences in the contextual
framework of his hypothetical audience. 23 ? The narrative envisages the writer as the hero of the
travel. The heroism lies in the encounter with the unknown and uncertainties. The difficulties
encountered in the entire process of the travelling and recounting forms the major part of the
narrative. The journey can be accomplished in the company of some sort of companions who
emerge in the narrative as sidekicks. ? The constant reference to the difference becomes a
narrative strategy which reinforces the binary of us/them. ? The travel can become the strategy for
18
demonstrating cultural superiority of one’s own society or the nation over the other. Inversely, it can
also occasion a severe critique of one’s own culture vis-a-vis other. ? (Travel writing) may also
serve the purpose of righting the historical wrongs committed to one’s own culture by the other. ?
may be taken as the textual representation of cultural interaction operated on the preferences and
bent of the writer himself. Biography of William Dalrymple Figure I : William Dalrymple. (http://
www.williamdalrymple.uk.com/biog)
William Dalrymple was born in Scotland in 1965, and brought up on the shores of the Firth of Forth.
He was educated at Ampleforth and Trinity College, Cambridge where he was first History
Exhibitioner then Senior History Scholar.
Literature and literary studies perhaps are the genetic bonds for him, as he belongs to the family of
Virginia Woolf; his father was a cousin of Virginia Woolf. 24
In 1986, while still at college, he set off to follow on foot the outward route of Marco Polo from
Jerusalem to Mongolia and wrote a highly acclaimed best-seller about the journey, In Xanadu,
when he was twenty-two. The book
won the 1990 Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts Council Spring Book
Award;
it was also short-listed for the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize. In 1989 Dalrymple moved to
Delhi where he lived for five years researching his second book, City of Djinns, which won the 1994
Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award.
From the Holy Mountain, his acclaimed study of the demise of Christianity in its Middle Eastern
homeland, was awarded the Scottish Arts Council Autumn Book Award for 1997; it was also short-
listed for the 1998 Thomas Cook Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize.
A collection of his writings about India, The Age of Kali, won the French Prix Astrolabe in 2005. In
1999, he changed genres and after four books of travel, concentrated on the writing of history.
White Mughals was published in 2003, and the book won Britain’s most prestigious history prize,
the Wolfson Prize, in 2003. It was also awarded the Scottish Book of the Year Prize, and was
short-listed
for the PEN History Award, the Kiryama Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. The book
is to be made into a major motion picture, directed by Academy Award Winner, Ralph Fiennes. The
Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857, described as 'a masterpiece' in the New York
Review of Books, won the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize for History and India’s leading literary
award, the Vodafone/Crossword award for Non Fiction. It was also long listed for the Samuel
Johnson Prize.
Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India,
published in 2009, won the Asia House Literary Award and was again long listed for the Samuel
Johnson Prize. Wendy Dingier wrote of it in the TLS, ‘A glorious mix of anthropology, history and
the history of religions, packaged in writing worthy of a good novel…Not since Kipling has anyone
evoked village India so movingly. Only a brilliant writer like Dalrymple could bring off this
astonishing and unprecedented revelation of the humanity of people on the farthest extremes of
religious ecstasy.’ On the release of the book, Dalrymple toured the US, the UK, India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Holland and Australia with a band consisting of some of the Indian and Pakistani
mystics featured in his book, including Sufis, Fakirs, Bauls, Theveram hymn singers and a prison
warder and part-time Theyyam dancer widely believed to be an incarnation of the 25 God Vishnu,
performing music and poetry from the book; the tour culminated in a sell-out performance in the
Sydney Opera House.
19
A frequent broadcaster, he wrote and presented three television series Stones of the Raj (Channel
4), Sufi Soul (Channel 4) and Indian Journeys (BBC/PBS), the last of which won the Grierson
Award for Best Documentary Series at BAFTA in 2002. His Radio 4 series on the history of British
spirituality and mysticism, The Long Search, won the 2002 Sandford St Martin Prize for Religious
Broadcasting and was described by the judges as ‘thrilling in its brilliance. ’ In 2002 he was
awarded the Mungo Park Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for his ‘outstanding
contribution to travel literature’. He received the Sykes Medal in 2005 from the Royal Society for
Asian Affairs for his contribution "to understanding contemporary Islam." In March 2008, he won
the James Todd Memorial Prize and in 2011, was awarded the Media Citizen Puraskar by the
Indian Confederation of NGOs for emphasizing as an author of
issues of global importance and concern. In December 2005 his article on the madrasas of
Pakistan was awarded the prize for Best Print Article of the Year at the 2005 Foreign Press
Association Media Awards He has three honorary doctorates of letters, from the University of St
Andrews ‘for his services to literature and international relations, to broadcasting and
understanding,’ from the University of Lucknow ‘for his outstanding contribution in literature and
history’, and from the University of Aberdeen ‘for his contribution to the writing of the history of
India.’ Two more, from the Universities of Chichester and Bradford. William Dalrymple is a Fellow of
the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal Geographical Society and of the Royal Asiatic Society,
and is a founder and co- director of the Jaipur Literature Festival. He is a regular contributor to the
New Yorker, the Guardian, the TLS, and the New York Review of Books, and is the India
correspondent of the New Statesman. His The Return of a King: the First Battle for Afghanistan
1839–42, about the First Anglo-Afghan War,
was
published in paperback in February-20_ by Bloomsbury in the UK and India and the US by Vintage.
He co-curated a major exhibition on Late Mughal Art, Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi,
1707–1857 for 26 the Asia Society in New York, to run from February to May 2012. He is currently
the Whitney J. Oates Fellow in Humanities at Princeton University. William
is married to the artist Olivia Fraser and they have three children;
Ibby, Sam and Adam.
William resides at a farm on the outskirts of Delhi with his family for ten months of the year. In his
talks with Victoria Moore, (7:00AM BST 02 July 2013) [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/
restaurants/10148823/William- Dalrymple-I-fatten-up-in-London-then-diet-in-India.html at 14:17
18/11/ 2014], William admits that “There is a big difference between life in India and life here. We
have the full Down town there. Here, you can just go down and have coffee in the morning half-
naked without worrying, but the drawback is that you have to go and get your own light bulb when
one blows, and remember how to unscrew a plug. The London months are usually a round of
lunches and book publicity”. About his love for India, William clearly confesses in his talks with
Anand Raj OK, Features Editor, Friday Magazine, “I’ve never looked back… never really left India,’’
he says. “I am obsessed with the country and just cannot think of living anywhere else.’’ Ascribing
reason for his love for India, he mentions that, “a small trickle of Bengali blood that’s in me’’. His
maternal great-great-grandmother Sophia Pattle was the daughter of a Bengali woman. “I’m sure at
some level the familiarity must have come from that. Heredity works in its own ways,’’ he happily
mentions the point to Anand Raj. William also points out that in his life he had never imagined nor
ever dreamt of coming to India. As a history scholar at Cambridge, he was more keen to go on a
dig in an archaeological site in Iraq. “But the job fell through at the last minute when Saddam
Hussain closed the British School of Archaeology in Baghdad.’’ One of his friends who was going
to India asked him if he would go along. “And at the last minute, just like that, I agreed,’’ he says. “It
must have been a mixture of extreme strangeness and familiarity – the latter a result of the colonial
rule – that I jumped at the chance to go along to India.’’ In his another interview with Nanki Singh,
20
[Hindustan Times Chandigarh, November 01, 2014], on an event of Chandigarh Literature Festival,
Dalrymple once again comes to his point of arriving in India and admits that I was backpacking and
had a budget of Rs. 35 a day but it was the trip that changed my life,” he reminisces. India has
been good for him he says and also good to him. “As my interests have changed, India has
accommodated them,” he smiles fondly. 27 After backpacking and hanging out in Goa for a few
weeks – a magnet for Westerners in India because of its pristine beaches – Dalrymple found
himself being drawn to Delhi. “It was the ruins in and around India’s capital that fascinated me,’’
says Dalrymple. “I kept imagining all the history lying buried there.’’ As much as he loves being in
India, he says he finds it frustrating being an outsider even though he has lived in the country for so
long. “But as a writer it keeps you sharp and there are a lot of things that still surprise you. There
are things you don’t understand. There are things you keep asking questions about… India is so
complicated. You can never get complacent and it is in that need to answer questions that my
books come about.’’ William, being an avid researcher goes to any extent in order to collect
material for his bestselling books. In such pursuits he travels in the lands and regions which hold
an apparent danger even to one’s life itself. He has been shot at in Kashmir and in Palestine. He
narrowly missed a sniper attack and was nearly killed while researching a book in Afghanistan.
Dalrymple, who has won a clutch of awards, including
the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award, the
Wolfson Prize for History and the Asia House Award for Asian Literature, scoured libraries and
archives in England, India, Pakistan and Kabul for details of the war but wasn’t satisfied with what
he found. The perfectionist that he is, he also wanted to see the place where the battle between
the British troops and the Afghans was fought. It’s this attention to detail, desire to “live the story”
and copious research coupled with vivid and dramatic writing that have made his books so popular
across the world. As a narrative historian, he is determined to leave no stone unturned in his quest
to get as much detail as he can on the subject he is writing about. And if it means travelling across
the world to some of the most dangerous places, then so be it.(By Anand Raj OK, Features Editor,
Friday Magazine Published: 00:00 March 1, 2013Friday) In his creative writing Dalrymple models
his stance on many predecessors whom he considers his role-models and under whose influence
he has shaped his own creativity. He accepted that he is hugely influenced by Eric Newby, Patrick
Leigh Fermor and Bruce Chatwin, among others, and is happy that “while there are people writing
a lot of non-fiction, no one is doing this kind of stuff: narrative non- fiction/history. So, he says, “I am
kind of a pioneer. And I’m not complaining’’. When Anand Raj asks him about his future planning
and projects on hand, Dalrymple 28 replies that he is considering a book on how Christianity
arrived in India. “I’ve begun to do some research... I’m not sure where it will lead me,’’ William
Dalrymple has got the passion and versatility to work on the volatile issues sometime may be very
sensitive and leading to ignite sparks of revolts and agitations, still, all this he manages to do with
the knack of an expert through his hours of work in the libraries searching for the authentic
sources, manuscripts in the archives and interviewing a number of people relentlessly. In his
interview to Laaleen Khan (Published: October 15, 2011, International Express Tribune with the
InternationalNew York Times), Dalrymple says, “My books break down into travel books, where I go
on journeys and interview people, and history books, where I spend time most of the times with
manuscripts in the library. It’s exciting to research both, but in different ways. With travel books you
have the pleasure of the open road. With history books you’re following a trail like a detective. TV
and travel journalism make a lovely change between the big projects, but they are much less
substantial than books”. Commenting how he prepares the path way for his books and the process
of his collecting materials, in his talks with Karim Waheed, the corresspondent of The Daily Star, on
the occasion of Hay Festival Dhaka 2014, Dalrymple explaining the question Why his history books
read like novels?, says, “Because it's 'narrative history'. The narrative form is ancient whereas the
novel form has developed much later. My writing process is like Chinese cooking; most of the time
is invested in mise en place: chopping up ingredients, organising them, and at the very end when
all the things are ready to go, you start the cooking. I write a book once every four or five years and
most of that time goes into researching and preparing what exactly I'm going to write. I'd have over
21
400 pages of dateline… lots and lots of index cards. I'm a micro-planner. Clarity and control are
very crucial if you're going to write about history” (Dalrymple. Interview with Karim Waheed). In his
article in MUMBAI BOSS, JULY 14, 2014, “How I Write”, William Dalrymple, discusses in detail his
process of bringing out a book in the scheme of every four year. I have two different routines
depending on whether I’m writing a book or not. I write a book once every four-five years, and it
normally takes the best part of a year to put the thing down on paper: the shortest was nine months
for Nine Lives, the longest From the Holy Mountain which took 18 months. Writing up one of these
history books is like a final year of a four-year course in university. The first year is easiest and
lightest, I’m going on book tours— 29 to Paris or Rome or Milan or America—doing lectures and
readings on the previous book, and while I’m doing that I finalise what the next book is about. It’s
the least-hard working year, I’m popping into libraries, sending emails to other historians in the
same fields. Year two is more secondary reading, so I’m reading all the stuff that has been put in
previous books about what I’m writing about. Year three is about archives, sitting in Delhi National
Archives or Lahore archive, or in Kabul, as I did for Return of a King. During that time, I’m usually
stuck in a library with nose in a laptop. I have a very highly tuned filing system which I’ve got down
to an art. All the material has to be properly prepared and perfected. I liken book writing to Chinese
cooking—the real effort is chopping up ingredients, all gingers in one pile, beets all marinated, so at
the very end when all the things are ready to go, I put pan on heat and start the cooking. And if
you’re well prepared the cooking should go easily, and you should have it ready in nine months to a
year. During the research process which takes place in year two or three, I have a very anal
system. I have three or four card indexes, organised by name, place, and topic. I keep a dateline
on my laptop with every event from the beginning of the story to the end. It usually starts at about
four or five pages and by the time I start to write it’s about 400 pages. In that is the key quotes
boiled down and tightened up in neat little gobbets. It’s a very slow process. A really good quote
can go under topic and place and show up in four different places, but it means when you’re writing
it, the quote is already there on your computer, ready to be cut and pasted. If you can write at
speed, then that’s the key. If everything is planned out and the order is clear then you don’t end up
with writer’s block and you get a book written in a year or less. The final year is completely different
from the others. I stop going out much, and never go out to lunch. In that year, I get up at 5.30am. I
will prop up a print-out of the chapter I’m working on besides my bed, and when I wake I’ll go out
on the terrace however hot the season, fresh from sleep, my mind awake, and I will reread the
chapter up to the point I’m at, and make the corrections onto the print-out. It takes me about a
month to write a single chapter and by the end of the month, everything at the beginning would
have been sifted through about 30 times, re-edited every morning. I don’t do what 30 novelists do
which is thrash out a first draft and then go back to it to revise. I’ll be revising the whole chapter
every morning, which is why I get up so early. Then again in this final year, I will have my
corrections put in the computer, then go for a run and have breakfast, answer urgent emails at that
point, then hopefully by about 9.30am I’m writing new material, which I do until about 2 pm when I
have a late lunch. I stop then, and that’s the point that I start worrying about laundry, where you’re
going out for a dinner, all normal paraphernalia of everyday life. I go back to do a final edit and
research for the next day in the afternoon at 4 or 6, when the next day’s writing gets planned. Then
just before dinner I’ll do a print-out and put it by my bed. After dinner, I rarely go out, I collapse by
the telly, watching 24 or The Bridge or The Killing. Often I’ll fall asleep during it, especially if I’ve
been awake since 5.30am, and I’ll be kicked awake by my children for snoring. There are two key
things during this time—I work in the shed at the end of the garden where there’s no wifi. You
mustn’t have wifi, because as soon as you’re online you can eat up two hours in a trice. In the final
year I go from a rambling individual to almost autocratically, fixatedly hardworking and focused and
that is the one discipline of being a writer. One year in four or five you are completely eaten up by
the book. If it’s working, you’re really dreaming it, it’s not a figure of speech, it’s a literal thing.
You’re harnessing the power of your subconscious. The second key thing is to extend the morning
as long as possible, I put my Blackberry in a draw and lock it, I do not look at emails. You live in
that book for four hours. The other thing I do is that I have a writing path, behind the shed at the
back of my Delhi farm, where the goats graze. Around the goat’s grazing area is what my children
call the goataway. It’s a path cut through high grass, which is my walking path. When I’m stuck with
22
a passage I’ll go round and round. For a big problem it’s ten rounds, for a small to medium problem
it’s five or six rounds. That’s my thinking path and that’s a very important part of my 31 creative
process, I go without a notepad, when it comes to me I’ll rush off to my desk. In summer in April/
May, I often have a little siesta after lunch. And in summer, if I’m writing well, I have a pool near the
shed, and I’ll celebrate the passing of a page with a dip in the pool, it acts like a great lure for
getting on with it. It’s easier with the history books, as it’s clear where you’re going. The thing I find
most difficult as a writer is knowing what to do next. If you have a clear plot, like say British
invasion of Afghanistan, one foot goes in front of the other. Travel writing is much less clear—with
Nine Lives I wasn’t entirely clear what I was after until I found it. I’m very easily led astray by
temptation. But nonetheless in my writing year— the last one was 2012, when I did Return of a
King; I started in May and finished the following April— during that time I’m really super disciplined.
You stop going to parties, I diet at the same time, the rules change. The other key rule is no
drinking at all until the pen is down, at dinner. If you drink you often write lots, but you read it the
next day and it’s often complete rubbish. I find a couple of sips of wine, and the quality just goes
out the window immediately. My writing desk in the shed is immaculate, organised with paperclips
in the right place, books lined up like soldiers in a parade. I have some small fragments of Timurid
tiles I found lying abandoned in Herat lying scattered around abandoned near a minefield, which
act as paperweights. The writing is mostly done on a laptop, but I take notes in notebooks, and I
get them and my card indexes and files from Sara Stationers on Chiswick High Road [in London]. I
always use the same notebook, it’s part of the superstition. I also always use the same size card
index, and when my books overlap I can use the same card indexes. So if I’m writing about Nadir
Shah for my next book then I already have index cards about him from City of Djinns. 32 I have a
white cockatoo Albinia. Albinia is my companion for my writing and she sits with me. She’s a very
noisy, boisterous bird and she loves dancing and music and conversation. But she has a weird
second sense when I get down to writing, and she keeps completely silent until I’m done.
(Dalrymple “How I Write”) As for his next book on hand, William talks to the interviewers and in his
collumns in the various print media. In one talk with Jennifer Cox, on 09 July 2014, William gives a
rough plan for his next project to Cox’s query what will be next after his three history book, “I read a
wonderful book last year called Natasha’s Dance – a cultural history of Russia – and in a single
volume the author managed to get an incredible amount of his reading about Russian art,
literature, cinema, all in one coherent frame. If I can find a way to do something similar: a big
cultural history of India – a narrative that pulled the strands together – that’s what I’d love to do
next”. But by November 2014, the plans have acquired a concrete form. Things in mind have got
clear shapings. At present, Dalrymple is researching for his next book, The Anarchy which traces
the growth of the East India Company from between 1756 to 1803. "I am working on the book
which chronicles the feats of the East India Company that started off from a private trade company
and became a colonial power," he told DNA. "The book will take at least another three to four years
to be published" (
Porecha, Maitri. A World Gone By Through the Eyes of William Dalrymple.). 33
Works Cited “Biography Of William Dalrymple.”williamdalrymple.uk.com, Date.
Web. 10 Oct. 2014. Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of space. Trans. Maria Jolas. Penguine
Books. 2014.
Print.
Brihadakaranya Upanishad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brihadaranyaka_Upanishad. Web.

14/04/2014 Cocker, Mark. Lonliness and Time: British Travel Writing in the Twentieth century.
Secker and Warburg. London 1992. Print. Dalrymple, William. Interview with Victoria Moore.
Telegraph.co.uk. July 2013. Web. 18 Nov 2014. ---. Interview with Anand Raj. Friday Magazine.
March 2013. Web. 18 Nov 2014. ---. “How I Write” Mumbai Boss. 14 July 2014. Web. 19 Nov 2014.
---. Interview with Karim Waheed. The Da ily Star, Hay Festival Dhaka, 2014. Web. 19 Nov 2014. [
23
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/the-british-didnt- conquer-india-51402, 21/11/2041] ---.
Interview with Laaleen Khan, Express Tribune, New York Times. 15 Oct 2011. Web. 18 Nov 2014.
---. Interview with Maitri Porecha. “A World Gone Through The Eyes of Willliam Dalrymple.” 2 Nov
2014. Web. 21 Nov 2014. ---. Interview with Nonki Singh, Hindustan Times. Chandigarh, 1 Nov.
2014. Web. 18 Nov 2014.
Fussel, Paul. Abroad: British Literary Traveling Between The Wars. Oxford U P. 1980.
Print. 34
Holland, Patrick, and Graham Huggan. Tourists with Typewriters: Critical Reflections on
Contemporary Travel Writing. 1998. Michigan: U of Michigan P, 2000.
Print.
Hulme, Peter. “Travelling to Write.”
Cambridge companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulm and Tim Young. Cambridge U P, 2002.
Print.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=travel&search mode=none
Iyer, Pico, (Why WE Travel) http://www.salon.com/writer/pico_iyer/
Kerridge, Richard. “Ecology of Desire and
Travel Writing and Nature Writing as Travelogues”. Travel Writing and Empire: Post Colonial
Theory in Transit. Ed. Steven H. Clark. Zedbooks. 1999 Print. Kristiva, Julia. Nations without
Nationalism. Trans. Leon S. Roudiez. New York: Columbia
U P. 1993. Print. Lisle, Debbie. The Global politics of contemporary Travel Writing. New York:
Cambridge U P. 2006. Print.
Maxwell, Mary. Ed. “Forum: Travellers and Traveller’s Accounts In World History, Part :1.” Web.
10/04/2014
Mills, Sara. Discourses of Differences: An Analysis of Women’s Travel Writing and Colonialism.
London: Routledge. 1991. Print. Mitsi, Evi. “Nowhere is a Place”: Travel Writing in Sixteenth-
Century England, Literature Compass 2, RE 135: 1-13,2005, University of Athens.
Print.
Modern Language Association. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New
York: Modern Language Association, 2009. Print.
Mohanty, Sachidananda. Ed. Travel Writing and the Empire, New Delhi:
Katha. 2003. Print.
Moorhouse, Geofferey. “The Inward Journey, the outward Passage: A Literary Balancing Act.”
Studies In
Travel
24
Writing 3 1999. Print. 35 Porecha, Maitri. “A World Gone By Through the Eyes of William
Dalrymple.” dnaindia.com Sunday, 2 Nov. 2014. Web. 21/11/2014 Raban, Jonathan. For Love and
Money: Writing – Reading – Travelling 1968 – 1987, London: Picador. 1988.
Print.
Sherman, Williams. “Stirring And Searching.”
Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulm and Tim Young. Cambridge U P, 2002.
Print.
Swick, Thomas. “Not a Tourist”. WORLDHUM; The Best Travel Stories On the Internet.
22/03/2010, Web. 21/04/2014 Thomson, Carl. Travel Writing. London: Routledge. 2011. Print.
Virani, Barakat,‘Befam’. Gujarati Kavyo. Tahuko.com. Web. 18/04/2014 Whitefield, Peter. Travel: A
Literary History. Oxford: Bodlain Library. 2011. Print. Young, Tim. Travelling in Africa: British
Travelogues 1850 – 1900. Manchester: Manchester U. P. 1994. Print. 36 37
In Xanadu: A Quest In Xanadu: A Quest is a debut creation of William Dalrymple as he rises as a

promising luminous star on the literary horizon as a travel writer. The book, first published in 1989,
bears all the traits of travel writing with Dalrymple's strategic adoptation of the route
of Marco Polo., i.e. from Jerusalem to Shang tu in China- popular in the West as 'Xanadu'; the
term applied to the place by Samuel Taylor Coleridge i.e., from the Middle East and into China
following in the footsteps of Marco Polo. The book acquired extreme popularity and
won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award
for 1990, and was a bestseller. While in the final year of his studies, on being suggested about the
opening of the Highway in the eastern Asian frontiers, “It was my then girlfriend Louisa who spotted
the small article in the New York Herald Tribune which announced the opening of the [Karakoram]
highway and together we decided to mount an expedition to follow in the Venetian’s footsteps” ,
William picks up a plan to follow the whole of the Marco Polo route which he claims at the very
outset was going to be the first of its kind. Many had, like us, set off in his tracks but no one had
ever managed to complete the journey. … But in the spring of 1986 the opening of the Karakoram
Highway, the mountain road which links Pakistan with China, made it possible for the first time,
perhaps since the thirteenth century, to plan an overland route between Jerusalem and Xanadu
and to attempt to carry a phial of Holy Oil from one to the other. The war in Afghanistan prevented
the whole of Polo’s journey being followed but in principle it was now possible to follow almost all of
it, and to complete the journey. (Dalrymple In Xanadu 11) Dalrymple records
his reflections of the places he visits and the people he meets. He nicely weaves the narration of
his travels sometimes in the serious Historical research vein and sometimes in comic. The core
success and the interesting part of his book lies in his mastery of enacting dialogue with the local
persons and his co-travelers and dramatization of his experiences and the characters with whom
he interacts. The entire work revolves round his scheme of following the route of Marco Polo and
there by
issuing his own reactions to the journey and observations of Polo, 38 verifying the narrations and
the details provided by this senior traveler and marking his own observations on to how the
scenario has withstood the course of time and traits of development.
25
William remains very sincere to the route of Marco Polo during the course of his travel, however,
the political unrest in Iran made them to adopt certain alteration and they had to deviate from the
route actually taken by Marco Polo. The journey through the entire route as it has been consciously
narrated by Dalrymple remains full of uncertainty and dangers as they had to travel sometimes as
nomads and sometimes as illegal occupants. Dalrymple's narration also covers the same pattern
and situates the trajectory of the central journey. Right from the initial factual interactions with
Brother Fabian, the monk.., who seems not to know anything about the expedition of Marco Polo
whose footsteps William has planned to follow, and the history of 'Oil Phial' which stands
symbolically travel of Christianity (Christian Faith) to the East; to the Palace of Chengis Khan, at
the same time it also exposes the comic mood of the text which is going to be sustained throughout
the text: “You say he took this oil east with him?” he continued “Yes.” “What did he carry it in?” “I
don't know. A goatskin flask, perhaps.” “He would be a bit old fashioned then.” “A bit.” Fabian put
the finishing touches to his new wick, put it back in the oil then lit it from the one unguttered lamp.
“You still want some of this oil.” “Please.” I handed him a small plastic Phial. “Not goatskin.” “No. It
comes from the Body Shop in the Covent Garden.” (6) Dalrymple slides/skids his narrations from
light mood to serious ones in regular jig-jag motions which not only contributes interest to the text
but it also allows 39 him the opportunity to bring in the local subjects as well as a varied variety of
topics to sustain and cultivate interest of the readers with a feeling and curiosity as what next. He
takes enough space to narrate the details of Marco Polo's visit of the Holy Sepulchers and in its lap
the History of Jerusalem and the shifts of 'Authorities' on this Holy Town. He also constructs the
entire affair of initiating and the project with which Marco Polo undertook the whole expedition. He
also shares with the readers his 'own' attractions towards 'Marco Polo' and tries to convey the fact
that whatever that is taking shape had its sprouting at a very early stage of his life: At my primary
school we knew all about Marco Polo. He wore a turban, a stripy robe a bit like a dressing gown
and he rode a camel with only one hump. The Ladybird book which had this picture on the cover
was the most heavily thumbed book on the school bookshelf. One day, my friends and I put some
biscuits in a handkerchief, tied the handkerchief to a stick and set off to China. It was an exhausting
walk as there were no camels in Scotland, and by tea time we had eaten all our biscuits. There
was also the problem that we were not absolutely sure where China was. It was beyond England,
of that we were certain, but then we were not absolutely sure where England was either.
Nonetheless we strode off manfully towards Haddington were there was a shop. We could ask
there, we said. But when it began to get dark we turned around and went home for supper. After
consultation we decided to put the plan on the shelf for a while. China could wait. (10-11) The
statement of “Childhood Fascination” for Marco Polo makes another point clear that this particular
journey is undertaken with a calculated motive of 'Writing', just as not only following Marco Polo to
his route but to come out with a BOOK like him too. Having narrated the basic preparations and the
having enumerated the points of the journey being undertaken, William Dalrymple directly shifts the
narrations to his travels made and the proceedings he undertakes with his companion. The pattern,
as in many of his other books, here, remains that of presenting the day to day expeditions and
narration of whatever comes his way on the daily tracks instead of taking stance of presenting the
whole ‘passing-judgment’ style of narrations, he captures the local people who come in the natural
contact and how they look at the things he notes them down with his own selective measures. The
conversation he picks up and introduces in the narration provides enough hints as to highlight the
peculiarities and special traits of the regions he is passing through. Through the 40 conversation
with the Israeli couple, a young Jewish soldier and his girlfriend, at the bus stop while waiting in the
queue for the bus to Acre, he pinpoints the typicality of the place and the people: They were both
tall, brown, well-built and good looking; the boy ate a packet of crisps, the girl wrapped herself
around the boy. Had it not been for the machine guns that bot5h were holding it might have been a
homely scene. They were friendly; both were highly educated and at first seemed liberal and
thoroughly reasonable. But when the conversation turned to Israeli affairs their replies were chilling.
When I asked the boy whether he minded policing the West Bank and enforcing the illegal
occupation of Jordian territory he said that it was not a duty so much as a right, a privilege. The girl
agreed. She complained that in the Israeli army women were trained to use rifles and even shown
how to drive tanks, but then only given clerical jobs. She said: “What’s the use of being taught to
26
use a gun if you’re then not allowed to shoot with it? (18) William also does not miss any
opportunity or chance to present his own classified reactions to his present lot confrontations of
some tanned with his historic opinions To the proud comment of one Israeli lady at the
transformation of the dreary and unfertile land into the most luxurious complex. “On the coast
between Haifa and Acre we passed a line of luxury concrete hotels hung with airy lights and giving
onto private beaches occupied by un airs and night clubs. The Israeli woman next to me pointed it
out proudly. ‘Look’, she said, ‘We have everything!’ not wishing to give offence I nodded. But
thought: ‘No. you’ve taken the oldest country in the world, one of the great centers of civilization, a
kind of paradise-and you’ve turned it into suburbia’ ” (19). At Acre, not preferring to go and stay in
any hotel on financial ground (As William makes it clear that he had only 600 pound to see him
through to Peking, twelve thousand miles away), they take Hamoudi’s lodging place. This sort of
preferences prove beneficial not only on the financial grounds but it also allows them to have a
close look at the local people as well as their real way of lives. While visiting the ancient
monuments and passing through the streets William constantly thinks of how Marco Polo would
have found the place and culture. He mentions: I wondered what Marco must have felt the night
before he was due to set off from the relatively familiar world of the Westernize Crusader Kingdom,
into 41 the unknown orient. He was about the same age as I and presumably of similar in
inclination. Noir was the world we lived in so very different. There was a remarkable similarity, for
example, between the Crusader Kingdom and the state of Israel. They had similar boundaries,
both were ruled from Jerusalem, and both were effectively supported by the West. (23) These
attempts to plant the similarities show his initial attempts to convince his readers about the
justification behind the adoption of the project and latent values resting behind it. It is not that
William Dalrymple is the first to take this plan to follow the footstep of any famous traveler and to
enact a travel work upon it. This sort of scheme gives double benefit. It offers the traveler with a
readymade route, and an intact scheme of comparing the scenario as to how it was before, has it
altered as it is documented by the predecessor and how the cultural heritage has been maintained
with value association or is it all wiped out in the name of new transforming changes and
infrastructural developments? Throughout the text William, along with his commentary over the
regions and cultures he visits, goes on bringing in the accounts of Marco Polo presented in his
Travels. Commenting on the city set up of the Old Acre, he notes: It is still essentially a mediaval
town and there are few buildings which post- date the Ottoman period. Marco Polo could probably
still find his way around without too much trouble. The funduq of the Italian communes have been
rebuilt as Mameluke han, the churches turned into mosques and the mole in the harbor topped with
new stone to shelter the fishing boats- but all these occupy the same sites and preserve the same
dimensions as the Crusader originals. (20) Further furnishing the historical contexts and the
scenario of the city of Acre while Marco Polo visited it, William quotes the description of the city by
one of the Bishops of the city: By the time Polo came here, it resembled, in the words of James de
Vitry, one its Bishop... ‘a monster of nine heads, each of which is fighting the other. Nightly men are
murdered within the city, men are strangled, women poison their husbands, whores and drug
vendors are prepared to pay high rents for rooms, so that even priests lease houses to them….’
Surprisingly little has changed. (20) Thus, this comparison scheme proves fruitful as it provides him
with an opportunity to cast visions on the contemporary scenario as well as to comment upon it. He
nicely in a dialogue dramatic version introduces the prevalent tension between 42 the Arabs and
the Jews in the city from his conversation with an Arab Terji (tailor), who invites him to have tea in
his shop: We live here under an undeclared apartheid. It is just like South Africa. For the Jews
there is democracy. They have freedom of speech, they can vote for whichever government they
like, can go where they like and talk to whom they like. For us it is different. (24) Along with William
also goes on hinting the difficulties of the travel and the adverse physical conditions they had to go
through in the texture of the narration. Two The second chapter he opens with how bad he felt as
they entered into the city Latakia, the city across the Mediterranean Sea. They arrive here in a liner
at about 10 pm. And struggle their way out of the harbor. Out in the city there was a complete
mess. Next morning they set out to visit the city called Masyaf. Actually the city was not visited by
Marco Polo, but in his Travels Polo has assigned a full length story of “Assassines” a creed of this
part. The story relates the grudge between the Nizam-ul- Mulk and his friend … Arriving in the city
27
of Masyaf, a young student Nizar al-Umar invites them to his house and offers to be their host. At
Nizar’s home things are very lovely for William and Laura. They are served delicious food and
luxury which was a welcome thing as they had not eaten proper food for previous twenty four hours
on their journey and were greatly tired too. “The family was welcoming and hospitable as only
Arabs can be, Laura and I sat on a Sofa and made friendly gestures while the household was
paraded before us” (39). After this “Communal-Dinner” and rest the next day Nizar escorted them
to the fortress of Masyaf. At the sight of al-Garb, William brings in the discussion of Henry
Champagne, who went to the ‘Old Man’ (the founder of Assassin group) as an envoy from French
Crusader, St. Louis, and was gifted some precious mementoes. Next day they visit the castle of
Sheizar. The ruins of the castle are disappointing, but they remind William of one of its castellans,
“The urbane and civilized Usamah ibn-Munquid, who lived a century or so before Polo; but his
accounts on the medieval Middle East are lively and lifelike and put flesh and blood on the dry
bones of the world of Polo’s The Travels ” (43). A curious thing comes on the surface that their host
Nizar has been fascinated and attracted towards the great English Literature and avidly follows the
discussion of ‘great minds’ on BBC ‘Kaleidoscope’. And some things he claims to know, and that
43 with authority, more than William himself, but is sheer ignorant about the merits of his own
ancient author and, when inquired by William, shows no enthusiasm to know about ….: “I talked to
Nizar of Usamah and told him the story of Majuju brothers whose mills must have stood nearby. He
shrugged his shoulders. “Your English books are full of good things. I am not understanding why
you like so much our Arab writing.” “Usamah is full of good things.” “Not so full as your Henry
Fielding. (46) Their next destination was Aleppo and they find a ‘talkative’ company of Krikor
Bekarion, who offers them a lift for ‘company’ in his hired taxi. William puts nice finishing touch to
introduce his readers with his new ‘companion’… He had a flattish forehead, thick, curly, black hair
and a magnificent loo-brush moustache which threatened to engulf the whole bottom of his face.
Krikor Bekarion looked pleased to see us. He was a Christian Armenian, he told us, whose family
had fled from Erzurum in 1917 during the massacres, and had managed to set to Beirut where they
had set up a shoe-making firm. Then in 1976 they had been driven out of Beirut and had moved to
Aleppo where they started all over again. But Krikor did not like Syria (‘too much politics, not
enough profit), and so had moved to Germany where he ran a shady-sounding ‘import/export’
business. Finally he had ended up in Athens where he now possessed a restaurant, a nightclub,
two girlfriends (one Greek and one English-it was she who wore socks under her sandals) and a
Mercedese. He was coming to Aleppo only briefly, he said, to visit his brother, and was pleased to
have us for company. He liked the English, and thought the people of Aleppo both dull and difficult-
‘always they make problems.’ (48-49) The description not only furnishes how the political and
social unrests cause great disturbances at the individual levels or to the lives of specific groups
which become the butt of hatred for the more powerful groups, it also adds ethnographical
dimensions, the economical and social relationships of the local people and the general
characteristics of people of the place they are travelling in. the life at Aleppo has two different
faces. The Muslims are poorer and they have to lease out their children to work in factories where
they are exploited, whereas the Christians like Krikor’s brother enjoy upper hand with financial
capabilities and enjoy full-fledged ‘nightlife’ just as in the Western world. The history of Aleppo, as
William narrates, also glimpses the tortures and trepidations. The shifts of powers and their painful
consequences descending upon the 44 subjects have been the instances of almost all histories,
and this one is one more addition: In all the town’s history there are only two cheering anecdotes.
The first tells of the Arabs who captured Aleppo by dressing up as goats and nibbling their way into
the city; the second concerns Abraham, who is supposed to have milked his cow on the citadel’s
summit. It is not much in ten thousand years of history, especially when the one story ends in a
massacre (after the Arabs killed the guards and opened the city gates to their friends) and the
other is a legend, and untrue. It is the result of a misunderstood derivation of the town’s (Arabic)
name Haleb, which comes not from the Arabic for milk (halib) but a much older word, possibly
Assyrian, connected with the mechanics of child abuse. (53-54) William thus takes care to narrate
much of the locale histories too which account for his sincere research of the minute credits. After
having had a good time at Krikor’s brother’s nightclub, much alcoholism and shock at Krikor’s
revelation of keeping fatal weapons at hand, they leave for Turkey, with Krikor’s advice in stock
28
with them: “Be careful with the Turks. They are bastards. Evil men. Bang! They kill. Rob money.
Rape women. Big problem” (58). Three Ayas is their first destination in Turkey, where they reach by
night and go directly to the Beach to sleep in their ‘sleeping bags’. William brings in the comments
of Lord Byron on Turkey, and with that says much about the people of Turkey: I see not much
difference between ourselves and the Turks, save that we have foreskins and they have none, that
they have long dresses and we short, and that we talk much and they little. In England the vices in
fashion are whoring and drinking, in Turkey sodomy and smoking, we prefer a girl and a bottle,
they a pipe and a pathic. They are sensible people. (63) Later, while detailing on the Turk men and
women, he also seems to approve:
Good looks have been shared out unevenly among the Turks. Their men are almost all handsome
with dark supple skin and strong features: good bones, sharp eyes and tall, masculine bodies. But
the women sharer their men folk’s pronounce d features in a most unflattering way. Very few are
beautiful. Their noses are too large, their chins too prominent. Baggy wraps conceal pneumatic 45
bodies. Here must lie the reason for the Turks’ easy drift out of heterosexuality. (71)
Having arrived in Turkey and perhaps having followed Marco Polo to a reasonable distance, the
fact that conspicuously draws William’s attention is about Marco’s character as well as his greatly
praised book: “The Travels”; and he passes his own judgment upon Polos. He narrates the eventful
history of Ayas. (Ayas was not the part of Turkey when Marco Polo visited it.) Ayas was the place
from where the Friars whom Polos were to take with them to the courts of the great Khans had
deserted them in search of safety. The question is the Polos were to take to the court of Kubla
Khan “one hundred men well versed in religion”, what would have made them travel all alone
without the promised crews. William answers his own question with a single word: “Profit”. (67)
William tries to offer the explanation: “Polo was not the romantic gallant that legend has made him
out to be; he was a hard-headed merchant’s son taking a calculated risk on a potential lucrative
expedition” (67). Yes, ‘Lucrative’ Dalrymple presents the evidence by bringing in the facts: Fifteen
years later when they returned to Venice they were rich men (so much so that in 1362, nearly one
hundred years later, Polo’s descendants were still arguing over the ownership of the palace which
had been acquired with the profits of their forefather’s china expedition). The Polos certainly took a
gamble when they watched their friars flee back to Acre, and loaded up their caravan for the long
land journey to Xanadu, but it was a calculated gamble- and it paid off. (68) On the much praised
‘The Travels’ and the glorification of Marco Polo’s name as an authority on travel writing and
branding in the tourism business, Dalrymple comments: …the book [Polo’s Travels] is surprisingly
dull. Polo did not set out to write an account of his travels, despite the name by which it has always
been known, nor did he write a description of a diplomatic expedition originally intended to try to
save the Crusader Kingdom. It is not even a general account of the lands he passed through. He
says nothing about the sights he saw (he does not even mention the Great Wall of China), and he
includes very little about Asian social mores (which might have made really interesting reading).
(66-67) 46 Their next destination is Sis. They travel by a tractor between Ayas and Sis. At the
outskirts of Sis his attention is arrested by a makeshift but seemingly permanent residential colony
of the ‘Yuruks’. “The Yuruks”, he notes, “are one of the last surviving tribes of Turkomen Nomads.”
At Rajep’s house, a local youth who happened to be their company and then host, Rajep voices the
local tendencies and the tension prevalent between the old and the young generation in Turkey:
“The people here are very conservative, and they are frightened of progress. There are many- how
do I say- fanatics? They do not like what Attaturk did for this country: creating Democracy, making
industry, freeing women. Many of the old man want their mullahs to rule them, like in Iran” (78). And
the nutshell of the national tension is voiced in the regular conversations: “This country has two
problems. One is the mullahs; the other is the Army—both want to rule the country, to stop
democracy” (78). Still more concerns: “There are gangs, and many killings. Another problem for our
country is that the military censor the press: we still do not have a serious newspaper” (79). The
conversation with the senior of the family (Rajep’s Grandfather- Rajep acting as the interpreter)
brings out the fact that the majority of Sis population is migrants. Rajep’s family had settled down
from Salonica after the Great War. The Grandfather declines the popular belief that the Greeks and
29
the Turks are enemies for centuries. He strongly asserts that in Salonica both the communities
shared very congenial relations and lived in the spirits of fraternity. Despite the huge volume of
travel writing produced over the last five centuries, travelers’ routes and traces are often tenuous
and difficult to decipher, and later travelers and travel writers have been keen to find their footsteps
and to follow them….
more often the routes are being retraced in order to mark the historical gap between the two
moments and perhaps to throw light on the earlier work, though the connection with earlier and
usually better known traveler can also serve as an attractive marketing device. (Hulme
Travelling 98) Dalrymple constantly brings in the discussion of two books: ‘The Travels’ of Marco
Polo and Sir Henry Yule’s 1929 edition of ‘The Travels’. At Seljuk Hotel in Sivas in the early
morning, while going through the version of Yule’s ‘The Travel’, he feels sure that Polo had failed to
distinguish “the Seljuk and their greatest enemies, still nomadic Turcomen, the ancestors of
Yuruks” (Dalrymple Xanadu 85). He expresses his doubts on the accuracies of Polo’s account and
Yule’s silence on the historical facts. Here, we find, his expertise on History comes to make this
statements 47 and he tries to expose the inaccuracies of the accounts and comments presented by
his two predecessors on this grounds and again surprisingly draws the reader’s attention to the fact
that though “Big bazaars, robbers, groups of merchants these are just the sort of things that Polo
normally commented on, yet for once he is silent on commercial matters and singles out Sivas not
as a treading centre, but as a site of martyrdom of the glorious Messers Saint Blaise” (87). Thus,
the point of inaccuracy, he raises, is on the grounds of Sivas’s being the center of silk and carpet
production. Even Sivas was the center of learning as “Sivas was renowned especially for Shifaiye
Medresse-- the great medical school and mental hospital” (87). He wonders how here things
escaped Polo’s observations. Having investigated in detail on saint Blaise and his vein attempts to
find out the location of saint Blaise’s place or tomb in Sivas, William finds out that saint Blasie’s
monumental church had been devastated during massacre of the local Christians and the
evacuation of Christianity from the place. William then opens the description of Gok Medrese (an
Islamic college) and refers to the 1597 edition of ‘The life of Timur, and the Armenian historian
Thomas of Metsope’s description of destruction of Sivas by Timur and his army at the siege of the
city. His next expedition in Sivas is to find out the sites of ‘Carpet’ production, and driving force here
is to prove Yule ‘inaccurate’ as Yule claimed in his footnotes of ‘The Travels’ that the “The
Anatolian carpet manufacturer had died out before 19th Century” (97). It was really a tiresome
journey on account of the language problem, lack of enough information and bad roads and
breakdowns in car. “And I remember the village idiot, and the punctures, both of them, and the
slow, relentless fall down the slop and the impact into the shack at the bottom then the heroic
attempts to keep believing in the carpets, ...” (97). After this much of difficulties, to witness the
carpet production was a rare joy for William, a unique sense of triumph makes him announce: “This
was certainly small scale production, even by thirteenth century standards, yet the techniques
cannot have been any different from those witnessed by Marco Polo. Yule was wrong. It is only on
this much reduced scale, Carpet production had survived in upland of Anatolia” (100). (Emphasis
mine) Debbi Lisley quotes Doleen Messay’s image of ‘historical queue’, and argues: ‘What makes
travel writing so significant in this respect is its explicit reproduction of the historical queue: travel
writers do no choose their destination simply because the landscape is different, or because it is
located in the other side of the world. They choose destinations that will allow them to go back in
time as far away. For Messay the queue maintained in Western 48 notions of progress and
evolution – “Which simply implies that the Western World is always in Front of the queue.”’ (Lisley
210) With a gesture of making his work more ‘Accurate’ and filling the slot which Polo has left
blank, Dalrymple here narrates the history of Siva’s as the great center of education and presents a
detailed notes how medical and mental healing operated in ‘Seljuke Shifaiye Medresse’ of Sivas
which incorporated a rich library which remained accessible for both students and teachers and
traces the history of the possible entry of the ‘Islamic pointed Arcs’ in the European Architectural
Designs. Next, his dialogue with local Turkish girl, Kevser, nicely pinpoints the social temperament
of the Turkish especially Muslim society. With Kevser’s balanced opinions about life in Germany
30
and here ‘at home’ in Sivas, it became clear that the advancement outside the world and especially
of West might be alluring to many local people, still native ‘air of simplicity’ is powerful enough to
make persons like Kevser to get rooted to it. And William’s question regarding the inferior status of
women in Islamic patriarchal thinking; Kevser makes still one more distinction – that her race is not
native of Sivas and they are different from the rest of Turkey, and that unlike in other groups, the
girls enjoy real freedom in her society. Their next destination is Iran, and Laura has donned the
‘enveloping black wraps in an Islamic sort of way’, a preparatory gesture to meet the political social
and moral demand of the region they are entering. On the comparative comfortable journey from
Sivas to Erzurum, he refers to the great rivers Euphrates which the train crosses. The truck (lorry)
journey from Erzurum to Dogubayazit is also described interestingly. As they cross the Arab Nehri,
a tributary of Euphrates, the landscape fixes William’s observations: “It was a long journey, through
wild, upland country. The ground and the stone was dark, black and volcanic and Yuruks were
moving slowly across the planisphere flats, faces cast downwards, gypsy locks tied into buns and
pigtails. Some drove cattle ahead of them” (Dalrymple Xanadu 111-112). Four The Fourth chapter
narrates William and Laura’s travel across Iran, from Maku to Saveh. On the border posts only,
they receive a favourable shock against their presumptions as Iran being the Islamic country and
the things would be worse; on the contrary, they are received very pleasantly.“No, they said there
was absolutely no question of being put in a bus and driven through the country, nor of being given
escort. The Islamic Republic of Iran was a free country” (119). 49 Before giving his own comments
on Tabriz, the first city of Iran on Polo’s itinerary, William cites Polo’s and Ibn Batuta’s description of
Tabriz in their respective works: for Polo, the place was horrible as in its historical context held the
expansion of the city owing the Mongol conquest, just a single generation before Polo. He asserts
the parallel to their visit to the city witnessing the same plight as it did when it was visited by Polo,
namely the ‘ expansion’ but this time it is owing to the recent discovery of natural oil resources
within its territories. “The oil wealth of the sixties or early seventies had financed a population
explosion in the town” (121). His dialogue with the local Armenian narrates the terrible plight of
Armenian (Christians): “We (the Armenian) are a Cow, a donkey or a camel to them. In Iran we are
treated like fourth class citizens. They don’t kill us but they beat us and make us work, using our
skills for their ends” (123), and also brood over the hostile and unsympathetic treatment from the
Government: Well it’s different in Iran now. The Ayatollah does not believe that all men are free or
equal. He does not believe in human rights. He accepts only the morality of the Koran. For the first
time in modern history a government has built as its bedrock the idea that all men are in bondage
to Allah. That frightens me very much… (124). At Laura’s command, and having weakly recovered
from ‘loose motions’, he goes in search of ‘silk’ the thing which Polo (referred) mentioned Tabriz
famous for. As per information Laura had collected, silk weaving was done in Osku. William after
much difficulties and language problem succeeded in finding out a ‘Silk loom’ and ‘Finished dyed
silk’ and triumphantly declares “to the inexpert eye they looked exceptionally fine” (128). Faring a
night journey they reach Zanjan and would be heading towards Sultaniya – “now a deserted,
crumbling spread of ruins, but once the capital of Mongol Persia” (128). He also notes why ‘
Sultaniya’ does not occur in Polo’s account, he traces the history and makes it clear that when Polo
traveled through the land , the site was still occupied by cornfields as the city was not yet built by
Ilkhan Vlijeth, the great , great grandson of Ghengis Khan. Here, at the site of ‘Sultaniya’, he
capture on opportunity to describe the chroniclers of the famous historian Rashid-ad- Din. Rashid
was the vizir at the court of Ilkhan Uljetu. He built his suburb ‘Rashiddya’ at Sultaniya. He believed,
“It is most important that scholars should be able to work in peace of mind without the harassments
of poverty”, and that “there is no greater service than to encourage science and scholarship.” He
patronized many scholars with such noble thoughts in mind. Ilkhan, the Sultan, entrusted Rashid-
ad- 50 Din to write the official history of the Mongol conquests. William nicely puts the entire
commission: and admits that the ‘History of the Franks’ is the only Islamic work on Europe to be
written until the Ottoman period. Still, his Western Superiority rings and becomes audible when he
comments on the authenticity of the books: “His sources sometimes let him down (a papal text
misled him into thinking that to Pope was in the habit of using the bent head and neck of the holy
Roman Emperor as a step to mount his horse), but on the whole it is as reliable as it is unique, and
is full of surprising details he knew, for example, that there were no poisonous reptiles in Ireland.”
31
(133). William also notes that in spite of all measures taken for the preservation of his books by
Rashid – ad –Din, after the death of his patron Sultan Uljetu, he was accused of poisoning his
former master and was put to death; “His family was disgraced and their estates confiscated.
Rashiddya was looted and burned. All the copies of his works that could be found were destroyed.
Like a Fallen Stalinist, he was airbrushed out of history” (134). Still, the copies which survived in
neighboring Muslim states’ libraries are, as William admits, “along with Polo’s ‘The travels,’ ‘Jami al
– Tawarikh’ the main historical source for Mongol Asia. Another interesting thing William notes is
the monument at Sultania which impressed Robert Byron too. William goes to the extent of
inferring the Indian Taj and its architecture must have its preparatory seeds here in this moment.
Already, in 1320, every idea in the Taj was fully expressed here in the plans East of Tabriz. The Taj
is simply a refinement of Sultaniya; in its essentials it is restating an idea three hundred years old”
(130). Next in the search of the Tomb monument of the Magi; he and Laura reach the city of Saveh.
En route to Saveh, William takes time to narrate the story of the Magi, as surprisingly presented by
Polo, (because as per his claims Polo was interested only in mercantile affairs). The version of the
Magi story occurs in St. Matthew’s gospel and the version which Polo had heard in town of Saveh
interest William and offer him the point of research, thus he tries to make sense of it. In Saveh the
experience of tracing the roots of the mythical Magi was not exciting. In search of a taxi, he
happens to fall in hand of a policeman, who takes him to the station under the suspect of being spy.
Ultimately he succeeds in winning confidence and admiration from the officer by showing his library
I- card. After great search, they could not zero the spot where the monuments which Polo
described stood. Still, he concludes with a note that the Magi story needs much scholarly
investigation. 51 Nevertheless, the remarkable story told by Polo must at least open the possibility
that the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem was an historical event, that these Magi came from Saveh
and that an independent tradition of their visit to Palestine was maintained in the observatory town
from which they set off, and in which they were eventually laid to rest. (145) Five From Saveh, they
were to enter into Pakistan- deviating the route of Polo which they would resume from Tashkurgan,
the first town in China. Since they were running very late on their time – scale, as Laura had to
leave for India, they determined to travel at a stretch one thousand five hundred kilometers.
Secondly as they were not on the ‘silk route’ it was going to be a ‘journey on their own’ It was quite
impossible to fare journey sticking to ‘Polo’s route’ in this part of Afghanistan: “Even if we had had
unlimited time it is extremely unlikely that we would have succeeded in following Marco Polo
through the minefields into Afghanistan, and in the circumstances there was no alternative but to
miss out that stretch of his journey and make a long detour through Pakistan” (154). From
Zahedan, they shared a mini transit with some Arabs, Ramesh, Nazir and Joe. They reached
Tuftan boarder post, which they found ‘easy’ and ‘friendly’ to cross. We discussed a price, had our
rucksacks checked, paid an additional ‘departure tax’ and then waited while the guards sent away
a Baluchi tribesman and his goat. It took half an hour to find a key to the border gate. At just after
seven thirty we walked into Pakistan. (159) From Taftan village, they hired a Toyota pickup of a
Baluchi young man with the help of Nazir and travelled together up to Quetta – through an eventful
journey and bad road – they reached Quetta where Nasir and Ramen got dropped and William,
Laura and Joe resumed their journey to Lahore by Train. The overcrowded 15:30 Lahore Mail
reminded him of the chaotic ‘Partition’ trains at Quetta, he also enacts the story of his great aunt; a
privileged wife of commander of western command, India. After the tiring journey, they reached
Lahore and at the palatial home of his Cambridge friend, Mazaffar Quizilbash. 52 Six After great
excursions, and tiring journey, life at Mazaffar’s luxurious house with delicious food and all ranges
of luxurious seemed to give ‘ never to leave this place’ notion. Another reason, he felt not to leave,
was departure of Laura – the stubborn companion traveler in whose company he simply ‘got
propelled’ with all the rest left to her care. Whereas, the new companion was entirely different or
rather opposite to her nature, Louisa was his ex-lover now was in love with some other buddy. The
last but not least was his worries about permission. They had yet to confirm the permission to travel
on the Karakoram Highway and obtain permission from ‘Brick wall attitude towards the foreigners’
of the Chinese Authorities to cross into China over the Kunjerab pass. Before leaving for the
Karakoram Highway, William does not miss the opportunity to visit the fine Moghul monuments of
Lahore which he qualifies as his favorites viz. Jahangir’s tomb interests him for the accounts on it
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he has read and researched as they come from one of his travel heroes-Tom Coryat. The
monument, as reported by Coryat, was built by Nur Mahal Jahangir’s favorite Begum –‘A famous
beauty and an exceptional and talented woman’. William finds the Tomb very interesting and
homely too, and description covers every minute details, which William is master of. William briefly
and nicely relates the consequence and fate of Tom Coryat and cites Sir Thomas Roe’s opinion
that “Tom Coryat’s work would have been most voluminous work” had he not met his premature
end. The battle to get permit ultimately came to the conclusion that ‘no permission’ was required
either to travel on Karakoram Highway or the Kunjerab Pass, since Britain, Pakistan and China
were friendly nations. The expedition thus, gets a new start William and Louisa start a fresh from
Lahore to Manshera, a small station at the height of eight thousand feet on the Himalaya range. At
the night stay, in the ‘self service’ hotel, they come to hear weird and wild stories about the
cannibalism and infanticide exercised by the Pathan tribes. In Manshera, he also visit the site of
Maurya emperor Ashoka’s rock edicts and enacts the interlude of Ashoka’s regime and gives a
long sympathetic account of James Princep’s toil of translating the Indian script and his companion
and William’s own great grandfather James Pattle’s sad chronicler and go to bed that night with
“our ears still ringing with dangers awaiting us up the road in Gilgit and Humza. They travelled with
the road contractor in his car until the car met with a minor mishap and broke down. Fortunately
they came out safe from the accident. They happened to arrive at a government Circuit house
meant for the Officers on the inspection on the Highway. 53 Here, having rested for night, William
happens to notice the high hill beyond the river, which, he was informed by the caretaker, was the
famous ‘Pirsar’. He goes up the ‘Pirsar’ alone and attributes his climb with Alexander- the great. He
claims it completing a circle as he in recent past visited Alexander’s birth place, and this was last
point from where Alexander had returned. Witnessing the ‘shin’, he tries to explain Macedonian’s
connection with ‘shin’ and with pride claims: “it is an interesting thought that I may not have been
the first Western to be presented with a goat leg by Gujars. It could well be an honor that I
unwillingly shared with Alexander the great” (212). Next morning after passing rainy and night, they
set out on foot and eventually picked up by nine Afghans- in their Datsan truck, who were going to
the Chinese border. Through the interactions with them, William brings out that the staunch,
orthodox Islam had little influence on them, rater they were interested in ‘Brothels in “Inglizstan’
(Britain). Only the older one among them seemed loaded with religious pact. He showed disgusting
reaction at Laura’s using ‘Sony Walkman’- as according to him, it was against ‘The Law of Islam’
but ironically his obedient sons were fascinated to it, and even tried it when he was asleep’. Here,
on the road very interesting incident takes place and William is bold enough to report it which
issued forth his own buffoonery. On the road, two guards only demanded his and Luisa’s
signatures in the ledger, whereas without perceiving the matter he began to react unreasonably
and unnecessarily with hi-pitched show off. William nicely describes the lands and societies which
he comes in contact. And like a consummate painter just a line here and a line there, he in brief
nicely presents the picture of the society and culture. Hauza valley makes its way in this way: The
people of Hauza are Isma’ilies. For generation they lived by robbery and slave trading and they are
still supposed to practice infanticides. They are renowned for their longevity and their taste for
butter buried in the ground for the one hundred years. (215) “Never have I seen men who derived
so much enjoyment from the administration of bureaucracy” (216) – these are the words with which
William reacts to the strict procedures he and Louisa made to go through at Chinese border post.
They reach ‘Tashkurgan’ – the first town in China and it is described on three plains: 1) As the
important centre on the silk route 2) Geographical description 3) How Polo would have found it. 54
Since, they were back on Polo’s route for the first time since Yazd, William returns to Polo from
Tushkurgan, and asserts that ‘Polo would have recognized only one building in Tushkurgan today
i.e. ‘the stone tower’ It is here in Tushkurgan the capacity to face the hardships and unfavorable
circumstances reach to the culmination and this bring out the reflection: “
There are moments in all long journeys when the whole business of travelling seems utterly futile.
One feels homesick, tired and above all bored. Nothing pleases. Everything palls.
33
For me this moment came in Tushkurgan” (220). Entering into a humiliating struggle with the
Hazzies, they managed to leave this place with a notion ‘not to visit it again in life,’ and arrive at
‘Kashgar’. Seven At the Chini Bagh, he makes an elaborate search for the ‘Victory Model Lavatory’
but in vain, and describes in detail the days of Macartney. These days witnessed a curious fusion
of cultures and thawing relations among the Englishers and the Russian. But the picture has been
thoroughly changed at present. “Muslim Kashgar is under assault from Marxist Peking, and the
town still bears the scars of the Great Proletarian Revolution of late Sixties” (230). In Kashgar,
Mick, ‘a tall, languid Hippy with a spindly body and a baffled expression’, took them on a tour to
Kashgar where they came face to face with the local culture, trade and specialties like the
manufactures of Chinese ‘noodles’. On this trip William happens to meet Salindi a local Muslim
youth, who studies at Urumchi University. William moved with him, interacted and came to many
(mis) conceptions regarding the West which made their way via James Bond movies and
unscholarly books. William went for matinee and the next day, he was to visit ‘Nestorian Christians’
in Kashgar, Salindi claimed “that there remained few families of the sect still practicing ‘Nestorian
Christianity’ – a sect which long ago got segregated from the main Stream Christianity and was a
powerful source of influence of Christianity on Changes Khan, but, owing to Louisa’s critical illness,
he missed the appointment and Salindi left, and William missed an opportunity to bring out the
details of the ‘sect’ – long thought to have extinct in the course of time. He also visited the: ‘the
‘Kashgar Sunday Market’. Where they witness the local folks enjoying the time of joy: in front of us
was a vast field of swarming humanity cloaked in an enormous haze of risen dust. In its detail the
market resembled the weekday bazaar, but the total effect was very different. It was a fair and a
carnival, a masque and a 55 festival, crowds and noise, smells and treasures, a mirage through a
dusk of dust. (253) From there, they went to the tomb of Akbar Hoja, and went to bed with a
decision to continue their journey into the restricted regions without permission. Through the first
attempt was an utter failure; early morning in the bus-station, they were caught by the police-
officials, but ‘luckily’ got a lift in an Army truck to cross the enormous desert of Taklimakan. (In
Turkey – it means ‘go in and you won’t come out’.) This ‘Taklimakan’ desert has been the cockpit of
various & varied talks of weird happenings and from the time of ancient, including Polo, the
travelers have enacted their own versions of weird tales about this desert, so how can William be
an exception? The difference is only, he himself does not come across any bit of things his
predecessors have reported, but he fills the gap by presenting their versions of strange legends of
this region. Arriving in ‘Yarkand’ William notes down Polo’s entry about the people of this town.
Polo pointed out that the people of this area were plagued by goiter. At present, he observed there
were no traces of this disease apparently visible in the people around him. Here, they wanted not
to be noticed much but on the contrary, being foreigners and entirely different in physique, they
attracted much public attention. From Yarkand, they somehow managed to get another lift – this
time it was a cattle-truck, not loaded with cattle but persons, up to a ‘han’. Next day before dawn,
they searched for a lift from Khotan to Keriya, they got a dumper truck, the only option they had
and since there was no vacancy in the drivers’ cabin, had to occupy their place on the top of pile of
coals. It was a tiring and very difficult journey. Stay in Keriya proved much eventful. They were
dropped at a caravanserai, and there they ran into the group of officials and the governor of Keriya
himself, in the full swing of a jovial party. They learnt that the party was offered to the German
scholars but after some initial hesitation William and Louisa were ‘adopted’ by the governor along
with the Germans. The governor himself secured tickets for them to Charchan, but they were
noticed by the Keriya public security Bureau – from whom they literally ran away, they boarded the
dawn bus with the help of Governor’s tickets and reached Niya, at midnight. They decided to
change the vehicle (i .e. bus, because they knew the Charchan public security must be looking for
them on bus) and once again reached Charchan on the pile of coal through a long and tiresome
journey: “The next two days were exhausting. The constant worry of being detected, occasional 56
pangs of hunger and thirst, the physical efforts of digging ourselves out of sand dunes, the day time
heat and the extreme night-time cold. All these different strains began to take their toll” (273). Even
after reaching Charchan, the things grew worse: Neither of us could sleep. A day exposed to the
full glare of the desert sun had given us both bad sunburn, while the night chill was unbearable. We
lay awake in our coal grimed clothes, at once burning and shivering, a combination that was as
34
unpleasant as it was unusual. (273) The thing were so aggravated and the journey so tiring and
horrible that at the Oasis of Charchalik , Luisa announced that she was quite in capable of going on
“ if I spent one more minute in truck , she said quietly but very firmly ‘I will die’ ” (274). Thus, they
let go the truck – and got refreshed and as feared it was here that they were discovered by the
police and sent back to Peking. Eight The last part narrates the journey by train from Keriya to
Peking. The train journey makes them confront a new facet of Chinese people and culture.
Dalrymple notes down had Polo arrived in China one month later on his expedition, he would have
met the Khan here in his new capital Khan Balik in Peking and in that sense William his own
expedition would have also got completed. Polo arrived in China in May and during that time
Chengis Khan had been in his famous summer palace – Shang Tu, i.e. – Coleridge’s Xanadu.
Dalrymple’s giving much importance to his female counter parts first ‘Laura’ and ‘Louisa’ perhaps –
is an attempt to react to the much debated ‘Patriarchal Embossing’ to the travel texts. By
assimilating with the people of the places he travels or ‘stays’, by attempting to be as much ‘local’ –
William tries to overcome the blame of the superior-centric treatment of the narration often put on
the western travel writers especially in the post colonial differences i.e. “Contemporary travel
writers certainly recognize how the forces of globalization have changed cultural encounters
forever. Some respond by reviving matrices of colonialism and patriarchy and foregrounding
cultural differences (i. e ‘they’ are still different from ‘us’)” (Lisle 75). Other travel writers seek to
manage cultural differences – to locate, place and administer it within a framework of universal
norms. Cosmopolitan Travel Writers seek out difference in order to welcome it, include it and
celebrate it : it doesn’t matter if ‘ they’ are different from ‘us’, as long as ‘ we’ – and that means
everyone – can join together and celebrate those difference. In Peking for the last attempt to 57
accomplish their expedition, William and Louisa act hectically. Before they left china forever to
rejoin heir college term once again, they had five days in stocks. Their calculation counted two
days of journey from Peking to Duolon – the nearest town to the ruins and two days back – thus
they were felt with only one day spare to complete the journey to the ruins of Xanadu only on the
condition if everything went as per their plans. They had only the Bushell’s article as their guide.
Dalrymple here, attributes the discovery of Xanadu ruins to the physician at British legation in
Peking, Dr. S.W. Bushell, According to him, if he & Louisa succeeded in reading the sign- board –
“Prohibited area for the foreigners” – then also they would be the first Europeans to witness the
ruins for over a century. They manage to get up to Chengde, the old Jehol, site of the summer
palace of the Manchu dynasty, by train and had got a hotel for accommodation. From there, they
got a lift in a truck to reach Zheng Lan Qi. It happened to be a small town. According to their plan,
they were five miles close to their destination. But the things were not to go according to their own
planning. In the morning as they were getting ready to stroll on the last patch of their journey, the
door was knocked and to their astonishments there were Mongol Public Security Guards. They
instantly understood they were under arrest and there was no way left but would be deported to
Peking. “The idea of travelling twelve thousand miles, only to be detained and deported five miles
from our destination was too much to bear” (296). Somehow, perhaps from the efforts of the
interpreter teacher couple, the local Party cadre was brought in to the matter, and they were taken
to the site of 108; the court of Kubla Khan. It was really a great surprise to them. “We had travelled
twelve thousand miles to get to this spot. We stood at the base of the ramp leading up to the throne
dais. Here, seven hundred and eleven years before, Marco Polo had also stood at the end of his
outward journey” (299). Together they recite the lines of ‘In Xanadu’, the famous poem of Samuel
Coleridge, only to earn the reaction from the accompanying Mongols that “English people are very,
very bonkers” (300). The title of the book “In Xanadu: A Quest'' instantly brings to our mind an
image of the author's meticulous travelling expeditions. Dalrymple delineates his experiences on
the entire trip as a Cambridge student with highly educated upper- class mentality, constantly
consulting the previous Travel–Accounts and enters into an incessant exercise of drawing
comparisons between the landscapes represented in the texts of his predecessors and how he
finds it as and when he himself visits them. His tonal bent constantly tries to trace the Colonial
upper hand. The characterization of the central figure, the narrator, is also done very strategically
to emboss the upper- 58 class; well-educated youth maintaining an evaluative gaze on the
35
comparatively 'backward' and 'developing' East. The analysis of this three facet persona of
Dalrymple is rightly done by Dorgelo
in his doctoral thesis as “There are up to three Dalrymple figures involved in each text: the central,
autobiographical character, the narrator, and finally the author / public figure....
and the iterations of the autobiographical character as "William" (Dorgelo Thesis). Dorgelo asserts
giving the point of Edward Said's argument, “Orientalism is premised on exteriority, that is, on the
fact that the Orientalist, poet or scholar, makes the Orient speak, describes the Orient, renders its
mysteries plain for and to the West”, in that case, In Xanadu is a nostalgic tribute to past European
travel to and writing about the Orient, and a central component of the protagonist’s characterisation
is this unspoken relationship with Orientalism. In essence Dalrymple studies the people and places
he comes across and comments on their way of life, occupations and typicality and works to trace
differences and all this he does with a hypothetical western audience in mind. The common similes
he uses to convey and to drive the points home all are drawn from the western familiarities which
are enough to convince the subconscious currents while the creative exercise is on. Travel writing
has been labelled for its treatment and adoption of ‘Patriarchal’ and ‘Anglo-centric’ interweaving.
Many critics have argued that the ‘Narrative Voice’ of the most of the texts of travel writings often
tries to establish this masculine superiority in seemingly conscious tonal varieties or sometimes the
process goes on at the sub-conscious levels. Dalrymple’s giving much importance to his female
counterparts first Laura and then Louisa is perhaps his attempt to eliminate this sorts of blames
from his texts, “It must be obvious to anyone who reads this book that I owe an enormous debt to
two people without whom the whole enterprise could never have got off the ground. I dedicate this
book with love and apologies to Laura and Louisa” (Dalrymple In Xanadu Forward), still their
involvement in the composition of the things and selection of the issues does not play a vital role,
and it is never issued or hinted by the author whether any of his companions maintains log book
and ultimately intends to write down or publish a book or paper on the same trip. Similarly, by
assimilating with the people of the places he travels or ‘stays’ and trying to maintain proficiencies in
the local languages and to partake in the very one to one daily routine of the local public life,
Dalrymple seems to make conscious efforts to keep his works free from being stamped as the
works written with super ordinate temperament. Dorgelo rightly observes in his thesis, “...through
his public appearances, wardrobe and the arguments he makes, Dalrymple seeks to collapse the
59 distance between author, narrator, central character and public persona” (20). It is also not that
Dalrymple is proficient in all local and vernacular languages and does not suffer from the limitations
of language barriers, still, as a writer, as he confesses to Peter Hulme in the Interview that, it is
sometimes better to push the translator or the interpreters in side and present the experience as
just a firsthand one. (Interview with Peter Hulme) Debbie Lisle in The Global Politics of
Contemporary Travel Writing justly analyses the different approaches adopted by the contemporary
travel writers: “Contemporary travel writers certainly recognize how the forces of globalization have
changed cultural encounters forever. Some respond by reviving matrices of colonialism and
patriarchy and foregrounding cultural differences (i.e. ‘they’ are still different from ‘us’). Unhappy
with the colonial and the patriarchal tone of that project, other travel writers seek to manage
cultural differences – to locate, place and administer it within a framework of universal norms.
Cosmopolitan travel writers seek out difference in order to welcome it, include it and celebrate it: it
doesn’t matter if ‘they’ are different from ‘us’, as long as ‘we’ --- and th at makes everyone --- can
join together and celebrate those differences” (Lisle 75). All throughout the book and in the
presentation of the journey and encounter accounts, Dalrymple maintains a sort of decency.
Though he is young graduate student and travels with young and beautiful ladies, his advances
never acquire sexual tinge. In their travels throughout the Turkish Empire William and Laura had to
act as a married couple, still there is no trace of physical attraction. Instead William feels a kind of
guardian pressure from Laura. When he was suffering from the loose motion at Anatolia and wants
to rest still more, Laura comes from her mission and directs him to go to the village side and to look
for the carpet makers, William complaints about his health, even at the time of departure too, Laura
commands him to get ready instructing him to take and not to take certain food. But the same child
36
like William becomes different in the company of Louisa. Here he starts taking lead of the
expedition as now his companion is quite lazy and he is senior and experienced in the expedition.
Louisa whom he calls Lou out of previous affinities, joins him from Karachi and then onwards they
continue their journey together. There are many places where William makes reference that he was
Lou’s ex-boyfriend and feels jealous of her present boy-friend. At one place he cannot help
admiring Louisa’s physical charms, and for the first time seems losing control on his decent
gentlemanly narrations: “As I talked to her I took in her neat figure. She had 60 such intelligent
curves” (203). And at the last phase of the journey, being sheer helpless and in the great state of
low spirits he resorts to use an ‘F’ word. Another important thing is William’s jovial flow of
narratives. He stuffs the narrations through his peculiar sense of humour. Sometimes there are
joyful instances of the natives’ enthusiasm of talking in English and through improper or uncertain
use of the words or nativised pronunciation of English words help him cut jokes. (At Pakistan
border bottom, in turkey socks, at carpet place village) The overall impression of the book as a
travel book can be summed up as it takes the reader within it and sways him/her with its narratives
and brings him/her face to face with what the author encounters in the first person singular
narrative. It also envelops within its scope the local as well as the historical issues which directly or
indirectly affect the local public life and through these details the readers are benefited to have a
wider scope to understand the culture and the way of life which otherwise they would never have
been able to access without leaving their own home. The places which the author visits are
decently and elaborately described with the author’s consummate skills of narrative art. Sometimes
the scene or the persons whom the author meets or deals in are put on pages with just in outline
words and in the fashion of a caricature artist the whole scene or the person comes alive before
the eye or vision of the reader and gives him/her an impression that he/she were personally
present there. For this the writer sometimes resorts to the narrative descriptions and sometimes
with a line or two of direct dialogues would sufficiently project what pictorial effects he wants to
strike. More precisely, the readers have a brand new interpretation and scholarly comments on the
accounts of Marco Polo which William Dalrymple has taken as the foundation of his travels.
Because as he studies and re studies ‘Travels’ for his explorations his understanding about it
develops and it makes it way in the book thus, it benefits the reader from the historic purviews. 61
Works Cited
Coleridge, S.T. Kubla Khan. London: Bodleian Library, 1816. Print. Dalrymple,
Williams. In Xanadu.
New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1989. Print ---. Interview with Tim Youngs. Studies in Travel Writing 9
(2005): 37-63.
Print.
Hulme, Peter. “Travelling to Write”,
Cambridge
Companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Young. Cambridge
P, 2002. Print.
Lisle, Debbie. The Global politics of contemporary Travel Writing. New York:
Cambridge U P. 2006.
Print.
37
York: Modern Language Association. 2009. Print.
Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage-Random, 1979. Print. 62 63
From the Holy Mountain

____________________________________________________________________ On the blurb
of the book, Karen Armstrong writes praising the talent of William Dalrymple reflected in From the
Holy Mountain: “An eloquent, poignant and courageous account of a journey that pits the idealism
of the past against the hatred, disposition and denial of the present” (Cover page last). In From the
Holy Mountain William Dalrymple records his exploration of the regions of ancient Byzantium world
and through his sincere scholarship tries to unfold the historic facts engraved within the layers of
time. In the ancient time the world of Byzantium surroundings throbbed in the Christian spirituality,
worshipping and philosophy, while the present scenario at the young William’s visit of the same, the
ancient glory seems standing the fear of extinction. Christian Idealism, the invaluable heritage in
the form of precious monuments as well as the Christian manuscripts and on the whole the
Christian culture and cult itself are standing on the verge of decay and decline. What Moschos’s
wonderful book The Spiritual Meadows presents as the beginning of the process in which Islamic
powers getting strong hold in the Mediterranean lands and Christianity stepping back from the
place of its own origin, as William Dalrymple notes, seems reaping results. William Dalrymple has
adopted the same scheme of as he adopted in his first book In Xanadu in which he traces the
footsteps of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Xanadu in China covering the entire silk route,
here in this book he wanders in the Byzantine world where the great saint and scholar John
Moschos had journeyed in the company of
his disciple Sophronius. John Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows provides the prime inspiration to
William Dalrymple to explore the parts of the Middle East and he tries to have the glimpses of John
Moschos’s world of Byzantium.
Thus, Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows gives him the thrust of traveling this world, William himself
notes, “.... ‘The Spiritual Meadows’ of John Moschos, the unlikely little book which first brought me
to this monastery, and the original manuscript of which I saw for the first time less than one hour
ago. God willing, John Moschos will lead me on, eastward to Constantinople and Anatolia, then
southwards to the Nile and thence, if it is still possible, to the great Khangra Oasis, once the
southern frontier of Byzantium.” (Dalrymple From the Holy Mountain 4) The book
itself runs with John Moschos’ descriptions of the landscape in flaring colours: 64 In my opinion,
the meadows in spring present a particularly delightful prospect. One part of this meadow blushes
with roses, in other places lilies predominate, in another violets blaze out, resembling the Imperial
purple. (11) Such descriptions of the Byzantine world allured the writer to follow the same route
after thousands of years: ‘The Spiritual Meadows’ was a collection of most memorable sayings,
anecdotes and holy stories that Moschos gathered on his travels, and was written as part of a long
tradition of such apophthegmata, or sayings of fathers. (12)
The book voices the concern on the lost glory of Christianity and seems an attempt to analyse the
root causes operating behind such drastic transitions.
The visit, vista and encounters of John Moschos and William Dalrymple in this world stand far
apart. The experiences and presentations of both the travelers have polar differences as at time of
Moschos visit, the Byzantium was full of bustling Christian communities, glorifying Churches,
renowned Monasteries, but after hundreds of years, at the time of William’s visit, the scenario has
38
lost the tinge of Christianity altogether, and what remains has been in the state of decline and
decay and the remains can be said to have survived only through the chance of fortune ---
abandoned/deserted Churches, depeopled Monasteries waiting their destruction and a few
Christian communities with palpating hearts uncertain about their security. Now, it is only a Muslim
world ruling supreme the Middle East and constantly trying to drive the left over Christians out of
the region by hook or crook. The struggle of Christian cult to hold on to their roots seems yielding
to the socio-political forces engineered only in the favour of one particular group at the cost of the
other. To be more precise, the decline and disturbances started well at the time of Moschos’ travels
and are captured in his accounts too,
this is how Dalrymple sums up the time slot of this great man’s travels: Reading between the lines
of John Moschos’s memoires, it is clear that he and his friend were travelling in dangerous times.
Following the collapse of Justinian’s great attempt at reviving the Empire, Byzantium was under
assault: from the west by Avars, Slavs, Goyths and Lombards, from the east by crescendo of raids
by desert nomads and the legions of Sassnian Persia. The great cities of the East Mediterranean
were in fast decay: in Antinoch, huts full of refugees were springing up in the middle of the wide
Roman avenues which 65 had once buzzed with trade and industry. The great Mediterranean
ports--- Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, Selusia---were becoming idle; many of them were reverting to little
more than fishing villages. (13) William initiates his expedition with his visit of the Monastery of
Iviron, at Mount Athos, Greece. The driving motives behind this visit were nothing but his desire to
have a look at the manuscripts. Reaching here he digs into the history of the monastery and
relating it he notes how it was founded by St. Euthymus of Salonica. At the age of eighteen, he
wandered all around eating only grass. Later on he became stylite; then afterwards his fame
spread all around. He also brings to the light how the voluptuous nature of the monastery’s monks
led to the prohibition of female from stepping their feet on the mountain: … it came to the ears of
the Byzantine emperor that the monks were in the habit of debauching the daughters of the
shepherds who came to the mountain to sell milk and wool. Thereafter it was decreed that nothing
woman, no cow, no mare, no bitch could step within its limits. Today this rule is relaxed only for
cats. (05) William’s access to the library and his mission to have a look at Moschos manuscripts
also weave around it a good stuff of story. At first he was declined altogether to be allowed into the
library. Then it was produced that it was not possible till Abbot’s return who was out to
Constantinople and would be back within a week. William’s permit was expiring only the other day.
Moreover his not being the ‘orthodox’ was also a question but was resolved with his promise to the
‘kind’ Christophoros not to let anybody know that he was a ‘heretic’. When all this was resolved on
the grounds of favours, it was said that he would be allowed to access the library only if he could
arrange for the lanterns since there was no light. There were real grounds behind such restrictions
for the strangers to the library. It is reported: We have to keep everything well locked these days…
three years ago, in the middle of winter, some raiders turned up in motor boats at the Great Larva.
They had sten guns and were assisted by an ex-novice who had been thrown out by the Abbot.
They got into the library and stole many of the most ancient manuscripts. (7-8) William also notes
down the incidents of theft or mishandlings or the tricky business of these invaluable manuscripts
by some of the men in past. The English traveler Hon. Robert Curzon was accused of purchasing
the priceless manuscripts from the Abbot by weight like fruits in the market. The German
bibliophile, Herman Tischendorf claimed he had obtained various leaves of manuscripts from a
basket of 66 firewood intended to be burnt in order to keep the monks warm in winter. Entering into
the library William himself finds the instances of lack of care and amounts of neglect and
carelessness in the keeping and maintenance of this invaluable heritage. The instance is provided
with the brief dialogue regarding John Tzimiskes’s coat: “What is that”, I whispered. “It’s John
Tzimiskes’s coat.” “The Emperor John Tzimiskes? But he lived in the tenth century.” Christophoros
shrugged his shoulders. “You can’t just leave something like that hanging up there,” I said. “Well”,
said Christophoros irritably, “where else would you put it?” (08) William finds the book, the
manuscript which has brought him here. And his instant reactions about the book are: I opened the
cover. Inside, the text was written in purple ink on the finest vellum---- strong, supple and waxy, but
so thin as to be virtually translucent. The calligraphy was a beautifully clear and cursive form of
39
early medieval Georgian. According to the library’s detailed catalogue, the volume had bound
together a number of different early Byzantine devotional texts. (11) On the whole talking about the
book, he notes that the book was a compilation of most memorable sayings, anecdotes and stories
“that Moschos gathered on his travels, and was written as part of a long tradition of such
apophthegmata, or Sayings of the fathers. However, Moschos’s writings are infinitely more
vocative, graphic and humorous than those of any of his contemporaries, and almost alone of the
surviving examples of the genre, they can still be read with genuine pleasure.” (12) With the help
and support of Moschos’s work the keynote that Dalrymple wants to strike is the historical fact that
till the rise of Islam, from the age of Constantine i.e. from the early fourth century, ‘the East
Mediterranean world was entirely Christian’. The whole of this Mediterranean world was the hub of
the Christian learnings. The Monasteries were vibrant with the scholastic activities and the libraries
were pregnant with invaluable manuscripts. Not only this, the Levant was the important centre of
the trade with the Orient. The advent of Islam brought about the start of decline and it completely
went under Islamic control in the year of 638 A.D. when Sophronius, Moschos’s companion, in his
old age from the position of Patriarch of Jerusalem, handed the keys to the Caliph. William clearly
notes the facts of ‘Christianity’s devastating decline in the land of its birth’ delineated in Moschos’s
accounts are just opening phases whose denouement is yet to take place in the current 67 times:
“The Spiritual Meadows could be read less as a dead history book than as the prologue to an
unfolding tragedy whose final chapter is still being written” (19). At present, the things have grown
very hard for the Christians in this area and there is a tendency among the natives to evacuate to
foreign lands in search of safety, security and prosperity and therefore a Palestine Christian writer
reports to William: Things have got so bad that the remaining Christians in Jerusalem could be
flown out in just nine jumbo jets; indeed there are now said to be more Jerusalem born Christians
living in Sydney than in Jerusalem itself. (20) (Emphasis mine) The emphasis tries to highlight the
tendency and trends of emigration among the native Christians who have evolved enough
understanding that life would be far more better in the safety and security of foreign lands than at
HOME. Two The second chapter narrates the visit to the Turkish Empire. William travels to the
cities of Turkey like Istanbul, Antioch, Urfa, and Diyarbakir and presents the compare - contrast
review of the scenario in the Historic context and the present plights especially of the Christians
who are undergoing atrocities at the hands of local Islamic extremist forces. Istanbul is his first
destination. William folds open the grand Historic flakes of this city of Constantinople. He notes that
the city was capital of Christendom, the richest metropolis in Europe and the most populous city
west of the great Chinese Silk Route terminus. From over there, the greatest Byzantine Emperor
controlled his Empire. For over a thousand years Constantinople was the capital of Christendom,
the richest metropolis in Europe and the most populous city west of the great Chinese Silk Route
terminus of Chang-an. (26) Describing the gorgeous temperament of this historical city, Dalrymple
asserts that when John Moschos arrived in the city, it was, being on the main Silk route and the
junction of the East –West trade and also being the center of learning, the greatest metropolis of
Europe with about a population of three quarter of a million and so divergent population that ‘it was
said that seventy-two different tongues could be heard in its streets’ (27). The city’s life was so
riveting and interesting that it was quite difficult for the natives to be able to part with it. Dalrymple
drives this point home by an interesting incident of one twelfth century Byzantine author who was
forced to leave the city for a diplomatic mission. Out of the agony of being sent away 68 from his
beloved city, the author writes: “Oh, land of Byzantine , oh thrice happy city, eye of universe,
ornament of the world, star shining a far, beacon of the lower world, would that I were within you,
enjoying you to the full! Do not part me from your maternal bosom” (27). This great Byzantine city
was eventually won by the Turks in 1453. Even with the new rulers the city maintained its
importance and in some respects its significance increased, and as Dalrymple notes, ‘for the next
two centuries the Ottoman Empire was the most powerful force in Eurasia, and Constantinople
again became the Mediterranean’s greatest port’. (27) Religious and ethnic tolerance was the most
significant virtue of erly Ottoman Constantinople. William notes from the historical facts thsat the
majority of the senior Ottoman odfficials were not ethnic Turks, but Christians or Jewish converts.
The land at thaqt time stood at the epitome of religious freedom: “No country on the earth where
the exercise of all religions is more free and less subject to being troubled, than in Turkey” (28).
40
Dalrymple notes with pains that the tolerance towards the other religions and the multicultural
legacy of the city ceased with the advent of new sagas of time. William compares the ancient
grandeurs with present impoverished lot of the great city and notes that with the ‘hardening of
attitudes’ it has turned out to be nothing more than a culturally barren place. The population from
the multi ethnic has turned to mono ethnic with 99 per cent of the Turks only. The Jews left to
Israel. The Greeks flew to Athens. The Armenians flew to Armenia or the United States in horror.
“Istanbul, once home to an inspirational ferment of different ethnicities, is today a culturally barren
and financially impoverished mono-ethnic megalopolis, 99 per cent Turkish” (28). Out of his
expertise in the history as well as study of cultures on the larger scales, Dalrymple makes a curious
observation in the context of cultural development in two entirely different national set ups. In many
ways, Turkey’s development since the Second World War seems to have followed exactly the
opposite course to that of India. There Gandhi tried to wean the whole country onto dhotis, non-
violence and spinning wheels; the result was crass materialism and the almost daily burning of
brides in ‘Kitchen accidents’ if they fail to deliver the new moped or colour television promised as
dowry. In Turkey Ataturk tried the reverse approach: he banned the fez, outlawed the Arab script
and tried to drag the Turks kicking and screaming into Europe. The result: a resurgent Islamic
movement, mullahs being cheered 69 in the mosques whenever they announce that the earth is
flat, and the sophisticated career women of Istanbul competing with each other to wear the most
all-enveloping veil or medieval-looking burkha. (29) The observation shows the development of the
people’s esteems and cultural preferences taking exactly opposite direction from the ideologies and
visions set up before them by their apex leaderships. Where Gandhi tries to propagate the
principles of simplicity, non-violence and leading life on the minimum requirements to the people of
India, the materialistic approaches to life have really taken command of ordinary people. And
during eighties and nineties the instances of news features as Dalrymple refers to were common
occurrence. The same, he notes, has happened in Turkey. Here, Ataturk banned the Islamic
extravagancies and tried to set up the European model of development with just moderate
inclusion of religious practices in the general life, the things took exactly opposite avenues. This
sort of staunch approaches towards the religious authority resulted in the narrowed tolerance for
the other religions and encouraged the people to look them with the feudal attitudes. The same
anxieties and concerns drip in almost all the matters which William discusses with local Christians
who have not yet fled anywhere else as their brethrens and preferred to be rooted to their land of
origin. At Phanar, in the absence of Patriarch’s secretary whom he actually wanted to meet and
had a letter of introduction addressed to, William manages to talk to Fr. Dimitrios, a member of the
Patriarch’s staff. According to Fr. Dimitrios the things were all well till the end of nineteenth century.
Even the fall of Ottoman Empire, the Greco-Turkish war of 1922 did not make any difference to the
Christians. “By the terms of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the 400,000 Greeks in the city and its
suburbs were specifically allowed to remain in their homes with their rights sand property intact”
(30). But everything changed overnight, William notes Fr. Dimitrios’s words, “in 1955 when Istanbul
played host to the worst race riot in Europe since Krisstallnatch. ….. Almost every Greek shop in
the city had its widows broken; cemeteries were desecrated; the tombs of Patriarchs were
destroyed; seventy three Orthodox churches were gutted” (30). The wordy threats and occasional
assaults have become routine occurrences for the Christians who have chosen to be here. The
same tunes of insecurity are played before William by the Armenian priest whom he met at Kum
Kapi, the Armenian Patriarchate. Slopping of human urine in to Armenian churches, 70 vandalizing
the graveyards and churches –these are the common atrocities exercised against the Christians.
Having described in this way the ancient glories of Istanbul and the present nightmare of the
Christians, William turns to John Moschos and projects the gaze to Moschos’s reflection for the
city. The way Moschos presented the extravagance of the Christian ecclesiastical agencies; it
seems William looks for the justification of the downfall of the Christian authority. Moschos reports
about the astonishing sexual appetites of the emperor Zeno. Even the priests fondly indulged in the
acts of murdering and whoring. The bishops like Sisinnios remained busy in self adorations and the
ladies like Justinian’s wife used their bodily charms to make the man dance to their tantrums. All
this exercises produce sound evidences of the moral anarchy prevalent in the city at the time of
Moschos’s visit. Under the hostile Turkish approaches, the expectation of maintenance of the
41
Christian Historical monuments is something unreasonable. William comes across this too. The
supreme masterpiece of Byzantine architecture, Hagia Sophia, the beautiful church ever built was
once a place of divine charms, but today, it remains unprotected and left open to all sorts of
activities. On reaching the church, William finds himself shocked when he was informed by the
ladies present there that a ‘Beauty Contest’ was going on inside the church. The total gist of the
entire situation and the plight of the non-Islamic groups in the Ataturk’s Turkey is nicely captured in
the following passage which not only allows the reader to have an impression of the scenario but
also serves the instance of the author’s consummate skills of narration: The Ottoman Empire was
administrated by a system which allowed, and indeed thrived on, diversity. Each millet or religious
community was internally self governing, with its own laws and courts. The new Turkey of Ataturk
went to the opposite extreme: uniformity was all. The vast majority of the Greeks were expelled,
and those who remained had to become Turks, at least in name. the same went for the Kurds.
Officially they do not exist. Their language and their songs were banned until very recently; in
official documents and news broadcasts they are still described as ‘Mountain Turks’. (48) After
Istanbul, William turned to Antioch by a tiresome night bus journey. Antioch is now just a city of
memory and nothing now remains like Constantine’s Golden Octagon, the council Chamber where
libanius declaimed, the great hippodrome that could seat eighty thousand people. It was in the
centre of an earthquake zone qnd had been leveed again and again. It was in a way left alone: 71
Today, it is a sleepy, provincial place, architecturally undistinguished but for a few fine late-Ottoman
villas decorated with carved wooden balustrades and with vines tumbling over the shuttered
windows. Other than the occasional archeologist, no one really bothers to come to Antioch any
more…. (54) William brings in the notes of Moschos on this city of Antioch, in 590s. Moschos noted
in his accounts that the city was on its sad phase of decline. Its port was beginning to silt up, and
the great tread had begun waning. The bazaars were starving except some local agro-produce.
Corruption was on apex. Ecclesiastical personalities found engaging in immoral trades and close
dealings with prostitutes. The theatres were the dens of anti-social and immoral occupations.
Sorcery was its gravest vice. Moschos presented a full length story of Stylites increasing influence
on the public’s faith. The pillars set by these competing saints were visited by many people and
they remained busy with pubic activities. William notes: “Today it seems that no one comes to
Symeon’s shrine. There are a handful of Christians left in Antioch, and they have better things to
worry about than the ruins of a forgotten hermit” (58). William then visits the silk route bazaar town,
Urfa. In the days of grand antiquity it remained full with different people speaking different
tongues--- Arabic, Persian, Kurdish, Turoyo, and Turkish. “Urfa has always been a frontier town,
filled with an explosive mix of different nationalities” (65). At the time of Moschos visit it laid on the
most sensitive frontier, in the world, separating the two great powers at late antiquity: Persia and
Byzantium. Its imperial treasury was rich from the custom duties. Being interested in the public life
and in efforts to bring the real ethnographical traces out, Dalrymple not only digs deep into the
historical and geographical aspects of the place and people, he, in the spirits of a true travel writer,
also weaves his narratives with the curious popular beliefs and superstitions too. In Urfa, he
highlights the superstition of the fish pond. The ownership of this fish pool is attributed to Abraham,
and the belief runs from generation to generation that if someone hunts these fish, he would go
blind. William collects even more of such versions of stories, and concludes the curious thing about
it is: “The name of the religion and the sex of the deity has altered with the centuries, but the fish
have remained sacred age after age, culture after culture…” (76). 72 From Urfa, William reaches
Diyarbakir. This place was also, William notes, on the famous Silk Route located on the river Tigris.
It was built by Julian the Apostate. The city’s history was considered black as its reign had shifted
from Byzantine, Persian and Arab conquests. The city witnessed the massacre of thousands of its
citizens each time the rein shifted from one ruler to another. Even today Urfa remains restless with
current Kurdish insurgency, being ruthlessly crushed by the Turkish Government machineries. The
situation is tense and hostile to such an extent that anyone or any journalist raises voices for the
Kurds, he would be murdered the next day. The horizons of Diyarbakir always remained engulfed
with terror, horrors and murders and massacres. William presents the records of 1895,when 2500
Armenians were killed and looted. The end result of such continual atrocities is that now there are
only a small number of Armenians left in the city and only one Armenians church functioning.
42
William also notes that the hostility was not limited to the living people but the Armenian
monuments were also t6argeted and leveled to the under one or another alibi. Even the Turkish
and other foreign academic agencies working on Armenian archeological sites or working on
Armenian history were highly discouraged. “It is simply not possible to work on the Armenians.
Officially they do not exist and have never4 done so. If you try to get permission to dig on an
Armenian site it will be withheld, and if you go ahead without permission you will be prosecuted.”
---- A British Archeologist (85) A French art historian J.M. Thierry was arrested while making the
plan of an Armenians church near Van. Later he had to flee from the country. There was a country
wide government sponsored mission to eliminate all the traces of Armenian evidence. The
government displayed zero tolerance to the entire cast and creed. William rightly quotes the words
of his friend, George Hintlian, the curator of the Armenian Museum in Jerusalem: You can attribute
diapering churches to earthquakes, robbers, Kurds, Islamic fundamentalists, men from outer space
or anything else you care to blame. The end result is exactly the same. Every passing year another
Armenian church disappears and for this the Turkish authorities can only be pleased. (88) His
journey from Diyarbakir to the Monastery of Mar Gabriel proves eventful. He leaves Diyarbakir in
the company and car of Mas’ud, some of his friends had advised him to go off the road before four.
On the way, they encounter the inquiry of ‘Secret Police’. Even the police and military forces
followed them to the Deir el- 73 Zaferan, Tur Abdin. William notes that this was the Patriarchal Seat
of the Syrian Orthodox Church, split from the Byzantine mainstream. The Islamic extremist
pressures have suppressed this group too. And the result is, as it is reported to William: From
200,000 in the; last century, the size of the community fell to surround seventy thousand by 1920.
By 1990 there were barely four thousand Surinani left in the whole region; now there are around
nine hundred, plus about a dozen monks and nuns, spread over the five extant monasteries. (91)
And, as Symeon (The monk at Deir el-Zaferan) expresses his deep felt grief to the plight of
Christianity: Two hundred years ago there were seven hundred monks on this mountain. The
community has survived so long---survived the Byzantines, the Persians, the Arabs Tamurlane, the
Ottomans. Now there are just two of us left (at Deir el-Zaferan). (95) William’s visit of Mar Gabriel
allows him to peep into some more painful accounts regarding the razing of Christianity in the
region. During his stay at the Monastery he comes to know from Fr. Tomas how the Christian
villages were evacuated and gutted only on the suspicion of their being help to the PKK extremists
(Kurdish militia). It was here on listening to the boys and other locals conversing in Toroyo, he feels
Jesus might have talked in the same accents when a boy. Here he also collects information
regarding Ein Wardo, where the Suriani people protected themselves from the invading Ottoman
troops. From this, he goes to meet one of the defenders who resided in the nearby village at the
age of ninety-four. Here, William’s driver cum companion, Mas’ud was severely interrogated by the
secret police on the suspicion that William was not just a simple tourist but a journalist too. When
they returned from the visit of the old priest of Ein Wardo, Abouna Shabo, at Midyat, at the
monastery of Mar Gabriel, Afrem informed William that the police had been there and waited for
him for five hours that day in order to inquire him. These were not good sign and for the safety of
both monastery and William himself and Mas’ud, he must leave the place. But before leaving the
region, he gets Mas’ud to take him to Ein Wardo. In spite of the warnings of the risks especially of
the landmines, he traverses the path and the result is he gives the readers a live account of the
place on the secret corners. On their return, they were arrested by the military officials but
fortunately were released without any of the harassment they had imagined from the stories they
had heard about. It was indeed a pleasant experience at last from the Military Officials. 74 Three
The third chapter gives a detailed account of William’s visit in the land of Syria. As per the scheme
adopted by him for the construction of his entire travel, here too, he sticks to
his compare contrast of the landscape to that of at the time of John Moschos as reported by him in
his
famous ‘The Spiritual Meadows’. Before he crossed the border into the Syrian land, he relates a
story originally enacted by John Moschos related to the border town Nibis, that he was about to
enter as soon as he put a foot in Syria -- the story of a Nestorian Christian lady’s marrying a pagan
43
man, and her faith in Lord; and the eventual reward of handsome fortune through the grace of
Lord. William sighs at the end of the story with a note that “nothing appears to survive today of late
antique Nibis save the cathedral baptistery, dated by a Greek inscription to 359 A. D. (137) Syria
shocks him; rather it was a pleasant one. He notes it had undergone great changes ever since his
last visit a decade back. As compared to his tense journey through the minefields, barricaded
roads and constant threats of interrogation and tortures of secret police of Turkey, it appears to him
as the ‘Garden of Eden’. Referring to the dictatorial reign, he notes that the public is free to do
anything and enjoys a considerable peaceful life so long as they keep away from politics. The
dictator, President Asad’s Syria has become a peaceful and safe destination for the destitute and
tortured Christians. The Christians from the neighboring nation like Iraq prefer to reside in the
camps sharing with the sect of people of opposite faith. William collects information regarding this
camp from George Joseph, a cousin of one of the monks at Mar Grabiel, and grows curious to visit
it personally; upon which he was warned by George that such a step might generate sensitive and
serious reactions from the administration; instead, he was advised to interview one such Nestorian
in London, as many of them have settled in Europe. Learning this fact, William makes a
generalized statement on the travel writer’s fate: Such are the humiliations of the travel writer in the
late twentieth century: go to the end of the earth to search for the most exotic heretics in the world,
and you find they have cornered the kebab business at the end of your street in London. (143)
Talkative George fills the travel time with his interesting stories which William happily shares with
us too. At the Syrian Orthodox Cathedral William witnesses the attempts of reviving the ancient
traditions of Stylit saints, which to him personally seem just an outward imitation of the traditions
which the saints took voluntarily by renouncing the mundane interests. At lunch at Sally
Mazloumian’s 75 home, who was the widow of the owner of the hotel who had passed away just a
year ago, William happened to meet Christians especially the Armenians and heard them with
great sympathy. They all had some stories to relate. They were all refugees there. One by one they
narrated their stories to William; all ranging in the atrocities from physical tortures to genocides.
Armenians were the butt of hatred for the Turks, and they killed them in bulks at every opportunity.
Tired from such incessant atrocities they took shelter in Syria, where after its independence in
1946, there was a backlash. There was anti-Christian feeling widespread. Attempts were made to
declare Syria an Islamic State. But the ascent of Asad on the political horizon was a honey thing or
the Armenians here. Asad kept himself in power by forming what was in effect a coalition o Syria’s
many religious minorities--- Shias, Druze, Yezidis, Christians and Alawites. In Syria, the Christians
were treated equally with the Muslims. There was no enmity between Christians and Muslims.
William quotes the words of Mar Gregories’s words in this connection: If Syria were not here, we
would be finished. It is a place of sanctuary, a heaven for all Christians: for the Nestorians and
Chaldeans driven out of Iraq, the Syrian Orthodox and the Armenians driven out of Turkey, even
Palestinian Christians driven out of the Holy Land by the Israelis. (150) All of them were worried
about the future scenario after the reign of Asad is over. The fundamentalism, they observe, is
gaining momentum and at any possibility of Asad’s regime crumbling, it would generate adversities
to the Christians. “As long as the bottle is closed with firm cork all is well. But eventually the cork
will come out. And then no one knows what will happen” (155). The enmity between Christianity
and Islam makes him think deep. He studies the book of Theodoret (John Moschos’s
contemporary) ‘The History of the Monks’, and brings forth the facts how several saints exercised
powerful influences on the people and society. “As Theodoret once remarked, the holy men
replaced the pagan gods; their shrines replaced the temples, and their feasts superseded the old
pagan festivals” (162). From the increasing influence of the saints and people’s faith in them, there
emerged the exercise of protection and extortion of the Demonic powers. The exact counter foil of
the Islamic djinns and their Sufi Mysticism preparing Talisman and other aids for the protection or
the extortion of djinns. 76 Theodoret referred the city of Cyrrhus as Hagiopolis --- th e city of saints.
Visiting a couple of ruinous Churches on his way to the city of Cyrrhus, William reaches the
destination; at first half the way hitchhiking and then by a car. William here comes to know about
the Muslim Tomb of Nebi Uri, worshipped by both the Christian and the Islamic faith. The Nebi Uri,
he clarifies, is none another but the Christian Uriah the Hettie. Here, he clearly states how he looks
at the common grounds of both the religions which have, at present, evolved hostile attitudes
44
towards each other.“Today the West often views Islam as a civilization very different from and
innately hostile to Christianity. Only when you travel in Christianity’s eastern homelands do you
realize how closely the two religions are really linked” (168). He goes further to note that: “If John
Moschos were to come back today it is likely that he would find much more that was familiar in the
practices of a modern Muslim Sufi than he would with those of, say, a contemporary American
Evangelical”(168). William Dalrymple keeps his narrative ‘live and riveting’ by his direct dialoguing
to the locals or the ‘in charges’ of the places he visits, the local people, their direct experiences,
opinions and sometimes the stories of their past experiences. This sort of scheme saves the
narration from being monotonous one sided one, the readers feel well nigh that they are being
presented the most authentic version of information and find their interest with the curios current of
what is next…? In the same vein, he presents his meeting with the Urfalees in Aleppo, Malfono
Namek. Malfono Namek presents the tragic tale of the entire village’s evacuation from Urfa and
also discusses the matter of their music and hymns being the most original one unaltered from
their original sources. William’s next destination was Sorjilla town. He went there in order to witness
the ruins of antique buildings spread out across the Beloco valley which John Moschos has also
mentioned in his book for its merchandise enterprises. With his skills of pictorial descriptions,
William presents the whole complex live before the readers’ eyes. From here he visits Homs,
known as Emesa in the antiquity. The place was famous for many a vices prevalent in the Christian
society of that time. William also makes reference to the several historical events associated to this
place just as this is the place where St. Willibald was imprisoned for several months on his way to
Jerusalem, and that this was the place, as per the myth, Malik Jylan, the emperorof Rum, was
commanded by Virgin Mary to build a convent; the emperor did the same and also installed his own
sister as the first abbess. William visits the same convent and tells the reader of the travel writer
Colin Thubron, who noted to have witnessed 77 miracle in the convent when he visited it in 1966.
William notes to have witnessed a miracle too, but it is of another form: … he (Colin Thubron)
claimed to have witnessed a miracle: to have seen the face of the icon of Notre Dame de Seidnaya
stream with tears. In the same Church I too witnessed a miracle, or something that today would
certainly be regarded as a miracle in almost any other country in the Middle East. For the
congregation seemed to consist not of Christians but almost entirely of heavily bearded Muslim
men. (187) The continuing and wide spreading faith of the convent is experienced and witnessed
by William himself as he saw the convent over crowded at night by the Muslim couples on their
course of prayer to have offspring by the grace of the Lady. William receives a pleasant shock as
well as a sort of surprise when he learns that even the cosmonauts revered the Virgin and made
offerings. Four Most of all, however, I was becoming fascinated by the Maronites. They sounded
very different from any of the other Christian communities I have so far come across on my journey.
Although they do not appear in The Spiritual Meadow, the Maronites started off as a cult around a
Byzantine hermit who was a near-contemporary of John Moscohs. Indeed St. Maron’s ascetic
tendencies were so extreme that he earned a place in Theodoret’s compendium of eremitical
eccentricities, the History of the Monks of Syria. (196) This is how William introduces his interests
in this special cult of Maronites on his visit of Labanon that forms the fourth chapter of the book.
This part of the earth, William notes, had been under the severe spells of anarchy for last two
decades. The area was ransacked and turned upside-down through the bombarding of Israelis as
well as clashes of different groups within its own territories. The History of Labanon had much to do
with the History of the Maronite Christians and therefore, William opens the pages of the origin of
this cult. It came into existence following St. Maron’s ascetic tendencies. His thoughts were so
stronger that St. Maron secured his place in Theodoret’s ‘The History of the monks of Syria’.
Another interesting thing about this cult was that they favoured Monothelitism, the particular brand
of Christiology. It had originally been promoted by the Emperor Heracliusas a compromise defitiopn
of the person of Christacceptable to both the Orthodox and Monophyrites. Eventually, the definition,
William notes here, was flung to air by both parties and the Maronuites remained singular cult to
embrace it, thus, 78 got labeled as heretics. Though the Maronites were rooted to Syria, they had
to flee away from there in order to avoid the harassments form Byzantines. As the entire ethnic
45
group sustained and developed with the help of French. The French helped them in creating ‘State
of Greater Lebanon’ and thus the tendency to prove themselves more French than Syrian found its
root in this group. In the course of time the population of the Muslims increased posing direct
competition to the Maronites. The clashes resulted in massacres of Muslims and branding the
Maronites as the most ruthless, brutal and politically incompetent: ….the balance of responsibility
for the outbreak of the civil war to the Maronites’ intransigence, their contempt for their Muslim
neighbours, and their point blank refusal to share Lebanon with the landless Palestinian refugees
rejected from their homes at the creation of Israel in 1948. (198) At the hotel bar, reading the
broucher “Lebanon: The Promised Land Of Tourism”, William thinks about Lebanon to be a place
of such promised delicacies. But Juan Carlos, the journalist and his friend tells something adverse
to this revealing to him that it was the place of massacres, gang rapes, opium, drugs and heroines.
There were censorships on press freedom. He also meets other intellectuals of this area such as
Professor Salibi, Fisk, Dr. Badr and Walid Jumblatt, Lady Cochrane, etc. He also meets Robert
Franjieh, one of the family members Suleiman Franjieh, Lebanon’s late President and the founder
of Marada militia operated by the Maronite clan. All of these intellectuals and prominently influential
personalities have their own tale to relate. The root cause of the entire civil war, William here
quotes Walid Jumblatt, the Druze leader; it was not just the case of Christian against the Muslim,
but rather it was the case of the Maronites against rest of all: The Maronites have always been
their own worst enemies. They have wanted to dominate Lebanon as if it were an entirely Christian
state. They have never been prepared to give the majority the rights, to share powers or in any way
to bring about democratic reforms. (22) The Maronites presided over both the birth and death of
Lebanon, said Lady Cochrane. Without them, Lebanon would never have existed. With them
behaving as they have tendency to do, it can’t go on. Of course the war brought out the worst in
everyone. The Muslims all turned into terrorists and the Christians into Mafiosi….. (241) 79 “No,”
said Robert. “The war lives on. Everything in my life --- everything in Lebanon --- has been marked
by that bounda ry: everything is either before or after war. It has changed and brutalized
everything…... during the war most people in this country ceased to make an effort, to work or to
study: they knew they could be dead the next day, so they lived for the moment. It is the same
today. In fact it may be the only thing people have learned from the war.” (259-260) Even on his
way to Chouf, at the brief stoppage, at Deir el-Qamar, to allow the car to cool down, William picks
up an opportunity to talk to a Maronite Priest; old Pere Abbe Marcel abi-Khalil. The priest discloses
the facts that Jumblatt was helping the Christian settle down in that town and that the Druze and
Christians lived at peace with each other for a long time there. At the Jumblatt’s collection of the
mosaics William feels that the glorious collection was not only impressive but perhaps some of the
mosaics of the collection must have felt the feet of his hero, John Moschos. His shudder of thought
of distant past glories got shattered by the ‘sonic boom’ which brings him back to the reality and on
inquiry what it was, he got the flat prosaic reply that it was an Israeli reminder to the locales about
their presence there. From there, William travels to Bsharre, site of the genesis of the Maronite cult.
William also refers that it was the city of the great Khalil Gibran, the author of ‘The Prophet’. Along
with, William refers, it was also the centre in present from where the notorious Samir Geagea
operated and executed mass murders in the area in name of religious tiffs. Secondly it is the place
where people resort to fire deadly ammunitions only in order to celebrate their joyful events. Thus,
through these three references William introduces the place that is next on his itinerary. At Bsharre
William goes on the visit of the Maronite Patriarchate in the Qadisha valley on foot and gives a live
description of his errand and daring breaking in the ‘locked’ Church, and meeting with a mysterious
looking hermit on his way back, whose name he, he mentions later, “had never learned” (251).
Before leaving Lebanon and heading towards the Holy Land of Bethlehem, William visits the
ancient city of Ba’albek, one of John Moschos’s stopping points as he passed up the coast of
Byzantine Phoenicia and the Mar Elias refugee camp of the Palestinian Christian. The city of
Ba’albek, William notes, was the known for the pagan cults prospering in the city, the present
scenario also demonstrated the same anti Christian activities but this time not the pagans but the
Shia cult of Islam. The Mar Elias refugee camp of the Palestinian Christian displays the wounds of
war not only in the landscape but also in the minds and lives of people. Through 80 the case study
of life story of Samira, Sarah Daou’s mother, William tries to show the miseries of the entire ethnic
46
group. Her story seems to fill the horrors of war and brutal treatments to the people by the powerful
groups on the grounds of religious feuds. Though devastated to the edge of existence and
surviving the situations which were volatile to the extent that one could not be sure of life even for
the next hour, Sarah and her family live on the spirits of forgiveness even to those who have
deliberately wronged them. In her conversation to William she says: “If you are a Christian you
have to learn to forgive your enemies. It is not for me to judge them.” In response to William’s
question how about their yearnings to go back to their own land Palestine; to their own village Kafr
Bir’im, it is clear that they are ready to get planted back to their own land at any cost, their
yearnings are paramount but the scope of their turning into reality?....as Samira nicely expresses:
“it is in the hands of God” (275). Five The fifth chapter deals with William’s visit to the West Bank -
the area under Israel occupation after war. The land of West Bank was shattered in the turmoil of
war affairs. The area of West Bank and the part of East Jerusalem had been the Israel won regions
in the 1907 war and served as the buffer zones between the Jewish State and its neighbours.
There was a competition for colonization. The conquered territory was replenished with the Jewish
settlements. Eighty percent of West Bank’s water had been piped out to Israel by the military
forces. The signs of conflicts are still there. The Us Camps teemed with the people uprooted from
their home land at the creation of Israel. Discriminated approaches between ‘ours’ and ‘others’
rang bell in the area. William captures the entire scenario in the following terms: The settlers have
guns, vote in elections, enjoy Israeli civil justice and can join the army; the Palestinians under
Israeli occupation are forbidden to own weapons of any sort cannot vote in Israeli elections and are
subject to the arbitrary and dismissive verdicts of military courts. (283) Having, thus, described the
war tortured scenario of Israel occupied areas, William turns to the Monastery of Mar Saba. On the
way to Mar Saba, he picks up an opportunity to visit the tomb of his hero, John Moschos at the
Lavra of St. Theodosius. Narrating the history of Moschos’s burial here in this place of Theodosius,
William collects information from the Nun, the only caretaker of the shrine. 81 St. John Moschos
died in Constantinople, but his dying wish was that he should be brought back hereto the Lavra of
St. Theodosius. He regarded this as his home: this was where he was first tonsured, and where he
spent most of his life. (287) William spent some time at the tomb of Moschos. He prayed there and
prayed for the people who had helped him on the journey, the monks who had showed the
manuscripts, the frightened Suriani, the Armenians of Aleppo and the Palestinian Christians.
He prayed also for the safe and secured journey to the rest of the path. William’s prayers for the
suffering lot of Christians show his concerns for the religious fraternity. He tries to seek the spiritual
aids to the sufferings of the people of his own religious faith. It gives us clear notion that he has
witnessed such dire plights of them that apparently there seems no imminent relief. His pains at the
vanishing stance of Christianity and working of the extreme forces to wipe out the very existence of
the religion from its point of very origin acquire the climatic heights at this juncture of the book,
especially when he finds himself standing close to the tomb of John Moschos. “I
stood before the grave of John Moschos, the man whose writings had brought me on this journey
and in whose footsteps I was travelling. (287) The
monastery was the place, notes William, where Moschos spent a major part of his life and therefore
many of its resident monks frequent the pages of ‘The Spiritual Meadows’. The devastation has
deserted the glorious monastery which once remained busy with multi-faceted religious
performance of services to the holy Christ and pursuits of eternal scores of knowledge. The monks
and their spiritual halo drew many pilgrims to the site. But all that has vanished like the moments of
a dreamy conscious. The massacre of the monks at the hands of the Persians translated the place
into not better than an isolated alley of any deserted city, with the only nun to take care of it.
Looking the pile of the bleached bones and skulls of the anonymous monks William imagines them
to be the live and vibrant figures of Moschos’s book. And here he relates the story of the two
brother monks who were the only ones to be saved from the swords of the Persians. The
monastery of Mar Saba was ten miles from St. Theodosius’. Giving pictorial description of this
monastery, William enters into the pages of history---the golden era of the monastery. William tries
47
to capture those remote moments which remained textured and woven in the knowledge pursuits
of the brilliant monk folks. It was the hub of scholarship, intellectuality and philosophical
contemplations. Once its twenty four hour passed busy with monks’ copying manuscripts,
composing hymns 82 and creative poems. Its library remained replete with the remarkable
manuscripts and kept on being fed with new multiplication of knowledge. At Mar Saba, the present
Monks offer him good treatment and satisfy his appetite of curiosity with the stories of past and
present. Their talks harness wide range of topics from their experiencing the presence of the holy
saint Saba in the monastery, the demons’ attacks to the frequency of rains and the terrors of the
local nomads to loot the hidden treasures in the separate cells of the different monks. William here
feels amazed to witness how even in the hardships of the deserts Christianity prospered. The
things at the Mar Saba make him remember the pages of Moschos’s ‘The Spiritual Meadows’.
William also notes in detail the goods of superstitious beliefs held by the monks at Mar Saba that
carry a good deal of faith and sometimes seems that without them their life and routine would lose
colouring of faith. He notes, “It is strange still to find many of their superstitions, fears and
prejudices alive in the conservation of the monks who still inhabit this” (279). William visited the
Holy city of Jerusalem, specially the Armenian quarter. When John Moschos arrived there, there
were many communities like Gregorians, Armenias, Syrians, Galatians, Italians and some Franks.
The city was full of small Church missions. It was full with clerics. With the passage of time others
disappeared but the Armenians had managed to retain. The city was engrossed in the battle from
time to time. There were bloody wars in the name of religions. It had witness stormy massacres just
in the name of religion which are enough to falsify its name as the land of Peace. For despite the
references in the psalms to ‘the peace of Jerusalem’, the holy city has probably seen more rapine
and pillage, more regularly, than any comparable patch of ground on the planet. Here the Israelites
battled with the Jebusites, Cannonites, Phillistines, Assyrians, Babilonians, Persians, Greeks and
Romans; here the Arabs eventually succeded them only to lose control successively to the
cruseders, the turks,the British and the Israelis. (310) William’s visit to the Armenian quarters in
Jerusalem gives him the impression that amid these conflicts among the religious cults, it held the
instance of the peaceful continuity. In the third nations, the Armenia was the first nation to convert
to Christianity. They were enthusiastic pilgrims to the Holy places. At the time of Moschos’s visit
there were seventy Armenian churches in the city. After 1915, there were genocides of a million
and a half Armenians at the hands of the Turks. Then, he Jerusalem, especially the Armenian
quarter became the place of refuge for many Armenian survivors. The life here, too, notes William,
was 83 an instance of all hardships and silent sufferings. The land was ruled by the Israelis and its
law. Under the Israeli rule, only Jews were given the right while non-Jews were excluded from
everywhere. All the Arab residents were evicted. Old mosques and shrines were bulldozed and
Palestinians were expelled from their homes. Muslim quarter had been acquired by some radical
settler groups. Even they had damaged Christians’ properties. Christians were also worried about
their future. Hagop, the Bishop, reports to William: I am seriously worried for our future. We hads
been here for 1600 years, yet we cannot be sure what will happen tomorrow. The Israelis claim that
they are champions of religious freedom, but behind that smokescreen they make it impossible for
our community to flourish. (313) Not only that the monumental sites of Judaism were treated with
care and respect while the Christian antiquities were being disregarded as part of Israel’s campaign
to assert its rights to the city. The historical archeological buildings were not given proper attention
only on the grounds that they belonged to the non-Jews. William contacts some of the liberal
minded elites of Israel who clearly opine against such biased treatment and manipulated handlings
to the precious historical heritage. Shulamit Giva, the Jerusalem based archeologist, expressed her
concerns in 1992, “Israeli archeology had lost its independence as a scientific discipline and
become an executive arm of an ideological movement, a nationalist and political instrument which
provided “roots” for the new state” (333). William’s curiosity to learn about the ‘contact zones’ of the
different cults and religious groups led him to the site of the shrine of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem.
William notes that the places where Israelis and the Palestinians came in close contacts were few;
albeit any such contacts drove to communal tensions only. There had been few places where one
could see religious harmony among the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims. But the site of Beit
Jala was an exception where all these three religious communities at Palestine used to pay visit
48
with equal amount of faith. The Christians regarded it as the birthplace of St. George, the Jews as
the burial place of the Prophet Elias, Muslims as the home of the legendary saint of fertility known
simply as Khidr. Before leaving Jerusalem, William visits the two sites: the one is Pharan, the
modern Ein Fara, where Moschos spent ten years of his initial phase of monkhood, and second
one is the Kafr Bir’im village, the village of Samira Daou whom William met in the Mar Elias refugee
camp. Pharan is a remote cave monastery to the north of Jerusalem. In connection with the cave
monastery, William narrates the story of Fr. Alexandros whom he met, and who claimed to be the
last one of the lineage of the 84 monks of the cave monastery, and that he had to leave and
dessert the monastery to be safe from being murdered mercilessly from the Israeli militant groups.
William reaches the spot of Ein Fara with the help of a Christian Palestinian taxi driver, Sami
Fanous. William reaches to the spot alone and on foot. It was an aloof place surrounded by the
bare hills deep in the valley. William’s observations take the entire scenario and landscape into
views and the result is the pictorial description of it which makes the readers feel as if he/she were
present there imbibing the natural charms of the place: Arriving at the bottom, I took off my shoes
and bathed my feet in the clear, cold water. Despite the heat, the area around the spring was cool,
shady and peaceful. As I sat there I thought how easy it was to understand why Moschos had
chosen this spot to spend his years as a hermit: in such a place, it seemed to me it must have
been easy to foster the grand monastic virtues of gentleness, balance, lack of haste and clarity of
spirit. All around the spring, peppering the cliffs of the ravine, were the mouths of the caves that
had once been filled with Moschos’s fellow hermits. (360) Here, they were held up by the security
guards for some unknown reasons. After the prolonged inquiries, checking of William’s passport
and other documents, the driver’s documents and a series of phone calls to the Higher Authorities
they were ultimately let go with a point of note “It was a bit of misunderstanding”; William here
emphatically notes yet there was not a slightest line of ‘apology’ on the faces of the security
guards. The Kafr Bir’im village was the place which was got vacated by the Israeli forces from the
Palestinian Christian inhabitants on a short notice in 1948. The family of Samira Daou whom
William met in the Mar Elias refugee camp had left it during this hustle bustle and had spent the
major part of their life miserably in the refugee camps. On their meeting Samira Daou had
expressed her desire to learn about their neighbours who had chosen to stay back and had taken
refuge in the nearby town Jish. To fulfill this promise, William visits the village Kafr Bir’im where at
present stands the National Park. At Jish, he directs his inquiries about the fate of the village and
its habitants. He finds a number of old habitant of the Kafr Bir’im village full of fresh memories of
their village life as if it had been the event of only yesterday. They narrated to William their struggle
to get their village and property back and how everything was razed to ground before their eyes
even after they had won the matter in the court of law. 85 On the whole, the visit to Jerusalem and
west bank brings the readers in close quarters with the restless and violence stricken patches of
the earth. William even at the risk of his own life manages to make the readers face-to-face with
the real scenario of the public life. Not only that the political and religious groups’ aggressive and
hostile treatments towards the groups who do not confirm their faith conspicuously arrest William’s
attention, William deliberately tries to throw light of the issues of malicious political manipulations to
the real historical monuments and the politically powered use of the scientific disciplines. The sight
and scenario which Moschos would have witnessed had been taken to its still further worsening
avenues. The concerns as voiced by the Christian locales to William still stand the same grave
anxieties in the hostile and war stricken developments in the Middle East even in the year on 2014.
Six Chapter six deals with William’s visit to the land of Egypt and his first stay in Egypt is at the city
of Alexandria, which he refers to as “a city clinging to the minds of old men like traces of perfume
on a sleeve: Alexandria the capital of Memory” (376). At the very outset, he mentions he visited
Alexandria through the pages of Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet. On the surface the place
gave William an experience of peace which the places he had just visited knew nothing of it. But
here too, the peace and orderliness had been founded upon the uprooting of the Christians and the
Jews from the land. William meets the Jews of Alexandria who had got reduced from millions to
only few. William notes the curious incidents of the disappearance of the donkey in 1900 and at
another incident a newly wedded bride in the underground chambers which lay beneath the floor of
Alexandra, and in this way “the ancient city continues to make its presence felt.” And this kind of
49
incidents would mark the spots for excavations which allowed the access to the ancient world of
grand monuments. William visits the excavated sites and wonders how Christianity would have
been uprooted from this once intellectual capital of Christianity. It was this Alexandria which was
the meeting place of many cults and cultures. William here draws his interpretative line of genesis
of the Christian iconography from the early pagan ones displayed in the Greco-Roman Museum in
Alexandria. 86 William notes here that the real foundations of this Alexandria were laid by the real
habitants of this land that is the Greeks and the Jews. He meets them and collects their version of
the stories which sound not better than the plights of Muslims and Christians in the Israel. Just as it
happens in the areas with non favoured groups, the majority of the Jews and the Greeks have fled
and sought abode in the countries of the Western World of the Australian continent, the rest find it
impossible to leave the land where they feel strictly rooted. As Miss Christina out pours her heart,
“Alexandria was a Greek town. But few of us are left. Every year, little by little, we get smaller. In
twenty years no one will be left” (380). In his conversations with these people, William tries to trace
out the points of sudden change of the scenario and the hostile attitudes towards these particular
groups. It was a sudden change, accorded one of the Greek ladies, more particularly after Nasser
threw the Europeans away. Before that, as claims Diodorus of Sicily in the fifth century B.C.,
Alexandria was the ‘Queen of the Mediterranean, the greatest port of the classical world certainly
far ahead of the rest in elegance and extent and riches and luxuries. Even till recent times, says
Miss Christina to William, Alexandria was like Paris. It was the most creative town—all these
different cultures collaborating and mingling with each other: conferences lectures, gallerias....
William notes that it was the town where Cleopatra sighed her last breathes or many of the ancient
Byzantine creative artistic pieces obtained their incarnations here in the alleys of this town.
Through the risky driving of Ramazan, William visits the ancient Byzantine town site Oxyrhynchus,
presently known as Behnasa. Reaching the site at irst he was on the verge of disappoinbtmnt as
there was not a trace available that could prove the existence of the grand ancient town’s presence
at the spot; no pillars, no temple nothing. But suddenly William notes his attention was drawn
towards the soft soil bed beneath his feet which was hiding the shards of broken pots and
potteries; actually it was the rubbish dumps of the ancient town. It came to notice first in 1895.
William here mentions and credits two British archeologists Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt for
their meticulous work and falling to their hand the lost Byzantine classical library, now stored in the
library of Alexandria. William serves many of them to the readers in order to allow them to have an
idea about the quality of concerns and reflections of the people of ancient world. William also visits
the Monastery of Saint Anthony and presents his research over the genesis of the Monastic
tradition in Christianity. As per the version presented 87 by William it was Saint Anthony who in
order to evade the man folk following him settled at the most awkward place. Still he was perused
by the ancient Alexandrian intellectuals, and in this way, specifies William, the Monasteries came
into existence. The monasteries became so popular that there were “seven hundred monasteries in
the desert between Jerusalem and the southern border of the Byzantine empire.” William notes
that the site of the monastery of Saint Anthony was at the most inhospitable patch of dessert, and
its access was rather very difficult in the ancient time. It took three week’s time with caravan of
camels to reach it. The philosophy of Saint Anthony was the simpler one which preached human
folks to attain oneness with the Nature. For this reason Saint Anthony preferred long session of
prayers and manual labour as a gesture to be one with the nature than to invest energy in the
pursuit of ‘Knowledge of written words’. William notes that though the present lot of priests is
educated they prefer to spend much of their energies in physical labour and long sessions of
prayers, and many of their talks remain preoccupied with the mysteries and miracles caused by the
holy spirits of the late Saints who, as it is strongly held by them, constantly stay at guard of their
disciples and the premises of their monasteries. During his stay at the monastery of Saint Anthony,
William enters into a prolonged conversation with Fr. Dioscuros who satisfies most of his quarries
about the way of monastic lives taken by the monks at present. William here also notes down the
same receding spirits and silencing attitudes of the Christians against the oppressions done to
them. He clearly mentions that , “The Copts have suffered petty discrimination for centuries, but the
recent revival of Islamist insurgencies in Upper Egypt has made their position more dangerous”
(411). Still, notes William, like Suriani in Turkey, the Copts step back and seem doing every effort to
50
avoid subject. But once they open their accounts, there come a full length volume of oppressions
and massacres of the Christian people as well as the destruction of Christian monuments. The
comments apparently show the hidden feeling that all the attacks and oppressions and atrocities
are under the knowledge of the government but there was sheer absence of political willingness to
deal with them with any stricter measures. William also brings in the description of Moschos’s visit.
‘In Spiritual Meadows’ Moschos presents the full length accounts and incidents of nomadic attacks
on the Christian monks and elders. After the vespers, in his conversations with the Abbot, William
researches on the famous stone sculpture at Scotland and the painting at the monastery featuring
two saints: Anthony and Paul. The incident was on not being able to decide how much share each
one of them should have from the loaf of the bread, they decided to tear it 88 into two in this way.
William presents his expert comments on the both the piece of arts and passes his judgment that
the painting was much near to the reality as it presented the saints sitting in a cave, whereas the
stone sculpture presented them sitting in chairs, adding that version of it might have reached
Scotland through any merchant, pilgrim or any wandering Monk. Meanwhile waiting for the
permission to visit the sensitive area of Upper Egypt, through the strange divorce writ for Dr. Abu
Zaid and his wife Dr. Ibthal Yunis on the grounds that the marriage was incompatible, William tries
to give the reader idea of increasing hold of the Islamic Extremists at all fronts in Egypt. Dr. Zaid
also confesses that he was not getting support from his own authority students’ circles or from his
own colleagues. He tells William that by swearing to be a true Islamic follower he could settle the
case but by doing so he did not want to allow the extremists win on false moral grounds. His visits
to the two Christian localities; Shubra and Bin Shams, though bring forth the same incidents of
atrocious treatments to the Copts, make him realize another facet of the reality. Here, at both the
places, he finds the people reluctant to refer to the incidents of attacks on the Churches or on
Christians. And when he tries to discuss the causes of it with the Coptic driver Menas, who had
taken him to the places in his taxi, the driver clears the grounds as: We don’t like to create
problems with the Muslims. At the moment our life is not too bad. To shout out our complaints will
do us no good. The Christians in Europe will not help. Nor will the Americans. There is no one to
help us. So we keep quiet. We have no option but to get on as best we can. (434) He further adds
to the comment of William as this kind of attitudes being counterproductive: If the government does
not like what we are saying, it can be very cruel to us, in many ways: with work, with business, with
our families, with our children in school. They can make our life hell. For this reason the people are
not telling you the clear situation. (434) Lastly the driver bluntly reminds William about his business
and dangers he might incur to the local Christian localities just for his zeal of producing a book;
This is not your problem. It is our problem. You make a book then you go home. But we have to
stay here. I know you are trying to help. But you must be very careful. If you are not, you could do
us great harm. (434) 89 At Cairo, he obtains permission to enter in the Upper Egypt only when he
presents the transcript of President Mubarak’s interview conducted by him in which Mubarak
personally permitted him to visit any part of Upper Egypt he wished. The transcript of the personal
interview worked nicely, he was not only granted permission to travel in the inner recess of Upper
Egypt but that he was provided with a government car and an interpreter as well. The initial phase
of the journey in the Government car and with escorts seemed ordinary but as they approached the
interior area, William thought it was better to have traveled privately than to move around with
escorts attracting unnecessary attention of the terrorist groups. At one or two places, on learning
the styles and strategies of the militant groups, not only he himself but he studied the grim lines of
fear on the face of the interpreter too. The first village that falls on the rout happens to be the
village of some Coptic Christians who have been agitating with the Muslim Militant group, Gema’a
al-Islamiya. The original issue was that of property of one Coptic Christians which the Muslim Bully
wanted to purchase at insulting lower rate. But as the story goes, the issue resulted in merciless
massacre of the Christians, even the innocent Monks were assassinated in the premises of the
church; the church where the Holy Family from King Harod once took shelter. Having arrived at
Asyut, William took a sigh of relief as then he was on the verge of his nearly intangible and difficult
task of following the Byzantine Journey of John Moschos. He notes Asyut was known as Lycopolis
in Byzantine times. This place and the Kharga Oasis were utilised as the exile regions for the
unwanted and unfavoured class of people who came on the way of reign as obstructions. At
51
present too, William makes it clear, the place was used as the jail of the political opponents,
serving the same purpose as it held in past. The last patch of journey was somewhat tricky, though
this time not any threats of being killed in militant attacks, but the dessert things played tricks: The
dessert played tricks with our senses. In such a place it was impossible to verify the size of any
object that might break this white madness. Outcrops of rock might be pebbles, boulders or small
mountains. At one point, shortly after leaving our escort, we came across a group of workers who
were labouring to mend a stretch of road badly damaged by a freak storm that had hit Asyut a
month earlier. From a distance the men appeared like giants; as we got nearer they shrunk to
dwarves. Only as we passed alongside them were we able to judge their true height with any
certainty. (449) 90 Here William marks the point that how difficult it would have proved to Moschos
and his companion Sophronius to travel to this most awkward geographical patch of the earth and
the second thing what would have attracted them to fare such a death countering journey. William
makes a guess that as Moschos had included the story of Nestorius’s exile into this land in ‘The
Spiritual Meadows’, the notoriety of him or the monk in himself might have attracted him to this
place of spiritual exile. Standing at the great holy mountain William, being engulfed in the
contemplations of the span of his entire journey, imagines how Moschos might have casted his
receding glances on the recesses of the mountain sprawling in the white dessert with acute pains
of witnessing the beginning of process of withering the plant of Christianity from the very land in
which it sprouted and spread to the four corners of the world. Sharing the pains of Moschos,
William out pours his own pains as well: It is a Historical continuum that began during the journey
of Moschos and the final chapter of which I have been witnessing on my own travels some fourteen
years later....... On my journey in his footsteps I have seen the very last stalks in the process of
being uprooted. It has been a continuous process, lasting nearly one and a half millennia, Moschos
saw its beinnings. I have seen the beginning of its end. (453-454) Just as ‘Travel’ leaves one wiser
and with broadened visions, William too finds he was quite wrong for his assumptions at the
beginning of journey. He confesses that his assumption for the decaying status of Christianity in the
Middle East led him to consider the insurgence of Islamic extremism solely responsible. At the end
of the journey, he feels the process and the factors are more complex than he thought of at the
initiation of his journey. His observations, as he brings forth, run as under: ? “In South-East Turkey
the Syrian Christians were caught in crossfire of civil war, between two rival nationalisms, one
Kurdish and the other Turkish.” ? “In Lebanon, the Maronites had reaped a bitter harvest of their
own sowing: their failure to compromise with the country’s Muslim majority had led to destructive
civil war that ended in a mass emigration of Christians.” ? “The dilemma of the Palestinian
Christians was quite different again. Their problem was that, like their Muslim compatriots, they
were Arabs in the Jewish State.” ? “Only in Egypt was the Christian population unambiguously
threatened by a 91 straight forward resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism, and such violent
fundamentalism was limited to specific Cairo suburbs.” ? “Only in Syria had I seen the Christian
population looking happy and confident, and even their future looked decidedly uncertain...” (448)
On the whole,
the Christian population was either crumbled and suffocated through consciously calculated
policies or immigrated to the safer parts of the earth to save themselves from the atrocious
treatments from the powerful forces in the entire region of the Middle-East. The beginning of the
process of the decadence of Christianity which Moschos witnessed during his journeys, William
finds it on the verge of its completion.
Just as Debbie Lisle points out in Between Fact and Fiction that: “Like policy documents, eye-
witness accounts, newspaper stories and documentaries, travel writing is part of the discursive
terrain that shapes the ‘real world’ of global politics” (Lisle 33). From the Holy Mountain tries to
document the entire transformative ethnographic changes in the Middle East and tries to influence
the ‘Home’ to take some supportive steps for those Christians who really need to be taken care of.
Middle East regions have always remained fond destinations for the European travellers. First as
the regions cover the ecclesiastical significance of places of Pilgrimage, the desire to see the very
lands of Christ’s childhood and suffering and preaching, attracted many to the regions and
52
secondly as their curiosity about the Islam and its various traditions. From the fourth century and
for well over a millennium; the pilgrimage was the dominant mode of travel through the Middle East
and the most available paradigm for travel writing. Significantly, this mode survived longest and
retained its central place in the British discourse on the Orient even after the Reformation and
secularisation. Religious travel to the sites of the stages of Christ’s life and suffering had an
extraordinary revival during the nineteenth century. (Melman 108) William’s travels through the
region happen on the same line of curiosity and frameworks of pilgrimage. At more than one
places, William asserts his religious involvement at the Holy places and in the company of the
saints in the various Churches he visits. The concerns for the existence of the Christian faith and
the followers in the regions and provinces of the Middle East, the process of wiping out the
Christians from the region in the name of Muslim Extremism that has got initiated, as William 92
Dalrymple has pointed out in Form The Holy Mountain, since the time of Moschos’ traversing the
region and documented by him in his book has been going on still to date.... Even the world got a
grave shock when ISIS terrorists released a grisly video showing the mass beheadings of 21
Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya on 16 February 2015. Pope Francis of Rome condemning the
massacre of the Christians said: It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox,
Copts, or Protestants, the martyrs belong to all Christians.” John L. Allen Jr., the Associate editor
wrote on February 17, 2015 “The pope’s words reflect a mounting sense of urgency about the
survival of Christianity all across the Middle East, especially in regions where the Islamic State
effectively aims to create “Christian-free” zones. (Allen, John L. Hard Truths) Raymond Ibrahim CP
OP-ED Contributor in Christian Post Opinion quotes on 19 February 2015: In its online English
magazine Dabiq, after justifying the slaughter of the 21, the Islamic State concludes by asserting
that "it is important for Muslims everywhere to know that there is no doubt in the great reward to be
found on Judgment Day for those who spill the blood of these Coptic crusaders wherever they may
be found" (Ibrahim, Raymond. Slaughter) In the essay Future of Christians in the Arab World, Riad
Jarjour poits out that the Christians are emigrating more rapidly than Muslims, and in propotionally
greater numbers to the countries outside the Arab World. (Jarjour 14) The reasons behind this
emigration are obvious as pointed out by many experts that they are evading dire threats of the
Islamist extremists which are strangling their throats. The principal cause of Christian demographic
decline in the Arab and surrounding Middle East – the great reducer--- is emigratio n, and it doesn’t
take much to trigger it. The economic disruption brought on by years of war caused many
Lebanese, the majority of these being Christians, to leave their war-torn country after 1975, first to
neighbouring Cyprus, then to Europe, the Americas, and Australia in search of security and better
livelihood. (Malik 33) In From The Holy Mountain, thus, William picks up the contemporary
ethnographical issue of crisis in the Middle East. Having travelled in the land which is the cradle of
Christianity, he tries to inspect the core elements of thinning of chrisdtian population and the
destructions or mal-preservation or sheer negligence towards the great Christian monuments in the
entire region. He has woven his travel on the framework of the travels of John Moschos and by
following his footsteps William here takes the concerns and observations about the Christianity
made by John 93 Moscos to a step further. The issue and crisis are still aggravating in the Middle
East and when the Researcher is writing this, in these days too, the news of massacre of the local
and native Christians at the hand of the Muslim Extremist group who call themselves ISIS (Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria) teem every other day in the media. 94 Works Cited
Allen Jr, John L. “Hard Thruths about the Survival of Christianity in the Middle East.” Crux. 17 Feb.
2015. Web. 20 February 2015.
Dalrymple, William. From the Holy Mountain. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1997.
Print Ibrahim,Raymond. “Slaughter of 21 Christians ushers rise of islamic State in Libiya” Christian
Post.19 Feb 2015. Web. 20 February 2015.
Jarjour, Riad. Future of Christians in the Arab World Betty Jane Bailey, J. Martin Bailey. Ed. Who
Are the Christians in the Middle East? Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003.
53
Print.
Malik, Habib C. Islamism and the future of the Christians of the Middle East,Hoover Press. 2010.
Print. Malik, Habib. “The Future of Christians in the Middle East.” CERC Catholic Education
Resource Center. Web. 21 february 2015.
Melman, Billie. “The Middle East/ Arabia ‘The Cradle of Islam’”.
Cambridge
Companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Young.
Cambridge
U P. 2002.
Print.
Shortt, Rupert. Chrstinofobia. Rider. 2012. Print. 95 96
City of Djinns ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- ---------------

“...for me Delhi always extended a stronger spell.” -William Dalrymple. The
City of Djinns is a unique sort of travel book. Generally travel books narrate the routes and
travelling places and the writer’s own reflections on such travels. But, the City of Djinns stands
apart in the sense that it records Dalrymple’s year long stay at this Historic city – which stomachs
within it, like the layers of onion, layers of historic developments and destructions, adding tastes to
the Indian History but at the same time bringing gush of tears in one’s eyes too. William Dalrymple
claims it to be the story of one year in Delhi. He describes the city as the 'most complicated city he
knows'. Dalrymple had visited Delhi when he was all of seventeen and was instantly under its spell.
His initial attraction and wonder stricken reactions gradually mature into serious research stuff. He
says in
his introduction:
Moreover - I soon discovered – (Delhi)
possessed a bottomless seam of stories, tales receding far beyond history, deep into the
cavernous chambers of myth and legend. (
Dalrymple City of Djinns Prologue) William Dalrymple records his quest of the Historic
Developments of this city and in the course of it he nicely captures his encounters with a variety of
people which range from a Sufi, a Taxi-Driver, Government officials, a clan of Anglo-Indians who
have made India their home with their numberless grudges for ‘new civilization’ emerging in Delhi,
and India at large’.
William Dalrymple finds himself fascinated by this city on his very first visit as he admits:
From the very beginning I was mesmerised by the great capital, so totally unlike anything I had
ever seen before. Delhi, it seemed at first, was full of riches and horrors: it was a labyrinth, a city of
54
palaces, an open gutter, filtered light through a filigree lattice, a landscape of Domes, an anarchy, a
press of people, a choice of flames a whiff of spices. (Dalrymple City of Djinns Prologue) The swap
of his observations captures from ‘
tales receding far beyond history, deep into the cavernous chambers of myth and
legends’ to the dump of the rubbish he observes from over his window:
In the morning I would look out to see the sad regiments of rag-pickers trawling the stinking berms
of refuse; overhead, under a copper sky, vultures 97 circled the thermals forming patterns like
fragments of glass in a kaleidoscope. (8)
His sensibilities simultaneously imbibe the modern developments as well as the ancient alleys of
this city, i.e. he excavates the known and unknown stories of it which time stands hiding within it.
He undertakes ample efforts to bring to its life the mythical city of INDRAPRAST of Mahabharata,
and all other historic incarnations of Delhi, at the same time exhibits superb liveliness to snapshoot
the modern temperament of the city. What fascinates him about Delhi is its capacity of nourishing a
healthy co-existence of traditionalism and modernity, old conventions and new ways of life,
traditional games and new sports, real inhabitants and new arrivals. As William Dalrymple puts it in
his own style:
All the different ages of man were represented in the people of the city. Different millennia co-
existed side by side. Minds set in different ages walked the same pavements, drank the same
water, returned to the same dust. (
Dalrymple City of Djinns Prologue)
Delhi, perhaps, might be the only city in the world which witnessed so many destructions and
devastations either natural or manmade. After each of the devastations the city breathed its rebirth
and resurgence with new enthusiasm and vigour. William Dalrymple
seeks to solve this enigmatic temperament of the city:
When I met Pir Sadr-ud-Din, that I learned the secret that kept the city returning to new life. Delhi,
said Pir Sadr-ud-Din, was a city of djinns. Though it had been burned by invaders time and time
again, millennium after millennium, still the city was rebuilt; each time it rose like a phoenix from the
fire. Just as the Hindus believe that a body will be reincarnated over and over again until it
becomes perfect, so it seemed Delhi was destined to appear in a new incarnation century after
century. The reason for this, said Sadr-ud-din, was that the djinns loved Delhi so much they could
never bear to see it empty or deserted. (9)
Newly married, he has shifted to the city with his artist wife Olivia. She contributes to the book in
her own way by drawing the illustrations for the book, and he settled down in a ‘small top floor flat’
in the regime of the Punjabi landlady Mrs. Puri, near ‘the Sufi village’ Nizzamuddin. Swept in the
full swung of his historian curiosity, he undertakes microscopic exploration of the city and tries to
excavate all the Eight incarnations of the city of Delhi. His sturdy investigative intentions become
apparent from the very beginning. 98 He in the vein of introduction pin points the typicality of Mrs.
Puri’s mercantile mentality. She has acquired great financial success out of her calculative motto:
“sleep is silver but money is gold.”
Mrs. Puri had achieved all this through a combination of hard work and good old-fashioned thrift. In
the heat of summer she rarely put on the air conditioning. In winter she allowed herself the electric
fire only an hour a day. She recycled the newspapers we threw out; and returning from parties late
at night we could see her still sitting up, silhouetted against the window, knitting sweaters for
export... (12)
55
William Dalrymple hooks interest of the readers by his disciplined pursuit of the layers of the
History of the city and his accounts bring the past back into life in an acute aroma of interest. His
narration successfully sways the readers in the lucid reconstruction of the old scores of the city
which springs naturally from the writer’s microscopic observations. Balvinder Sing, the taxi-driver, is
another close relation who not only drives him to several of his destinations in his Ambassador Taxi
but also allows him to have real glimpses of ‘Sikh’ temperament. Balvinder, as Dalrymple
introduces, is a ‘kshatiya’- ‘a warrior clan of India’ and well nigh reflects this temperament in his
driving skills too. He disdains such cowardly acts as looking in the
wing mirrors or using his indicators. His Ambassador is his chariot, his klaxon his sword. Weaving
into the oncoming traffic, playing ‘chicken’ with the other taxies, Balvinder Singh is a ‘Raja of the
Road.’ (16)
Though the author hails Balvinder in heroic measures, his wife Olivia develops a sort of dislike and
disgust for Balvinder for his rough, coarse and rather uncivilised code of conducts. Her feminine
preferences and observations notice such awkward traits in his persona and reacts quite scornfully.
The author notes her reactions in this way.
Olivia is quick to point out that Mr. Singh is in many ways an unattractive character. A Punjabi Sikh,
he is the Essex man of the east. He chews paan and spits the betel juice out of the window, leaving
a red “go-fast” stripe along the car’s right flank. He utters incoherent whoops of joy as he drives
rickshaw on to the pavement or sends a herd of paper boys flying into ditch. He leaps out of taxi to
urinate at traffic lights, and scratches his groins as he talk. Like Essex Man, he is a lecher. His eyes
follow the saris up and down the Delhi 99 avenues; plump Sikh girls riding side-saddle on
motorbikes are a particular distraction. (17)
The music of the vendors’ selling-calls muses him and the cattle-herd without any herdsman
around makes him wonder how? And the name of ‘International backside Taxi Stand’ just it is
behind the India International Centre clutches his sense of humour. His experiences with the
Government machinery is not at all pleasant one and the responses Mr. Lal, who sits under the
Gandhiji’s Message in his office, emits for the visitors would never surprise any Indian but William
Dalrymple notes down them seriously and makes a serious comment:
Mr. Gupta’s world – the cosy world of Freedom struggle, of homespun Congress Socialism and the
Non-aligned Movement- all of it was going down; driving around New Delhi you could almost feel
the old order crumbling as you watched, disappearing under a deluge of Japanese-designed Maruti
cars, concrete shopping plazas and high-rise buildings. Satellite dishes now outnumbering the
domes of the mosques and the spires of the temples. There was suddenly a lot of money about: no
longer the rich go up to Simla for the summer; they closed their apartments and headed off to
London or New York. (23)
He also passes a sensible comment on the thoughtless race of development which unreasonably
averted its eye from the splendid Historical Monumental Treasure:
The Seventeenth century Salmon-pink observatory of Raja Man Singh- the Jantar Mantar- lay
dwarfed by the surrounding high-rise towers that seemed purpose built to obscure its view of
heavens. (24)
And,
It was said that not one private Lutyens bungalow would survive undemolished by the turn of the
century. (24)
56
The effects of ‘Globalisation’- Financial Outburst were not only the materialistic reaction on the
Indian culture but it also reacted with the moral character of Indian society. Dalrymple’s keen eye
captures this trait too and presents it in the most picturesque style:
Adulterous couple now filled the public gardens; condom advertisements dominated the Delhi
skyline. The Indian capital,
once the last bastion of the chaperoned virgin, the double-locked bedroom and the arranged
marriage, was slowly filling with lovers; whispering, blushing, occasionally holding hands,
they loitered beneath flowering trees like figures from a miniature. Delhi was 100 starting to
unbutton.
After the long Victorian twilight, the sari was beginning to slip. (24)
He also seriously notes that the development was taking place on both the extreme ends i.e. on
the one hand the middle class grew richer and abounded in the luxurious lucrative status, and on
the other “
every week Six thousand penniless migrants poured into Delhi looking for work,”
and multiplying the number of Jhuggies. ‘Intolerance!’ yes, Dalrymple notes the emerging change
in the ‘Attitudes’ of the people, as he comments:
Attitudes were changing too. A subtle hardening seemed to have taken place. In the smart
drawing-rooms of Delhi, from where the fate of India’s 880 million people was controlled, the middle
class seemed to be growing intolerant; the great Hindu qualities of assimilation and acceptance
were no longer highly prized. A mild form of fascism was in fashion: educated people would tell you
that it was about time those bloody Muslims were disciplined- that they had been pampered and
appeased by the Congress party for too long, that they were filthy and fanatical, that they bred like
rabbits. They should all be put behind bars, hostesses would tell you as they poured you a glass of
imported whisky; expulsion was too good for them. (25)
Dalrymple presents a detailed account of the post ‘Indira Murder’ riots. He minutely presents the
whole panorama of convulsion that gripped Delhi following the murder of contemporary Prime
Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi by her own Sikh Body- Guards. Since Indira Gandhi was murdered by
the Sikh Guards in retaliation for her attack on the holiest Sikh shrine of Harminder Sahib (aka
Golden Temple) in Amritsar, in which 1000 people were estimated to have died, it created a great
vortex of hatred for the whole Sikh community all over India among the Indians. The Sikh families
were attacked ruthlessly only in the vein ‘khoon ka badala khoon’ ‘Blood for Blood’. He weaves the
episodes of atrocities with the families of Mr. and Mrs. Puri, Balavinder Singh and the most pathetic
one that of Sohanlal Sandhu of Trilokpuri. The whole Sikh majority area of Trilokpuri was
systematically ransacked for looting and a wild play of massacre was let loose. The anti-Sikh riots
were well engineered under the mute confirmation of the government machineries in order to
"teach the Sikhs a lesson: ...
it was Block 32 that dominated the headlines. Dogs were found fighting over piles of purple human
entrails. Charred and roasted bodies lay in great heaps in the gullies; kerosene fumes still hung
heavy in the air. Piles of hair, cut 101 from the Sikhs before they were burned alive, lay on the
varandah. Hacked-off limbs clogged the gutters. (31)
Sohanlal Sandhu’s family had paid the gravest toll. However (un)fortunate he, his wife and Ranjit
who was now mentally diseased due to the stone hit in one of the mob stone hurling proved to
evade the attention of the blood-thirsty demon mobs, his other two sons had fallen victim of the
57
wild volcano of massacre that was triggered in public psyche. Sohanlal presents this tragic episode
to William in the following words:
But my other two sons were less fortunate. On the second day they were discovered hiding in the
shop of some Hindu friends. The mob burned the shop. Then they put the rubber tyres around the
necks of my sons, doused them with petrol and burned them too. (34)
William Dalrymple also captures the sad glimpses of filial pains in the words of Sohanlal Sandhu
and also gets impressed by the way the parents’ minds seek self derived upon philosophical
solution:
God is behind every act”, he said, “There must have been something wrong that we did in the past.
(34)
He highlights the spirit of reconciliation in the temperament of the persons who paid the severest
toll in such unreasonable politics inspired riots, and tries to draw attention to the common character
of life of Delhi. No: now we are no longer worried. I (Sohanlal Sandhu)
am still the Granthi of the gurudwara. I give langar (food) to the poor Hindus; the rich Hindus give
us offerings. These wounds are healed now. (35)
He feels a bit confused and he confesses it too that on one hand the Delhi- wallahs are always
‘people of gentleness and elaborate courtesy’, and on the other they might become thirsty of blood
of their own once beloved neighbours or ‘avert their eyes’ from their cold blooded murders. ...
when provoked the inhabitants of this mild town could rise up and commit acts of extreme brutality.
Men would avert their eyes as next door neighbours were burned alive or disembowelled. The
same people who would invite you to share their last plate of food could, with equal spontaneity,
lose control and run amok. Then with equal ease they could return to their bazaars and shops,
factories and offices and carry on as if nothing had happened. It was difficult to understand. (36)
102
Nesting back to his historic sensibilities, William Dalrymple does not miss to note the Historic habit
of Delhi to the episodes of bloodshed. Clutching this Historic temperament of this unique city, he
clearly notes: ...
despite Delhi’s historic reputation as the most cultured town in India, the city’s history was
punctured with many such flashes of terrible orgiastic violence. (36).
He refers to the post- partition riots as the most disturbing episode in the city’s life span. He clearly
demonstrates with his analytical gauge that post- partition Delhi is another incarnation of the City of
Djinns. Delhi before partition was Mughal and British Delhi with her English ornamentation and
Mughal customs, traditions and sports. The partition of India in 1947 was the most fateful incident
in the history of Indian sub-continent. It made a very great impact on Indian people, turning the
Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims who for a considerably long period unitedly fought against the British
into one another’s enemies. In the post-partition riots, thousands of men from both sides were
massacred, a great number of women raped and abducted, and children mutilated and property
destroyed. This is such a powerful and influential chapter in the Indian History that its effects are
seen more or less on each and every Indian, and it has given birth to a bulk of literature which can
be branded as Partition Literature not only in Indian English but almost in all the Indian Languages.
Manohar Mangolakar in his Novel A Bend In Ganges narrates these horrifying accounts of war-
ridden humanity in following terms: ...how the Sunrise of our freedom found millions done to death,
mutilated or shamed, and tens of millions disposed of all that they had owned and cherished and
brutally tossed on the other side of the new artificial border between India and Pakistan.”(A Bend In
Ganges) William Dalrymple notes that Delhi of the modern time is inhabited by a major class of
58
people who once got themselves fixed in the vortex of the partition tragedy. The traumatic effects of
the partition tragedy is so fresh and alive that even after 65 years person like Punjab Singh does
not like in the natural case to refer to those episodic culminations. The story of Mr. And Mrs. Puri as
well as that of Punjab Singh is the story of this partition migration. Punjab Singh’s narration of the
violence in his village Samundra in the district Lyllapur confirms how the political factors change the
whole social environment and put two groups in opposition and turn thirsty of each other’s blood-
those who once lived in peace and harmony with the spirit of brotherhood. 103 Same fate
descended upon Mr. And Mrs. Puri. They had to leave all their possessions behind and flee to the
safer place in order to be alive. Using the international parallel, William Dalrymple aptly points out
their case:
Like the Palestinians a year later, they expected to come back within a few months when peace
had been restored. Like the Palestinian, they never returned. (42)
Among other cases, the case of Mr. Seth rivets our attention. He was posted at Sheikhpur near
Lahore as an Assistant Ticket Inspector, in 1946. Just after a year, as the partition bloodshed
started, he was within the territory of Pakistan. In that commotion, as one train of refugees passed
from the station, the Gurakhas, all Hindus, opened precautionary firing which accidently killed the
wife of the Muslim station master. Out of grief, the station master wanted to kill Mr. Seth, the
Assistant Ticket Inspector as he was the only Hindu available. Fortunately he missed and Mr. Seth,
without wasting time headed towards Hindustan. Somehow, he managed to save his life, escaped
death four times as he claims, and reached Amritsar. Later he was transferred to Delhi where he
was given a temporary house, and the irony is that it belonged to a Muslim who had been shot
dead in varandah. In later part, the scholar Dr. Jaffery who had also lost his parents and elder
brothers in partition massacres notes:
In this city culture and civilization have always been very thin dresses. It does not take much for
that dress to be torn off and for what lies beneath to be revealed. (190)
Through the partition tragedy, William Dalrymple drives his point home that Modern Delhi is
inhabited and dominated by purely new arrivals, especially the mercantile troops (the Sikhs)
poured into Delhi out of Partition Episode pushing the two of the earlier rulers namely the Mughal
and the Britishers of this ancient city into background.
Of the two people who had ruled Delhi during the previous years, the Britishers disappeared
completely while the Indian Muslims were reduced to an impoverished minority. (36)
And,
Today, the two worlds, Mughal Old Delhi and Punjabi New Delhi, mix but rarely. Each keeps to
itself, each absolutely certain of its superiority over the other. (45)
Dalrymple notes that post-partition developments gave Delhi a metropolitan facelift and the old
historical city underwent a slow but steady stagnation and 104 impoverishment. He visits the old
city and makes all efforts to capture the traces of that fabulous city which used to hypnotise the
world travellers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In such explorations, he finds out
Shamin, the calligrapher, who has been keeping alive the art of Mughal Courts. Shamin informs
him about the baleful state of his once prestigious art, and also indicates that the art would meet its
sad doom as neither his brother Ali nor his son seem any bit curious about their forefather’s art.
Shamin takes pride of it, and though there is no much monetary return in it, intends to keep it alive
so long as he is alive. Quoting the glory-songs of the city of Djinns by the poets of 17th and 18th
centuries- “Its towers are resting place
of the sun” (Chandra Bhan) “It is the seat of Empire... the centre of the great circle of Islam.”
59
Dalrymple holds a queer contrast to the present day neglect to the valuable historical monuments
and the regal temperament of the city. The seventeenth century Moonlight Bazaar (i.e. Chandani
Chawk), once bearing the grandeur of elegant caravanserais and fabulous Mughal gardens, has
got transformed into the press of vendors with all typicality of Indian Market place. The ancient
‘Havelis’ and ‘Shish- Mahals’ of Shahjahanabad have been converted into factories and
workshops. The metal shutters affixed to them seem extremely irrelevant. He notes with pain that
even the ‘Haksers Haveli’ associated with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister; his
birth place stands in its utter ruins. His keen observant eye doesn’t fail to pin point the fine carvings
and finish and makes us imagine the grand, glorious and gorgeous stone incarnation of the perfect
building which might have stood upright in past. The gate house
survives still as a witness to this grandeur: with its Dholpur sandstone façade, its delicate Jharokha
balconies and its fine fish-tail mouldings, it is still a magnificent sight. (56)
Sheer negligence in the maintenance and degradation of the fine architectural glories pains his
artistic sensibilities: (
But) the interior is a gutted ruin. Through the locked grill you can see the desolation; collapsed
rafters now act as a sort of walkway for the cook who squats in the rubble frying his samosa; the
cellars are gradually overflowing with his kitchen refuse and old potato peelings. Cusped
sandstone arches are buried up to their capitals in rubble; vaults hand suspended in a litter of
disintegrating
brick work.
No one seems to care. It is as if the people of Delhi 105 had washed their hands off the fine old
mansions of the old city in their enthusiasm to move into the concrete bunkers of the new. (56)
Like the architectural monuments, the regal tongue ‘Urdu’ is in her ruins as Begum Hamida Sultan
registers her complaint: “I loved Delhi. But, now Delhi is dead. Even our language is dead.” And the
same contempt rise in the response of Ahmed Ali- the writer of ‘Twilight in Delhi’ (1940), when
William Dalrymple goes to interview him across the border Pakistan. Ahmed feels great disrespect
for Pakistan which he calls the nation of ‘thugs’ where he never dreamt to shift to. William
Dalrymple gets him to out pour his heart on this sensitive issue. He persuades him to pour his
feelings out which have been boiling within the locked furnace of his heart. And what comes out is
really surprising and astonishing. Ahmed had never intended to shift to the artificial land of
Pakistan, but during the days of partition, he had been a visiting professor in Nanking in China,
from where he was not permitted enter India just on the grounds that he was a Muslim. After a long
struggle with the cold blooded bureaucrats, the only place left for him to head towards was
Pakistan. This mishap filled him with bitter feelings for India- the land he doesn’t prefer to set his
foot on even for a while, as he himself puts it: “
How could I revisit that which was once mine and which was now no longer mine?” (65)
An untransformed- original version of Delhi is still alive in the memories of all the Muslims who
have shifted to the other side of the Border. In Karanchi alone, as William Dalrymple states, there
are 200000 refugees who had fled from Delhi to Pakistan during the partition upheavals. The
streets of Karanchi are named after great Delhi-wallah of History. Unaware of Delhi’s modernistic
facelift, they inquire William Dalrymple about the glorious regions of Delhi. A judge inquired William
Dalrymple if he had ever been to the Gulli Churiwalla- the area of great Havellies…To this he
ironically cites the plight that presently, the place has been transformed into nothing but a dirty
ghetto full of decaying warehouses in the city’s crush for modernisation and its make over as the
commercial complex. William Dalrymple expresses his wonder as he sees how with accuracy and
in the spirit of development, India has managed to come out of the shadows of the Raj- i.e. the
British Imperial Rule. He clearly observes that for new Indian generations the British Rule seemed
60
a remote past, their main focus remains constant on the upcoming bright allies of future. William
Dalrymple mentions that in Britain there are still traces of Imperial India and instances of it are
visible in the books short-listed for booker 106 prize in recent years such as Midnight’s Children,
(71) - all of these books in one form or another, context or cover, weave or voice within their subject
the glimpses of Imperial India: ...I
was intrigued by the degree to which India has managed to shed its colonial baggage. True, people
spoke English, played cricket and voted in Westminster-style election. Nevertheless, far from
encountering the familiar, I was astonished how little evidence remained of two centuries of
Colonial Rule. (71) The
same point, he finds embossed in the context of the statue of George V, which has turned out only
to be “...
an unwanted reminder of a period few Indians look back to with any nostalgia” (72).
Though after the departure of the Britishers, not only the Culture but the English language has also
got Indianisation and has become ‘Hinglish’ to some extent, and though much of the phrases in
Hobson Jobson’s Glossary have turned out to be stone dead, British India still remains alive at
least in the memories of the Britishers who spent a considerably longer period of their lives in
British India. One such person William Dalrymple interviews is Iris Portal. Though, at present she
lives in East Anglia, she presents a lively picture of the British Regal Grandeurs in India. Her
account presents the details how the Britishers in India pampered their lives busy riding, picnicking,
dancing, playing and hunting. It was time when Lutyens had started building the British version of
New Delhi. Among the Britishers there were duel notions and some like her father’s generation
were sternly against the extravagance of bringing up costly buildings, and were of the opinion that
those funds could have been utilised for some far better purposes. They were also driven by the
secret enigmatic fear that.....
If ever anybody raised the subject of New Delhi my father would always quote the Persian couplet
in a most gloomy voice. And of course it did come true. Whoever has built a new city in Delhi has
always lost it: The Pandava Brethren, Prithviraj Chauhan, Ferozshah Tughluk, Shah Jehan...They
all built new cities and they all lost them. We were not exception. (80)
William seems greatly impressed by the architectural guts of Lutyens. He praises his architectural
insights in the buildings he witnesses especially; the Viceroy’s house-i.e. today’s Rastrapati
Bhavan. He goes to the extent- “
Lutyens, after all, was a far greater architect than Albert Speer.” (82) 107
William Dalrymple also comments that like other Imperial cities, the Lutyens’ construction took
shape to symbolise superiority of the ‘Rulers’ over the ‘Ruled’.
Yet there can be no doubt that New Delhi was very deliberately built as an expression of the
unconquerable might of the Raj. As Lord Stamfordham, Private Secretary to George V, wrote in a
letter articulating the king emperor’s views on his new capital: ‘we must let [the Indians] see for the
first time the power of Western
civilisation. (82-83) The personality of Lutyens as it emerges from his letter, which William
Dalrymple puts before us, exhibits the Imperial temperament considering Indian subjects as
‘blacks’, ‘blackamoores’, ‘natives’, or ‘niggers’, etc. and expressing it bluntly like ‘
sly slime of the Eastern mind’, ‘the very low intelligence of the natives’,
even his ‘superior ego’ blinds him to the beauty of the Taj Mahal. In response to Nehru’s comment
on New Delhi calling it to be
61
the visible symbol of British power, with all its ostentation and extravagance,
William Dalrymple seems to lose his neutral approach and favours New Delhi by bringing the
instance of Le Corbusier’s Chandigadh. He indicates the inferiority of the planning of Chandigadh
and calls it an urban disaster in compare to the monumental grandeur of Lutyens’ New Delhi. In
order to collect much first hand information about Imperial Delhi, William Dalrymple looks for the
English stayers on, who remained in India even after the wake of Independent India. He finds out
two ladies in Simla- Phyllis and Edith Haxby. They have, as they relate to William Dalrymple, very
bad time in Simla and wish to go back to Britain. It seems very tough for them to find the gorgeous
Imperial past replaced with the Indian dominance reducing them to sheer minority lot. William
Dalrymple nicely wraps the historical research work with the lively description of seasonal changes
and accordingly the change of the temperament of Delhi under the spell of different festivals. Diwali
brings a new charm to Delhi. He observes different ways of celebration. In the chilling winter of
Delhi which has crept into Delhi ‘dark-clad, soft-footed, unannounced and unwelcome’, he reads
about the ‘Twilight’ period of History of Delhi- i.e. the period between the Mughal Fall and English
Rise in the political domain of Delhi, more precisely the period between the Persian massacre of
1739 and the equally violent reactions after the mutiny of 1857. He picks up a few outlining
instances showing the loosening grip of Mughal dynasty and losing the thrown against the Persian
ruler Nadir Shah. The gloom of the defeat and the destruction by the invaders enveloped the public
temperament in the 108 moods of melancholy and pensiveness. This public mood finds nice
captioning in
the expressions of the poets of that time: There is no house from where jackal’s cry cannot be
heard. The mosques at evening are unlit and deserted In the once beautiful gardens, the grass
grows waist-high around fallen pillars and ruined arches. Not even a lamp of clay now burns where
once the chandelier blazed with light... (95) The
Persian rule reached its nadir during the reign of the sightless emperor Shah Alam. William
Dalrymple goes through the evidences of the first British penetration in Delhi and its surrounding
regions. His library research presents the account of Franklin, Sir David Ochterlony and William
Fraser (The Scotsmen). Out of them, perhaps because Fraser of Inverness happens to be the
kinsman of Olivia, his wife, William Dalrymple presents a detailed life story of him, his adventures
and his passion for hunting, fighting and marrying Indian beautiful ladies. The account of Fraser
runs so long that sometimes we feel that William Dalrymple has lost his interest from Delhi and the
whole focus got shifted to the chronicle of William Fraser. William Fraser was one of the early
Europeans who had been sent from Calcutta to be the Resident’s Assistant. To some extent he
resembled Kurtz of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, crazy to his own whims. He was a young Persian
scholar from Inverness (Scotland). He had moulded himself in Indian outfits, pruned long
moustache in Rajput manner and kept many Indian beauties in his harem and had a lot of children.
He catered regal hobbies like hunting, marrying a number of ladies. William Dalrymple goes
through his correspondence and paintings of Fraser Album and derives a conclusion that ‘Fraser
was hypnotised by the great capital and refused all opportunities that would take him away from
Delhi.’ After his professional responsibilities, his artistic interests kept him busy learning oriental
languages, collecting manuscripts and marrying Indian beauties. Later when Mughal rule
weakened and Delhi became unsafe owing to the attacks of brigands and Mahratta cavalry, he was
engaged to drive them away. His danger loving nature excited his interests in such risky jobs that
Aleck talked of him to his parents in the letter as “
proud, fiery and impetuous” and “too fond of exposing himself to danger”.
He was stationed in the Mewat district to civilise the area, here he established
his own small empire and lived like a nawab, ‘being [as] absolute in his Domain as Bonapart in
France.’
62
he had adopted the Indian life-style and customs that his brother Aleck asserts 109
Long residence so distant from the principal European stations has made William
Fraser half a Hindustanee. (107) William Dalrymple visits the existing building where once stood
the British Residency and describes it in his own unique style:
The Residency stands today in one of the most depressing and impoverished parts of Delhi. (109)
His investigative eyes also find out that the British Residency was only restructured on the Mughal
building of Dara Shukoh’s library, just like the Resident Octerlony, appearing British from outside
but inside perfectly fashioned in Mughal style. William Dalrymple presents the weird story of Norah
Nicholson, an Anglo- Indian whom he calls a living fossil of the Twilight period. She had very bad
time in her old age, ended up in an open plot with her household of dogs, cats, peahens, partridges
and babbler birds and peacocks who sometimes shared bed with her as they fell down from the
shattered roof at night. William Dalrymple later discovers she died of a snake bite which shared her
own household and she tried to feed it with milk. The neighbour informed him that she would not do
anything to drive that virulent creature away instead. He also finds a wide and large colony of the
Anglo-Indians who are now adjusting themselves in the new incarnation of India. He carefully
traces Fraser’s bungalow which is
now the office of the Chief Engineer of Northern Railway Board [Construction Department] Govt. of
India.
Having described the difficulties he faced before being allowed inside just because he is a
foreigner, he maintains a good dialogue with Mr. Prasad, the Railway Officer, and brings to light the
hidden tyhkhanna which is perhaps the only one of its kind in existence and in the worst condition.
He also infers that it must be with the help of this tyhkhanna facility the Fraser brothers might have
defeated the terrible heat of Delhi summer and perhaps that is why it didn’t get mention in any of
their correspondence.
The plaster on the walls had long since flaked off, and as we descended you could see that the
brick work
was changing. The large and solid British bricks which indicated Residency-period work gave way
to the smaller and more delicate bricks favoured by Mughal builders. Within a few seconds of
reaching the bottom the janitor’s flashlight fell on a moulding that was unmistakably of Shah
Jehan’s period. (124)
And for the secret passages he writes: “Delhi is alive with the legends of secret passages-” And,
110
Today the passages are only blocked with a small plug of concrete; it should not be difficult to
remove that plug and investigate what lies beyond. The problem would be to motivate India’s
impoverished and bureaucratic Archaeological Survey to take interest in the matter. (126)
Through the case of Skinner Sahib, and the fate of his ‘half-caste’ family, Dalrymple presents the
impoverished plight of Anglo-Indians. These Anglo-Indians’ condition, like that of Norah and Huxby
sisters, was very miserable- neither they got acceptance among the Britishers nor were they
welcome in the Indian societal circles. Dalrymple dissects the problem saying, “
As Skinner’s career demonstrated, Hindu and British were both too proud of their blood for ‘Half-
caste’ ever to be really successful.”
63
Increasingly they came to suffer the worst racical prejudices of both Indians and British: the Indians
refused to mix with them; and despite their fierce and unwavering loyalty to the Union Jack, the
English rigidly excluded them from their clubs and drawing rooms. Behind their backs they were
cruelly ridiculed as ‘chee-chees, ‘Blakie-whitie’, or ‘Chutney Marys’. (131)
William Dalrymple brings under focus the massacre that followed the uprising of 1857. He
confesses that the operations after the uprising brought on surface ‘
all the most horrible characteristics of English character- philistinism, narrow-mindedness, bigotry,
vengefulness,
etc.- “
Three thousand Delhi-wallahs were tried and executed – either hanged, shot or blown from the
mouth of cannon – on flimsiest evidence.” (147)
Ghalib, the great Urdu poet, was greatly pained at the helplessness of the Indian folks and his pain
flowed like melting tears in his words:
Helpless I watch the wives and children of aristocrats literally begging from door to door. One must
have a heart of steel to witness the contemporary scene....the moon-faced Begums of the Red fort
wandering around the streets in filthy clothes, ragged pyjamas and broken shoes. (148)
The Twilight period of the City of Djinns was thus over with the Britishers seizing the total command
of the city after the blood sheding events that followed the uprising of 1857. Modern Delhi has
evolved a metropolitan culture and westernized night life. William Dalrymple being a man from
West enjoys this superficial culture where the nouveau riche people as well as persons holding
powerful positions get pooled together in night parties and make such places a platform to exhibit
their riches and high profile contacts as the parameter of their success. William seems to present
this 111 new cult of Delhi in contrast to the old regal gorgeousness of Delhi code of conducts, the
traits which impressed each and every one who came in their contact. Next, in his unique comic
vein Dalrymple narrates the conjurations of Mrs. Puri to raise the rent of the flat. He nicely presents
how initially in a roundabout way and then becoming somewhat blunt Mrs. Puri justifies her point of
raising the rent. Here once again he embosses the money mindedness of this Punjabi land lady
and presents an another evidence of the financial success of the Punjabi people as their capacity
to maintain the profit and loss scales even in their daily life and relations too. Paying visit to the
tomb of Safdarjung, Dalrymple strikes open still another facet of Delhi’s fate. He presents the
details of Delhi under the reign of Muhammad Shah, popularly known in the Indian History as
Rangila (The Colourful). And as his name implied, William Dalrymple notes, he gave
up any pretence of ruling, ‘in the morning he watched Partridge and Elephant fights; in the
afternoon he was entertained by
the
jugglers, ventriloquists, mime artists and conjurers; Politics he wisely left to his scheming
advisors. William Dalrymple also asserts that it was because of this policy he could survive as the
longest surviving sovereign. The empire had shrinked and lost almost all its far and wide territories,
the patent arts of cavalry of gorgeous Delhi were defeated by the arts of music, poetry and
paintings. William Dalrymple rightly notes that it was the time when the poets of Delhi (e.g. Mir
Taqui Mir) were closely followed:
A new Gazal (love lyric) by one of the great Delhi poet was considered the most desirable gift that
any civilised host could wish for. (157)
64
After the death of Muhammad Shah, Safdarjung picked up the opportunity to take the reins of
power in his hands reducing the ascender to the throne a mere filigree of show. But the
extravagances and arrogance of Safdarjung enraged the British power who summoned other
regional forces and got him thrown
out of the city. After his death, his son begged permission to build his father’s tomb in
Delhi. Expert eyes of Dalrymple do not fail to notice the derogatory architectural merits of this tomb.
Opening pages of its history, he notes, since the quarries of quality marble around Agra were no
longer under the Mughal control and the road between Delhi and Agra being under the control of
Jat tribesmen, the builder of this tomb had to stripe the necessary material from the other existing
tombs. The awkward patches of pink sandstones in the white dome announce the shortage of
material. Still, as William Dalrymple notes, the building stands signature of historic importance: 112
The building tells a story of drunken laughter as the pillars of empire collapsed in a cloud of dust
and masonry; and afterwards, of dancing in the ruins. (159)
Form the account of Rangila, Dalrymple’s interest gets riveted to the Mughal sports of Elephant
and Partridge fights. He traces the survival of these sports in modern Delhi. After the initial
negative responses, and slight details of the last Elephant fight which had taken place at the turn of
the century in the princely state of Rajputana, William Dalrymple accidently comes to know about
the ‘Partridge Fight’ from Balvinder. Balvinder called it ‘Bird-Challenge’. Dalrymple was eager to
witness the sport. William Dalrymple presents a live account of the surviving traces of once favorite
pastime ‘Mughal Sport’. The excitement of the sport has drawn a large number of persons to the
‘Grave-Yard’ on the Sunday morning. William Dalrymple is welcomed and given all the details
about the rules and regulations of the sport. Be it the façade of any ancient building or the partridge
fight, William Dalrymple’s clutching description pulses with acute liveliness:
For a few seconds the two birds stood facing each other, chests fully extended; then Handlebar’s
bird flew at its rival with a new and sudden violence. He dealt the Muslim’s bird a glancing blow
with the hook of his beak, then rose up, wings arched, and fell heavily on the lighter bird’s head. As
he hopped out of reach he again cut the darker bird with his spurs. (164)
Along with, William Dalrymple also captions the point that such sports are popular among the lower
middle class males who have their own worries, struggles and tough tasks of life, as Punjabsingh
puts it:
People are coming here drunk, worried or tired of the chores of the world, but always they leave
this place refreshed. (165)
Romantic character of Delhi public is another striking point about Sufderjung’s Delhi. He cites
pictorial descriptions of such unlicensed hedonism of Delhi public in Quli Khan’s ‘Murraqqa-e-Delhi’
(the book which he labels as his favourite one). Khan has described in detail how even the Mehfils
at the religious places got the dying of romantic sheds where men and women busied themselves
in amorous activities. William Dalrymple aptly notes that these traces are also still alive in some
parts of Delhi and one can find them only if one knows where exactly to look for them:
Yet as I discovered that December, the bawdiness of Sufdarjung’s Delhi does survive, kept alive by
one particular group of Delhi-wallah. 113 You can still find them in the dark gullies of the old city- if
you know where to look. (168-169)
From the bawdiness of Safderjung’s Delhi, William Dalrymple generates interest in the most
secretive society of Delhi ‘Eunuchs’- the harem guards of Mughal India.
65
They were clad in brightly coloured silks and muslins, flowing saris edged in glittering gold brocade.
They were heavily made mup, with painted cheeks and scarlet lipstick; each of their noses was
pierced with a single diamond stud they were dressed for nautch, dressed as women, yet they
were not women,. Even at a distance of twenty yards I could see that their physiognomy was very
different from the delicate features of Indian girls. Their faces were too strong, their arms were too
thick, their shoulders were wrong they smoked. Physically, they resembled painted men, yet they
were not
men. (169) His ten days efforts led him to fruitless toil, as no eunuch was ready to open up any
page of their personal life before him. When he was exactly on the verge of giving up his mission,
he accidently happened to meet Zakir, a young man, who created a bridge between him and the
eunuchs and made a kind of dialogue possible. Zakir took him to the Haveli of Chaman Guru.
William Dalrymple closely follows the history of these mysterious ‘Eunuchs’, and derives the
conclusion that like the architectures and many other ways of life of modern Delhi – the lives of
these Eunuchs were also a fusion/merger of both the Hindu and Muslim traditions. In the Eurasian
history,
they are referred to in ancient Assyrian and Babylonian stelae and became popular as servants-
and as passive sexual play things. In the
Anglo-Saxon England and Italy until 19 th century they were given
singing castrato roles in opera as well as in the Vatican Sistine choir.
The Muslim world held them perfect as the harem guards owing to their impotence, and with their
faithful services
they rose to power as Chamberlains, Governors and even Generals.
And in the Hindu texts – The Vedas – the castration was seen as a degrading punishment. The
persons ‘castrated’ as a part of punishment was pushed to the lower of the lowest category of the
society. In the time of Mahabharata, the condition had improved a little. But on the whole, to be a
eunuch was a ‘curse’. William Dalrymple notes that in the course of History – both in the Hindu and
the Muslim traditions, the ‘Hizaras’ [Eunuchs] were subject to derogatory positions. Moreover, the
modern generations of such eunuchs exhibit unique fusion of both traditions, which he calls ‘Indian
Compromise’. On the personal level, they are ill- ominous, but on general grounds ‘Wel-come’ as
the agents of good fortunes; i.e. if a 114 couple gives birth to such a person , it is considered as a
‘curse’, but at the marriages or at other celebrations, Hizaras’ presence is considered ominous,
hizaras’ blessings or curse are considered to be instant effective. After two months of close follow-
ups, William Dalrymple succeeds in winning the confidence and closeness of the household of
Chaman Guru and his three Chelas- namely- Panna, Vimala and Raziya. It is really astonishing,
how they had got chained together in one household though they belonged to exactly different
households, cultures and backgrounds. Still they had their own personal utopia, dreams and
ideology and their different roles in the household and outside packed with harmonious rut. William
goes with them on the ‘Tolly’ and personally witnesses their functioning the role of ‘Hizaras’ among
social circles. He finally sums up their plight: [
But] when society closes off all other opportunities there are only two choices for the Eunuchs:
dancing and prostitution. Of these, going on ‘Tolly’ is probably preferable- and possibly more
lucrative. (183) And, Though no faults of their own, through deformity or genetic accident, they
found themselves marginalised by Indian society, turned into something half way between a
talisman and an object of ridicule. Yet in their own terms they seem fairly content with their lives
and they do not rail against the fate that has left them with this role. (183) William Dalrymple
focuses on the
66
golden age of the City of Djinns i.e. the period of reign of Shah Jehan. In the company of studious
Dr. Jaffery, who has been working for long on transcribing ‘Shah Jehan Nama’, with the travel notes
of Bernier in the ‘Mughul Empire’ and Manucci’s ‘Mogul India’, he enacts the whole mess of Mughul
Politics which is complex, coarse and brute enough to murder a brother, poison a sister or starve
the father. He concludes that Shah Jehan’s downfall and tragic end were due to some vulnerable
flaws of his
own character, his pride, his sexual gluttony and the unjust way he handled his children.
William Dalrymple emphasises the typical Mughul politics of the day that teemed with exercise of
dissimulation and hypocrisy, treachery and treasons behind the beautiful veil of Autocracy and
refined manners and Religious relics. He presents the bit-by-bit chronicle of Aurangzeb’s seizing of
power. Actually, Shah Jehan did not pay enough attention, and did not give enough significance to
Aurangzeb. He saw an ideal emperor in his elder son Dara Sukhoh. He was treated like the heir
and all the 115 attention was concentrated on Dara’s refinements, whereas Aurangzeb was
deliberately kept away from this aristocratic business. Dara Sukhoh was studious and enjoyed the
company of learned as well as strong soldiers. He took interest in the beliefs and principles of
Hinduism too. He translated the Hindu religious texts like Upanisads, the Bhagvad Gita and the
Yoga- Vasista in Persian. Much to the dislike of the orthodox Muslim nobles [who produced their
disagreements in only behind his back]; Dara produced the ‘Majma-ul-Baharain’ [The Mingling of
two oceans namely Muslim and Hinduism]. This pinched the shoes of the Muslim nobles as their
crown prince was talking of ‘Infidelity and Islam to be twin brothers’. Dara’s political superiority was
unsurpassable and his seat in the court was next only to the Sultan himself. On the other hand,
Aurangzeb was capable of great dissimulation and hypocrisy. He had a strong web of spies spread
across the capital as William puts it, that ‘
nothing could be said in Delhi without Aurangzeb coming to hear of it.’(197). he
led a strict ascetic life in the eye of public, but secretly nurtured greater scheming, and waited for
an appropriate chance to settle his account with his father for his unreasonable affections for Dara,
his elder brother. Just like among the brothers, an acute hostility also prevailed between two
daughters of Shah Jehan- Jahanara and Roshanara. Sultan Shah Jehan, just like Dara Sukhoh,
treated Jahanara with amounts of greater affection. And after the death of his beloved wife Mumbai
Mahal and after having shifted to Shah Jehanabad, this locks of relationship had strengthened to
that degree that William Dalrymple quotes Bernier, the French traveler who had been in Delhi and
in Shah Jehan’s court for a long time, “
it would have been unjust to deny the king the privilege of gathering fruits from the tree he himself
planted” (198).
Even another quotation from Bernier’s account about the King’s unannounced appearance at
Jahanara’s residence in the close perusal of the secret information of Jahanara’s orgies, and giving
suggestion to Jahanara to take bath and in this way murdering the gallant hiding in the capacious
cauldron used for bath, also confirms of such intimate relations. Still further confirmation is found in
the facts that it was Jahanara who nursed the king in his critical illness and even at the time of his
death, she was the only person with him nursing him in the imprisonment in his own palace.
Roshanara, on the other hand, remained constantly discontented at the greater significance
attributed to Jahanara and consequently the neglect and the inferior status she had to experience.
Somehow, like her brother Aurangzeb, she too had maintained a rich textured network of spies in
the entire system. She joined her hands with 116 Aurangzeb and helped him to a greater extent in
his conspiracies and ultimate war against their own father and snatching away the reins of power
from him, and his ascending on the throne of this glorious city. During the reign of Aurangzeb, she
enjoyed unfathomed power and all the lavishness of royal grandeurs. However, later when
Aurangzeb was ill, her lust for power made her scheme against Aurangzeb, which ultimately cost
her very dear. Thinking that Aurangzeb would not survive the illness, she stole the royal-stamp and
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got a document prepared announcing not the elder but the younger adolescent son of Aurangzeb
be the rightful to ascending to the throne. Her logic behind this was very simple. When the younger
son were on the throne, she would enjoy and exercise some extra as being the guardian.
Somehow, her plan got disposed as Aurangzeb miraculously recovered from the illness that
seemed fatal, and when from the spies he came to know about his beloved sister’s misadventure,
he poisoned her. She met a terrible end. She was buried under a pavilion in the Roshanara garden
she herself had built. Shah Jehan’s vociferous appetite for sex led him to consume some
substantial quantities of aphrodisiacs ‘the stimulating drugs’, which had some fatal side effects, as
Manucci pointed out:
These stimulating drugs brought on retention of urine…for three days Shah Jehan was almost at
death’s door. (231)
The Emperor’s severe illness and the news of his palace locked fanned the fire of upheaval until
now was underground and gave start to the contest amongst the four princes as to who would
ascend on the throne. The first to make the move was the viceroy of Bengal, the second son of
Shah Jehan, Shah Shuja. The armies of Dara subdued his attacks. When recovered the sultan
himself took over Dara’s side. On the other hand, Aurangzeb joined his hands with his brother
Murad Baksh. Though he had a smaller army, he with his cunningness bribed some of the officials
of Dara’s army, and with their help shattered Dara’s army. When Dara saw the imminent defeat, he
fled from the spot. On the other hand, the old monarch’s i.e. Shah Jehan’s scheme of ambushing
Aurangzeb converted into utter failure by Roshanara Begum. Ultimately, Aurangzeb, imprisoned his
father, murdered his three brothers, and ascended to the throne of Delhi. The height of hatred for
one’s own kinsmen and deriving sadistic pleasure from their miserable plight undergoing
unbearable pains might be the unique quality of the apex family of Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb had
already put Murad Baksh, (his brother with whose help he had won the battle against Dara), into
the dungeon where he was force fed poppy-water that would ultimately led him to insanity. After the
117 arrest, as Bernier puts it, Dara was also brought to Delhi, where in presence of Dara’s young
son Dara was taken to the full length of Chandni-Chawk in the fashion of a procession exercising
the thud of humiliation. He was kept imprisoned where after sometime, he was beheaded by
Aurangzeb’s nobles in front of his son. The nobles as a gesture to please their master cleaned and
wrapped the head
in a turban and presented it to Aurangzeb in a golden dish. Having examined the face Aurangzeb
thrust at it three times with a sword
and uttered the words vile with hatred. “
Behold the face of a would be king and emperor of all the Mughal realms. Take him out of my
sight.” (237)
Roshanara Begum was overjoyed at the end of Dara and
she threw a party in the Imperial Harem at which she persuaded Aurangzeb to send the ‘head’ to
Shah Jehan as a present thinking that it would be an amusing joke. The whole event, with utter
painful consequences, as Dalrymple quotes Manucci, goes this way: “I’
tibar Khan [The Eunuch] waited until the hour Shah Jehan had sat down to dinner. When he had
begun to eat, I’tibar Khan entered with the box and laid it before the unhappy father, saying: ‘King
Aurangzeb, your son sends this plat to your majesty to let you see that he does not forget you.’ The
old Emperor said: ‘Blessed be God that my son still remembers me.’ The box having been placed
upon the table, he ordered it with great eagerness to be opened. But on withdrawing the lid, he
discovered the face of Prince Dara. Horrified, he uttered a cry and fell on his hands and face upon
the table, and, striking against the golden vessels, broke some of his teeth and lay there apparently
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lifeless. Jahanara Begum and the other women present began to wail, beat their breasts, tear their
hair and rend their garments… But the eunuch I’tibar Khan made a report to King Aurangzeb of
what had passed, with all the details, whereby he and Roshanara Begum received great delight.
(238)
Aurangzeb’s reign brought a considerable decline in the charms of Delhi. Firstly, Aurangzeb
remained busy with war-fields and in his destructive projects of the other religious monuments.
Secondly, he preferred his own founded city of ‘Aurangabad’ in Deccan. Thus, Delhi, the city of
court, slowly withered and lost its charms. The Aurangzebian time was the golden time of the
Fakirs. Relating the magical charms being exercised and practiced by the fakirs, Dalrymple
presents the account presented by
Bernier: 118 They tell any person his thoughts, cause the branch of a tree to blossom and to bear
fruit within an hour, hatch an egg in their bosom within fifteen minutes. Producing whatever bird
may be demanded, and make fly around the room. (239)
Equally amusing and baffling it seems to Dalrymple [and to us also] when Pakeezah, the librarian-
the descendent line of Aurangzeb, informs Dalrymple about her aunt’s living with the djinn.
Pakeezah’s account presents the merging of the aristocracy with the ordinary life. She, though
exhibiting her royal pride, works as a librarian and takes care of her old mother [the Princess]
single handedly. Delhi summer makes William very much restless and has to remain confined
within four walls during the whole afternoons as he calls them ‘white-midnights’, still the heat
breeds some poetic sensibilities in him and he goes to describe the summer scenario in poetic
terms: The sun had just appeared over the tree line…,
hinting at the furnace heat to come. Soon the kites were circling the thermals, a great helix of wide-
winged bird sailing the vectors in sweeping corkscrew spirals…
Noon came like a white midnight: the streets were deserted, the windows closed, the doors locked.
There was no noise but for the sullen and persistent whirr of the ceiling
fan. (245) Dalrymple presents the account of his witnessing the celebration of Ramadan Id, and
offering the final prayer of Ramadan at Jamma Masjid of Chandani Chawk. Here he puts forward
his observation about the two major Hindustani Religions- Hindu and Islam. He notes: I
have always thought that Hinduism is at its most sympathetic and comprehensible in the
countryside: a simple roadside shrine, a sacred river, a holy spring- these things are the life-blood
of that great religion,
whereas,
Islam looks at its most impressive in a great urban cathedral mosque, especially on an occasion
like Id. (251)
The occasion of the glorious celebration of Id brings forth the arrival of the caravan of Ibn Battuta of
Tangier in Delhi in 1333. Dalrymple notes this great traveler arrived in Delhi around such
celebration of Id, and his diary presents the details of the reign of Muhammad Bin Tughluk. Battuta
earned the position of ‘Qazi’ and two villages in the exchange of his gifts from Khorasan. Dalrymple
goes in search of Behampur, the city of Tughluk’s reign, yet another incarnation of Delhi. He finds
out the Hazar Utsan - the thousand-pillared palace of Tughluk. Though in ruins at present,
Dalrymple’s eyes try to search and 119 rebuild its magnificence through Ibn Battuta’s reporting. Ibn
Battuta’s account of Tughluk’s Delhi presents the ghastly traits of Tughluk’s reign. Sultan Tughluk
was so unscrupulous, ghastly and cruel towards his subjects that even though he enjoyed a
favoured position of the Sultan, Ibn Battuta remained under constant frisson of the Sultan’s frenzy
and as he confesses “(
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and) every time he said any encouraging word to me I kissed his hand, until I had kissed it seven
times” (258).
William Dalrymple notes down that Battuta seemed impressed by the city, which spread through
the plains of around the old Hindu fort of Lal Kot. Dalrymple quotes Battuta: “Delhi”, writes Battuta “
is a vast and magnificent city, uniting beauty with strength. It is surrounded by a wall that has no
equal in the world, and is the largest city in India, nay in the entire Muslim Orient”. (258)
The architectural monuments that stretch the glorious past to the time present are the structures of
the ‘Hazzar Pillars’ and the ‘Qutub Minar’. Though the magnificent structure of the ‘Hazzar Pillars’
is in ruins as William Dalrymple locates it in the emerging new cement concrete expansion of Delhi,
Battuta’s account presents it in its original glories: “
The third gate opens into the Thousand Pillars. It is here the sultan holds his audience... [He] sits
cross-legged on a throne above
the
great dais while one hundred élite guards stand on either side carrying shields, swords and
bows...” (257)
The walled city of Tughlukabad, as Dalrymple states, must have been a magnificent place. His
expert vision inspects its grand constructions and concludes asserting its superiority:
Even today, seven hundred years after it was built, the vast walled enclosure is still an impressive
sight. But at the time of Tughluks when the gridded lines of now-collapsed rubbles were bustling
streets and bazaars, armouries and elephant stables, all rising up from the glittering waters of the
lake, …(265)
Dalrymple notes the magnificent structure of
the tomb of Ghiyasu-ud-din Tughluk, the father of Sultan Muhammad and the creator of this
impregnable complex.
William notes that the whole architectural structure had its different value too and there remained a
constant thinking about the war conditions and the utility of this structure at the time of war. For this
William quotes what Damascene geographer al- Umari has noted about Delhi: 120 “
That Delhi, for all its bazaars and shrines and architectures, was above all a
barrack.” War and defense makes William think about the weapons and he opens the history of
them: SWORD: William holds it to be the superior among all the weapons. It was invented by
Jamshed, the first of Monarchs. Even the proverbial saying ‘taken by the sword’ when any kingdom
is taken by force, he notes, denotes its superiority over other weapons. There are many types of
swords such as Chini, Rusi, Firanghi, Shahi, Hindi and Kashmiri. He notes that among all these
variety of swords the Hindi sword
known as ‘Mauj-e-Dariya’ [the waves of the sea] is the most lustrous. BOW:
Relating about the bow, he notes, it was the gift of Jibrail to Adam in Paradise. Since it is from the
Paradise, it is powerful,and in Paradise the blessed will practice archery. Among the varieties of
bows, William notes, the bow of Ghana is superior.
It is made of horn and its aim is straight. The
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second one is the Indian bow- the Kaman-I-Hindavi. This variety is made of cane. Though its arrow
does not travel longer distance, it inflicts a very bad wound. He also notes about the different types
of bow-string material used at different places. In central Asia horse hide is used.
Hide of the ox, the horse or even the flanks of a young Nilgai
are also used to make the bow strings. But he confidently states that the Rhinoceros hide would
make the most superior bow-string. In the Tughluk Sultan’s time, academic activities also acquired
a considerable acceleration. William notes that as Tughlukabad was to the military of the central
Delhi, the suburb of Hauz Khas was to the Savants.
It is here there stood a medrese - [a college] - whose academic reputation reached far and wide.
Here the learned refugees from Samarkand and the Central Asian university towns who fled from
the 121 Mongol Conquests made their abode. And in the magnificent infrastructures not only the
Islamic and Quranic studies were undertaken, the subjects like Astronomy and Medicine were also
pursued with keen interests. The medical school pursued and practiced here was ‘Unani Tibbia’-
origin of which traced back to Greek Hippocrates or Galen. Tracing the History of Channels through
which this knowledge of unique medical practice passed, William notes:
The secrets of Unani medicine were originally passed from the Byzantine Empire to Sassanil
Persia by heretic Nestorian Christians expanding the oppressive Orthdoxy of Constantinople. The
exiles set up a medical school at Jundishpur, south of modern Tehrran, where their arcane and
esoteric formulae were stolen by the Arabs during the early conquests of Islam. (269)
The practice, thus, in course of time, passed through different races,
and got ‘cross-fertilized’ with the ancient medical practices of Pharaonic Egypt, Sumeria, Assyria,
and Babylon-
and then the Arab Scholar Ibn Sina gave it its final coding and made it a cohesive system. William
Dalrymple also probes into its principles and compares it with the Western medical practice:
While Western medicine has always tended to concentrate on the elimination of germs, …
Unani
medicine emphasized aiding the body’s inbuilt ability to heal itself and its ethics forbade any
treatments which, while curing a specific ailment, harmed the soundness of the body as a whole.
(269)
Having got his attention drawn towards this unique medical practices, and having collected the
facts that such type of practices are no longer in existence where they actually originated, William
feels sure that, like almost all other traditions which once visited Delhi, the city has kept them safe
and alive within its life, this tradition too must have survived here. And William knows where to look
for it. Yes, it is
in the alleys of the old city, he notes, there are now some 1500 Hakims still
practicing the century-long
Byzantine medicine in Delhi, [and they appear to do thriving business,
William notes] describing one such medical compartment, he writes:
71
Their surgeries are wonderful. Inside dark, vaulted rooms whose mahogany shelves are heavy with
jars, bottles and vials, elderly white-bearded men can be seen feeling the pulse of heavily-veiled
women; behind, in the shadows their assistants are busy decanting liquids like medieval
alchemists: white powders are mixed with grey crystals then, slowly, crystal by crystal, dissolved in
a vat of bubbling, frothing liquid. (270) 122 The ailment of
his friend Navina offers him an opportunity to visit the Hakim Abdul Jamil Khan. His power of
minute description finds its way here too. He describes the Hakim and his surgery in this vein:
The hakim was a plump, middle-aged Muslim gentleman. He wore a white kurta top over a
checked lungi; he was barefoot and he kept his beard close- clipped. He was leaning back against
a bolster; beneath him a frayed red mat acted as makeshift carpeting. All around the hakim- in
trays, on top of cupboards, stretched out over long mahogany bookshelves- stood line upon line of
cork-stoppered jars, phials and bottles. All these jars contained ground and powdered herbs of
different colours and consistencies. In an enamel tray in front of the hakim lay a collection of
surgical instruments which looked as if they might have escaped from the Roman atrefact room in
the British Museum. (271)
In his conversations with the hakims, he brings out the facts that this knowledge has persisted in
practice through generations; as he quotes the Hakim in this connection: “My father was telling me.
His father told him.” (273) Scorching sun of Delhi had its severe effects on this Scottish couple.
Whereas freckles had appeared on Olivia’s face, William got balding effects with fast receding hair-
line. To this Mrs. Puri advised him to visit Nizzamuddin to pray for his disappearing hair-line. She
firmly said: “
The saint there is very god at solving all sorts of calamities. Mark my words. Your baldness will be
reversed in jiffy” (274).
Nizzamuddin interests him as his tomb is the centre of spiritual hegemony and people of all sects,
casts, creeds and religions visit this shrine of Shykh with their intimate dose of devotion, faith, trust
and hope to be relieved from their mundane worries with sure shot blessings and favours from the
Shykh. William persuades Dr. Jaffery to accompany him to this centre of faith on one Thursday
evening as it is on Thursday evening people arrive here to invoke the graces of the benevolent
spirit of Nizzamuddin. Shykh Nizzamuddin was, as he notes,
a contemporary of Giyas- ud- Din Tughluk. He withdrew from the world and preached a simple
message of prayer and renunciation.
According to Shykh, the first step of Sufism was not related to
the
Friday prayers or empty rituals, but with thew mastery of the maxim: “Whatever you do not wish to
be done to yourself, do not wish it to happen to others; wish for yourself what you wish for others
also” ( 275). 123
The Saint paved his own path by serving to each and every one wh came t his door.and treating all
human beings as the children of God Almighty whatever religion might they follow. Secondly, he
also used
the power of music and poetry to move devotees towards spiritual ecstasy.
This gentler doctrine of reconciliation and his message of brotherhood and musical rituals attracted
towards him persons of all religions but it enraged the orthodox Mullahs. The orthdox agencies
were not to let him go. They dragged him into the conflicts with the sultan Giyas-ud-Din.but the
Saint had his own spiritual powers. And it is his spiritual powers that: “
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The Tughluks have gone; Tughlukabad is a ruin; only Nizzmuddin remains” (276).
Dr. Jaffery nicely explains the existence of some spiritual powers about the Saint. Showing the
magnificent and architecturally rich tombs of the so called great emperors, he asks William, “Who
visits those tombs except some tourists? Whereas- It (Nizzamuddin’
s Tomb) is the cenotaph of a poor man who died penniless. Yet every day thousands come, and
they bring with them their innermost desires. There must be something which keeps them coming,
six hundred years after Nizam-ud-Din left his body. Everyone who comes here instinctively feels
the presence of the saint. (285)
William himself imbibes the spiritual whiff of the shrine and experiences its ‘
velvety warmth’ inside: The tomb exuded the same thick, hushed, candlelit air of extreme sanctity
that hangs over the world: the atmosphere reminded me immediately of the tomb of Saint James in
Compostela or the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. (278)
William meets the caretakers of this shrine, and the direct descendents of Nizzamuddin, known as
‘Pirzadas’ and collects the glimpses of their personal experiences of the holy saint. Their narration
of experiences which gave them instances of the saint’s spiritual presence reminds him Ibn
Battuta’s narration of such netherworld experiences in the company of the saintly Sufis of his days.
One of the major reasons behind the brutal, embittered and hostile attitudes of Sultan Muhammad
Tughluk towards his subjects was the failures of one by one reform he introduced in his realm. The
double tax policy, the copper currency met with humiliating failures. William quotes Zia-ud-Din
Barni in this context:
When the Sultan found that his orders did not work so well as he desired, he became still more
embittered against his people and began to cut them down like weeds. (292) 124
Sultan’s anger against the public made him increase the strength and number of spies i.e. secret
police, which acted to add fuels in the burning fire. Public unrest touched its peaks with the
capricious decisions of the Sultan and it found its vent through as William notes, the anonymous
‘reviling and insulting’ notes for the Sultan thrown in the Hazar Uttan [Hundred Pillars] And this
proved ‘the final straw’. In his frenzy the Sultan came to take most notorious decision of shifting the
capital from Delhi
to Daultabad- seven hundred miles to the south and the city’s entire population of half a million was
given just three days to pack up and leave.
History witnessed a devastating episode as people faced unprecedented hardships, a great

number of tragedies occurred on the way and only one tenth of the total number could reach the
new capital. Those who did not leave Delhi were dragged to Daultabad, and the Whole Delhi was
set on fire. William visits Daultabad and inspects the things himself. Here too, in the ruins, he finds
the replicas of Delhi monuments which the Delhi Wallahs had prepared to keep their nostalgic
memories alive. With new generations from Delhi and other immigrants from the nearby regions,
Daultabad, as William notes, too once teemed with lively cultures and prospered in the course of
time William quotes Isami:
Although only one tenth of the population of Delhi reached Daultabad, they were still able to turn it
into a fertile and prosperous land. (296)
But at present it is a deserted complex. In the fort William finds a small Chisti ‘Khanqah’ – a dervish
monastery. Here at this Durgah, he happens to come across the name of Khwaja Khizr ‘as the old
Dervish, the Caretaker of the Durgah of Baha-Ud- din refers that the step well there was originally
built by the supernatural agency of Khawja Khizr. Now his research orients at finding the facts
73
about this enigmatic ‘Khwaja Khizr’ who is associated with this city of Djinns. After working for days
in the Nehru library, he comes out with certain traits about Khwaja Khizr. ‘Khwaja khizr, referred to
as ‘green one’, was once celebrated throughout Islam. There was no consensus about his life
period among Islamic Scholars as whether
he was a contemporary of Abraham who left Babel alongside the Patriarch.
Some believe him to be
a friend of Moses who helped guide the tribes of Israel through the Red sea.
Another belief held him to be the cousin and contemporary of Alexander of Macedon. Still others
claimed
that Khizr was the great grandson of Shem son of Noah, that he was immortal and that his body
was miraculously renewed every five hundred years. 125 He wore a long white beard and one of
his thumbs had not bone in it. He was always dressed in green and was called ‘Khizr [Arabic for
green] because wherever he knelt and prayed the soil instantly became covered with thick
vegetation.
According to the mediaeval Islamic writers Khizr is immortal and his spirit wanders on the earth and
if a pious heart calls for this help and recites his name three times with pure spirits, he would
protect him from any difficulty.
He lived on an island or a green carpet in the heart of the sea. ?
The same ‘Khizr’ was claimed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the Northern India, and came
to be worshipped as the river god sailing
on the back of a large fish. ? In Sindh, he was
worshipped in the form of ‘Raja Khidar’ – God of Boatmen. ? In Gujarat, he was believed to be the
one who haunted the market early morning and fixed the rates of several commodities. ? In
Baroda, particular this green one was worshipped to propitiate the headaches. ? Quranic
commentators believed Khwaja Khizr to be
the unnamed teacher in Surah XVIII who acts a guide to Moses and attempts to teach him
patience. ?
The references to Khizr in the Alexender Romances of the early centuries of the Christian era are
of the real origin of Khizr myth. They borrowed it
from one of the most ancient poems in the world: The Sumerian Epic of
Gila mesh. ? What interests William Dalrymple is that the mythical character of Khizr which
originated some centuries back is still remembered and kept alive through devotion, still in the
modern world. With the help of Dr. Jaffery he goes in search of the Makhan-i-Khizr [i.e. the
residence of Khizr], as its reference he finds in the book ‘Muraqqa’-e Delhi’. He is wonder struck to
find the place well-maintained in the wilderness of Mehauroli in the suburbs of Delhi is still utilized
to invoke the Great Spirit. It is another thing that due to some unknown reasons, now the dervishes
could not invoke the great holy spirits owing to their derogatory lifestyle, plunging in lust and their
tendencies of cheating the gullible village folks. Here, he makes reference to the Hindu notion of
‘Kaliyuga’ the saga of derogation, the age of spiritual decay, to it both the Caretaker and Dr.Jaffery
consented saying might it be true as everything was displaying the symptoms of decay and
derogation. 126 Just as a perfect day Tughluk’s empire too witnessed diminishing traits and
loosening of reins. As Dalrymple notes, the failures of ambitious but somewhat impractical
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schemes made the governors of provincial regions unrest and they started rebellions and declared
themselves independent. Tughluk’s reaction to these rebellions was as to his nature ghastly and
cruel. He started a wild play of murders and massacres. And exactly among such chaotic social
and political circumstances, Battuta notes, the Sultan decided to send a Royal convoy to the
Chinese Monarch of which Battuta was designated the chief ambassador. Actually, then he was
leading a life of an ascetic retreat. Dalrymple gives the traces and the tragic fate of the convoy of
Battuta and asserts how Battuta
finally returned to Morocco and settled down in Fez to write his memoirs.
Dalrymple further notes down the details of the final days of Tughluk - a Sultan who witnessed
great unrest during his reign and so was his death. He was on the war- field and severely
threatened by the enemy. He died on 21 st of Muhrram 1351. William notes another interesting fact
about the Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluk that he was not buried in the Tomb he himself had got
erected for his own burial. Instead, he was buried within the Tughluk mausoleum opposite the
fortress of Tughlukabad. Whereas, his tomb the real monument is occupied by a certain wondering
Sufi – Kabir- Ud-Din Awliya – about whom nothing is now known. What surprises William about
Delhi and about India in general is the greater reverence being attributed to the penniless Sufis
than to the Sultans. His attention is magnetted towards the caravans going to Ajmer. Eventually he
collects information about the Urs of Moin-Ud-Din at Ajmer and boards one such bus going to
Ajmer. The bus is full of many passengers like Boob khan from Kashmir, who travel to visit the
shrine of Moin-Ud-Din of Ajmer to find solution to their mundane problems. At Ajmer, he finds many
people talking about their experiences of magical powers of the Saintly spirits. His desire to watch
‘Wajd’ is also fulfilled. William notes down the usual Indian anxiety for rain following every summer.
The heat in July is unbearable. He also mentions it is because of this scorching heat that the
Mughal shifted their capitals to the cool climate of Kashmir and the Britishers to their imperial
summer capital of Shimla. He, too along with Oliva, takes the train to Kalka and then takes the toy
train to Shimla for three days. 127 On his return he finds the news of Mr.Puri’s demise. He gives a
minute description of mourning sessions at Mrs. Puri’s household. This grief-engulfed atmosphere
makes both him and Olivia home sick too. They have completed their eleven months here and now
their senses crave for much familiar homely atmosphere. Before leaving, William feels pressures of
completing his research. He finds it difficult to trace reliable records of the pre-Muslim Delhi. All the
information now on hand is available in
a very late medieval epic, The Prithvi Raj Raso written by the Rajasthani Bard Chand Bardai. The
epic
presents the famous story of the gallant king Prithviraj, his love story with Sanujkta, the daughter of
the neighbour King Jai Chand, Prithviraj’s first encounter with the Muslim warlord Muhammad of
Ghor. In the First war in 1191 with Ghor, Prithviraj
defeated the invading army but chivalrously released Muhammad whom he had captured.
But the very following year,
the Turk returned with greater force and defeated Prithviraj at the battle of Taraori,
thus it proved the first entry of Islam in the subcontinent. Dalrymple tries to open the pages of
History of Delhi even before the Chauhans. He succeeds in finding some very stray and insufficient
details about the Tommar Dynasty who ruled the city from Lalkot before the Chauhans of which
only one name survives that of Raja Anagpala Tomar. The credit of installing
the enigmatic metal pillar which still stands, gleaming and unrusted beneath the Qutub Minar
75
goes to this Anagpala, surviving the name of Anagpals. He also finds out a pre- Muslim dam of
shining quartzite in a narrow valley in the village Anangpur which is situated six miles south to the
Qutub Minar. He painfully notes that nothing is clear about it and only disputed ambiguous
references are found about it. What surprises Mr. Dalrymple is on one hand no sound and clear
historic evidences are available about the Tomars, but ample details available about Delhi during
the time of Mahabharata. He asserts that whereas the Western epics like the Aneid and Odyssy
have turned out to be mere classics, Mahabharata of their time is still alive as a part and parcel of
Indian life. He gives the parameter of its popularity by citing the case that when recently its TV
adaptation was telecast on every Sunday as a weekly soap – almost entire Indian society and even
the administrative system was affected by it. It gained highest TRP and even there were the cases
the cabinet and corporate meetings were to be rescheduled owing to its telecast timings. Indeed,
William is impressed by this supreme piece of literature- the longest book on the earth, still his
sense of history makes him wonder whether such plaintive descriptions could be true, and thus he
states- 128
The more I read of the Mahabharata especially these sections dealing win Indraprashta – the more
I longed to know how far the descriptions were factual, or if they were simply the product of Vyasa’s
imagination. (325)
Such doubts lead him to professor B.B.Lal, the distinguished Indian archaeologist, who had dug a
site of Indraprastha some twenty years ago. William finds that Professor Lal is of the same opinion
that nothing of the far – fetching descriptions that the Mahabharatian texts describe could be of
factual value, but for its basic story-line of feudal-wars for dynastical throne. Professor Lal clearly
opines, when William questions him; William: ‘
So are you saying you can’t believe anything that you read in the text of the epic?’ Prof. Lal: ‘No,
I’m not saying that. But what is clear is that you can’t rely on the text alone. The only way to deal
with the problem -- speaking as an archaeologist -- is to look at Mahabharata sites themselves’.
(327)
Professor Lal’s study of ‘Hastinapur’ site confirms some historical facts, but what fascinates William
is the wonderful ‘Maya built palace of Indraprastha’ as the text describes many wonderful things
about it. To his query about its possibilities to be real, Professor Lal presents his archaeological
arguments and concludes: “
The Indraprastha of Mahabharata was basically created by the pen of the poet.”
To this, William’s acute sense of humour adds: “And destroyed by the travel of an archaeologist”.
(331) He utilizes his last afternoon in Delhi to visit the ‘Dashashwamegh Ghat’ which according to
the ancient myth pertaining to Delhi was originally ‘Nigambodh Ghat’. It was here Brahma; the
creator God retrieved his forgotten knowledge of the Vedas. In the first monsoon down pour, he
experiences spiritual bliss and feels as if he had awakened that pre-historic time on the stream of
Yamuna and wonders:
Indraprastha had fallen; six hundred years of Muslim domination had come and gone; a brief
interruption by the British was almost forgotten. But Shiva, the oldest living God in the world, was
still worshipped; Sanskrit- a language which pre-dates any other living tongue by millennia- was
still read, still spoken. Moreover, the sadhus and rishes- familiar figures from Mahabharata-
remained today, still following the rigorous laws of India’s most ancient vocations: giving up
everything to wander the face of the earth in search of enlightenment; renouncing the profane in
the hope of a brief glimpse of the sacred. In this wet and dishevelled figures sitting cross-legged
under the neem 129 and bunyan trees of the river bank lay what must certainly be the most
remarkable Delhi survival of all. (338)
76
The book has set its own class and stands as a paragon of serious research a traveler undertakes
as to fill up the narration. The city, that once attracts the author towards it, remains a close hunt for
him. Along with his initial struggles both in settling down and to acclimatize in it, all the aspects and
the historical phases that the city witnessed in the course of the history have been closely studied
by the author. He leaves no stone unturned in respect to the present and the past glories of the city.
He, in many of his speeches and articles, refers that today’s city is not the city of its glories, but it is
just an urban block which has attracted people all over India seeking employment. The narrative
voice throughout the book remains that of Anglo-centric British privileged youth who travels with
least concerns of economic resources and wants to spend as much time collecting stories of his
interest by investing all time, money and efforts. The narrative remains light, jovial and sustaining
interest of the reader with the local or historical anecdotes or stories about the place or the point
under discussion. He goes even to Pakistan to capture the glimpses of the city in minds of those
who were forced to leave their beloved city on the development of critical circumstances on the
partition issue. In the interview with Tabish Khair, William Dalrymple opines that the most
interesting travel books are by the individuals who have made extended stays in places, getting to
know them intimately: books like Ian Sinclair’s circling of the capital in London Orbital or Sam
Miller’s Delhi: Adventures in Megacity. There is also Amitav Ghosh in his Egyptian village in In An
Antique Land, or Chris de Bellaigue’s magnificent resent study, Rebel Land, which examines the
way that the ghosts of the Armenian genocide and Kurdish nationalism haunt a single remote town
in Eastern Turkey. The list which William Dalrymple enumerates can be added with his own work
on Delhi, The City of Djinns as here too his long stay has enabled and offered opportunities to him
to understand the temperament of the city, its heritage and the public and private domains of its
habitants.
In the same interview, William Dalrymple quotes the words of Colin Thubron whom he labels as the
most revered Travel writer of 80s and who is still at work: 130 The sympathetic traveller who takes
time to immerse himself in a country may gain not only factual knowledge but also a sensuous and
emotional understanding, and convey a people’s psychology and their response to things in a way
that can never be accessed studying in a library. A good travel writer can give you the wrap and
weft of everyday life, the generalities of people’s existence that are rarely reflected in academic
writing or journalism, and hardly touched upon by any other discipline.....”
In the same line William has also ransacked the alleys of Delhi and brought on the surface many
such issues which otherwise would have remained either unexplored on the fallacy of taken to be
granted as ordinary and being the recurrent ones and therefore of no special importance or would
just have remained limited to the learned circles only. (Dalrymple.William. Interview with Tabish
Khair, 184) In many of his articulations William Dalrymple defends the label of the “Orientalists” that
is posted on the writers, past or present, who write about the East. For this he argues in the
Preface to Michael Fisher’s Anthology of European Travel Writing on Mughal India, “Following the
success of Edward Said’s groundbreaking 1978 work Orientalism, the exploration of the East – its
peoples, habits, customs and past – by European travellers has become the target for what has
effectively been a major scholarly assault. ‘Orientalist’ has been transformed from a simple
descriptive label into a term of outright academic abuse….” (
Fisher, Michael H. (ed.) (2007) Visions of Mughal India: An Anthology of European Travel Writing.
London: I. B. Tauris)
In his books especially in City of Djinns and White Mughal, his deliberations on seeking evidences
in order to appropriate the Empire are conspicuous. As Paul Smethurst observes in his essay ‘
Post-Orientalism and the Past-Colonial in William Dalrymple’s Travel Histories’:
Dalrymple might show more interest in Delhi’s past than in its post-colonial present, but then in a
post modern world, where futurism is on the wane, past and present flow into each other. So, as he
surveys the monuments of the past in Delhi, the Red Fort, the havellis of Ballimaran, the Mughal
77
tykhana, the British Residency in Shahjehanabad, Luytenns’s New Delhi, he senses the aura of
past, and the flow of time that connects it with the present. His palimpsestic approach to history is
not theoretical but practical. In City of Djinns he clambers through cellars and hidden passages
literary to trace his way back through the accumulated detritus of fallen Empire. This is not to
interpret the past to explain the present, but to understand and inhabit the past 131 as a dimension
to the present, and to bridge that divisiveness of history which has driven a wedge between the
Islamic world and the rest. 132 Works Cited Dalrymple, William. City of Djinns. New Delhi: Penguin
Books. 1993.
Print ---. Interview by Tabish Khair. Post Colonial Travel Writing, Critical Explorations, Ed. Justin D.
Edwards and Rune Graulund, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print. ---.
Preface. Visions of Mughal India: An Anthology of European Travel Writing. By, Michael H. Fisher.
ed. London: I. B. Tauris. 2007.
Print.
Edwards, Justin D. and Rune Graulund Ed. Post Colonial Travel Writing, Critical Explorations. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2011. Print. Fisher, Michael H. ed. Visions of Mughal India: An Anthology
of European Travel Writing. London: I. B. Tauris 2007.
Print.
York: Modern Language Association. 2009.
Print.
Mongolkar, Manohar. A Bend In Ganges. London: Pon Books ltd. 1967.
Print.
Paul Smethurst. Post-Orientalism and the Past-Colonial in William Dalrymple’s Travel Histories’ in
Edwards, Justin D. and Rune Graulund (Ed.) Post Colonial Travel Writing, Critical Explorations, ,
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.
Said, Edward. Orientalism. London: Penguin Books. 1978. Print 133 134
The Age of Kali Indian Travel & Encounters

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the introduction William
Dalrymple announces The Age of Kali is “a collection of peripatetic essays, a distillation of ten
year’s travel around the Indian subcontinent.” These essays and encounters have been, as he
himself states at the very outset, conceived during working on his second book ‘City of Djinns’.
Being a traveller, journalist and Historian the varied and eerie things about this part of the globe
attracts him. And the outcome of his toil on the socio-political conditions of these Asian nations is
–this collection of essays.
The title of the book bears the reference to the Hindu mythological reference of labelling of the four
different epochs of time. In the introduction- Dalrymple tells the tale of his selection of the title.
Explaining his point he notes: The book’s title is a reference to the concept in ancient Hindu
cosmology that time is divided into four great epochs. Each age (or yug) is named after one of the
four throws, from best to worst, in a traditional Indian game of dice; accordingly, each successive
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age represents a period of increasing moral and social deterioration. The ancient mythological
Golden Age, named after the highest throw of dice, is known as the Krita Yug, or the age of
Perfection. As I was told again and again on my travels around the subcontinent, India is now in
throes of the Kali yug, the Age of Kali, the lowest possible throw, an epoch of strife, corruption,
darkness and disintegration. (Dalrymple Age xi) To support his point, and to strengthen the grounds
for his focus and snap- shooting the violent and degraded landscape of all the stories he has
included in this collection, he makes a point to site from the seventeenth century Vishnu Purana:
The kings of Kali yug will be addicted to corruption and will seize the property of their subjects, but
will, for the most part, be of limited power, rising and falling rapidly. The property and wealth alone
will confer rank; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation. Corruption will be the
universal means of subsistence. At the end, unable to support their avarios kings, the people of
Kali Age will take refuge in the chasms between mountains, they will wear rugged garments, and
they will have too many 135 children. Thus in the Kali Age shall strife and decay constantly
proceed, until the human race approaches annihilation. (Dalrymple Age xii)
On witnessing
the bloodshed violence spread throughout the subcontinent, he states, he feels convinced that the
Age of Kali has in reality cuffed the human race here, and made them thirsty of each other’s blood-
no matter whatever is the ground. Be it social, political or the religious, or on the grounds of
morality, status or family feuds, the human race seems on the dagger drawing stance. Tolerance
and broad- mindedness are no longer in the index of human virtues, rather they are considered to
be the attributes of weakness in the social arena. Man finds himself entangled with his own fellow
people and he feels he has to struggle hard to get what, he thinks, is essential for his well-being
and happiness. The weakest points of Democracy have got surfaced and the reins of power have
been grabbed by the persons with criminal backgrounds.....
The
blind race of these South-Asian nations for military power, and their accumulation of ‘Nuclear’
weapons, he notes, as the confirming step towards the Puranic prophecy of the end of this ‘Kali
Yug’ in the total devastation by the thousands of blazing suns. As he asserts, if he has five lives, all
of them he would like to spend in India— that is, he is that much in love with this nation. His travels
across this nation has brought him to the close quarters of the varied and variety of life-styles,
beliefs, conventions and sometimes oddities of the lives of the people and perhaps owing to this
throughout a concern that rings in his mind is: “Whether the prosperity of the south and west of the
country can outweigh the disorder and decay which is spreading out from Bihar and the north”
(Dalrymple Age xiii). He knows his selection of the issues is sensitive which might raise a few cries
of protest and notes of dissent from the citizens of India. He might be held to the critique as how far
he has got the right to criticize the land on which he has travelled for a few years and does not
have the enough knowledge of the overall perspectives of this ancient culture. But he makes it
clear at the very outset that all his labour, research and attachments have been bred out of his
tender affections and love for this land. And true — many commentators and reviewers have not
taken this book with a well-come note. The critics and commentators blame William on the grounds
that in an attempt to prove his title appropriate, Dalrymple concentrates a bit too much on the
negative side of the story and fails to predict the good things, India would experience in the coming
years. 136 But
what captures Dalrymple’s attention are the grounds gravely fixed on the stark reality of
commonplace life. He describes how caste, crime, money and muscle power have a stranglehold
on rural north Indian society, particularly Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan where women are
raped, and caste based militias kill each other with impunity. The agencies of administration and
police are often in collusion with the criminals. He also tries to understand the leagues of the
convicted murderers to win the elections, the student unions’ fascination for the power game of
politics for that their use of guns and grenades when actually books and journals should be their
79
concerns. On the whole, it is all about what William comes across during his travels across the
Indian subcontinent. Some places he visits, particularly the camps of Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and
the borders of Pakistan, demand great cautions and hold a bit of personal risk too. For these are
the places where fatal- deadly weapons trade free and even the local outsider is not easily well-
come within their staunch secretive circles and is looked at with sheer suspicion, and the slightest
blur of untrustworthiness from such an outsider might be justified with a shot of a gun.
William has picked up those issues which created sensational tremors among the socio-political
circles of contemporary India in the last decade of 20 th century. As a developing nation, India has
to tackle many such clashes, even the neighbouring nations Pakistan and Srilanka too are
undergoing same transitional phase. Some of the articles in this collection have been new versions
of previously published ‘Journalistic’ articles. And as the author confesses, “some of them have
been, edited, trimmed and re-written... and some have been suffixed with a new post scripts to
bring them up to date” (xv).The collection consists of six titles and each title presents two to four
different articles pertaining to that particular area of subject. The first four cover the Indian milieu.
‘The North’ presents the scenario of northern India, particularly the essay ‘The Age of Kali’ talks of
the political feudalism of the state of Bihar. ‘In the Kingdom of Avadh’ looks back into the glorious
past of this Nawabi Kingdom; and presents the concerns of the persons associated with it. ‘The
City of Widows’ captures and echoes the pains and untold sufferings of the widows spending their
lives helplessly in the city of Vrindavan. The widows here are paid meagre wages for enchanting
the name of God in shifts in the round the clock prayers!!!! And rest of their needs are satisfied
through begging on the streets of this place of pilgrimage. ‘The Warrior Queen’ presents the story
of the queen of Gwalior, and provides the details of her political and personal life. The last one
‘East of Evans’ once again pays attention towards the public temperament resorting to violence
even for the ordinary offences received from the fellow beings. ‘The North’, thus snapshots 137
such situational scenario of the northern part of India that on the whole gives one an impression
that the Northern part of India is standing on the mouth of a volcano which constantly emits the
blazing flames of violence. The second title ‘In Rajasthan’ presents three articles. ‘The Sad Tale of
Bahveri’ presents the painful case of Bahveridevi. She was raped by the socially and politically
privileged person and his men of her own village only at the fault of her that they doubted she
provided information to the government machinery about the child-marriage in the said man’s
family. Not only was she raped in her farm in front of her husband, but was boycotted by the whole
village on the grounds that she was a ‘prostitute’ herself and by lodging complaint against village’s
reputed people on the allegation of rape, she had brought shame on their village. ‘Caste Wars’
presents another grave picture of society of Rajasthan. It documents that even at the end of the
twentieth century/turn of twenty first century – still the society is segregated on the grounds of
caste in some regions of Rajasthan.’ ‘Sati Mata’ looks into the debated case of ‘Sati’ at Deorala
village near Jaipur. Here, the ancient Hindu practice of ‘Sati’- i.e. ritually burning the widow of the
dead person to death in the cremation pyre was attempted to be revived. He sincerely tries to
investigate whether the issue involved the voluntary selection of the lady to embrace death through
the ancient tradition or was it the case of honour killing in which the lady was compelled against her
will to die in the name of tradition? In the third group of essays titled ‘The New India’, William
Dalrymple brings under the focus the modern social strides of the elite class of the metro cities of
India which shows the direct impacts of the westernized culture. In ‘Two Bombay Portraits’ he
presents the word paintings of two icons of modern India namely Baba Sehgal, the world’s first
Hindi rap megastar and Shobha Dè, the lady English writer who has started a sort of writing which
has been drastically labelled “dirty and filthy” in the staunch Indian circles. He notes that the flow of
cash through the liberal economic policies has given birth to a new elite class in the Indian society,
especially in the metropolitan complexes of India like Delhi and Mumbai. And under the waves of
the western influences getting filtered through the world markets, the youth has adopted new age
addiction to the party lives. As a result of this, a new wave of bars and discotheques have got
booming and mushrooming in the cities like Bombay. Shobha Dé presents in her creative arena the
tantalising details of the lives of the multimillionaires and the scandals that their wealth gives them
legacy and privilege to enjoy. This kind of writings, though not welcome openly by any elite literary
80
levels, and adversely criticised for the stinking ‘cheapness’—finds its way among the people 138
and sells boomingly. This as Shobha herself claims, “I write readable trash commercial novels. But
I don’t think “commercial” is a dirty word.....There is a market out there, and I’m filling the slot.”
“Finger-Lickin’Bad: Bangalore and Fast- food Invaders” presents the story of the changing food
habits and the agitations bred out of this change among the certain social circles and manifestation
and outburst of such underlying and suppressed oppose into the destructive attacks on the multi-
national Fast-Food stores and the protest against the “Miss World Contest” in the Indian Cyber city
Bangalore. The social circles appear broadly forked on the issue. On one hand there are the
conventionalists who protest such events taking shape in the name of dragging the nation once
again back to the points of “Cultural Imperialism”, whereas there are the groups who claim it to be
the stepping stone through which India could secure a true cosmopolitan status, and they on their
part ridicule those who oppose this as being “insecure lot who cannot face the world.” The fourth
title ‘The South’ consists of three essays reflecting the way of life and the faith holding agencies of
the South Indian people. ‘At the Court of the Fish- Eyed Goddess’ is set in the southern Tamil
temple town of Madurai. William here notes that Madurai was from the time of 4th century an
important trade centre on the Spice Route. The city’s time phase has witnessed many scores of
popularity of Religious significance, but now with rising of the middle class there is a great influx of
believers in the temple of Goddess. “Under the Charminar” is once again Dalrymple’s choice of
historical exploration. Here in this essay he revokes through the memmories of Mir Moazam Husain
the glorious past of this Hydrabad State. William holds this glorious past as the foil to present the
constant degradation of this state, just in the same tune of the Age of Kali. He also brings in the
‘Police Action’ – the painful chapter of Indian Post-Independence History. And ends it in the same
mood as the destruction and devastations of the grandeur of Past has reached its apex. The next
essay “Parashakti” enacts the story of the Goddess Parashakti in the city of Cochin of Keral State.
What interests him here the most is the practise of relieving the “possessed” from the clutch of the
eerie spirits through the invocation of the goddess. The fifth title, “On the Indian Ocean”, presents
three essays on the three different islands on the face of the great Indian Ocean. The first of them
“At Donna Georgina’s” presents the story of Goa. Donna Georgina, the host of William at Goa and
the ......., reveals the facts before the author-- the goans and their culture found their ecstasies, or
at the most were happy under the reign of the Portuguese colonials, and also that the forceful
seizer of Goa by India in 1961was the worst fate of it. She claims to William that majority of Goan
public feeling was against that but as they 139 were less in number and feeble in force, they had to
yield to “them”, i.e. Indians. “Up the Tiger Path” fine research of the author on the most mysterious
\secretive operations of the Tamil Tigers—the militant force waging a civil war on the Srilankan land
in the name of the regions densely inhabited by the Indian Tamils in 1990. William visits their
training camps and interviews their leader too their leader too. “The Sorcerer’s Grave” relates the
travel of the author to the mountainous Indian Ocean Island, known today as Réunion. He also
weaves the mythical story of hidden treasure on this Island. Though the Island lies on the heart of
the Indian Ocean, half way between Madagascar and Srilanka, William notes, it is a place of
heterogeneous\assorted cultures and is still the part of France. He also visits the grave of
Levasseur, and there he comes to know that while other graves in the centenary remained uncared
the one that of La Buse was clearly much-visited and worshipped for favours people desired to
have. The sixth title “Pakistan” contains three essays on our neighbouring nation Pakistan. The first
among them “Imaran Khan: Out for as Duck” presents William’s travel and close study of the
corrupt mechanism of political machineries in Pakistan. Imaran Khan, the most popular captain of
the Pakistani cricket team, opts to revolutionise the whole corrupt political system in Pakistan and
with this noble end in mind contests the national elections under the banner of a new political party
he himself founded- ‘Tehrik-e-Insaaf’. William minutely covers his whole political campaign and
reports the unprecedented welcome Imaran Khan received from the people of Pakistan. But, the
results of the elections are adverse to all the surveys and opinion polls which forecast\speculated
the victory of Imaran Khan and his party. On the contrary there was a clean swipe of Tehrik-e-Insaf
and neither Imaran nor any of his nominees win a single seat in the election. “On the Frontier”
again presents the weakening conditions of law and order in Pakistan and the free trade and easy
access to the deadly and fatal weapons in the frontier regions of Pakistan. “Blood on the Tracks” is
81
the presentation of the partition tragedy from the other side of the Indian Frontiers. It is Dalrymple’s
research on the architectural magnificence of the Lahore Railway Station, but how can he miss an
opportunity to draw the attention of the world to the facts that the same building had been an
eminent witness to the partition tragedy? “Benazir Bhutto: Mills & Boons in Karanchi” once again is
a word sketch of a Pakistani Political tycoon Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of late president of
Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged to death by the government of General zia. 140 All
these essays are the result of William’s sincere research and personal rectifications of evidences.
His travels bring him face to face with the degrading trends in all walks of life in the places he visits,
or sometimes his interest drags him to such places. Though there are adverse comments as
William has picked up and has chosen to present only the dark sides of developing India and
sometimes exaggerates the social or political reporting in order to prove his title appropriate, one
cannot deny the truthfulness and reality of his observations on social and political developments
taking place in India, Srilanka, and Pakistan. The Age of Kali The Age of Kali presents the violence
stricken situltion of the state of Bihar. The news published in Indian Express of 13 february 1992,
about the massecre of the upper caste people of Barra village by some 200 armed untouchables
arrests his attention. Such news has become so coomonplace one that eventhough a number of
persons have been reported to have been repoted to be butchered mercilessly, it has been “burried
somewhere in the middle pages” of the newspaper, and carries no waitage of being the Headline.
More surprising matter, as it seems to William, is the cold commonplace response of other Indians
to it. Such a wild play of violence goes taken for granted in case of Bihar, as this state “where
Buddha attained his enlightenment”, is more well-known for such outbrusts of violence, creeping
coppuptions and endemic caste-warfare. The weaker points of Democracy are at their peak as the
sphere of Politics-election- all this has become the dirty power games; especially in Bihar. The
criminals and the persons with legal liabilities get elected and at the time of elections unfair means,
Booth-capturing, etc. keep their course and results of this, as William presents, “no fewer than thiry
three of Bihar’s State Assembly MLAs had criminal records, and a figure like Dular Chand YAdav,
who had a hundred cases of Decoity and fifty murders cases pending against him, could also be
addressed as Honourable Member for Barh. Media catches crystle clear reflections of society, and
the news from Bihar teem with the stories of crimes and breaches of laws. Here the Minister and
his supporters illigally capture Railway compartment crushing every vioce of protest and with the
boasting claim of being the creator of the law gave them the unsaid priviledge of brecking them too.
Another news of the civil servant G. Krishnaiah’s 141 merciless murder by the local MP Anand
Mohan Singh who “exherted his followers to lynch the upstart official.” The Minister -- the
representative of public—caters criminal gangs and uses them to demonstrate his power—this is
the most grave face of democracy. And what is more alarming to the temperament and well being
of damocracy—is Anand Mohan’s contesting the general election 1996 and retaining his seat of
MP inspite of being in the jail. Dalrymple, naturally being wondered at such scenario being reported
in the news, decides to have the first hand information on the issue of massecre of Barr village. He
finds out Ashok Singh, one of the two fellows who escaped death in the massecre and visits the
‘site’of massecre at Barrr. The description of the event is breath taking. On that fateful night all the
male members of this ‘Bhumihar’families were taken to one clearing in the farm and murdered one
by one. As Ashok narrates all the murders were executed by two persons, so the other victims had
to wait and watch the barberious play of butchering of their own kiths and kins. He saw with his
own eyes his father, brothers and cousins bing treated with the edge of a sickle: They killed all my
brothers. They killed my father and they killed my uncle and cousins. Eventually my turn came.
One of the men pushed me forward and the other got his sickle and took three swipes. It made
deep cuts on the back of my neck and head. I was senseless. The next thing i knew i woke up in
hospital in Gaya.; it was three weeks before i could get out of bed. (08) Even after this nightmare,
back at the village the ladies and the male members who survived the mishap live under terrified
cicumstances and constant threat of being attcked. The new houses they built remind William
some miniature castle or “the Peel towewrs erected across the Scotish boarders in the sixteenth
century” (08). Recurrence of such events at cetain intervals at one or the other corner of Bihar
makes one wonder with the notion that it is receding towards the DARK AGES. William rightly
observes much of Bihar’s violence has roots in the caste fuedalism: There, two rival militia were at
82
work: the Savarna Liberation Front, which represented the interests of the high-caste llandowning
Bhumihars, and the Maoist Communist Centre, which took the part lower castes and Untouchables
who farmed the Bhumihars’ fields. Week after week, the Bhumihars would go ‘Harijan hunting’,
setting off in convoys of jeeps to masecre’uppity Untouchables’, ‘to make an example’; in
retaliation, the peasants would emerge from the fields at night and silently behead an oppressive
landliord or two. The police did little to protwest either group. 142 William drags attention to the
point of Laloo Prasad Yadav’s in Bihar and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s in Uttarpradesh—the lower
caste politicians’ emergence on the political horizons as a stride of turning of tables. He notes that
Indian politics has always been dominated by the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas—the two castes on
the top of the caste pyramid. But, the social revolution, bred out of dissatisfaction towards the
oppressions and atrocities of the upper castes, has taken the lead and now these lower caste
political leaders are gaining power which they “ use to ensure that their lot is bettered,” and as
Laloo Yadav puts it in his talks with William: Because we were from the Yadav caste we were not
entitled to sit on the chair, they (the upper caste people) made us sit on the ground. I remember all
that humiliation. Now I am in chair and I want those people to sit on the ground. It is in my mind to
teach them a lesson. (15) William decides to meet Laloo Prasad Yadav, the chief minister of Bihar,
the apostle of lower caste lead on the Indian political Horizons, and fortunately happens to find him
on the same flight to Patna. This is how he describes his meeting and first impression he forms
about him: He finds in Laloo a perfect combination of personality who can adorn many facets for
successful trade in Indian politics. He appears an ordinary gullible villager with his acute assent of
Bihari language but when time demands he could easily take resort to unfair means, guns and
violence. Laloo comes from a lower caste family and he had no privileged childhood. But he is fully
confident about the social awakening of the lower castes of which he boasts to the representative:
“The backward castes will rise up,” he said, “Even now they are waking up and raising their voices.
You will see: we will break the power of these [upper caste] people....” (24). And this sort of
awakening will result in his own political empowerment as he asserts: The BJP [Bharatiya Janta
Party] and the Congress are both Brahminical Parties. The Backward castes have no reason to
vote for them. Already they have realised this in Bihar. In time they will realise this everywhere. The
support of these parties will dry up likea dirty puddle in summer. (24) He seems totally indifferent to
the total failure of administration in Bihar state: ..... the economy is stagnant, crime is completely
out of control:64,085 violent offences (such as armed robbery, looting, rioting and murder) took
place between January and June 1997. This igure includes 2625 murders 1116 kidnapping and 127
abduction for ransom, meaning that Bihar witnesses 14 143 murders everyday and a kidnapping
every four hour. Whatever index of prosperity and development you choose, Bihar comes
triumphantly at the bottom. It has the lowest literacy, the highest crime, the fewest cinemas. Its per
capita income is less than half the Indian average. Not long ago it had a major famine. The state
has withered; Bihar is now nearing a situation of anarchy. (17) The other examples of mal-
administration, Dalrymple picks up/ finds out in his visit to the vice-chancellor, Prof. Mohinuddin
and Mr. Uttam Sen Gupta, the editor of Patna edition of the Times Of India—are the students’
attack of the Vice – Chancellor as they were stopped from malpracticing in the exam, the broken
down X- Ray machine for a year in the Patna civil Hospital and the Capital City of Bihar _patna
going dark after the sunset as there were no light-bulbs in the streetslamps. William puts it in his
unique style: “.......everyday at sunset, Patna a city of over a million people, was plunged into
medieval darkness” (19). And, In a very real sense, Bihar may be a kind of Heart of Darkness
pumping violence and corruption, pulse after pulse, out into the rest of the subcontinent. The first
ballot-rigging recorded in India took place in Bihar in 1962 general election. Thirty year later, it is
common across the country. The first example of major crimiminals winning parliamentary seats
took place in Bihar in 1980 election. Again, it is now quite normal all over India. (20) Here—
‘corruption, lawlessness, marauding caste armies and the background of government’ does prevail
and make the average citizen sighs (as it is expressed by Ashok Singh, the victim of the Barr
tragedy): “We are left at the mercy of God. This is the Kali Yug (the Age of Kali), the epoch of
disintegration” (21). In the ‘Postscript’ to the essay, William wonders at the miraculous results of
1998 general election in which, despite his arrest under the fodder scam Laloo won his seat—his
wife’s government returned to power in alliance with the Congress, and –robbery—crime, rage still
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gaining speed. [Note: on 3 rd of October 2013 Laloo was sentenced five years of confinement by
the CBI court and on legal ground got disqualified from holding the membership of Parliament.] 144
In the Kingdom of Avadh Lucknow -1998
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lucknow—the capital city of Avadh
in her pre-colonial period especially its spectacular skyline—with its domes and towers and gilded
cupolas, its palaces and pleasure gardens, ceremonial avenues and wide maidans— reminded the
travellers [from West] of Constantinople, Paris or even Venice. Avadh [or Oudh] was also renowned
for etiquette and refinement. In the realm of ‘Flamboyant Nawabs, during the eighteenth century,
the city resembled ‘ an Indian version of [pre-Revolutionary] Tehran, Monte Carlo and Las Vegas,
with just a touch of Glyndebourne for good measure.’ But the Golden era came to a jostled end at
the 1857 mutiny. The vengeful Britishers did all to reduce the glory of the city to near devastation
stature. See, how the glories of this grand city get reflected in the words of a western traveller, as
quoted by William: Not Rome, not Athens, not Constantinople, not any city I have ever seen
appears to me so striking and beautiful as this. The sun playing on the gilt domes and spires, the
exceeding richness of the vegetation and forests and gardens remind one somewhat of the view of
the Bois de Boulogne from the hill over St Cloud...but for the thunder of the guns and the noise of
the balls cleaving the air, how peaceful the scene would be! (31) (The British war correspondent
William Russel in the middle of the Great Mutiny) But the fateful event of the Great Mutiny brought
upon the city a sort of hard- luck and its charms were ruthlessly butchered by the Armies of the
East India Company. Still, the city maintained her development and regained her charms to be
known ‘as one of the great cities of the Raj” even it managed to revert the pattern of devastation
and destruction brought upon it on the event of Partition. 145 The City of Widows
------------------------ ----------------------- ---------------------- ---------------- They have no privacy, no
luxuries, no holidays. They simply pray until they keel over and die. There are eight thousand of
them at present in the town, and every year their number is increasing. (51) In ‘The City of
Widows’, William devotes his time in studying such painful lives of the numberless widows
spending their days and waiting for death in this pious city of pilgrimage, Vrindavan of Uttarpradesh
which according to the Indian scriptures is the birth place of the great Indian deity Lord Krishna. He
opens his essay with a factual painting of the plight: “The eye of faith can often see much that is
hidden from the vision of the non believer” (49). In the nation like India whose very core of life-style
takes one or another religio-centric foundation, any attempts to throw light on the real plights must
be counter attacked in the name of faith, but still the reality cannot be evaded on any measure. He
presents two views of the city. In the first case he says in the view of a secular being, the city is a
nothing more than a rundown. But the same complex finds divine touch in the view of a pilgrim; his
wistful eyes behold elements of lord Krishna in each and every molecule of the city. William paints
it from the view point of a devout pilgrim: “Devout Hindus believe that Krishna is still present in this
temple town with its crumbling palaces and swarming ashrams, its open sewers and its stalls
selling brightly coloured lithographs of the God Child” (49). Reaching at the root levels William
notes: In traditional Hindu society a woman loses her status the moment her husband dies. She is
forbidden to wear colours or jewellery or to eat meat. She is forbidden to remarry (at least if she is
reasonably high cast; low-caste and Untouchable women can do what they want) and she is
forbidden to own property. She may no longer be expected to commit ‘sati’ and throw herself on her
husband’s funeral pyre, but in many traditional communities, particularly in the more remote
villages, she is still expected to shave her head and live like an ascetic, sleeping on the ground,
living only to fast and pray for her departed spouse. (50) And in such scenario, the widows are
literally thrown out of their households and societies and they are forced to lead a pitiable life of
misery on the dirty streets and alleys of the pious city Vrindavan. 146 Every day widows from all
over India arrive in Vrindavan. They come to seek the protection of Krishna, to chant mantras and
to meditate on their own mortality. They live in great poverty. In return for four hours of chanting,
the principal ashram will give a widow a cupful of rice and two rupees---about four pence. (50)
William traces the painful story of Kankalatha. She had been living here in Vrindavan for last forty
years i.e. the major part of her life she has spent here chanting the name of god and begging! Her
days starts at four thirty after her offering service to her private idol of Krishna, she world go for
chanting shift from six to ten and after that her time would spend in begging in order to meet her
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expenses; the major of it being the rent of the ‘air less’ room in which she nurses her age old
mother. Despite all these pains, worries and uncertainty of life, William is wonderstruck to note the
ladies’ unfathomable, love and faith on Lord. “If Govinda doesn’t look after us who will?” said
Kanaklatha. “If I didn’t believe in him how could I stay alive?” Pain, pain, and pain only drips form
their utterances: “It is all fate.” It was the mother speaking. “When we were young we never
imagined this would be our end” (53). As kankalatha puts; “We were a land owning family. Now we
have to beg to beg to survive. Even now I’m full of shame when I beg, thinking I m from a good
family. It is the same with all the widows. Our usefulness is past we are all reject. This is our karma”
(53). The blame doesn’t fix on any other agency than on their own karma and there isn’t the
slightest tone of complaint for god either. He is held with the esteem of a guardian. “Only Govinda
knows our pain and misery,” said her mother. “No one else could understand” (53). Many of these
widows have literally been thrown out of their houses by their own sons and in some cases on the
grounds of ‘shame’ that might fall on their family as they beg in the streets; they are cut off of all
sorts of contacts. In such plight it is natural that a question might rise in their minds as the age old
mother of Kanaklatha, at the age of 95, in ill and bedridden state raises; “We haven’t committed a
crime. Why should we go through all this?” (54) And the shocking and heart rendering height of the
case is that the pain and misery of such life makes them feel to validate the system of sati; instead
of dying every moment with acute humiliations of begging, pains and the feeling they are not 147
important to anybody on this earth. Their existing or not made no difference to anybody in the
society. William also meets her landlord, Pandit Krishna Gopal Shulka and receives some more
alarming details regarding the widows in the city. Shukla informs him about the money laundering
mechanics of the business houses as well as the black trade of the young widows for mistresses
and the scandals of selling them to the whorehouses. The research of the writer places the
miserable plight of the widows in real light and shows how in the name of tradition the widowed
women are deprived of their rights and left uncared and in vulnerable conditions. Perhaps the old
woman who comes to up William in the end rightly says: “We all died the day our husbands died
how can anyone describe our pains our hearts are on fire with sorrow. Now we just wait for the day
when all this will end” (59). And perhaps all this makes Kamala Ghosh a local women’s rights
activist puts, as quoted by William, “If I were to sit under a tree and tell you the sadness of the
widows of Vrindavan, the leaves that tree would fall like tears”(51). Warrior Queen: The Rajmata of
Gwalior ------------------------ ----------------------- ---------------------- ----------------- “At the age of seventy-
nine she is still an enigma.” This is the response of the author after following personally the
persona and personality and personal and political activities of the Dowager Maharani of Gwalior,
Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia. A strong and hard-liner Hindu political theory holder, Rajmata holds
many important positions in Indian politics. After having got her own dynastical reign dissolved after
the Indian Independence from the British rule in 1947, Rajmata entered into the active politics. The
well known slit in her family has an interesting story. When Indira Gandhi, the Congress Prime
Minister, imposed emergency in India in 1975, Rajmata was also arrested and sent to the Tihar jail.
During this instead of standing by his mother her son, Madhavrao Scindia went into the league with
the Congress Government and managed to flee to Nepal leaving his mother to her fate in the Jail.
This had cast deep and serious dent in the mother’s psyche —“.....in the Emergency he left me
inside that jail with the criminals and prostitutes. Imagine it: one of the inmates had twenty-four
cases against her, including four murders. These were the companions he thought suitable for his
mother” (67). 148 Though engaged in many social and political activities, Rajmata is the lady of
great faith. She tries to attribute all the developments with the will of God. Her day begins with two
hour long Puja to lord Krishna, and to the question how does she take her lord Krishna to be, she
blushingly replies: “...it’s like two lovers: you can’t say to them, “Describe how you behave when
you are together” (65). The resident in which Rajmata resides is a massive Jai Vilas Palace built
according to the status of the Maharaja. William, who has seen many gorgeous buildings of the
world, too gets impressed by the beauty of this building: Then I noticed that to one side of the
palace, a few hundred yards away, lay another, fven larger, edifice. Suddenly I realised that the
vast building I had just toured was only a small, detached wing—a kind of garden cottage— tucked
off to the side of the main bulk of the Jai Vilas Palace. This far larger palace was the home of
Sardar’s enemy, the Maharaja. Like the building we were standing in, it was a late-nineteen-century
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construction built in an Italian baroque style: a kind of massive Milanese wedding cake air-dropped
into the jungle of central India. (69) Another two things that arrest William’s attention are the
World’s second largest Chandelier and the Solid Silver model railway on the dining table. Noting
the historical event associated with the whole palace complex and the two eccentricities namely
the Chandelier and the model train, William states that it all came to shape on the ‘Ill-fated visit of
the Prince and Princess of Wales to Gwalior in 1857.’ William also brings into the light the mishaps
that occurred on the visit of the royal couple in his humorous vein. The train which was designed to
impress the Prince stumbled into the Prince’s lap at the dining table and the magnificent marble
bath-tub itself disappeared into the floor at the time of princess’ bath. William also notes that the
real reign of Maharaja in Gwalior was a sweet dream of the residents of the state. The people still
remember those days when they were looked after by the Ruler in the spirits of guardianship. Here
too, there is a common shared discontent for the present corrupt bureaucracy: The Maharaja would
himself go around the city, at night, incognito, and see how the things were being managed. He
really did believe his subjects were his children. Now where you go there is corruption and
extortion. (The Major said) (71) And, as Vanmala said: 149 Today every babu in the civil services
thinks he is a Maharaja, and tries to make difficulties for the common man. But in those days there
was only just one King. The people of Gwalior had confidence that if they told their story he would
listen and try to redress them. (71) Such is the estimation of their Kings—the rulers in the minds of
the people. Equally grand was their life-style. In their time the Kings enjoyed regal luxuries and
even after their death, the kings are treated as living entities and given the same treatment as if
they were alive. In the places where their memorials are erected, their statues are extended the
real regal treatment right from the morning awaking music to the softer bed for night. Everything is
done on the exact time-table. This practise reminds William of the pyramids of Egypt: “Grave
goods—everything the Maharani would need for the afterlife—lay scattered all around. I felt rather
as if I had stumbled into a Pyramid twenty years after the death of Ramses II” (73). After enjoying
the warm hospitality of Rajmata and having spent some quality time with her, William wonders
about the media reporting about this lady. He finds not a single trait of obscurity in her as it is being
reported about her in the media by her detractors in the Indian press. Rather he finds her to be:
“....endearing, there was absolutely nothing sinister about her” (73). Through the link of Rajmata
Scindia, William picks up, here, an opportunity to express his observations on the emerging
strength of the hard-line Hindu political ideology in eminence through the Bhartiya Janta Party and
its mentor institution RSS {Rastriya Swayam Sevak Sang} {Association of National Volunteers}. He
puts forward his observations on the RSS as a fascist institution hatching, in vein, the dream of
national integrity, strength and purity: Like Phalange in Lebanon, the RSS was founded in direct
imitation of 1930s European fascist movement; and like its models it still makes much of daily
parading in khakhi drill. The RSS views this as an essential element in the creation of a corps of
dedicated and disciplined paramilitary followers who, so the theory goes, will form the basis of a
revival of some long-lost golden age of national strength and purity. (63) William draws attention
towards the founding principle of this association which, he quotes the early RSS leader, Madhav
Gowalkar, holds the ideal as that of the Germans’ treatment to the Jews and that: “The non-Hindu
people in Hindustan must learn... to revere the Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but the
glorification of the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving nothing” (63). 150 William notes that it
was this RSS that took the lead of the most horrifying atrocities against the Indian Muslims during
the Partition. He also asserts Nathu Ram Godsay’s, the assassinator of Mahatma Gandhi, RSS
connection. In the course of time the BJP has moved away from the neo-fascist Hindu
fundamentalism and assumed rather conservative nationalist opinion. Thus, on one hand the
Congress has lost the trust of the minorities and on the other BJP is attracting the nationalists ---as
a result of this it is getting momentum. William has almost, as he asserts, forgotten the manuscripts
on Rajmata, but the sudden, unexpected and fateful events of 6 th December 1992, once again
brought Rajmata on the Headlines of the press, and this reminded him of his study of Rajmata’s
persona. He puts the event of ‘Babari Mosque Demolition’ by the Hindus in the city of
Ayodhya—the birth place of the Hindu legendary God Lord Ram, that day in the following terms,
see: Shouting slogans like ‘Victory to Ram!’ Hindustan is for Hindus’ and ‘Death to the Muslims!’
they began tearing the mosque apart with sledgehammers, ropes, pickaxes and their bare hands.
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One after another, like symbols of India’s traditions of tolerance, democracy and secularism, the
three domes of the mosque fell to the ground. In the little more than four hours the entire structure
had been reduced not just to ruination but—quite literally—to rubble. (74) William, then, reports the
post Babari communal violence that spread through the entire nation, in which millions of Muslims
and their properties were attacked, torched and assassinated. Even Bombay like most
cosmopolitan city was set to blaze after the reporting of the event of a Hindu family brutally roasted
alive in a petrol bomb attack on 7 th of January 1993. The Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thakaray openly
claimed that the Muslim must learn the lesson or be prepared to be dealt with as the Jews in the
Nazi Germany. William tries to collect Rajmata’s reaction to all this brutal treatments towards the
Muslims by her party and its alliances. The response was astonishing; this coy Granny was of the
opinion that the Muslims must respect the creed of the majority. She was not prepared to pay heed
to the atrocities exercised against the minorities. Thus, William concludes: In her blindness, the
Rajmata remains an unsettling reminder that you need not be personally objectionable to subscribe
to the most deeply objectionable political creeds: charm and sweetness are not guarantees against
either violent 151 nationalism or the most xenophobic religious fundamentalism and bigotry. (79)
The postscript to this essay reports the formation of an alliance government in India in the lead of
BJP, and the appointment of party’s moderate personality, Atal Bihari Vajpayi as the prime minister.
But still, in the decision of exploding the ‘Hindu’ nuclear bomb and the demands of erecting a
temple at the site of the blast, William sees that the extremist elements are yet to be tamed. East of
Eton Lucknow 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- William
quotes the editorial remarks of the Times of India in the issue of the Republic Day 1997, with the
addition of his own remark that though there might have been widespread celebrations marking
fifty years of Indian Independence in Britain, in India there has been much less rejoicing: ...in this
landmark year not much remains of the hope, idealism and expectations that our founding fathers
poured into the creation of the Republic. In their place we now have a sense of abject resignation,
an increasing sense of drift. We are ostensibly on the verge of a global breakthrough; yet the truth
is that the deprived India is eating voraciously into the margins of the prosperous India. (83) He
captions an astonishing and barbarous incident of the murder of a teacher by some mysterious
shooters while he was resting in his room at the La Martiniere, India’s oldest and once it’s most
distinguished public school of Lucknow on the dawn of 7 th March 1997. The incident took place
just one month and eleven days after the celebration of the fiftieth Republic Day in India. The PT
instructor of the school, an Anglo-Indian—Fredrik Gomes was shot dead. The murder remained a
mystery, but the investigation brought out the facts of many a variety of fatal weapons being
circulated among the school students. The nutshell question that raised its head was: “If India’s
increasingly endemic violence and corruption could creep into such an institution, what was the
hope for the rest of India?” (83) The murder of a teacher in the school and the needle of suspicion
pointing towards the possibility of the culprits being among the lot of the school students is 152
enough/ clear indicator of the index of the law and order situation in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
William observes that like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh is also travelling on the tracks of Dark Ages. The
Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav has on his Assembly a grand total of 150 members with
criminal records. Even his score of criminal offences reached up to a couple of dozens. The entire
political system had become corrupt with the weapon trafficking, entertaining the thugs and
outlaws. The power was demonstrated through outnumbering the rivals with the extravagance of
deadly weapons and the acts of atrocities on the weaker parts of the rival groups. To drive his point
home as to what extent the political degradation has acquired its apex in the state, William quotes
Mohan Sohani, the Lucknow correspondent of the Calcutta Statesman, who has been monitoring
the decay of UP for more than a decade: There is intense rivalry between the leaders of the
different political parties to recruit the state’s biggest criminals and gangsters. Of course, the
criminals are delighted. Once they become politicians, the police who used to hunt them down
have to protect them instead, while the cases which are pending against them – murder, abduction,
banditry—will either be dropped, or else investigated so slowly they will not make it the courts for
decades. Moreover, if they are already in prison, and win their seat from behind the bars, they will
almost certainly be released on bail to attend parliament. It’s just getting worse and worse.
Democracy is badly under threat. (88) When he comes to know that such political training starts at
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the early stage in the schools and colleges, William goes to see the students of the Habibullah
Hostel— the student resident hall most notorious for the group wars among the students backed
and supported by rival political parties. Here, the students talk to him about their war with the
students group of Victoria Hostel and their attempt to murder the leader of the opponent group,
Abhay Singh. The students’ reporting clearly hint that this sort of fierce activity added to their
qualification to be eligible and strong claimers of nomination by one or the other political party as
their candidate in the state or central elections. The students whose best companions, in an ideal
case, should be books and journals and to excel in the exams and competition must be their chief
concerns, but instead here they are well nigh immersed in the blood shot business of murders and
revenges. When asked, one of them with pride replies: “The guns we buy in the bazaar, the
grenades we make ourselves” (92). 153 The narration of the group war among the students does
not in any aspect lack or fall short of the wars among the professional Gangsters. There are ample
weapons and ammunitions, and somewhere the police appear but in the form of spectators only.
They could even take law in their hands and beat anybody when their purpose is not served. They
could run rampage in the hospital and could beat doctors too: “We took them (their wounded
friends who got injured in a tussle with the opponent group) to the hospital,” said Pravin, “but the
doctors wouldn’t operate. They said it was a police case and they couldn’t touch them. So we beat
the place up. We trashed the emergency ward and burned the ambulance. We hit the doctors and
tore the clothes off the nurses and shoved injections up the doctors’ back-sides. We said, “Save
them,” but the doctors said, “They’re dying. Let them die.” In the end the police came and thirteen
of us were arrested.” (93) When the author advised them to make peace and leave this dirty power
game and told that if they were not turning goondas, the response reflects the whole mindset of the
youth--- No: we’re students. We’ve only become goondas because of the situation. If we stop now
we’ll be shot dead. We regret that politics is getting more and more violent and that we have to use
guns for self-protection. But the psychology here is such that people without muscle- power can’t
do anything. If it’s necessary to use muscle-power, then that is what we will have to do. (93) And,
Right now you can’t fight election without a pistol. Naturally we are sad. But that is the situation.
Whatever the situation is, you must adjust to it. (93) The plight or the snap shot of the political
power game in the state of UP as presented by Dalrymple here in this essay is just a glimpse of the
real scenario. And one can imagine the future of the nation whose youth has taken the road to
violence. It is true that it is only one side of the social reality; there is much constructive work too.
The youth of India has excelled in many areas of life. There are ample examples of quality
enhancement in many fields. In certain fields the Indian youth has proved superior on the worldly
horizons...but still one cannot avert eyes to the facts presented in this essay. 154 In Rajasthan
William’s travels in the Rajasthan State bring him at the close quarters of the unique socio-political
traditions of this Land of the Kings. Quite different from that of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, still the
issues based on the same line of caste-wars and higher- lower division of society, atrocities by the
higher and privileged on the weaker section of society-- capture his attention and the essays voice
the great drift between the modernistic developing India and the one that struggles to keep hold of
what has remained in prominent existence for centuries in the name of conventions. The Sad Tale
of Bahveri Devi ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sad tale of
Bahveri Devi is William’s close following of an atrocious incident with a poor lower caste lady in the
village called Batteri. Having come to know about the incident through the news paper reporting,
William visits the village personally and witnesses the real hostile treatment to the victim by the
entire village community. He also observes the near wreckage spirits of the victim’s family, and
brings forth the facts of the whole matter in journalistic way. The village of destination, Batteri falls
some fifty kilometres away from the nearest city Jodhpur. William sets out in the company of Sanjiv,
a journalist from Jaipur.... Though he is going there to have a close look at the case of Bahaveri
Devi, his gaze never misses the to view and narrate the landscape outside as the car travels from
the urban to country side of Rajasthan. And the same narration also stands symbolic to the mental
landscape of the Bahveri Devi. For a while the country is green and fertile. Sometimes you turn a
corner and the fields ahead blaze bright yellow with ripening crop of spring mustard. But the further
you drive, the drier and drier it becomes. Winter wheat gives way to drooping sunflowers; dust-
devils circle; melon beds tangle amid the sand flats of the scrub. Turning right off the tarmac road
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and across a level crossing, you pass for miles amid mile along the narrowing dirt tracks the
settlements grow poorer; the camel throne closes in. The colour drains away, but for the odd flash
of red sari as a woman winds her way to well. (99) The village appears “a silent, half deserted and
strangely sinister place” (99); and the first responses to their inquiry about Bahaveri’s address
make them aware 155 about Bahveri and her family’s plight. She is openly addressed with insulting
terms ‘bitch’, ‘liar’ etc, and held responsible for bringing shame on their village. Since from all sides
Bahveri was considered the root of all the troubles in the village and had brought the outside
agencies to intervene into the matters which could have been easily resolved within the village by
their own panchayat...she and her family were thrown out of all the social circles and they led the
lives of total boycott. The real trouble stood at the issue of child marriages at Badri’s place. Badri
Gujjar was the local serpanch and the political leader of the district’s dominant caste, the Gujjars;
whereas Bahveri was the ‘sathin’(a lady social as well as medical worker who instruments
awareness among the ladies of the local area). As per her responsibility, Bahveri tried to prevent
Badri from marrying his one year old granddaughter as he infringed the law by doing so. Badri’s
political and social status helped him and the marriages went on despite Bahveri ’s repeated
warnings. But Bahveri’s , a lower caste ladies’ intervention in his family affairs seemed a sort of
dent to his social prestige , Badri publicly vowed to teach Bahveri a lesson. In his rage to avenge
his insult, Badri and his associates captured Bahveri and beat her husband and raped her. By
doing this they wanted to show her her place and position. Badri was sure that his political
background was strong enough to subdue any possible reactionary steps by Bahveri. In fact, Badri
was right. Initially there was no support and sympathy from any side that considered Bahveri’s
pains as any matter of consideration. On the contrary, Bahvery became the butt of shame for the
village whose lies incurred a great damage to the village’s reputation. William here pin points the
social as well as the political dominance and arrogance of the upper castes that the lower caste
society member is not even supported by the other fellow beings of his/her own caste; and there is
a total boycott. Even, the legal proceedings were kept deliberately slow and lazy that ultimately
helped to paralyze the case. William finds entirely another version of the story at Badri Gujjar’s
place. Even the claim was Badri and his son were not even present in the village when there was a
tussle between Bahveri’s husband and the village priest over the issue of a cow’s ownership. And
the rape issue was Bahveri’s invention just as a woman of a mean and base character could do
nothing else than this. William too felt the same when he heard the police officer confirming
Bahveri’s being type of a base character and might be lying in order to avenge her insult...and 156
on this grounds, as he claims, he lost all his interests in the case and dropped the idea to consider
it with any seriousness. But the development in the case after the entry of Kavitha
Srivastav,changed the whole course of the event. Being the trainer of Bahveri, she had full trust on
Bahveri and her second motive was not just to secure justice to Bahveri but also to set an example
in the society that law was sovereign, otherwise she knew the social awakening that had started
taking place in the comparatively highly conventional rural areas of Rajasthan through the system
of ‘sathins’ would meet an utter failure. Kavitha’s efforts reaped good fruits for Bahveri and
ultimately justice N. M. Tibrewal, the High Court Judge made severe comments on the ‘highly
dubious’ role of the police in the entire legal investigation and imprisoned the accused. On getting
the news of Bahveri’s triumph, with revived interests in the case, Dalrymple once again visits
Batteri. He notes on this second visit the villagers’ attitude towards Bahveri was greatly changed,
Bahveri herself too appeared relaxed with a sense of satisfaction generated through having
received the justice. The plight at the Badri’s place was now weaker, Dalrymple notes, as all the
working males had been imprisoned; there was no body to take charge of the agriculture activities
and the things became hard on their part. Caste Wars Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 1990
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this essay, the focus
concentrates upon the atrocious attack on Dr. Tyagi’s dispensary set up at Gagadi village near
Jodhpur. As per, Dr. Tyagi about three truck loads of high-caste Rajput youth raided his campus
and turned everything into ashes-- -“everything we had built up over seven years.(111)” The reason
why the high upper caste Rajput hates the mission and the activities of Dr. Tyagi is simple and
linear. Dr. Tyagi’s institution tries to literate and educate the ‘Harijans’ or ‘the so called
untouchables’. Dr.Tyagi feels that because of his welfare courses for the downtrodden, the upper
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castes are getting deprived of their traditional stock of ‘labourers’ and the ‘doers of their dirty jobs’.
And this aggravates them towards his activities. But, Dr. Tyagi’s logic is really impressive when he
says: An institution like ours needs such incidents if it is to regenerate forward. It highlights the
injustice the Harijans are facing.” And very strikingly makes as 157 point to Dalrymple,” You
yourself wouldn’t have come here if this had not happened. (112) Dalrymple brings out many facts
regarding the rigid caste system in the Hindu society especially in the villages of Rajasthan. He
aptly observes: In West, as everywhere in the world, there is a caste system of sorts, and dress is
an important element of it: a pin stripe suit and tie places the wearer in one caste, a workman’s
dirty overalls in another. What is different about the Indian model is its rigidity and its its central
place in Hindu philosophy. In much of rural India, caste still defines not only what you wear, but
where youy live, what tread you follow, whom you marry, even the colour you paint your home.
Every detail of life in the traditional Indian village, where eighty percent of Indians still live, is
regulated. (115) Not only this, Dalrymple drives his point home by bringing into the span of
discussion the fact that such deep rooted ‘caste-system’ can create a political and social havoc and
a movement, massacres and murders throughout the whole Indian sub-continent. He brings into
discussion the issue of the ‘Mandal Commission’s provisions for the Reservation of posts in
Government jobs for Dalits’. This provisions made the upper caste youth perceive that their rights
to have government jobs are shrinking and they literary opened agitation against the Government.
In one such event of expression of the protest against the provision of Madal Commission, Rajiv
Goswami, a young man from a middle class Punjabi Brahmin family, set himself ablaze and died.
Rajiv’s death proved catalytic agent and added fuel to the protests movement. The caste system is
so deeply rooted in the Indian society that the upper castes feel the increased ratio of reservation
quota would turn the hierarchy upside down and the persons of the lower castes would begin to
enjoy more success and power in the time to come. But, William also puts the case of the Dalit
making success on their own by siting the case of Gadvada village near Jodhpur. Here the
‘Harijans’ have obtained great economical success in their leather work business, and set a grand
example of upward progress. Still in the majority cases the ‘harijans’ find their place at the lowest
and be the butt of hatred with no apparent crime on their part. And, Dalrymple ends his discussion
that with this kind of situations being prevalent, especially in the rural regions of 158 Rajasthan,
one can just hope for the removal of the stigma of the caste system in the course of time and with
the better fruits of spread of education. Sati Mata
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this essay Dalrymple picks up
the most debated issue of reviving the age old tradition of Sati. As per the incident, in the Deorala
village, on 4 September 1987 Roop Kamwar, a young and ‘exceptionally beautiful’ 18 year old girl
mounted her late husband’s pyre and was bernt to death. Roop’s husband had died after a brief
illness. Since they belonged to the higher Rajput caste, there was no possibiity of re-marriage of
this childless eighteen year old and ‘exceptionally beautiful’ widow. And as per the incident
narrated by the fasmily members of her in-laws, The folowing morning, (she) the young widow
appeared at the door of the family’s eighteen-century haveli. She was dressed in her finnest
wedding sari, decked in jewllery, with her hands brightly painted with bridal henna..... (124) They
say she firmly resisted al attempts, by both her in-laws and the village brahmins, to dissudade her
from becoming a Sati. (125) They say she smiled beautifully from the pyre as the flames danced
arround her. (125) What interests and rather puzzles Dalrymple is the multifaceted stories being
weaved arround the whole incident. Even the media industry, the most responsible social
enterprises go on reporting the news in unauthentic baseless vein. Dalryple makes it clear from his
study of the whole incident and after having done his personal investigations that on this issue
there are two forking streams of the Indian society: The issue highlights a national divide i India,
showing the growing mental gulf that now separates the towns from the villages of the sub-
continent, a gulf into which all discussion of the Deoralasati has become lost. Most secular urban
Indians , and especially the feminist lobby, have started from the assumption that in the late
twentiethy century no educated woman could possibly commit 159 sati, ahd that Roop Kanwar’s
sati could only have been forced. The villagers of Rajasthan, male and female, have very different
perspective. (129) ....in rural Rajasthan the villagers are quite unrepentant, and continue piously to
revere past Satis. (128) Even the fact that over 750,000 people turning up at the site of sati at
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Deorala village and four hundred turning up to worship sati mata everyday even after seven
months of the incident demonstrates the huge drift in the perspective. Article 17 of the Indian
Constitution reads: Untouchability’ is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The
enforcement of any disability arising out of ‘Untouchability’ shall be an offence in accordance with
law. Bhanwari was gang raped on September 22, 1992 in retaliation for her activities, and then
faced hostile police machinery that refused to register the case, and a male doctor at the primary
health center refused to conduct a medical examination. The medical examination was finally
conducted after 52 hours, leading effectively to the destruction of evidence of rape. The trial at the
sessions court began only in October 1994 and the judgement which was passed chose to
disregard the evidence of Bhanwari Devi and her husband Mohan (who had witnessed the rape)
and to give undue weight to the medical evidence. In passing his judgement, the judge commented
that: The court is of the opinion that Indian culture has not fallen to such low depths; that someone
who is brought up in it, an innocent, a rustic man, will turn into a man of evil conduct who
disregards caste and age differences and becomes animal enough to assault a woman. [Rajagopal
and Dutta, 1996:28] Thus, the statements in the judgment itself contradict the above quoted Article
17. And what is more alarming is the trial judge’s acquittal of the accused on the grounds that “rape
is usually committed by the teenagers, and since the accused are middle-aged and therefore
respectable, they could not have committed the crime. An upper caste man could not have defiled
himself by raping a lower–caste woman.” (Emphasis added) In the caste and political power games
of the issue, a new dimension that is illuminated is the issue of poverty. As Aruna Roy aptly pin
points: 160 Bhanwari Devi’s valiant battle in Rajasthan has taught us the importance of looking at
violence against women in poverty debate. Here, again, poverty has been a critical factor---for
Banwari De vi to fight her battle, she has to be able to afford the fees of a lawyer. The root cause of
the whole Bhanwari issue is the evil of child marriages still prevalent in the rural regions. Mahatma
Gandhi denounced this system from all the perspectives. He expressed his views against this evil
at every possible opportunity, and in Young India, he mentions under the title “Curse of Child
Marriages” that the practice of child marriage is not only weakening and harmful to the young age
girls who become mothers owing to such marriages but the generation thus delivered face severe
problems. And even after seven decades, the same issue causes troubles draws attention to the
needs of social awakening. The same concern may be expressed for the ‘Sati’ issues. As for
Dlarymple’s attractions and interests in the issue of Sati , a nice explanation is found when John
Staton Hawley confesses “ Modern research confirms what traditional Brahminical treatises
imply—that ‘sati’ has always been very much exception rather than the rule in Hindu life. Yet, from
the time of Marco Polo until well into Nineteenth century (Sati was officially abolished in Bengal in
1929), Westerners publishing dairies of their travels in India always included a chapter on Sati they
had witnessed. Thus, capturing of these three issues bring on the surface and make the point of
debate how on one front India’s infrastructural development is claimed with pomp and gong, the
issues of upper –lower caste disseminations, caste issues and the attempts or the claims to revive
the superstitious traditions like Sati show much work still remains to be done at the rural regions of
the nation. As a traveller and especially being the writer, William dives deep into the issues which
with their flaring colours stand apart from the ordinary commonplace routines. The entire exercise
and pains undertaken at his ends are the attempts to learn exactly what operates at the root
causes of such happenings. Moreover, the probe also encompasses the measures as to what
extent the Indian sociological temperament has come to the statures of adaptability of the urbane
westernised mode of development or still are they at the struggle to adopt or not the New
Developments or rather go back to the conventional heritage that the centuries old culture is
holding and adoring in one or another form. 161 The New India ------------------ ------------------
----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In the third group of essays titled ‘The New
India’, William Dalrymple brings under the focus the modern social strides of the elite class of the
metro cities of India which shows the direct impacts of the westernized culture. William here puts
forward his observations on the city life of India, especially the metro-politan cities of India, which
present the new face of developing India----the India of twen ty first century, of the new Millennium.
Two Bombay Portraits ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- In ‘Two Bombay
Portraits’ he presents the word sketches of two icons of modern India namely Baba Sehgal, the
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world’s first Hindi rap megastar and Shobha Dè, the lady English writer who has started a sort of
writing which has been drastically labelled “dirty and filthy” in the staunch Indian circles. He notes
that the flow of cash through the liberal economic policies has given birth to a new elite class in the
Indian society, especially in the metropolitan complexes of India like Delhi and Mumbai. And under
the waves of the western influences getting filtered through the world markets, the youth has
adopted new age addiction to the party lives. As a result of this, a new wave of bars and
discotheques have got booming and mushrooming in the cities like Bombay. The rise of figure like
Baba Sahegal in the form of the world’s first ever Hindi rap star, the success and the immense
financial booming of his programmes, all this is eonugh to show how fast the country’s youth
getting the dying of the western cult. The trend was accelarated, as Dalrymple comments, by the
entry of the ‘Star TV’, which brought the Indian youth in direct touch with the current trends on the
western entertainment industry. The figure like Baba Sahegal got the direct advantage of it, and it is
clearly reflected in the increasing popularity and fattening of the sales figures of his recorded
cassettes. Dalrymple nicely puts: ....he(Baba) also became the first rock singer ever to become a
star in his own right: previously, celebrity status in India had been reserved exclusively for actors,
holy men and cricketers. (139) 162 Shobha Dé presents in her creative arena the tantalising details
of the lives of the multimillionaires and the scandals that their wealth gives them legacy and
privilege to enjoy. This kind of writings, though not welcome openly by any elite literary levels, and
adversely criticised for the stinking ‘cheapness’—finds its way among the people and sells
boomingly. This as Shobha herself claims, “I write readable trash----commercial novels. But I don’t
think “commercial” is a dirty word.....There is a market out there, and I’m filling the slot” (153).
William notes that Shobha De has been the most adversely criticised lady. Her bold and
scandalized works have won her the titles like ‘Maharani of Malice’, ‘the Empress of Erotica’ and
‘the Princess of Pulp’. Besides her bold novels serving the audience with the tantalising sensational
stuff, Shobha also runs a successful gossip column-‘Nita’s Natter’ in India’s most prestigious
glamour magazine, ‘Stardust’. William brings out the quantum traits of Shobha De’s personality.
According to him: Turning herself in to the Jackie Collins of India has not been very easy: her
notoriety is the product of hard work. Born Anuradha Rajyadhyaksha, daughter of a Brahmin
district judge from small-town middle India, she has spent forty-three years becoming Shobha De.,
the rich and fashionably unfashionable pulp novelist from metropolitqan Bombay.(146) Shobha
began her career as a successfu model, at a time, as William rightly points out, “When joining a
modelling agency in India was considered about as respectable as joining a brothel.” In her
personal life too she has taken bold steps just as that of her professional life. She left her first
husband, picked up a French lovwer, and then married another man. To take such socially
outregeous steps, that in the highly traditional Indian society, Wlilliam truely observes, requires a
dynamic personality as well as daring outlook. Even Shobha herself admits in her response to
Dalrymple’s one of the questions: “No, I love this town. At least here I can live on my own terms. I
wouldn’t be able to function anywhere else.” “I don’t think Shobha De (I) would be allowed to exist
anywhere else in India. Another city would have crushed me” (157). Shobha has created her own
circles and style of life. Just like her creative world, she too lives the life of glamour. And this is why
even to the person like Dalrymple who is the traveller of the world she appears an enigmatic
personality: Spend a week with her, meet her friends, ride in her cars and go to her parties—at the
end of it you are still left with a lurking suspicion that you have stumbled on to some sort of film set
peopled with actors speaking lines from a 163 Jilly Cooper script. Back to your hotel room you look
through your notes and ask yourself yet again: “Is this woman for real. (147) Finger-Lickin’Bad:
Bangalore and Fast-food Invaders ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------
----------------- --------------- Finger-Lickin’Bad: Bangalore and Fast-food Invaders presents the story
of the city of Bangalore. From the changing food habits and the agitations bred out of this change
among the certain social circles and manifestation and outburst of such underlying and suppressed
protests into the destructive attacks on the multi-national Fast-Food stores, to the protest against
the “Miss World Contest” in the Indian Cyber city Bangalore, the social circles appear broadly
forked on the issues. On one hand there are the conventionalists who protest such events taking
shape in the name of dragging the nation once again back to the points of “Cultural Imperialism”,
whereas there are the modernistic elite groups who claim it to be the stepping stone through which
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India could secure a true cosmopolitan status, and they on their part ridicule those who oppose this
as being insecure lot who cannot face the world. William opens his discussion on Bangalore on the
foundation facts that it has been the city of metropolitan cult right from the course of the history.
William maintaining his observations on Bangalore writes that the protests against the Western
influences would be taken naturally, had they been displayed in the other Indian territories, but
when such extremities take place in Bangalore, they generate a shock on the grounds that, “For
although since 1947 India has had an understandable fondness for protectionist isolationism, the
one place you would not expect to find any such introversion was Bangalore, which has long prided
itself, with some reason, on being the most cosmopolitan city in India” (159). William maintains a
discourse on the India’s adoption of the Fabian socialism ideology in time of Nehru. He presents
his study on the transformations of the Indian economic policies along with the observations of the
other experts on the nature of Indian economical and cultural trends. What points he wants to draw
upon are with the liberalised economic policies and by opening doors to the world market, the
Indian society has been abruptly exposed to the best products and services available in the world
market. This includes the range of the cosmetic products to the Automobile 164 sector, even the
TV and other media and the entertainment industry too. The Indian society and market which until
now was monotonously dominated by specific stereotype products now started teeming with
greater and better options. Bangalore wore a new identity in the new wave of development. It
started moving up in the graph of development on account of its developing as the South Asian
Hub of software Industry. And the Bangalore which once was famous for the Botanical gardens has
now acquired a new label of ‘silicon valley’. Since Western software companies started arriving in
the city ten years ago— attracting in the process a wave of highly skilled expatriate Indian software
engineers to return home to work for them—the Bangalore streetscape has altered beyond
recognition. The city now has the only supermarkets in the subcontinent, and a shopping mall
modelled, so proud Bangalorean will tell you, on one in Los Angeles. (163) The cosmopolitan
temperament was most suited to the high profile Miss World contest, and so was the projection---
‘in mid-October 1996, it was announced that the 1997 Miss World contest was to be held in
Bangalore’ (165). The announcement aggravated the suppressed protest in the minds of the
extremists. The entire event began to be presented as “an assault on traditional Indian morality”.
All the opposing groups e.g. RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Muslim Jmaat-i-Islami, forgetting their
internal enmities and feudalisms, stood together in the protests against such a contest. William
nicely dissects the real problem behind this sort of protests. His conclusions on the entire affair
draw different dimensions of the entire issue. As per his views, the abrupt and enormous
development and the adverse effects of these modernistic advancements are in the roots of the
explosion of the aggravations. Everything changed overnight when the city gained the reputation of
being the cradle of India’s high-tech revolution. Foreign investment and personnel poured in at a
quite extraordinary rate. Unemployed migrant workers followed quickly on their heels, and what
has been known as the Garden City suddenly found itself ringed with stinking shanty towns.
Because of this unparalleled immigration, between 1971 and1996 Bangalore’s population jumped
from 1.7 million to over six million, making it one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The
pressure on the land grew, causing house prices to rise stratospherically, increasing by 50 per cent
per annum throughout the early 1990s. As population grew worse and the city’s green space began
to disappear, the average temperature rose by several degrees every year. (167) 165 William
states it clearly that these demonstrations of the people are just their responses to what is
happening to their Bangalore. People’s fear finds vent through their violent attacks on the food
restaurants or their joining hands to protest the Miss World contest being held in Bangalore
considering all these as the direct attacks on the Indian culture. But actually their fear lies in the
fact that in the very near future everything about Bangalore will change. To prove this, he brings in
the point of T. P. Issar’s book on Bangalore’s architecture at the end of 1980s being turned into just
that of archival value as 95 per cent of the buildings he described in the book have been pulled
down just within ten years under the pressure of increasing population. When William argues to
Professor M. D. Nanjundaswamy, President of Karnataka State Farmers’ Association, that ‘Three
thousand tandori restaurants in London don’t seem to have destroyed British culture’(171), his
defensive stance to the western cultural invasion comes on the surface. Equally, his counter
93
argument to the increase of the cases of sexual harassment and eves teasing on account of the
westernised television programmes lead to his safeguarding the western culture as he points it out
that ‘Hinduism has celebrated the erotic for millennia’ and produced the vast legacy of ‘Kamsutra’
and the erotic art at ‘Khajuraho’. So, according to him, to argue just the display of the beauty
contest would cause a serious damage to the Indian culture is nothing but a superficial excuse. He
compares the modern sense of decorum and morality in India to the English Victorian social
currents and calls them nothing but ‘home-grown’. And brings out the historic fact that “.... after all,
the women of Bangalore, as else in the south India, went about bare-breasted until the British
encouraged them to cover up in the nineteenth century” (173). His mind constantly keeps on
making some implied comparisons between the Indian and his Western culture and when, in India,
there is a direct blaming on the western culture, not only he strongly retaliates but tries to bring out
the traits which contribute to prove the western culture more better and superior too. He concludes
with the Moghul Emperor Babur’s remarks, and he seems to be in the full agreement to it, on India
in the early sixteenth century, “In India everything is done differently from the rest of the world.
Nothing will ever change this” (173). 166 The South ------------------ ------------------ -----------------
------------------ ----------------- --------------- This fourth group of essays presents William Dalrymple’s
travels in the Southern part of Indian subcontinent. His travels in the south and observations find a
shift of the focus. Whereas his North presented and snapshot the political and social anarchies
which made the people sigh at every stage that it was the time of degradation, the age of Kali, the
South presents the increased faith of the common man in the godly authority, an another facet of
the common man’s frustration from the present situations through which he has been living, and
seeking a sort of miraculous relief by going into the abode of the supreme authority. At the Court of
the Fish-Eyed Goddess ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ -----------------
--------------- In ‘At the Court of the Fish-Eyed Goddess’ Dalrymple depicts the famous Meenakshi
temple and the city of Madurai at the time of the famous ‘Teppam Festival’. In his typical style he
explores the city, meets the local as well as the visitors of the city, studies the various activities
being performed within and outside this centre of sacred faith, brings out the myths, history, and the
Western connection to the ancient city of Madurai, and cites the ancient travelers to the city who
have their own unique views expressed in the context of this city. The whole essay helps the reader
to have a virtual tour to Madurai in the genius company of Dalrymple. Dalrymple visits the city at
time of the famous ‘Teppam Festival’ when the whole city is on the move in the great procession for
the annual bathing ceremony of the Minaksshi Amma and her consort lord Sundareshvara. He
moves along the entire route of the procession recording his observations taking all the minute
details which arrest his attention. The striking fact that makes him wonder is the continuity of the
ancient traditions and practices so forcefully and so naturally in this part of the earth that whereas
their contemporary Deities like the gods of Thebes and the Parthenon have long been forgotten in
the Western world, Meenakshi—the Fish-Eyed Goddess is revered with the utmost faith and her
temple site still holds the status of the Tirtha, “a crossing place linking the profane to the sacred.’.
Since the temple of Madurai stretches its existence from the time ancient, Dalrymple notes, the
advantage of 167 watching its present festivals and its several traditions and practices performed is
that these might be the same glimpses as might have been witnessed by Greek visitors to India
before the rise of ancient Rome. He brings out the whole history of the city of Madurai, just as the
city had been an important terminus of the spice route, and the details of its existence are found to
be noted in the West in the fourth century BC: ‘Megastenes, the Greek Ambassador who visited
India in 302 BC, recorded the town’s legendary riches, and it is gien pride of place in the earliest
document detailing the spice trade, the Periplus Maris Erythraei, written by anonymous
Alexandrian Greek in the first century AD” (183). Dalrymple tries to demonstrate that while the
Ancient Western civilization was still in its cradle, ever since the region of Madurai has been the
centre of prosperity and civilization. The rich arena of this ancient cult is nicely recorded and
reflected in the literary traditions which well bloomed around this area namely the ‘Sangam’ or the
academy of Tamil poets. Besides the literary traditions, the region also gives ample evidences of
developments in all sorts of arts and conceptual sociality from the time ancient. See how naturally
Dalrymple’s eyes capture the one of the sculpture from one of the ten thousand pillars in the
Madurai temple: One for example, showed a Tamil village woman with a coir shopping basket and
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a baby strapped to her breast. Her head was turned so she could see a second baby she was
carrying in a backpack, while beside her waked a third child, a little boy eating an apple; the
woman’s hand rested gently on her son’s head. It is an image of startling humanity---the same sight
can be seen today in any bazaar in Tamilnadu--- yet the statue predates the beginning of the Italian
Renaissance by over a century.’ [Emphasis mine] (187) In the spirits of a traveler, Dalrymple joins
the procession and the visits the temple site of Meenakshi, which is standing just as a city within
the city. The narrow streets and the beggars at the entrance arrest his attention, yet leaving them to
their business he enters the holly shrine. The gopura, the ceremonial entrance has already picked
up his attention even from the very distance as they dominated the ‘skyline’ of the city of Madurai.
He compares them with the Cathedrals of Middle Ages of Europe, and gives a detailed description
of them. To him this Gopuras appear great towers symbolizing the Indians’ faith in their deities:
They rise in great, tapering, wedge-shaped pyramids--- each layer swarming with brightly coloured
images of gods and demons, heroes and yakshis—until three quarters of the way to their apex,
they terminate in a crown of cobra heads tipped with a pair of cat’s-eared demon finials. The
astonishing 168 complexity and elaboration of the gopura’s decoration is something you can see
from far away, long before you are able to distinguish even the beginning of its detail. (177) Equally
interesting he finds the architecture and the stone carvings of the Meenakshi temple, which signify
the faith and devotion for which the Goddess Meenakshi is worshipped, namely for the power of
reproduction, for having more and more children with her grace and boons. I passed under the
Gate of Eight Goddesses and into the long, arcaded passage beyond. Inside, it was dark and
magnificent. A forest of carved pillars --- on closer inspection lines of heavy breasted Hindu
caryatids: yakshis, courtesans, goddesses and dancing girls--- flanked me on either side.
Everything about the architecture was deeply, and consciously, feminine: heading towards the
innermost sanctuary of the presiding goddess, one sunk deeper and deeper in to the darkness,
down a long, straight, womb-like passage. (179) And, The conscious fecundity of the temple is
evident in every aspect of its decoration… It is as if Meenakshi’s fertility is such that every inch of
the stonework is organically sprouting with supernatural forms, just as the bare desert sprouts with
camel-thorn after the rain. (180) Dalrymple also confirms the details with the visitors of the temple.
Out of curiosity, he follows the company of a newly wedded Bride and her friends to the inside the
temple, just to know what they are doing, and he finds out that the friends of the Bride had taken
her to a particular idol of a Yakshi giving birth to a child in order to secure grace for the Bride. He
also talks with the Keralean devotees who have come all the way from their place to secure grace
of the goddess in the form of some more children. His conversation with Mr. Bhaskar, a post
graduate MSc in biochem from Mysore University, shows that the faith and devotion for the Amma
is not limited to the village and illiterate strata of the society, but the people from the higher strata of
the society too feel the same trance for the Goddess and the traditions of the festivals which
stretch their continuity from the time ancient as the priest of the temple claims it to be the continuity
of four or more centuries. William seems to draw upon the note that the things will go on simply as
they had descended from the time ancient with the spiritual couple enjoying their union every night
in the temple of Madurai in order to secure the continuity of the universe. 169 Under the Char
Minar Hyderabad 1998 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Under
The Char Minar presents Dalrymple’s research on the City of Hyderabad the capital city of Nizam.
He meets Mir Moazam and through his memories tries to make alive the gorgeous past of the city,
which in the present lot of time faces the cruel consequences of sheer neglect and waiting ruins.
The whole essay presents the nostalgic visions of the Mir Moazam, who in his conversation with
Dalrymple, shifts very naturally to the past glories of the city and her subjects that the present
ruinous state of the city makes him utterly unhappy. Along with the issues of weakening of the
ancestral legacies of aristocratic Hyderabad, William’s conversations with Mir Moazam also bring in
the issues of recent history of Hyderabad namely the events following the Indian Independence,
the Nizam’s declaration of Hyderabad as the Independent state even from India and the eventual
Indian Army Operation- ‘Operation Polo’ or ‘The Police Action’ in 1948, and the massacre of the
residents of Hyderabad. The essay opens with the depiction of Aristocratic life-style of Mir
Moazam’s Grand Father, Fakrool Mulk, who had been the Deputy Prime-Minister in the Nizam’s
government. According to Mir Moazam the principal passion of his grandfather was to get great
95
buildings erected. He would go on his evening walk with the company of his men and as per his
moods would draw the outline of the building in his mind on the ground with his walking stick which
his draughts men would copy down and the next couple of days would pass in reviewing and
revising the plans and then the masons would be commissioned to start the building. Mir Moazam
claims his grandfather to have gifted one of his favourite palaces to the Nizam himself just when he
came to know that the particular building fascinated the Nizam. Fakrool Mulk helped his hobby of
Tiger shooting by building a track on the hill near his resident palace and on the track a stuffed tiger
would be let loose from the top of the hill and he would fire on this stuffed tiger from his position.
Another great aspect of Fakrool Mulk was his style of dinner. Mir Moazam informs William about
the multi-course dinner of his grandfather, which observed strict protocol: “There was very strict
protocol: we wouldn’t sit until asked to, and wouldn’t dream of talking until talked to. He did the
talking, we responded” (195). 170 Like his Deputy Prime-Minister, Nizam’s own world was full of
eccentricities. William brings in the account of Iris Portal, a friend of his Grandmother, who visited
India in late 1930s: The Nizam, said to be the richest man in the world, had no fewer than eleven
thousand servants: thirty-eight dusted the chandeliers, others were employed only to prepare betel
nut. In addition, he had three official wives, forty-two concubines and nearly twenty children. (197)
In all the conversational pieces of Mir Moazam there always rings the concern of the glories of
Hyderabad being wasted. But among the ruins of the old ancient aristocratic traces and in the
waves of new urbanization where everything is altered according to the new necessities, still, there
are some place which are standing stern holding the graces and glories of past framed intact in
them. One such place in Hyderabad is the Falaknuma palace. William describes the state of the
building as it resisted the slaps of passing time just in the ‘red-wax sealed’ condition on account of
certain legal encumbrance. It was originally the residence of the sixth Nizam, the father of Osman
Ali Khan. The complexes to the east of this Falaknuma appeal greatly to Dalrymple: They are
wonderfully ebullient and foppish monuments dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with
domes swelling out of all proportion to the bases, like a watermelon attempting to balance on a fig.
above the domes rises the craggy citadel of Golconda, source of the ceaseless stream of
diamonds which ensured that Hyderabad’s rulers would never be poor. Inside the walls you pass a
succession of harems and bathing pools, pavilions and pleasure gardens--- a world that seems to
have jumped straight out of the pages of The Arabian Nights. (201) In this connection he also
brings out from the pages of the History of a love story of an English Resident Lieutenant-Colonel
James Achilles Kirkpatrick with a Muslim lady Khair-un-Nissa, who had been a great niece of the
diwan of Hyderabad. William points out the stir of concern that stormed in Britain at Kirkpatrick’s
adoption of the Muslim style garments and way of life. William also curiously finds out the ‘scaled-
down plaster model’ which Kirkpatrick got erected I order to allow his beloved wife who remained in
the Purdah the idea of the truest designs of his newly built palace. He also mentions the neglected
status of such valuable Historical evidence. Next, William narrates the stories of people of
Hyderabad’s love, trust and dependence on the tactics of magic. The person who practiced such
magic was known 171 as Murshad and he enjoyed a high social status and people revered the
Murshads in the form of the close agents of Gods. Just as the stories of Mir Moazam appear
farfetched and fibs so are the talks of Begum Meherunissa, the wife of Mir Moazam, about the
Murshad appear fictional, but she claims them to have happened before her own eyes so here
Dalrymple’s researcher spirits present them as they have been narrated by her and he himself
remains away from making any personal comments on them. His second session of conversation
with Mir Moazam shifts the focus from the glories of the Nawabian Aristocracy to the fall of
Hyderabad. Mir Moazam clearly opines that the Nizam should better have negotiated with Nehru
realistically exactly when the British were leaving: He (The Nizam) might have got a viable deal , a
treaty that would have allowed him to keep some form of real autonomy. That way a lot of
bloodshed might have been avoided. (207) Even, the roots of Operation Polo, i.e. Nizam’s decision
of declaring his Nation Hyderabad an Independent nation seems full of foolish sentiments to Mir
Moazam: Half-hearted negotiations dragged on, until eventually the Nizam decided to declare
outright independence from India. It was utter madness. Legally and constitutionally he may have
had the right to do so, but it was still quite unrealistic. (207) William confesses as he was warned
not to open up the subject of the Operation Polo with Mir Moazam as it was the most painful
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chapter of his life, he cautiously encourages him on this topic. But Mir Moazam himself started
giving a detailed account of it. And his account must be the authentic one as he was the collector
of the region from where the Indian forces opened attack on Hyderabad on the day of 13
September 1948. William presents Mir Moazam’s account, without intervening, directly through his
own narration. It makes clear that Hyderabad proved very feeble against the Indian land and air
attacks and the whole affair came to a clear result within a few hours only. Another fact he brings
forth is the treatment they received just after the invasion and being overpowered was the same as
the one enemy nation extends just after overpowering any nation: When an Army invades any
country---whether it’s Alexander the Great, Timur, Hitlar or Mussoline—when it gets into a town,
you know what the soldiery does. It’s very difficult for the officers to control them. I can’t tell you
172 how many were raped or killed, but I saw the bodies of many. Old scores were paid off across
the state. (209) William here brings in the report on the massacre in the Operation Polo which
Nehru got prepared on the fateful events, and some part of it being smuggled out of India and
published under the title : ‘Hyderabad: After the Fall’ in America. Now looking at the lost glories of
Hyderabad Mir Moazam feels great pains, as he knows after the fall those who remained here in
India were left with no legacy of the Aristocracy nor were they any bit accustomed to do any
money-earning activities, so the only thing they were left with was their real estates, which they
sold out eventually. Thus, in ‘Under The Char Minar’ William unfolds another painful chapter of
Indian history. He picks up not only the tresses of the glories of this city of Nawabs but purposefully
holds it a background to the painful chapter of The Police Action, a troubled ordeal which he labels
“a bloodbath comparable to parts of the Punjab during Partition” (210). Parashakti Cochin,1993
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the shortest essay of the
entire collection in which William has dealt with the South Indian City of Cochin and especially the
shrine of the Goddess Parashakti. The city attracts little of his attention in comparison to the temple
of Chottanikkara where he spends maximum time in the company of Mr. Venugopal, a retired chief-
engineer of All-Kerala Electricity Board. Mr. Venugopal makes arrangements for Mr. William
Dalrymple to be allowed inside the shrine as ‘Non-Hindus’ are literally not allowed to enter most of
the famous temples of South. William opens the essay with the description of the treatment being
given to the ‘possessed’ ladies at this famous temple. And in his conversation with Mr. Venugopal,
he brings out the details of the ‘Healing Procedure’ as well as he himself observes all the ‘Healing’
procedure which claims to set the ‘possessed bodies’ free from the mighty claws of the Evil Spirits.
In his talks Mr. Venugopal, about whom William is quite suspicious for his claim of being the
‘Retired Chief- Engineer’ as to him it appears to be an exaggerated claim, tells William that now the
people have realized their mistake about the materialistic way of lives and have returned back to
the spiritual avenues of religious faith and therefore the temple of 173 Parashakti now remains
more crowded than it used to be few years before. William directly presents the views of Mr.
Venugopal about the influences of the supernatural agencies on the Human beings and the
reasons behind their this kind of activities: We Hindus believe that some of the symptoms of
epiletsy-delirious convulsions and mad utterances- are due to the effect of Yakshis, our spirits.
These spirits have astral bodies only, and invisible. Their identity can only be guessed at by the
symptoms of possessed persons, and also by the astrological calculations of our brahmins. Our
feeling is that every evil spirit would like to unite with the almighty. But thanks to his bad deeds he
cannot. For this reasons there are too many evil spirits roaming around in the atmosphere. Now,
the aim of these Yakshis is to get inside the bodies of weak-minded peoples. Then they think they
will be brought a temple where some compensatory puja wil be done or them, and in this way they
will get salvation. (216) William also presents the mythical story woven around the Goddess
Parashakti who is being known and worshipped in different names and forms in almost all the
corners of India. Once, a demonic yakshi desired a handsome young Brahmin, and so changed
into a nubile Tamil girl to seduce him. Stopping at a holy man’s hut the yakshi refused to enter and
so the holy man realised the demon’s true nature. He gave a red cloth to the young man and told
him to run as fast as he could to the shrine of Parashakti and throw the red cloth over the idol. As
the young man ran out of the hut, the yakshi saw she had been discovered and regained her true
form. She became as tall as a mountain with a mouth like a cave, and her hair was a mass of
hissing cobras. The yakshi chased after the boy, and just as he neared the shrine and threw the
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red cloth over the idol, the yakshi pulled him from the gateway. At that moment the Kali idol came
to life. Seeing her devotee in trouble, the goddess brandished her sword and chased the yakshi
into the forest. Beside a jungle pond the goddess caught the demon and cut off her head. Then she
drank the yakshi’s blood. So much gore flowed from the corpse that to this day the pond beneath
the temple has a reddish tinge. But the goddess Parashakti got a taste for blood and now she
cannot live without it. (220) 174 William visits the temple at night with Mr. Venugopal in order to
witness the rituals of exorcising the evil spirits from the bodies of the possessed ones by invoking
the graces of the goddess by offering her her favourite appetite in the accompaniment of musical
enchantment of her favourite verses. He minutely observes the treatment being extended towards
the possessed ones. He incurs the displeasure of Mr. Venugopal by defining this kind of treatment
as a sort of ‘faith Healing’. Mr. Venugopal feels offended and quite annoyed too at this kind of
reflection from William, even William too feels he ought not to have expressed his views in this way.
Mr. Venugopal declares his verdict at William’s interrogation about the supremacy of the Goddess,
saying: “Parashakti is the supreme Goddess. But to see her work, maybe you must be god fearing
and god-loving, only then can you really understand her power…” (224). Thus, through this essay
the beliefs about the special supernatural agencies at work and their taking hold of human entity
and a full-fledged mechanism to exorcise such supernatural agencies at work in certain part of
India are brought on discussion by William Dalrymple. On the Indian Ocean ------------------
------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- The fifth collection of the
essays explores the coastal as well as the Islands on the Indian Ocean, so the author calls them
‘On the Indian Ocean’. There are three well textured essays on Goa, Sri Lanka and the Reunion,
an island, in which William Dalrymple presents his reflections on the cultures, ways of life of the
people of these particular regions. He also picks up some contemporary issues and digs History
too in order to bring the region’s truest colours afresh to his readers. Compared to the previous
groups of essays, here William appears more of a travel writer and his journalistic and judgemental
attitudes seem giving way to the true traveling motives and his focus captures the impressive
avenues of the place he visits. At Donna Georgina’s ------------------ ------------------ -----------------
------------------ ----------------- --------------- The first one is the essay on Goa, At Donna Georgina’s. He
travels in this historical Portuguese territory on the Indian sub-continent in 1993 and captures the
snaps of its glorious past as well as explores the History of it too. He meets and interviews Donna
Georgina, whose name occurs in the title itself, and brings out the 175 things from her conversation
which would seem shocking to any Indian but allow anybody outside India to fancy that it must be a
place of western civilization within the Indian territory, as the residents of it too prefer to define
themselves aloof from the Indian culture and emphasis the ‘otherness’ to the Indians. “Goa is the
an area of great natural abundance , and the state is envied throughout India for its rich red soil
and fertile paddy fields, its bittersweet mangoes and cool sea breezes”(228). This is how Dalrymple
introduces Goa. His historical interests are at work here and the consequence is the lively narration
of the history of Goa: In its earliest incarnation Old Goa was a grim fortress city, the head quarters
of a string of fifty heavily armed artillery bastions stretching the length of the Indian littoral. But by
1600, the process that would transform the conquistadors into dandies had turned Old Goa from a
fortified barracks into a thriving metropolis of seventy-five thousand people, the swaggering capital
of the Portuguese Empire in the East. It was larger than contemporary Madrid, and virtually as
populous as Lisbon, whose civic privileges it shared. The mangrove swamps were cleared, and in
their place rose the walls and towers of vice regal palaces, elegant townhouses, austere
monasteries and elaborate baroque cathedrals. (228) He also presents the amatory temperament
of Goa in his typical comparative measure by giving the description of the portraits of the
Portuguese Viceroys which are in the state of total neglect in the abandoned convent of St. Francis
of Assisi in Old Goa. He observes whereas the earlier Viceroys appear in their gallant and brave
get ups, their later representative “Mascarenhas is a powdered dandy in silk stockings; a fluffy lace
ruff brushes his chin. He is pictured leaning on a stick, his lips pursed and his tunic half-
unbuttoned; he looks as if he is on his way out of brothel.” He goes further to make comparison
between the transformation of the strong and sturdy Turkish Moguls into the “pale princes in
petticoats” on the Gangatic plains and the transformation of the Portuguese conquistadors into
“effeminate fops in bows and laces.” This gives the reader idea about the mastery and the sound
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study of the writer on the different phases of the Indian History. As every where else on the Indiadn
sub-continent, the precious and valuable ancient sites are facing sheer neglet on account of the
modern commercial developments and lack of the desired awareness towards the value of such
historical monuments. And as in other essays here too, William comes with his concerns: The
Panorama from the chapel’s front steps is astonishing. The odd spire, a vault, a cupola, a broken
pedimentcan be seen poking out of the forest canopy. 176 You look down past the domes and
spires of churches and monasteries, and see the evening light pick out the wandering course of
Mandovi river beyond. (230) The river is empty now: the docks are deserted; the galleons long
sunk. Of one of the greatest cities of the Renaissance world, almost nothing now remains” (230).
(emphasis mine) His conversations with the Hostess, Donna Gorgiana brings out other aspects of
the Goan people’s displeasures and sentimental bent towards their colonial rulers. Donna asserts
to William that they were far happier and prosperous under the four century long Portuguise
colonial reign than they are today. And she goes to the extent of calling the Indian Liberation
operation the Botheration operation. She clearly opines that Goa has been looted by the political
mafias of India: When the Indians came to Goa in 1961 it was 100 per cent an invasion. From what
were they supposed to be liberating us? Not the Portuguese, because the Portuguese never
oppressed us. Let me tell you exactly what it was the Indians were freeing us from. They were
kindly liberating us from peace and from security. (232) Donna claims that Goa has become an
unsafe place in comparison to it was under the reign of the Portuguese. She also expresses her
concerns regarding the cutting of the forests and the spoiling of the natural resources in the name
of the Industrial development. Donna is pained as the land owned by her people is being handed
over to other by the Indian politicians in the reward of the votes. Dalrymple claims that the story of
Donna and the expression of disrespect and dissatisfaction towards the Indian seizure of Goa from
the Portuguese is the common trait among all the Goans. He also puts that like Donna Georgiana,
even the educated Goans would talk about “crossing boards to India”, ’those Indians” and also
about “their visit ‘home’ to their cousins in the Algarve or their brothers in Cintra. They feel they
have to pay a bigger price to their financial prosperity that they have gained after being merged into
the Indian territories as the natural innocent Goan temperament is beng replaced everywhere by
the corrupt and hiterocentric. The next painful score to Donna Georgina about Indian Political Goa
is it is being the Tourist hot spot with all sorts of mean groups of people all over the world heading
Goa in order to satisfy their indecent desires and making it the destination for illicit drug trafficking
and sex rackets. She mentions in a highly complaining tone to 177 Dalrymple that such activities
have spoilt the entire reputation of Goan culture. To Dalrymple she naturally responds to this sort of
transformations of her Goa: In fact, since 1961 we’ve had two invasions. First it was the Indians.
They plundered Goa: cut down our forests and took away our woods. Their politicians created
havoc. Then after that it was the turn of the hippies. Disgusting. That’s what those people were.
Dees-gusting. All that nudism. And sexual acts: on the beach, on the roads- even in Panjim.
Panjim! Imagine: kissing in public and I don’t know what else. Disgusting. (234) In this way, the
essay records William’s observations on Goa as to a greater extent the territory which is really a
part of Indian sub-continent from the geographical perspectives, but the subjects of the territory feel
being unworthily forced to move away from their distinct identity at the absorption of it to the Indian
political system. He also deliberately wishes to draw attention upon the neglect of the precious
Historical monuments as well as the encroachment of the varied social cultures upon the serene
identity of this natural abode of the coastal land which has earned its distinct identity through the
congenial reign of the colonizers for more than four centuries. The dissatisfaction and disrespect
clearly gets filtered through what Donna Georgiana has to say, and how Dalrymple quotes her:
“Drugs and sexual acts and I don’t know what else. I don’t know which is worse: those hippies or
our modern Indian politicians. The Portuguese wouldn’t have allowed either” (235) Up the Tiger
Path : Jaffna SRI LANKA, 1990 ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------
----------------- --------------- This essay presents the tiff between the Sighalese and the Tamil Tiger
group on the Sri Lankan Island. Dalrymple has been sent, as he mentions, to Sri Lanka to cover
the event of withdrawal of the Indian Peace Army from Sri Lanka with a note of failure in the
mission of implementing peace. And Dalrymple doesn’t fail to mention that rather it was a defeat on
the Indian side. He finds the event parallel to the retreat of Russia from Kabul, or that of fall of
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Saigon, just here too a large Army was sent to back foot position by a small but committed group.
He also makes it clear that though this event of March 1990 held great significance on the currents
of International political streams, it did not secure deserving coverage and space in the Western
Media. Resolving the issue he himself projects the reasons for this. He mentions that 178 the
issues of Vietnam or the Mujahidin of Afghanistan have got fair sized media coverage, but since
the Tamil Tigers have been less friendly to the journalists they have remained “faceless, unsung,
unknown” (to the Western World). And this absence of enough information on this group
encouraged him to bring before the world the hidden recess of this group working with utmost
discipline and devotion to their cause. Through his constant following and acute observations, he
outlines salient features of this group: The Tigers were fanatically disciplined. There was a strict
code of conduct on using the intoxicating materials, and if anybody found breaching it, the
punishment was to be ready to be thrown out of the group, and the crime related to adultery would
invite death penalty. Their chief commander, Prabhakaran enjoyed sovereignty and was revered as
a godly stature. “The Tigers were suicidically brave.” and due to this, there were reports that the
caught group members/ or sometimes whole of the camp committing suicide as soon as they found
themselves under threat of being interrogated. Every group member carried a phial of crystal of
cyanide which they used to end their lives as a strategic weapon. (238) Next, the Tigers were
prolific in executing the masses of opponent groups and the frequencies of such massacres
brought to the consequences was so high that it generates a just response in Dalrymple: “It was as
if the Tigers actually enjoyed killing, as if to them it was a hobby, or even an art form. Yet this
unpleasant cocktail of qualities has turned the Tigers in to arguably the most efficient and
successful guerrilla group operating anywhere in the world today” (239). Opening the chapters of
the History of this Island, Dalrymple notes the genesis of the entire movement in a very brief but
informative narration. As per it once the Tamil groups felt the threat of being pushed into the
margins and felt the loosening grips on the political horizons, they started their violent retaliation
and got collected with their mission of establishing their own unique and separate state “Eelam” or
“Precious Land”( ). Thus, the seeds of the foundation of Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
were sown. Dalrymple notes the History of the tiff between the two in a very interesting way: 179
The Tamils and the Singhalese have been neighbors in Sri Lanka for nearly three thousand years,
and throughout much of that time they have been fighting each other. The north and east of the
island is the preserve of the dark- skinned Tamils: small and sharp and hard-working and Hindu.
Elsewhere the island is dominated by the Singhalese, a languid and strikingly beautiful race of fair-
skinned Buddhists. (239) William notes the clash between both these groups has become
tremendously severe that “up to 1990, perhaps 150,000 people lost their lives in fighting. For an
island whose total population is barely fifteen million, that is a colossal slaughter” (242). Taking
George, a Tamil speaking Singhalese driver as his escort, Dalrymple heads towards Jaffna—into
the land of Eelam, a nearly banned for the outsiders. Along with the tense outside, he tries to fill the
slot with the comic relief provided by George’s tactics. His eyes do not fail to capture the changing
scenario moving from one part of the island to another. The flora and fauna, near Anuradhapura,
the capital and Singhalese dominated area which was thick with green vegetations and replete with
throbbing life is replaced by the arid savanna tracts as they approach Jaffna the Tamil territory.
Having crossed the arid savannas, passing through the road which was more of the display gallery
or the holder of the reminiscence of the war which it has faced on the face with the full reserved
craters created by the land mines and the scares of bombing and strafing, at Vavuniya, he finds a
chance to have the first personal encounter with the Tamil Tigers, what surprises him is the age
group of the Tigers, all the tigers were from sixteen to twenty age group. Actually, he had the
previous experiences that these guerrillas never opened up and shared anything with the
outsiders, yet once close to them, William throws the topic of weapons and it works...., the bored
guerrillas start conversation with him with George as his translator. Apart from singing their glories
in how they liquidated the enemies and how acutely their fellows worked to master the situation,
William also make them to relate their bad moments too. To his question about bad and sad
moments, one of the boys, rather hesitantly, narrates the incident of his leading patrol with his
group and coming on to the Indians. However, others managed the escape but his friend being in
danger of arrest had to swallow the phial. He said he could not still forget the dying face of his
100
friend as owing to either the phial being old or anything else, it took time to die. The dying boy
requested the Indians to shoot him, but they did not. 180 Having obtained permission from the
authority, William proceeds to Jaffna, close to the head quarter of the Tigers, and this time he finds
an opportunity to interview the most curtained troop of the Tiger Group—the Freedom Birds, the
regiment of beautiful Tamil Amazons, like their male counter parts, the girls also take pride in
killings. To the query of the author if they did not feel bad about these merciless killings, the
astonishing reply came naturally, that there was no room for feeling bad because those who were
killed were the enemies and if they did not kill them, they would kill them too. William notes the zeal
of these ladies not only for the freedom movement, but also for the social concerns for the ladies of
their own society, and in the time of ‘peace’ they devoted their time in the social welfare of them.
William nicely captures the extraordinariness in the troop of Amazons: “It was an extraordinary
sight: six beautiful and feminine fourteen-year old girls, sitting relaxed and with their friends,
giggling and joking, talking about guerrilla warfare as if it were O-level results, rock bands or
boyfriends” (249). Next, William approaches the Jaffna central office of the Tigers and tries to
secure an appointment with their political chief, Anton Balasingham. Balasingham was the real
brain behind the guns of these Guerrilla group, and his being Anglophile, William was sure that
meeting him would surely open his way to the most mysterious asset of the Tigers, the Jungle
Camp, where till that day no outsider was permitted. After a long day’s wait in vain to obtain official
permission to approach the chief, William was really tired and sure that under one or the other alibi
either his message was not reached to the desired end or might there be no provision for such a
meeting in their strategy. Frustrated thus as he was instructing his driver to move, he by chance
saw Balasingham along with his Australian wife, arriving in the office. He approached him, and he
was happy to be interviewed by him. On the very initial questioning, William understood that none
of the message of his request from the morning reached him. William finds in him to be “the
textbook revolutionary, intellectual: quick witted and intense, fond of gesticulation and dogmatic
generalization”( ). He discussed at length the ideals of their group, the development and the
impactful fights and battles he and his group waged which he called “freedom struggle”. And at a
very important juncture, William came out with his request to allow him to visit one of their jungle
camps. To this Balasingham asserted it was really a difficult task, and that Prabhakaram would not
grant permission for any of Jafna Junlge camp to be visited by any journalist. But he helped William
by making some arrangements for him to visit the camp of Amparai, where his(Balasingham’s)
friend ‘Castro’ was in charge. 181 Having got a ray of hope for his wish of visiting the jungle camp
to be fulfilled, William took George to Amparai, reaching where he got the message from ‘Castro’ to
be ready at nine next morning in order to be taken to the destination. William confesses that he had
very little information about this ‘Castro’, who was considered one of the most brilliant young
commander, and had imagined him to some hardened guerrilla leader, but when he faced him in
person, to his great surprise he turned out to be a “shy, handsome figure” of his own age. As
‘Castro goes on talking about the operations undertaken by their group and the modus operendy
adopted, William as he asserts himself, developed the sense of “Déjà-vu”, because all the ideas
and strategies were either adopted or were inspired from the Hollywood action movies. Castro
accepts the fact that watching the war films was a fair part of their training curriculum, and the
camps are equipped with television and video- libraries: “War films are shown three times a week,
and are compulsory viewing. We often consult videos like The Predator and Rambo before
planning our ambushes. None of us are trained soldiers. We have learnt all we know from these
films” (254). Next, after strict security checking of several stages, they reached the Jungle camp.
The camp itself had the infrastructure of a university. It was the size of a university campus: a
heavily camouflaged jungle town, built in and around a forest clearing. The buildings were
surprisingly solid structures of wickerwork, bamboo and thatch: arsenals and hospitals, command
huts and dormitories, restrooms and conference centers, refectories and lecture rooms. (255)
William notes here that there were around two thousand guerrillas in the camp, all studded with
heavy weaponry and busy with their unified activities. What catches William’s attention is the
average age group of these Guerrillas, just as at the earlier camp he visited; here too, they were all
between eighteen and twenty – the age of playing, partying or love-making. William also note that
they were all fiercly fanatic for their cause and enjoyed their tasks as sacred duties. He was not
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allowed for long in the camp. After six months, in Delhi he remembers the plight of the people of
Jaffna, the lot which was crushed between two warring forces. Even after the Indian forces had
been withdrawn, the Sri Lankan Army was randomly attacking the Jaffna region with domestic
explosives, causing a great damage to the property as well as the civilians of the area. As one
civilian complains: “It is a living hell—that is, for those of us who are alive” (260). 182 The essay
remains a unique example of war reporting as well as a piece of travel writing as William makes his
readers confront an entirely unknown society of the Tamil Tigers, their way of life and the mission
and motto with which they wage a war against the majority Government system, their sources of
inspiration and strategy buildings. Moreover, his eyes keep on capturing the variety of flora and
fauna of the region. Consciously or unconsciously he goes on addressing the western audience as
all his comparisons, captioning go on in the western terms. For example describing the scenario at
the Sri Lankan Island, he naturally takes resort of the Western references: Although the event was
getting little coverage in the Western press, it was, in its way, as extraordinary an event as the
Russian retreat from Kabul, or, before that, the fall of Saigon. Once again, as in Afghanistan and
Vietnam, a superpower army—India has 1.3 million men under arms---had suffered a humiliating
defeat at the hands of a small but dedicated guerrilla group. (238) On The Sorcerer’s Grave
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the Sorcerer’s Grave is
another superb piece of travel writing in which we confront William’s extraordinary talent and clutch
of the art. In this essay William presents his trip to the Mountainous Indian Ocean Island, Ile de
Bourbon, presently known as Reunion. In his unique style, he opens the essay with the famous
incident of La Buse, the pirate’s accidently finding the Treasure and his speech at the time of being
hanged and scattering the map of the treasure which he had hidden on the island. William nicely
weaves the Ethnography, Geography and the History of this Island. The Island, as he observes, is
the place of most heterogonous cultures. Basically, the colony of the French, and being dominated
by the French, on the superficial look, it might give one impression of the Frenchness in all walks of
life on this Island. For Reunion is still part of France; at first sight it appears to be every bit as
Gallic, as developed and as prosperous as its distant mother country. The people all have French
passport, the male-school leavers are obliged to go to France to perform their national service. The
language is French, the television is French, the cars are French, the croissants and baguettes at
breakfast are French, and the wines in the restaurants are defiantly and exclusively French. 183
Nine-tenths of the island’s trade is with France. It is as if Reunion lay just off the coast from
Cannes, not ten thousand miles to the south. (266) In the mettissage lies the very essence of this
island” (266) What catches William’s attention is not the simple Frenchness of the place but the
most uncommonly common cultural trait at this island which “the Reunionnais call ‘metissage’: the
racial intermixture that has made the island a model of melting- pot multi culturalism.” ( ) Narrating
the ethnographic details and examining the roots of this cultural intermixture, William notes, during
the mid nineteenth century the place was mainly inhabited by several thousand French exiles who
had taken abode at this place with the visions of farming the hill-farms on this island. Many of this
populace were of Madagascan origin. In the course of time, the Tamil Muslims, Canton Chinese
and Yemeni Arabs were imported in the form of indentured labourers to work for the plantation.
Living close to close and being aloof from the main lands of the world, these different cultures
influenced each other and as Dalrymple uses it, ‘melted’ into each other to formulate uniquely a
novel form of social culture: Today, these very different communities are intermixed in the most
astonishing manner: there can be few places on the earth—and few moments in history—where so
many radically different peoples, religions, cultures, languages and cuisines have become so
spectacularly intermingled. (267) The effects of this intermingling are conspicuous on the families,
faith, food and language of the island. William drawn through curiosity inquires about this to the
native persons and is presented with the facts which are capable enough to surprise anyone. The
most sensitive of the human issues, Religion has also got so much absorption in the different
cultures and has acquired natural phase of routine life that even the faith and the bizarre practices
are the results of these intermingling of different cultures. William notes that people’s faith and
offerings at the tomb of La Buse is the result of this intermixing of the cultures. One more instance,
he gives about this in: Grandmere Kale, who is said to live in the island’s volcano, emerging to eat
up Reunionnais children who don’t finish their greens or who refuse to do their homework, is a
102
cross between the witches of European folklore and Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. (267)
William also notes that this kind of mixture has also influenced the general outlook of the people
and made them more tolerant and open to others: 184 The mixture of different faiths, often within a
single family, has had a profound influence on the Reunionnais’ attitude to the world. It has made
them unusually tolerant and open minded, but also deeply heterodox. (267) Another important
aspect of human life i.e. food has acquired strong influences, and made this place a sought after
destination for the travelers as it has many variety of dishes to offer; many of them are brand new
as they have been the results of intermingling of different cuisines More enjoyable for traveler, the
island’s brand of Creole cooking is also wonderfully multicultural, and quite unique. It mixes
French and Indian culinary enthusiasms with a dash of Arab, Chinese and Malagasy influence. The
result is a fusion startlingly unlike any of its parent traditions. A typical Reunion meal might
consists, for example, of cari z’ourite et cari pouple (a creamy sea urchin and octopus curry) and
bredes (a spinach –like digestive) ; pudding might be gateau patate (a sweet, heavy potato-cake).
To add to the complexity of the island’s cuisine, in some areas of Reunion Arab influence result is
the use of cloves and nutmeg, Chinese influence in a taste of ginger, and Malagasy influence in a
variety of delicious dishes with a coconut-cream base and several memorably disgusting once
involving roasted wasp grubs. (268) Language too finds the same variety as these different cultures
have close states. There is no paucity of the elements of different languages in the local language
of the Island: “The metissage has also formed the islanders’ language: they speak both
conventional modern French and an impenetrable Creole patois which mixes Malagasy, Tamil and
Arabic on a base of eighteen-century nautical French” (268). Driven by curiosity, William visits the
tomb of La Buse, which is the most visited place on the island and is the place of ‘black magic’
being practiced on the island. William notices that every night many people visit this tomb, and
come with their bizarre offerings which include pack of cigars which people burn on the tomb with
faith to be offered to the possessor of the tomb, the bottles of Brandy and so on. William also notes
that the treasure that La Buse claimed to have hidden somewhere on the island is still hunted: “To
this day the treasure has never been found, despite adventurers coming to Reunion to search for it
for 250 years” (264) (Emphasis Mine) Another thing William notes about this Island is the names of
the places and the domination of the different parts of it. He brings out the historical facts that since
the coastline of it has always been dominated by the colonist French, the coastal 185 places and
the culture bear strong imprints of French influences, but as soon as one left the coastline and
ventured within the mountainous part, one would see another incarnation of the island and the
reason is still the simple one, the mountains were the hiding places for the escaped Malagasy
slaves. The instance of it he nicely captures in the place name “Cilaos” which is a corruption of the
Malagache “tsy laosana” meaning “the place from which you never return.” William’s interest in
history makes him dig into the lost facets of the Cilaos’ history. And as per it he presents that Cilaos
was popular and fond destination for the colonial officials as the sight offered the deemed-
European atmosphere and its brooks flowed with mildly radioactive waters which acted as healing
sources to cure the officials of their rheumatic ailments. This continued until the land slid abruptly
stopped the flow and killed the city dead soon after the Second World War. William here notes
even the unexpected return of the waters in 1971 has not been of any help to the rejuvenation and
restoring the earlier charms and glories to the city. As per his typical pattern, William here too
maintains a dialogue with the local person. Here, he meets the cilaos peasant Loulou and collects
information about the way of life, traditions, beliefs and comes projects the real first hand
information of the grass root levels. Loulou, the man deeply rooted with land of Cialos, informs him
about the hardships and the change taking place on the island. In the conversation with Loulou it
becomes clear that the natives of these mountainous regions looked at the French coastal dwellers
with a great amount of suspicion and considered them as oppressors as the term they used for
them “z’oreille” meant the cutter of the ears. From this the inference might be taken as there must
have been such outrageous practices which planted a permanent fear and in the minds of the
gullible natives of Cilaos. William also investigates the story of the great sorcerer La Sitarane. The
concluding note that William puts forward bears his detailed scrutiny and the wholesome study of
the entire culture of the Island; though the island bore its roots in the French culture, day by day
with the intermixture of the different cultures on the island, it is becoming less and less French.
103
Certainly the façade was still there—the croissants, the baguettes and the burgundy—but at its
heart the island seemed to be fast evolving its own quite separate identity, spinning off into its own
orbit, as the metissage led to a constantly shifting fusion of faiths, ideas and superstitions. (277)
186 Pakistan ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The essays
under this title present William's travels in the land of Pakistan, more precisely, two of them are
William's interviews of two celebrities of Pakistan, namely Imran Khan and Benazir Bhutto. The
essays present William's detailed study of violence stricken environment of Pakistan and put on the
surface the weakening traits of peaceful public life. His interviews and close following of Imran
Khan and beautiful Benazir Bhutto provide great stuff for reading and give a life sketch of these
celebrity figures as to how they spend their private hours, their fond activities and the company
they prefer to be within their private lives. The essay “On the Frontier” presents the account of
William's travels on the Pakistan-India border and showcases the wild play of weaponry and drug
trafficking. In the essay ‘Blood on the Tracks’, Dalrymple picks up the historical Lahore Railway
station which showcases the architectural merits and since being in the proximity of the frontiers
has the provisions of being converted into the war time bunker. He also uses it to narrate the
painful historical event of Partition. Imran Khan: Out for a Duck
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The man (Imran Khan) is a National
Obsession. He combines the status of royalty, the prestige of a cabinet minister and the gossip
value of a pop star in a country which doesn’t have any royals, whose cabinet ministers are
hopelessly corrupt and whose pop stars are mostly Indian, and therefore national enemies. (281)
William has got the stuff of this essay on Imran Khan from his Interviews. At the very outset, he
makes this clear that out of these two, the first interview he had taken when “Imran was a bachelor
playboy and the captain of the Pakistan cricket team; then seven years later, after his marriage,
when he had entered politics to campaign against corruption in Pakistani public life” (281) William
notes that the massive celebrity status that Imran enjoys in Pakistan would be in luck of very few
successful persons. To give the rational idea of this he opens his talks about Imran with the
instance that if a monstrous celebrity super- creature is produced by mixing several British
celebrities and that new creature would 187 enjoy the gossip value such a gossip value is to Imran
Khan in Pakistan. For William confesses that even the name of Imran or just having his
Autobiography in hand would secure unbelievable favours at any corner in Pakistan. Be it the
international Airport, a rickshaw or a hotel or road side tea stall any where one would find Imran
closely followed, and discussed with devotion. Meeting personally, William finds Imran to be a good
natured personality who possessed all the guts of the international figure and the most coveted
young man of his land. When he went to meet him for the first time he had to wait for him as he
was busy in saying his prayer i.e. offering ‘Namaz.’ When William expresses surprise to his strict
religious practicing of five time offering to Mecca and Friday praying at the Mosque, Imran Khan
presents his sensibilities as being the sinner and trying to follow the path led by the Rules of Koran.
William puts his figure thus in his typical precise way: “Whatever he gets up to in England, Imran
Khan is a Pakistani Muslim at home” (284). Even he quotes Imran on his own divided lifestyle: I
suppose I like a bit of both life styles. I spend summer in England seeing my friends—ten
appointments a day—then come home to Pakistan in winter. Time slows down. I get mobbed if I go
into the streets, so my life here is private, I have close circle of friends who see a lot of, but I hardly
ever go out. I’m very shy. I get awkward if I’m recognized.(284) William too nicely summarizes the
different traits of Imran’s personality: Imran is an intriguing compendium of contradictions: extrovert
and cripplingly shy, openly arrogant yet disarmingly modest, austere and sensual, jet-set yet oddly
primitive. He can switch one persona to another with remarkable ease. (284) From his close
contacts with Imran William points out Imran’s personality traits such as: 1). The cricketer 2). The
gossip-column boy 3). The pious Muslim 4). The oxford graduate with coherent political views And,
5). The writer. Dalrymple also talks about his experiences with other facets of Imran’s personality
i.e. Imran: the Afghan Pathan, the staunch follower of the sooth-sayer, and the lover of hunting.
Dalrymple travels with Imran to the tribal area at Mohammed 188 ud-Din’s palace, where he
witnesses along with the lavish luxuries, the wild play of weapons. Everyone present over there
including the host and Imran too were concerned with the weapons and as William puts forward his
western logic that it was not at all healthy from any point of view to allow easy availability of the
104
weapons in the private hands, only to be scoffed at by the host with his unique logic: You
Westerner are always telling us this. But for poor people tribal system is very good. In the settled
area of Pakistan there is much violence…..In Pakistan you can kill a man in broad daylight and if
you have the money you can buy justice. But with the tribal law rich men and poor men are equal.
You cannot buy the tribal council—you pay with your neck. (291) Two years later, Imran retired
from cricket and married to an English lady Jemima. This created great tremors in Britain and
Pakistan too, which was followed by Imran’s raising und for his cancer hospital. And exactly after
that, he founded his own political party with the high ideals of cleansing Pakistani government and
public life from the creeping corruption- Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Justice Movement). When in 1996, Imran
mobilizes his political party for the general Elections in Pakistan; Dalrymple again visits Pakistan to
cover Imran’s campaigning. Dalrymple closely follows Imran’s massive single handed campaign
mission which succeeds in drawing unprecedented crowd to his meetings, blocking the roads and
jamming the traffic. Imran too in the style of a seasoned statesman doesn’t miss any chance to
bring out the wreckages of the political system. At one such public meeting, Imaran appeals to the
massive crowd: For fifty years the politicians have been exploting the people of Pakistan. They
have been looting and plundering the country! The thief protects thief. We want to bring the
plunderers to justice! We will hang the corrupt! The people of Pakistan should unite to achieve their
cause. (295) Dalrymple makes it clear at the very outset that though Imran Khan might have been
pulling the crowds, there was no assurance all these crowds being translated into vote, as the
Justice movement of Imran Khan wanted to win elections only on the ideals, whereas in reality
votes could be translated by handing over bribes to the voters prior to elections. . Everyone even
around Imran had sympathies for him but they all too had doubts as they knew the real
temperament of the Pakistani voters. The chief argument at Imran's impractical grounds was Imran
himself was an Oxford graduate and had all the celebrity life, and out of his mind's frenzy he had
stared off to bring a political revolution in Pakistan. People also speculated that as Imran had
recommended and 189 made statements supporting the 'Shariya-Law’ people might choose him as
their leader. Dalrymple also refers to the shedding of blood and feudal murders as the inevitable
evils of Pakistani political power games. In the tribal areas it added to the merit of a person if he
had murdered his enemies. These Zamindars are the sub- governing agencies who work out
parallel governing in their areas and claim to own the people. The idea of their strong hold of the
constituencies gets clear by the remark of one of the political commentator puts to Dalrymple: “In
some constituencies, if the feudal put up their dog as a candidate, that dog would get elected with
99 per cent of the vote” (298). Dalrymple also makes it a point from his observations that it was an
untold qualification one had to belong to Zamindars' family in order to join Pakistani Politics.As
Imran himself relates his experience at one of Zmindars: One area we went to, a land owner's wife
entertained us. She was trying to impress us, and over tea she remarked, “My husband is a very
powerful man around here. Do you know he had eight hundred people killed last year? (305)
Dalrymple also brings in the real impression of the Pakistani government and labeling Pakistan as
the marked state for its corruption by the several international agencies. And in the 'Postscript' to
this essay notes that though Imran did not get physically assassinated in his political venture, his
party Tehreek-e-Insaff could not even win a single seat. Still, “His (Imran's) party has, however,
succeeded in putting the issue of corruption into the centre of Pakistani political debate, no small
achievement in a country which has become so inured to the dishonesty and venality of its
politicians....” (312). On the Frontier Peshawar, 1989
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the frontier is the essay
narrating William Dalrymple’s exploration of the North–West frontier of Pakistan. At the very outset,
William makes it clear as he experiences over there that though the area might technically be the
part of Pakistani territories; it has nothing to do with the Pakistani Government. The country’s
Administrative or Legal powers retained no effectiveness, but rather the area was dominated by the
Tribal groups which operated their reigns ++among the people with 190 their unique tribal
conventional laws, rules and regulations. The prosperity of the area, Dalrymple notes, makes its
way through the drug trafficking. The valley has also protected many Historical monuments which
bring History alive to Dalrymple’s visions. Violence is to the North-West Frontier what religion to
Vatican. It is a raison d’’etre, a way of life, an obsession a philosophy. Bandoliers hang over the
105
people’s shoulders; grenades are tucked into their pockets. Status symbols here are not Mercedes
or Servile Row suits; in Peshawar you know you have arrived when you can drive to work in a
captured Russian T-72 Tank. (313) Quoting reasons for people’s obsession for weaponries,
Dalrymple holds the region’s geographical conditions responsible. Secondly, he observes genetic
varieties as displayed in the physiology of the people moving around and makes a guessing that as
the region is on the strategic pass of the meeting place of the different continents there must be the
mixture of Persians, Arabs, Turks, Moghuls, Sikhs, British, Russians—“…they retain the mixture of
arrogance and suspicion that this history has produced their character.” Dalrymple also notes the
fact that the violence and profusion of weapons in the private hands that there is no guarantee to
safety and that is why he makes it clear: The tribal areas are officially closed to all foreigners, as
their safety cannot be guaranteed by the Pakistan government: kidnapping and murder are so
frequent here that they are virtually cottage industries. To visit you have to smuggle yourself quietly
across the tribal border, ideally in the company of some tribal older. (314) [Emphasis mine] Having
arrived into the market place of Darra Adam Khel, a place just over the border in Tribal territory,
Dalrymple is astonished to witness a free-sale market of the deadly weapons, his shocking surprise
nicely get translated into the pictorial description he makes of the landscape: ..lines of high-
explosive warheads sit in glass cupboards facing on to the streets as innocently as jars of
humbugs in as English village store. The stacked mortar shells and the anti-tank ammunition are
available over the counter, for cash, as if they were tins of Heinz backed beans. Nearby the belts of
machine-gun bullets are hung up like strings of onions. Outside, left lying around the streets like so
much discarded gardening equipment can be found heavy machine-guns. (314) Dalrymple also
collects information about the prospective buyers of these weapons. He is informed even the lower
middle-class person would equip himself 191 with two-to-four medium sized artilleries and one-or
two big ones. He was also said that the Afghan war was also secured good bossiness for the
traders of the weapons, and that now it being over the local tribesmen did the purchase in order to
meet their regular needs. Besides the astonishing trades of the weapons, another lucrative source
of revenue for the local people was the illicit trade of drug. Dalrymple goes to the visit of such
center of opium trade, Lindy Khotal, though it was no free from risk of losing life. He describes the
availability of the variety of narcotics in this area just as day today use commodities in other parts
of world: Landi Khotal was awash with narcotics. Heroine itself was generally kept out of sight
under the counter, but hashish and opium were freely available and as casually displayed as
cigarettes and betel nut. Some of the hash was set in great toffee-like blocks; other pieces were
folded into hash chapattis or toutured into spaghetti strands. One roadside stall moulsded its hash
into curvilinear arrangements that looked like liquorices allsorts. (322) In the talks with one of the
locals Dalrymple finds the results of the rehabilitation of the illicit trade of the narcotics, as the local
person told him that the wells built with the US funding at the promise of leaving this trade and
replacing the crops, is now used to produce better quality opium. Another trade of the place is the
smuggled goods market which might be ranked among the biggest ones in Asia. Here the
smuggled goods from all the Asian countries are easily available. Exploring the Valley of Swat
River, Dalrymple comes across the ruins of Monastic complexes. What atttrcts his attention is the
perfect European architecture of this structures. This gives him the chance to expose the facts from
historical happenings. Here, he enacts the history of Alaxander the great i.e. how Alexander
defeated the Hindu Rajah of Swat and hearing about the fairy-tale like stories about India’s riches
he ordered his platoons to march further towards India. But unfortunately, scared by the monsoon
rains on the swollen banks of Beas, his homesick troops denied to go further, and suspending his
ideas of marching further, he returned to Greeek, leaving his conqured lands in charge of his Greek
garrisons. When Alexander died or perhaps murdered on his return journey to Greece, whole of his
conquered lands split into million pieces. The greek garrisons in India and Afghanistan had no
choice in this anarchy but to stay back and get rooted to the places where they were placed: 192
They had no choice but to stay on in Asia, intermingling with the local peoples and leavening Indian
learning with Greek philosophy and classicalideas. Over the following thousand years, further
cross-fertilised by Central Asian influences brought by conquering Kushans, an astounding
civilization grew up in the fastness of the Karakorums, deep within the isolated and mountaneous
kingdom known as Ghadhar. Hellenic in spirit, Buddhist in religion, worshipping an encyclopedic
106
pantheon of Greek,Roman, Iranian, Hindu and Buddhist deities, Gandhara’s principal icon was a
meditating Buddha dressed in a Greek toga. (325) Another site which exhibits the petals of golden
era of the Gandhar kingdom is Pushkalvaati, the city of lotus. Dalrymple visits it and his historic
interests make him wonder the grandeurs of the monuments: It was like entering a lost world, a
forgotten Eden isolated on its hih Himalayan plateau. Everywhere you looked were the undecayed
remains of the Gandharan golden age: colossal Buddhas and reliefs of the Kushan King Kanishka
cut into the rockface; huge stupas rising from hexagonal drums; and a series of fortresses sitting
on vast bluffs of rock overlooking the old Silk Road. (329) The next site he visits is Taxila,
Gandhara’s ancient city at the Malakand Pass. Dalrymple visiting the site once again opens pages
of History. Alexander stayed at this place and the king of Taxila preferred instead of entering into
clash with Alexander’s army made a treaty and guided them into this mountainous area. The
architecture of the buildings and the images of Buddha too exhibit strong influence of the western
world: At Sirkap on the edge of Taxila, the Bactrian Greeks founded a classical Greek quarter in
190 BC. It was to be new Taxila, a great advance on the old city, and they carefully laid out the
streets iun a grid of straight lines, like a chess board. As Athens, a magnificent boundry wall loops
around the residential areas and rises up to the fortified citadel, Sirkap’s answer to the Parthenon.
(331) Another thing that arrests his attention is the insignia of the double-headed eagle: “Most
intriguing of all, one of the shrines bears the same symbol was to become the crest first of
Byzantium, then of the Habsburgs, and finally of Imperial Russia. Its first appearance, here in a lost
city on the edge of Karakorum’s, is one of Gandhara’s great unsolved mysteries” (331). 193
Dalrymple’s observant eyes capture the centuries’ long continuity of the same culture in the region.
He notes the sculptors of these monuments have inscribed the minutest details of the surrounding
lives in the carvings; and the same details are still found in the modern traces of lives unchanged
and intact: The writing tablet and reed pen which the Buddha uses are still used in the more remote
frontier primary schools. The turbans which the Gandharan chieftains sported in the sixth century
AD. have yet to disappear, and many of the tribes men dye their beards, just as they did when
nearchus wandered through the streets of Taxila in the third century B.C. the sandals of the
Bodhisattavas are still worn; their musical instruments still played; their jewellery still manufactured
in the a silver bazaar today. Even the design of the houses remains more or less unchanged by the
passage of time. (333) The images of Buddha in the museum remind Dalrymple of the expression
worn by the Pathan clan outside in the market, another form of continuity: Hawk eyed, eagle
beaked, they are a proud people; and as the Buddhas demonstrate, their poise and self confidence
directly reflect that of the Gandharan Bectarian Greeks who sculpted these images in the plains of
Peshawar nearly two millennia ago. (334) The entire piece exhibits Dalrymple’s consummate cutch
of the art, his narration sweeps between past and present, sometimes picking the present
landscape in view and very interestingly turning to the past glories of histories and trying to seek
links between this past and present. The issues of blood feuds and revenge murders are nicely
woven with the histories of Alexander, and the ancient kingdom of Gandhara and its Buddhist
monuments. Blood on the Tracks LAHORE, 1997
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This essay enacts the story of the
most disturbing chapter of the Continent’s history, viz. the Partition massacre of India-Pakistan.
Dalrymple opens the essay by narrating the wonderful miracle effected by the Britishers’ massive
investment in the continent; The Railways. Dalrymple notes the Railways founded by the Britishers
in India in the wake of industrialization was the greatest investment: “It was the biggest, and most
costly, 194 construction project undertaken by any colonial power in any colony anywhere in the
world. It was also the largest single investment of British capital in the whole of the nineteenth
century” (338). William Dalrymple makes a historical observation in connection to the railways in
Indian sub-continent that it not only revolutionized the travelling activities of the people but in also
affected a social revolution as it created a room which was free from the century long class
consciousness; more particularly it was the place where anyone could purchase the ticket and
occupy his/her place without being curbed into the class system. Secondly, it was the railway that
made travelling faster and that brought the extremely diversified culture together and planted to it
the consciousness of oneness, a feeling like nationalism…. And due to this facts Dalrymple goes to
the extent of passing a judgment like statement: Moreover, as journey times shrank, India became
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aware of itself for the first time as a single unified nation. As the bullock cart gave way to the
locomotive, a subcontinent disjointed by vast distances and primeval communications suddenly, for
the first time, became aware of itself as a single geographical unit. It was the railways that made
India a nation. (339) [Emphasis mine] Just as the British introduction: the railways made and
created its whirls of change into the lives of Indians, Dalrymple notes, the Indians too had their own
treatment to offer to the railways, see how he notes it in his typical style: Just as India has always
seduced and transformed its conquerors, so in the same way it slowly took over and indigenized
the railways. Soon the stations were inhabited by whole villages of people washing, sleeping and
cooking in the ticket halls, arriving days early for a train and building encampments on the
platforms. Within few years something quintessentially English had been forever transformed into
something quintessentially Indian. (341)] [Emphasis mine] And, The hierarchy of the railways
seemed directly to echo the Hindu caste system, with a pyramid that rose, rank after rank, from the
lowly armies of sweepers through the parcel clerks, goods clerks, booking clerks and special ticket
examiners to the twice-born apex of stationmaster and general manager. For the Muslims too,
there may have been something appealing in submission to a railway timetable at once as merciful,
omnipotent and lofty inflexible as the great Koran itself.(341) 195 Dalrymple also notes that the
Lahore Railway Station had been the most calculated construction as Lahore lied on the nearest
destination from the Khyber Pass--- in case of the possible invasion from the Russian Army, it
could be transformed into a colossal Bunker, with its sliding roofs and tricky masonry
works..Though the station never had to be transformed into a “fortified bunker” in order to evade
any outside invasion, it witnessed excessive bloodshed, as any monument at the war frontiers, at
the time of the great unfortunate event of Partition. He presents the accounts of the Partition
Massacres to how the trains loaded with the dead bodies crossed the new born frontiers. The
stationmaster of Lahore station, Khawajah Bilal, narrated to Dalrymple exactly what happened on
14 th August, 1947: On 14 August I was on duty. We heard an announcement that Partition had
taken place. Soon after that the killing started, the slaughter began. Everywhere we looked we saw
carnage and destruction of human life. There was no law and order, even when the soldiers came
and made the barricade with the barbed wire outside the station. Despite their presence, many
were being killed---on the platforms, on the brid ges, in the ticket halls. There were stabbings,
rapes, attempts at arson. I had my charpoy in my stationmaster’s office: I didn’t dare to go back to
my house. But at night I could not sleep because of the screams and moans of dying coming from
the platform. In the morning, when the light came, bodies would be lying everywhere. (344) The
episode might record millions of such painful stories, who survived this nightmarish event in the
continent’s history. Like many other stories of the corpus of partition literature, William’s essay too
presents the plight of carnage and tries to voice individual tragedies parallel to the mass
destruction and draws the concluding note that: Listening `to these horror stories, it was clear that
for the people of India and Pakistan the horrors of partition were not just the stuff of history,
consigned to the memories of a few old men; for most people they were still livid scars, unhealed
wounds which were still poisoning relation between Hindu and Muslims, India and Pakistan, half a
century later. (345) 196 Benazir Bhutto: Mills & Boon in Karachi KARACHI, 1994 ------------------
------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- This essay presents before us
Dalrymple’s reflections on Pakistani First ever lady Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and prepares a
nice word picture of this stateswoman whose life and personality remains a butt of attraction and
attention not only for the people of Pakistan but in the West too for many a political interests. The
phrase, “Mills & Boon” in the title itself makes it clear that Benazir has got her strong roots in the
West and ‘the West’ knows it very well too. Dalrymple’s interests in her too churn the points how
this lady tries to come true to her dreams and tackles the tough situations through which
sometimes she need to make steep choices between the near and dears or the political legacy of
her father. In her conversations with Dalrymple, as he noptes, she emerges with multi-facet
personality—a responsible daughter who incessantly toils to take further the political legacy of her
father, a glamorous lady who has her strong hold in the hearts of Pakistani public, a mother, a
daughter of a widowed mother with whom she shares many misunderstandings, and above all the
Prime Minister of Pakistan. Dalrymple has enough evidences to prove why Benazir is a favoured
political personality in the West, still in Pakistan among the people her own strategies of political
108
lead have not found any sound moldings. For the West she is a fond persona as she presents the
image of a liberalized leader and has no scorns for the Western countries and does not issue
‘fatavah’ against the West. Her accession to the premiere position still could not bring out any
radical or impactful landmarks. As Dalrymple is addressing the western audience on this issue, he
makes this unconsciously clear in the comment: There is no doubt that Pakistanis are, on the
whole, grateful to Benazir Bhutto for bringing back democracy, and that many regard her as a
brave and impressive woman. But the fact remains that they have never felt as enthusiastic about
her as WE in the West would sometimes like to believe. (350) [Emphasis mine] (The emphasis tries
to emboss the west-centric approach of the narrator) 197 Dalrymple also brings to the light
Benazir’s Thatcher-like use of Royal ‘we’, and also the style of her speech during the interview
being ‘unstoppable’ just like Lady Thatcher whom she frequently cited as her ‘Role Model’. For
India Benazir holds the typical Pakistani views and on the issue of the murders of the separatists
Kashmiries on the Indian side appears to her the atrocious handling. Dalrymple digs deep into the
family strife from the either sides. The issues of sending her brother Murtaza to jail and her alleged
ordering the police to open fire on the camp of her mother and brother’s supporters on at the grave
site of Bhutto on the Birthday of the “Shaheed”, have aggravated the relations between the family
members and the family has been divided into two hostile camps. To the question of Dalrymple
Benazir nicely replies that seeing his children contesting election against each other and fighting an
open battle, their father would surely have been greatly pained. Benazir’s mother Begum Nusrat
Bhutto has also her grave complaints against her daughter who, according to her, has lost her
sense of proportion in the blind race of obtaining power and aptly cites the Western proverb in her
connection, “Power corrupts and more power corrupts even more.” In the post script to the essay
William describes the murder of Murtaza at Clifford and Murtaza’s widowed wife, Ghinwa Bhutto
and her step daughter, Fatima taking the reins of Murtaza’s PPP- Shaheed Bhutto faction and
leading a massive campaign against Benazir. William concludes the results of such campaigns and
the facts of the massive corruption charges leveled against Benazir and her husband Zardari, ‘Mr.
Ten Percent’, in the general election of 1997, Benazir’s party could not perform well and had to
remain satisfied being the largest opposition. Nine years after publication of this book, on 27
December 2007, while Benazir Bhutto was campaigning for her party for upcoming General
Elections (scheduled on January, 2008), she was attacked by gun-shots as well as a suicide-bomb
and was assassinated. As per the details of the incident, as she was coming out after addressing a
political rally at the Liaquat Bagh, a close gun firing was opened on her and immediately after that
a suicide-bomb detonated at very close to the spot injuring her fatally. After the corruption charges
and sevaral court cases, Bhutto had taken self exile spending eight years in Dubai and London and
had returned only for the upcoming General Elections and had escaped same attempt two months
earlier soon after her arrival while, on 18 October 2007, she was en route to a rally in Karachi, two
explosions occurred shortly after she had landed and left. As per the causes of the assassination
so many debates and theories have been 198 mounted but till date it remains the murder mystery.
As Griff Witte observed in his article in The Washington Post, dated 29 December 2007, titled
“Masses Mourn Bhutto as Unrest Spreads”: “the crime scene was cleared before any forensic
examination could be completed and no formal autopsy was performed before burial. Despite the
ambiguity surrounding her death, Bhutto's husband Mr Asif Zardari did not allow a formal autopsy
to be conducted citing his fears regarding the procedure being carried out in Pakistan. Due to
which, even today the true cause of her death remains uncertain.” On the whole Dalrymple has
presented and captured the plight of the entire social and political ruts of life in Pakistan in these
four essays. This decade of nineties has witnessed a great political upheaval in Pakistan too, along
with the neighboring nation India. There are trends now among people of Pakistan where
undercurrents for justice and equality are voiced in public and media too. Another point that can be
noted is the presence and the close following of the Western nations of this part. The West is
present in the forms of Diplomats, Tourists or the Journalists who record the slightest tremors of
public life in this part of the earth. Dalrympl’s historic scholarship attracts and arrests his attention
towards the ruinous monuments in the Swat valley dating back to the time of Alexander the great.
199 Works Cited
109
Bhandare, Murlidhar C. Contributor: Bhandare Sunanda, Struggle for Gender Justice: Justice
Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lectures. Penguine Books India, 2010.
Dalrymple, William, The Age of Kali, Penguin Books, 1998.
Dupee, Jeffrey. N. Traveling India in the Age of Gandhi, University Press of America, 2008.
Print.
Hawley, John Staton. Sati : the Blessing and the Curse: the burning of wives in India. Oxford
University Press. 1994. Print.
James, Edward Holton. I Tell Everything: The Book on India. Geneva: Impremerie Kundig, 1931.
Print.
Joganand, P. G. ed. Dalit Woman: Issues and perspectives. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House.
1995. Print.
Mahatma Gandhi, “Young India”, Aug. 26, 1926, 302.
Print.
York: Modern Language Association. 2009.
Print.
Nirula, Smita. Broken People: Caste Violence Against India’s ‘Untouchables’. Human Rights
Watch. 1999.
Print.
Rao, Anupan. Understanding Sirasgaon, Notes Towards Conceptualising the Role of Law, Caste
and Gender in a case of “Atrocity”. Signposts: Gender Issues in Post Independence India, Rutgers
University Press, 1999.
Print. Roy, Aruna. Democracy: Women’s Struggle Against Poverty, Struggle for Gender Justice:
Justice Sunda Bhandare Memorial Lectures, Penguine Books India, 2010. Print. 200 201
Nine Lives ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- ---------------- Nine

Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India
weaves the ‘sacred’ in the texture of the book for which India has been spearheading for the time
ancient. William Dalrymple tries to locate this ‘Religious’ temperament of the Indian generations
even in the full speed development of the nation from all view points of modern developments. The
very title of the book makes the focus of the author well nigh clear: ‘In Search of Sacred in Modern
India’ (Emphasis mine); through this the author tries to inspect into the matter how ardently and
with what intensity the religious matters are observed among the Indian social circles while the
whole scenario of the national social and economic fronts is undergoing a beat of transformation
under the globalization and liberalization issues. Dalrymple has followed a well defined framework
in the planning of the book. Even after the publication of it; he led and staged shows and
demonstrations to make the things heard about the book and invested ample efforts to popularize
110
his crafted creation. Published in 2009 in multiple editions, the book secured attention of world
community and literary circles and has bagged a couple of awards. The heritage of India is the
heritage of sacredness. There are thousands of religious traditions alive and co-exist in the forming
the several spectrum strips of society. This is perhaps the typicality that fixes the visitors’ attention
without fail; of which William Dalrymple is no exception. In the last decades of twentieth century,
Indian culture and society has undergone and absorbed massive transforming influences on all the
domains, say, be it the economical, social, political, commercial or the field of infrastructural
developments. Everywhere there is a boost of and wave of betterment. The speed with which the
landscape is changing appears quite unimaginable. In the very introduction of Nine Lives, William
Dalrymple captions: “Living in India over last few years, I have seen the country change at a rate
that was impossible to imagine. The speed of development is breath taking to any one used to the
plodding growth rates of Western Europe: the sort of construction that would take twenty-five years
in Britain comes up in five month” (Dalrymple. Nine Lives Xii). At the same time, there are sites and
scenes--- especially on the Rural Side which have remained outside the umbrella of the
developments and infrastructural 202 advancements. Dalrymple, being the outsider, catches this
conspicuous contrast and makes it a point that the drive of ten to twenty minutes on the highway
past any metro city, the landscape is replaced with serenity, simplicity and natural flora and fauna in
their original unaltered form. Here, the question: how India manages to balance such fast-swift
developments on one facet and the exactly opposite to it, the calm and serene traditional rut of life
on the other? This very sanctum of fact rivets Dalrymple’s attention and forms the very foundation
of the book. Dalrymple’s travels in this subcontinent have made him face-to-face with many such
magnificent and fascinating life-styles and life-holding beliefs. There exists a miraculous harmony
between these exactly occult and opposing forces. Dalrymple himself voices his surprise to such
variety thus: Yet to my surprise, for all the changes and development that have taken place, an
older India endures, and many of the issues that I found my holy men discussing and agonizing
about remained the same eternal quandaries that absorbed the holy men of classical India or the
Sufis of the middle ages, hundreds of years ago: the quest for material success and comfort
against the claims of the life of the spirit; the call of the life of action against the life of
contemplation; the way of stability against the lure of the open road; personal devotion against
conventional or public religion; textual orthodoxy against emotional appeal of mysticism; the age-
old war of duty and desire. The water moves on, a little faster than before, yet still the great river
flows. (Dalrymple Nine Lives xvii) The Nun’s Tale
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the very first account of Nine
Lives: Search for a sacred India, William delineates the life story of a Jain Nun who has left the
social luxurious life in a quest of supreme truth and graced the life of ascetic codes which even do
not allow her to travel by a vehicle, retain any relation with her family or anybody else and expect
her to observe total detachment from the mundane world except to remain within it as the flower of
lotus exists in the water body, and many other strict code of conducts. William engages himself in
prolonged conversations with the Nun and tries to understand how on spiritual path the
advancement is achieved through leading such an austere life. The Nun, Prasanmati Mataji,
relates in her conversations her personal 203 choices for the Nun hood, her struggles and progress
on the path of attainment of total salvation i.e. ‘Moksha’. In India Jainism has flourished parallel to
the Buddhism as a strong reaction to the Brahminical stubborn form of Hinduism. The main
principle on which both these philosophies derive inspiration is the principle of ‘Ahimsa’ i.e. “Non-
Violence”. The Caste system of Brahminical Hinduism was another strong factor to nourish the
cults. The main differences between both the cults are very nominal. The Buddhist monks shave
their heads whereas the Jain Monks pluck their hair from the roots, a painful process. The Buddhist
monk would bed for his food, whereas the Jains have to have their food without asking. William
presents the historical details regarding two prominent figures of Indian History, whose lives and
story have cast really shaping effects to the Indian life; Chandra Gupt Maurya, the first Emperor of
India and Prince Bahubali who adopted and accepted the Jain principles being tired of excessive
violence. William visits the place of Chandragupta, “It was here, in the third century BC, that the
first Emperor of India, Chandragupt Maurya, embraced the Jain religion and died through a self
imposed fast to death” (01). The tale of Prince Bahubali also goes in the same line of attainment of
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victory not over the outer enemies but to be the master of one’s own mundane desires and to be
liberated from the web of vein honours. Once entering in a duel fight and overpowering his own
brother Bharat for getting absolute control over his father’s kingdom, Bahubali realized that it was
sheer foolishness and greed to crush the weak with his own muscular powers, and renounced at
once whatever he won from his brother. According to the Jains, he was the first human being to
attain ‘Moksha’: ‘Spiritual Liberation’ by conquering the real enemies like passions, ambitions, pride
and desires. William notes that there are two sects of Janism: Digambara and Swetambera.
Actually, the term Digambara is the deviated form of Sanskrit term ‘Dik Ambara’ i. e. whose clothes
are the four direction or who are sky clad and the place ‘Sravana Belgeda’ is the main centre of
faith just as Vatican is for Christianity. The rules in this sect are very severe. The monks of this sect
remain completely naked. “They show their total renunciation of the worldly …..by travelling
through it completely naked, as light as the air, as they conceive it, and as clear as the Indian sky”
(02). The ‘Tirthankararas’ are the hollies figures in the Jain sects. They are believed to have
attained total nirvana and are worshipped as the path guider to the common and ordinary followers.
The statues of these ‘Tirthankararas’: the liberators 204 to be worshipped, are found erected in the
Jain temples. The statues are carved in the cupped hand position, shaven heads and sitting in the
‘Virasana Samadhi’. William first saw the Nun, ‘Mataji’ in a temple while she was busy with her
ritual of prayers. She bowed to each of the figures and prayed them. William’s request for meeting
or rather in the religious terms ‘Darshan’, he was granted. In the conversation with her, William
discusses the primary and the basic principles of the Jain philosophy. Mataji also informs him about
the special rituals of the cult. One such ritual and the one which she opines to be on the
culmination point of any follower’s life path is ‘Sulekhana’: a ritual fast to death. As a Jain Nun she
believes it to be the route to ‘Nirvana’. Death is not believed as the final event of life, rather it is
thought of as a path to get a new life. When asked whether ‘Sulekhans’ being a kind of suicide,
Mataji nicely and with confident arguments explained that the suicide was painful and full of
sufferings whereas ‘Sulekhana’ was a beautiful thing. It is, she explains to William, a planed
process and undertaken under the guidance of any senior and experienced ‘Mataji’ or ‘Guru’. The
person undertaking it has to leave food one by one day by day. The word ‘Jain’ is derived from
‘Jina’ --- A liberator or the spiritual conqueror. Mataji describes in detail the lineage of twenty four
such spiritual conquerors that are ardently adored and worshipped in Jainism. These ‘Tirthankaars’
are those lofty souls who succeeded in discovering the path which would liberate the soul from the
eternal cycle of deaths and rebirths. Mataji also points out the striking differences among the other
religions and Jainism. The Jains, she opines, are different from the Hindus and the Buddhists in
many ways. They reject the Hindu idea about the creation of this world. They oppose the
Brahminical rituals. The most important sacrifice for a Jain is not ‘Puja’ or ritual but the sacrifice of
his/her own body. The Jains conceive ‘Karma’ as a fine material substance that physically attaches
itself to the soul. To gain final liberation, one must live life in a way that stops one accumulating
more ‘Karma’. The Jains believe that the soul’s journey takes place in the universe in a perfect
preconceived pattern. For them, the universe is like a gigantic cosmic human body. “For Jains, the
universe is shaped like a gigantic cosmic human body. Above the body is a canopy containing the
liberated and perfected souls --- ‘Siddhas’ --- who, like the ‘Tirthankars’ have escaped the cycle of
rebirths. At the top of the body, level with chest, is the celestial upper world, the blissful home of the
Gods they believe the middle world at the waist and the hell below this” (09). 205 Their belief holds
that the reincarnation of the soul in the blissful form of God depends upon the actions and ‘Karmas’
accumulated by the soul. And therefore the Monks and the Nuns who walk on the path of ‘Nirvana’
have to follow the austere life full of severe code of conducts. “…the monk and the Nun must
embrace the three Jewels, namely ‘Right Knowledge’, ‘Right Faith’, and ‘Right Conduct’, and take
five vows: No Violence, No Untruth, No Stealing, No Sex, and No Attachments.” (10) William
personally observes the way of life of Mataji. At the breakfast, he notices how indifferently she
consumes the food that is offered to her by the ladies. She takes all care not to kill even the tiniest
insect or any other living creature. William coins a new term for the process of her food consuming
as the “Silent Meal”. In the course of conversation, Mataji talks to William about her social life
before she graced the ascetic life. William presents all these details directly from the mouth of
Mataji in the first person narration: “I was born in Raipur, Chattisgarh, in 1972,” said Mataji, “in
112
those days my name was Rekha. My family were wealthy merchants” (12). Her family basically was
from Rajasthan and she was the only girl in three generations and therefore she was the most
pampered child in the entire family. Everyone of the family remained eager to please her ant took
care not to displease her in any matter. Once as a child she happened to see Dayasagar Maharaj,
a Jain monk, and this made her take interest in the matters of ‘Dharma’; i.e. Religion. “I was very
impressed and stated thinking. It didn’t take long before I decided I wanted to be like him. His
words and his teachings totally changed my life” (13). Initially, she started observing the rules of
ascetic beings such as not to take food after dark, etc. then she went to spend two years with the
‘Sanga’. The years spent in the ‘Sanga’ took her closer to the life of ascetic and at the end of these
two years she had come to a firm decision that she would grace the life of ascetic and take ‘Diksha’
(the Jain ritual of becoming a full time Monk or Nun). Her decision to take Diksha generated great
pains among her family members. No one wanted her to go away from the family and grace the
tough life of Nun. But her stern determination brushed away all the hindrances and got them
agreed. A day was decided for the Diksha ceremony which was followed by the hair plucking
ceremony. She was given a new name ‘Prassannmati’ as this was something like a rebirth,
Prassannmati Mataji also talks of her bosom friend Prayogmati who took Diksha on the same day
under the same Guru as of hers. She says both of them enjoyed good communion. They travelled
everywhere together on foot. As it is said 206 earlier the Jain monks are forbidden to use any
vehicle as a means of transportation. Walking is the part of their ‘tapasya’. Mataji explains to
William, “Walking is very important to us Jains. The Buddha was enlightened while sitting under a
tree, but our great Tirthankar, Mahavira was enlightened while walking. We believe that walking is
an important part of ‘tapasya’. We don’t use cars or any vehicles partly because travelling so fast
can kill so many living creatures, but partly also because we have two legs and travelling on foot is
the right speed for human beings. Walking sorts out your problems and anxieties, and calms your
worries” (22). It was on such travelling on foot journey that her friend Prayogmati started facing
troubles, and her troubles grew worse to worst during the span of ten years. Mataji narrates in
detail how her friend’s health deteriorated day by day and how she nursed her for unto her last
breath. At the severe stage of her illness, Prayogmati decided to take ‘sulekhana’ with idea of
being “the victor of death than to be the victim of it” (24). Prassannmati Mataji confesses to William
that for the first time in her nun hood she breached the code of conduct and became the butt of
frown of her Guruji at the death of her friend Prayogmati. She cried severely though it was against
the rule as the Nuns and Monks must be free from ANY sort of affectionate bonds. And she left the
place very next morning, “It was the first time as a nun that I had ever walked anywhere alone”
(26). On the last meeting, Prassannamati Mataji reveals to William that now that her friend has
departed, it would be easy for her to go too. Thus, she indicates that she has also started walking
on the path of ‘Sulekhana’. When William questions her if it would not be the waste of precious life
and argues that it was right for Prayogmati as she was ill, but for her to take up ‘Sulekhana’ just at
the early age of thirty eight is not a good idea, Mataji presents her views: “’Sulekhana’ is the aim of
all Jain munies. It is the last renouncement. First you give up your home, then your possessions.
Finally you give up your body” (27). Throughout the account, William lets the Nun narrate her
reflections and he remains silent but for some reactional remarks. 207 The Dancer of Kannur
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the second account, William
narrates the details of the Theyyam Dancers of Kerala through the case of Hari Das. He follows
Hari Das for constant two seasons i.e. two years and from his several personal interactions as well
as personal witnessing the dance performances constructs the life story of Hari Das and from his
case the plight of his entire class and clan and the glimpses of their struggles, social conflicts and
the projection of their coming generations’ dilemma as whether to continue with such part-time but
lucrative and prestigious occupation or to start a new with some modern vocations. William digs
deep into the entire Theyyam tradition and asserts that the very term “Theyyam’ is the derivation
from the Sanskrit word ‘Daivam’- i.e. pertaining to the deities. What interests William about this
tradition is its inverted cone of the rigid caste system. Kerala- ‘God’s own country’ as the
Malayalies prefer to introduce their land, is the most rigid in the caste discriminations. Here the
Brahmin and other upper castes, especially the Nairs, enjoyed upper hand in treating the lower
caste persons at their own will. The things are same from time ancient, as William quotes Francis
113
Buchanan, the British traveler and doctor, reporting the scenario of caste system in Kerala where
the Warrior caste Nair enjoyed the privilege “to behead and kill a lower- caste man if the latter
dared to appear on the same road at the same time” (35), even, William further notes, “as late as
the early years of twentieth century, lower-caste tenants were still regularly being murdered by their
Nair landlords for failing to present sweets as token of their submission” (35). In the modern times
the things are not as rigid as they used to remain in past still; the inter-caste love-affairs involving
the lower caste man to the upper caste girl would cause a severe tremor of social unrest. In the
ordinary case, in the presence of the upper caste persons “Dalits are still expected to bow their
heads and stand at a respectful distance” (35). The ‘Theyyam’ dance is the ritual that inverts the
regular caste system as in the Theyyam performances Gods and other spiritually powerful deities
are claimed to incarnate not in the upper caste Brahmins but in the Dalit youths who rest on the
bottom of the social ladder. During the Theyyam seasons, from December to February, the
Theyyam performers, the Dalit youths like Hari Das, are worshipped as the Deities and are
considered the powerful sources to secure divine appeasement through their media not only by the
lower classes of society but also by the Brahmins 208 themselves, and are held not in the temples
of Brahminical authorities but in the small shrines in the jungle clearances once again symbolically
defying the social infrastructural set ups and treating everyone equally. Hari Das presents the
picture of the heightened status of the Theyyam dancers during the seasons of Theyyam: For
those months we become Gods. Everything changes. We don’t eat meat or fish and are forbidden
to sleep with our wives. We bring blessings to the village and the villagers, and exorcise evil spirits.
We are the vehicles through which people can thank the gods for fulfilling their prayers and
granting their wishes. Though we are all Dalits even the most bigoted and casteist Namboodiri
Brahmins worship us, and queue up to touch our feet. (33) [Emphasis Mine] The ‘Theyyam’
tradition has helped the entire community of Dalits to have self-respect and boosted them with
confidence and consequently making them take education. In this way, the tradition has helped the
entire community in double fold. In the first case it has inspired the Dalit youth to take education
and develop, and in the second case the theyyam stories have become the media to criticize the
unjust treatment of the Dalits at the hands of the so called upper classes and to put forward their
right to be treated equally. William has picked up the stories of ‘Pottam Theyyam’; ‘Lord Shiva’s
taking disguise of a poor landless Pullaya [Dalit] in order to teach a lesson of treating each human
being equally to the Bhrahmin of the highest order, Adi Shankaracharya and the story of the Dalit
Boy Tityya, to illustrate the case. Through providing the personal life details of Hari Das, as how
and in what sort of lower middleclass environments and through the personal tragedy of losing his
mother at the very early stage of life, has come to earn a recognition as a Theyyam dancer, William
tries to represent the picture of the utopia and dreams, personal and social climate through which
the entire Dalit class hails life in the region. It also helps to build the social structure of the area
through the case. In the conversations with William Hari Das also points out the modern scenario
of class discrimination. Hari Das narrating his recent experience, relates to William, that the
Brahmin who touched his feet in the past theyyam season, would find it difficult to allow Hari Das in
his house. He and his team of well digging would be served food in the leaf dishes in the verandah.
Thus, these sorts of incidents indicate the fact that the problem still persists. And through the
petitions presented to the theyyam deities, it gives a clear picture of the problems of the village
folks that they struggle with and thus serves as the indicator of their life standard. William enlists
them as the villagers asked for 209 grandchildren, for jobs, for husbands, for good harvest, for
peace and calm in life, for the health of kids and for good education. Hari Das, in the conversation
with William, also pin points the renewed interest of the people as well as the political parties in the
Theyyam dances. The rival political groups like RSS and CPM, despite the theyyam fall away from
their ethical principles, (RSS is the party basically of the upper class, and the CPMs are atheists),
have started patronizing certain Theyyam performances. And this seems a promising sign to Hari
Das as for the brighter future of the tradition. On his second visit to Kerala, William finds one of the
Theyyam performances being sponsored by Prashant, a recent Gulf return, and the case of Shijju,
Prashant’s childhood friend, and these details fairly connect to the fact why the political parties
have found love for the tradition. With the developing world and environment of competition and
complexities of life the emerging middle class, which forms fairly a large part of society, has turned
114
to religious faith for the appeasement of their social, professional or health problems, and the
political groups would pick up the chance to win confidence of them by supporting their faith. Hari
Das also presents his worries about the future of the tradition. He tells William that right at present
it is a good rewarding occupation, though it is highly demanding and strict codes of conducts, and
hopes his sons too take up the same Theyyam occupation but his chief concern lies in the facts
that when they get educated and take up other professional occupations which might not allow
them to spare the time of three long months as it happens in the case of many of the children of his
fellow theyyam dancers. Along with the traces of theyyan tradition, William also presents the traces
of the land of Kerala and her biblical connections, the arrival of the first fleet of the Europeans to
the shores of the same lands and refers to the tombs of many of the Britishers who arrived here
earlier and pioneered the coming centuries long reign of the entire sub continent. Daughters of
Yellamma ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this account,
William discusses the case of the ancient Indian tradition of Devadasi, the tradition that has
remained in continuity from the time ancient till day in the South Indian region. The tradition of
devoting the girl child to the goddess 210 Yellamma has its roots in the ancient scriptures. As
William presents his investigation, till date though government has banned the tradition (1982
Karnataka Devadasi (prohibition of Dedication) Act) and a number of Non Government
Organizations at work voluntarily trying to bring a social awakening among the social groups, a
large number of girls are devoted to the goddess Yellamma who in the course of time end up as the
mere sex workers and lead a miserable life. Like his previous accounts, William here too presents
the case of Rani --- a Devadasi, and through her painful story tries to cast rays on the entire class
of Devadasis. In society this is the class who are looked at with a sort of lust and though the
Devadasies like Rani and Kaveri console themselves to be the auspicious symbols and for a
unique status in society, people think of them and use them just the tools of quenching their sexual
thirst and nothing more. In her conversation with William, Rani aptly quotes the lines of one of the
songs being sung among the Devadasis, which is nothing but the illustration of expression of the
pain of the Devadasies. “Everyone sleeps with us, but no one marries us. Many embrace us, but
no one protects” (57). The grave problem the class of Devadasis facing is the problem of diseases,
especially the AIDS, the incurable one. They are all from the lower strata of society and are all
illiterates. And through the unsafe sexual contacts it is likely that they get infected of these
diseases. Kaveri, a just 45 year old lady but as William says who looked much older, expressing
her agony says: “When we are not beautiful, when our bodies become ugly, then we will be qll
alone.” But much pain peeps in the next statement: “If we live long enough to be old and to be ugly.
So many are dying” (57). [Emphasis mine] Kaveri also presents the case of her truck driver brother
who has been infected by AIDS, and waiting his death. Her pain, agonies and anxieties find apt
reflection in her inventing the image that if she were to narrate her story under a tree, and tell the
sadness they had to suffer; the leaves of that tree would fall like tears” (57). William takes Rani and
Kaveri to the temple of Yellamma at Saundatti from Belgaum in Northern Karnataka. Goddess
Yellamma is the divine entity whom the Devadasis consider their sole protector and towards her
their faith flows unfailingly. In the conversation with William both Rani and Kaveri express their
devotion and trust in the Goddess. Even in their pains and sufferings, they console themselves that
is is the Goddess who protects them. “The goddess dries our tears”, said Rani, “if you come to her
with pure heart, she will take away your sadness and your sorrows. What more can she do?” (57)
211 William presents the mythical context of Yellamma in the Indian scriptures and narrates the
entire version of the story of Yellamma. As per it Yellamma was the wife of the famous rishi
Jamadagni, an incarnation of Lord Shiva himself. Once the lady failed to perform her task and duty
which incurred her a curse from her husband and was turned into a sickly and ugly figure and was
thrown out of the household to beg on the roads. When she returned home tired of her sufferings
and seeking pardon from her husband, the Rishi still enraged ordered his sons to behed her. To his
command, Parshuram, the youngest one, beheaded her. The Rishi, pleased at Parshuram’s
obedience, asked him to seek a boon, for which Parshuram sought the revival of his mother. Thus,
the rishi revived Yellamma but left her forever to continue his feats of asceticism in a cave high in
the Himalayas. William commenting on this context draws a parallel between the lives of both the
goddess as well as her devotees Devadasis: Though the story is full of sadness and injustice,
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Devadasis—as those who have been dedicated, or ‘married’, to a god or goddess are known- like
Rani Bai, tell the tale as they believe that it shows how their goddess is uniquely sympathetic to
their fate. After all, their lives are little better than hers: cursed for crimes of love outside the bonds
of marriage, rejected by their children, condemned like Yellamma to live on roads, begging for
favours, disfigured by sadness and without the protection of a husband. (60) The real life of Rani
Bai too presents the same sort of terrible plight. She was, as she narrates to William, dedicated
without her knowledge at the adolescent age of six. And when, at the age of fourteen, she got her
first period, she was sold to a shepherd. She resisted a lot. She tells she scolded both her mother
and her aunt to spoil her life. Later she realized all was done with a hope to secure the divine
favours and to secure a monetary source for the family income. Her father was a total failure and a
drunkard who gambled and was desperate to have money. It was her father who sold her for the
amount of five hundred rupees. As she was adamant not to adopt the ‘business’ (‘dhandha’), as a
calculated step, her aunt took her to Bombay where she was planted into a brothel house. The lady
at that brothel house showed her professional guts and did not force her to go for sex work against
her will. But the gharwali, as Rani narrates, allowed her some time and ultimately Rani ended up as
a sex worker. She had first two children over there in Bombay as much of the sexual work was
done without condoms or any other contraceptives. Rani then shifted to her village and continued
her life of a Devadasi, as she says for eighteen years. In the course of time, she had a lover in the
village with whom she enjoyed an affectionate 212 bonding. She had a daughter out of this relation.
But this bond also got an ending on the issue of more children. The man wanted Rani to bear more
children out of their relation whereas Rani did not. Rani appears to be much out spoken and during
her conversations with William reiterates her planning to retire to her farms and buying some
buffalos and leading her rest of life respectably on the milk business leaving all these dirty work.
When William sees no daughters in her household as she referred in her talks, he inquires about
them. To this, Rani pauses from her talks and in a weak voice tells William that she has lost both of
her daughters. The story of both of Rani’s daughters is also heart rendering. Rani tells William that
both of them died of some disease at some interval. Narrating their story she tells William that they
both lived the lives of Devdasis. When William questions her why she herself sent them to this
profession as a mother, though she herself cursed her own mother to have sent her to this hellish
life, Rani relates the painful events of her daughters’ lives. She said the first was a singer and at
early age of fourteen she eloped, and a year later when she came back no one would marry her.
The second one had some white patches of thighs. They consulted many doctors but they found
no cure. Thus, there was no possibility to find any man willing to Marry her too. Thus, there was no
alternative left for both of them but to be the Devadasis. Having entered this profession, they met
with their premature end, one died at the age of seventeen and the other at fifteen. Rani said to
William that one died of some stomach pain and the other died of fever, but later William learnt that
both died of AIDS at the very early stage recently within last one year. William talks about the
ancient literary texts which hail the Devadasis in the high spirits. Such texts exist as a fully
developed tradition in the southern Indian languages especially in Telugu. William notes that such
texts (carved on Copper plates) are deposited in the temple of Tirupathi, and were translated into
English by the poet A. K. Ramanujam. William notes the whole apparatus of poetry displays love
making of a temple dancing girl (Devadasi) for her client or the love longings of the temple girl for
the handsome Lord Krishna. William notes, These poems of union and separation have sometimes
been read as metaphors for the longings of the soul for divine, and of the devotee for god. Yet they
are also clearly an expression of unembarrassed joy at sexuality, part of a complex cultural tradition
in pre-colonial India where the devotional, metaphysical and the sexual are not regarded as being
in any way opposed; on the contrary, they 213 were seen to be closely linked. Because of their
fertility, the temple girls were auspicious. (70) What William brings out as his research on the
Devadasis is that though in Karnataka the Devadasis enjoy the status of auspiciousness and are
considered as the symbol of fertility, the main difference in the ancient Devadasi tradition and
today’s Devadasis, is that in the ancient the Devadasis came from the grandest families, and were
the only learned women in society who sometimes counseled the lords, but in modern times only
they come from the lowest Dalit-Madar caste and are almost entirely illiterate. While in the
medieval temples the Devadasis enjoyed prominent positions, today they have just ended up as
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the sex workers only. William collects the details about the continuity of this tradition and finds the
fact that still there are certain castes and families there is a tradition that one girl in every
generation should be dedicated to the goddess and as a result in spite of the government’s official
ban, every year several thousand Devadasis are added in the existing numbers. William also visits
the place of Rani, at Mudhol, a settlement of many of the Devadasis. William describes the area as
the shabbiest one: It was a dark lane, lit by a single, dim street light. Dogs sat next to open gutters,
while half naked children played in the side alleys. It was perhaps the depressing nature of her
surroundings that led Rani – always the optimist, always the survivor – to talk up the positive side
of her career. (73) Later when William asked one of the project managers of the NGO which
worked for the welfare of the Devadasis, he found alarming details about the HIV infected cases.
There prevailed least consciousness about the dangerous results of the disease and the infected
were also treated cruelly by the family members. Referring to the case of a girl, the manager said
that the infected girl was literally left dying in the corner of the house uncared without food or water.
When they got the information they rescued the girl in a semi-comatose state. Here, from this lady
William gets the information that Rani, who talked of retiring to a farm and lead a peaceful life by
doing the business of buffalo milk, was also infected from last eighteen months. William now
realized all the optimistic talks of Rani were just a form of utopia which she was never to realize in
her life span. As the scheme William has adopted for the book, here in this essay too, William
serves the purpose of driving the conversations and extracting information from the characters
under study, but the much of the narration voices the account of the character from their own
mouth. 214 The Singer of Epics ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------
----------------- --------------- The Singer of Epics narrates the tradition of the oral recitation of the folk
epics --- the tradition that is still in exis tence with all its live colours in Rajasthan— the northern
state of India. Here in this essay too, William picks up the life story of one such Epic Singer, follows
him, witnesses him perform, visits his village, collects his personal family details and presents his
story along with excavating the history and other details of the tradition at large. Thus, through the
individual case tries to present the condition of the entire class, culture and ethical and
ethnographical practices. He, here, also tries to figure out the elements that have kept the oral
tradition alive in Rajasthan while in the Western world the grand epics like The Iliad, The Odyssey,
Beowulf, and the Songs of Roland have just remained the legacy only of academics and literature
classes. He presents the account how he got interested in the tradition as when he went to the
Rohet Garh Palace near Jodhpur, located in the patch of Dessert seclusion, the palace in which his
travel writer Role Model Bruce Chatwin penned his famous The Songlines. To write his own book
City of Djinns, William too stayed in this palace and during his stay one of the elderly ladies talked
of the oral tradition in the region. William, having felt curious about the tradition, looks for the
‘Bhopas’—the village shamans and bards who kept the tradition alive for centuries and tries to
drive his research in the direction, as to how and why the oral tradition has still survived in the
regions of Rajasthan whereas the same traditions are on the verge of extinction in the other parts
of the world. On the primary inquiries and collection of the details regarding the oral performances,
William comes to know the fact that these epics narrated basically the stories of the local Heroes
who either died heroic death or showed unprecedented chivalrous adventures in the course of
lives, and more particularly they hailed from the regal or nomadic lineages who died while rescuing
a community’s cattle from rustlers. “Every prominent family of the land holding Rajput caste
inherited a family of oral genealogists, musicians and praise singers, who celebrated the family’s
lineage and deeds” (87). The possible evolution of these long poetic epics might have been the
generation to generation business and the main point of their survival is the spiritual powers
attributed to the recitations as well as the protagonists of the poems. Considering the point, William
notes, 215 A long accumulation of hagiography had transformed the historical characters into gods:
the story of Bhomaya, or martyr-hero, was kept alive, memorial stones were erected and in due
course miracle stories began to spread, telling of how the hero had manifested himself to save his
people after his death. Memorial stones became shrines, and over the centuries the legends grew
into epics, and the heroes into gods, so that the different warriors at the centre of each epic
became the particular deity of a different caste community. (87-88) The aunt at the Rohet Gharh
palace informs William about the interest and research of one of their distant neighbors and friend
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Rani Laxmi Kumari Chundawat and arranges the meeting with her in Jaipur. Rani Laxmi Kumari
Chundawat narrates to William her efforts to save the oral epic of Dev Narayan by getting it
scripted at her own place while the Bhopa sang it and she herself taking the dictation of it as she
sensed the point that against the threats and increasing popularity of television and films among
the new generations the oral epic was on the verge of extinction. Here at her place, William
happens to meet Mohan Bhopa, with whom he was to make performances at many conferences
and literary festivals. William describes the life of Mohan Bhopa and his wife Batasi very closely.
Describing their persona William goes: Mohan Bhopa was a tall wiry dark-skinned man of about
sixty, with a bristling grey handlebar moustache and a mischievous, skull-like grin. He wore a long
red robe and a tightly tied red turban. Batasi was somewhat younger than him, a silent, rugged
dessert woman of fifty who had lived all her life in wilderness. As we drove, she kept almost all her
face shrouded in a high-peaked red veil. (78-79) Mohan was a bard and shaman of the village, a
complete illiterate and represented the last line of the hereditary singers of a great Rajasthani
medieval poem, ‘The Epic of Pabuji’. The poem is six century old and narrates the adventures of a
semi-divine warrior and incarnate god, Pabuji. Pabuji fought bravely against the rustlers who
intended to drive away and kidnap the goddess’s cow herds. Pabu killed the chief of the
kidnappers, Jindrav Khinchi. He also saved the honour of his women from another villain, a
barbaric, cow-murdering Muslim plunderer named Mirza Khan Patan. Pabuji is also claimed to
have defeated the Ramayana fame demon King Ravana and brought the herds of camels to the
region from the land of Ravana, just in order to gift them to one of his nieces as marriage offering.
216 Willing to witness the oral epic being performed in its real and natural environment, William
visits Mohan’s village Pabusar, named after the great martyr hero, Pabu. William notes that the
epic comprised of 4000 lines and: it takes a full five nights of eight hour, dusk-till-dawn
performances to unfold. … it can on occasion take much longer. But the performance is not looked
upon as just a form of entertainment. It is also a religious ritual invoking Pabuji as a living deity and
asking for his protection against ill-fortune. (79) Apart from the requirement of a couple (desirably,
husband-wife) in enacting the story in the accompaniment of music, another important property in
the performance is the PHAD. Mohan informed William the importance of the Phad in the epic
performance. Mohan explained to me that once the phad was complete and the eyes of the hero
were painted in, neither the artist nor the bhopa regarded it as a piece of art. Instead, it instantly
became a mobile temple: as Pabuji’s devotees were semi nomadic herders, his temple – the phad
– visited the worshipers rather than the other way around. It was believed that the spirit of the god
was now in residence, and that henceforth the phad was a ford linking one world with the next,
crossing place from the human to the divine. (84) Mohan Bhopa further informs William that the
spirit of the deity resided in the Phad and remained asleep till the Bhopa (epic singer) invokes Him
through the typical dance. He also tells William about their faith that the deity’s visiting the site of
invocation and giving the signs of His presence: Sometimes when we recite the epic, towards dawn
the lamp glows white. It happens when we reach the crux of the story – when Pabuji gives water to
the stolen cattle that he has saved. At that point we know that Pabuji is pleased, that things are
starting to happen, and I am empowered. It’s usually around 4 a. m. then I get the glimpse of future
. . . but it’s very rare, and happens only when we complete performance. (99) William notes here
the link that this is the element and belief in the magic power of healing of the teller of tales has
kept the tradition intact even in the twenty first century in Rajasthan. The performance remains full
of people seeking graces of Pabuji for the cure of ailing castles or family members. However, there
are people who now have begun to take advice of vet. Still, Mohan expressed his clear views that
there is no doctor or vet who could match the healing powers of Pabuji. William also presents the
research work of other scholars on the oral traditions. Milman Parry’s research on the oral
traditions in Yugoslavia also refers the 217 identical causes of survival and dying out of the oral
traditions in European continent. He also mentions the case of the popular Muslim epic the Dastan-
i-Amir Hamza. As compared to the Mahabharata, the western epics and once famous epic of
Dastan-i- Amir Hamza have not succeeded in keeping their appeal alive to the newer generations.
The interesting fact that both Millman Parry’s and Komal Kothari’s research have brought out is the
level of literacy of the bards practicing the oral traditions as Millman has pointed out, “illiteracy was
one of the essential conditions for oral tradition;” Komal Kothari too found in his research that the
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Bhopa whom he sent to the Adult education programme with a view to helping him out in his art
had to refer to his diary whereas his illiterate counterparts could recite thousands of verse orally
without any script. Thus, the conclusion which can be derived on the study is: “It’s not lack of
interest, but literacy itself, that was killing the oral epic.” [Pp. 95] William points out another factor
that has affected the popularity of the oral performances is the telecast of the Sanskrit epics
Ramayana and Mahabharata on the national television. This gave a standardizing effect which
affected adversely to the local variations of the epics like Pabuji. Amid all the unfavorable forces,
the family of Mohan is trying hard to keep the tradition flowing from older generation to the next
generation. Mohan’s sons both Mahavir and Sravan are trained for the performances. The problem
for Mahavir, the elder son of Mohan, is that his wife is not a good singer and this does not fulfill the
condition of being a full-fledged Bhopaji, as the phad must be sung with the Male- female
partnership. The younger son Sravan is not married yet, and Mohan is hopeful that since he
(Sravan) has great trust on Pabuji, he would get a wife with sweet voice and in the course of time
he would succeed in teaching her their family heritage of Pabuji ki Phad. Even, Mohan’s grandson
i.e. Mahavir’s son Onkar too appears to be possessing the guts for the at this early stage. William,
like his previous essays, here too touches the caste issue and tries to locate Mohan Bhupaji’s
position on the social caste system. He presents Mohan Bhopaji’s words on the issue: We Nayaks
are from a very low caste. At some point in our history we became nomads, and so fell from the
high position we once had: people never trust nomads. Still to this day we cannot eat or drink in the
house of many of the people in this village. But when we recite or perform as bhopas, this brings us
respect. I may not sit at the same level as Rajputs or the Brahmins, but they come to see me here,
they commission me to read the phad for them and they 218 are happy and proud about my
success and my fame in the villages nearby. (103) In the postscript, William narrates how just on
some bureaucratic grounds such a grand performer and preserver of ancient tradition was left
without any medical treatment and died of leukemia within the ten days of first diagnosis. The Red
Fairy ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In The Red
Fairy William presents the case of a lady Qalander about whom William happens to hear at Bhit
Shah, in Sindh region of Pakistan and meets her at the shrine of Shahbaz Qalander. The essay
along with presenting the life story of Red Fairy, i.e. Lal Peri also throws light on the Sufism a
curious blend of Hinduism and Islam and the wake of Talibanism which has marked some threats
to the cult in the region. William digs deep into the history as to how the curious blend of Hinduism
and Islam would have originated. To the painful and life stuffed with enormous struggle of Lal Peri,
William comments: The more I heard the details of her story, the more her life seemed to
encapsulate the complex relationship of Hinduism with the different forms of South Asian Islam,
swerving between hatred and terrible violence, on one hand, and love and extraordinary
syncretism on the other. (121) At the very outset trying to locate the possibilities of such
syncretism, William considers the geography of the Sindh region as a mighty factor which served
as a safe and secure abode of those who fled from the terrible clutches of orthodoxy. The basis of
the Sufism is laid on the faith and trust on Humanity and not on the cobweb of rituals. All the
religions were one, maintained the Sufi saints, merely different manifestations of the same divine
reality. What was important was not the empty ritual of the mosque or temple, but to understand
that divinity can best be reached through the gateway of the human heart – that we all have
Paradise within us, if we know where to look. (113) William notes that the Sufism has worked in
both the directions. On one hand, it has attracted many Hindus towards the Islamic faith, whereas
on the other it has also created a sort of awareness about Hinduism especially the mystic ways of
Hinduism among the Indian Muslims. He cites the case of Latif and his songs who sings the glory
of Hinduism in his famous text collection, Risalo ‘Sur Ramkali’. 219 William brings to the light that
the Sehwan Sherif where stands the dargah of the sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalander (The Red
Royal Falcon) was once the major centre of the great Hindu God Lord Shiva, “indeed the town’s
original name was Sivistan, the city of Shiva” (116); William notes that though the place has lost all
its traits of being a Hindu shrine, still the one of the Shajjad Nasheen or the hereditary tomb
guardians is Hindu and the opening ceremony of the annual ‘Urs is still performed by the Hindu. He
also notes that the Shiva Lingam has recently been removed to a locked annexe in 1970s. The
Sufism flourished out of the syncretism of the Hindu and the Islam faiths, still in the Sindh it
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retained the outer coloring of Islam with very little traits of Hinduism within it, still it is the cult that
has been hated and attacked by the most rigid Islamic groups. William sorts out the reason for the
growing hatred towards this cult: “The wild and ecstatic night-long celebrations marking the
anniversary of the saint’s death were almost compendium of everything of which Islamic puritans
most disapprove…” (115) The followers and worshippers take resorts to love poetry, dancing with
women, smoking Hashish and worship the dead saints rather than adoring the God Almighty
directly; the Islamic extremists consider this kind of activities as anti Islamic. In his conversation
with the Wahhabi Saleemullah, the person who operated the Wahhabi Saudi Arab aided Madresse
in Sehwan put it clearly: “Sufism is not Islamic. It is jadoo: magic tricks only. It has nothing to do
with Islam. It is just superstition, ignorance, perversion, illiteracy and stupidity” (138). The most
attractive and unique ritual in the Sufism is the daily Dhammal: the devotional dance to the saint,
which is performed every day evening at sunset, after the Magrib prayer. The person who directed
William to Sehwan Sherif at Bhit Shah, had told him not to miss two things at the shrine of Sehwan
Sherif; the first the daily Dhammal and Lal Peri, the Red Fairy. William reaches the shrine of
Sehwan Sherif at the time of Dhammal. He observes the dance of the men and women who
danced tuned with the pounding music. “The dancing gradually turned from a meditative and
prayerful swaying to something much more wild and frenzied and ecstatic” (118). The secrets of
this sorts of dance and attribution of its healing powers are actually lie in the facts that through
such ecstasy., notes William, people find a safety valve for the tensions that keep creeping up in
their minds and which under the loads of social honors and statuses could not be expressed or
vented in other ways. Through such exposure to music and dancing people get transported to a
state of trance which eventually repairs the tormenting elements within their psyche. William states
the fact that not all the 220 physical ailments are the results of physical problems but the roots of
most of them lie in some psychological distresses which get in the process of ecstatic purgation.
William’s historian’s sprits are at work here too. Digging deep into the possible genesis of the
‘Dhammal’, he brings out the statements and observations made by the Chinese traveler Huien
Tsang in sixth-century: Sehwan was the cult centre of a Shaivite sect called Pashupats who
believed in emulating the dance of Shiva as a part of their rituals, using this shamanistic dancing as
a way of reaching union with God. Remarkably, Sehwan Sharif seems to have maintained the
ancient Shaivite dance of the Pashupats in a thinly Islamicised Sufi form. (118) William also
mentions the opinions of other scholars that the Sufi Fakirs’ dreadlocks, red robes and dust-
smearing on bodies is nothing but modeling on those of Shaivite Sadhus. At the Dhammal dance at
Sehwan Sherif, as he had been informed about the Red Fairy at Bhit Shah, he notices Lal Peri, i.e.
Red Fairy dancing impressively at one corner holding her signature club in one hand. William
approaches her and collects information from her not only about the Sufi Cult but also about her
personal life as how she has happened to arrive here and managed to make her room in the
considerably male-dominated cult. The life-story of Lal Peri is a heart rendering one. From her
comparative dark complexion William guessed her to be a Siddi I,. e. the one of African origin, but
she denied it and to William’s shock revealed that she came from Bihar. William got here
wonderstruck thow a lady from Bihar in India would have come to thr Sindh region of Pakistan. Lal
Peri relates her story in detail how she lost her father in TB and her uncle confiscated all their land.
Her mother, however, remarried to a person who displayed great dislike for her. Still, she says, she
was happy in her village. But all of a sudden there grew communal agitations in her Village
Sonepur, a village on the Border of Bangladesh. Before those developments the village was a
perfect place of harmony even they were not even conscious about the religious differences. She
says her best friend was a Hindu girl, and her father’s best friend was also Hindu. As the village
had Muslim majority, they felt safe. But one day the entire village was attacked by the outsiders and
they killed many of the males which included her step father and her uncle too. Somehow, her
maternal uncle was not present in the mosque that day and was saved. With the help of him, she
with her mother and brother managed to cross the border and reached Bangladesh. The things
started to get settled over there when there was a spread of hatred for the Bihari people. They
were hunted 221 and killed. When they heard of Pakistan government’s scheme of offering land,
work and Shelter to the Bihari, she left for Pakistan with her brother. She says, her mother
preferred to stay back with her cousins in Bangladesh. Reaching Pakistan, they were planted at the
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Sindh where they were made to work for ginning factories at poor wages. Initially the things were
very tough but, says she, they managed to survive and things went to a normal rut. At such
juncture she lost her brother in a factory accident. Her sister in law, her brother’s wife ill-treated her
so she left the house and since then she has been taking shelter here in the house of Qalander,
her only and sole protector. Thus, as William puts it, She was in fact a triple refugee: first as a
Muslim driven out of India into East Pakistan after Hindu-Muslim riots in the late 1960s; then as a
Bihari driven out of East Pakistan at the creation f Bangladesh in 1971; and finally as a single
woman taking refuge in the shrines of Sindh while struggling to live the of a Sufi in the male-
dominated and increasingly Talibanised society of Pakistan. (121) Along with her painful life story,
William also inspects the factors that contributed to the flourishing of the Sufism in the sub-
continent. William mentions Dara Sukhoi, the prince of Shah Jehan, the great Mughal emperor of
India, was taught by a sufi scholar and so Dara’s attempts to bring a sort of communion between
the two faiths are the results of such training. Dara under the strong influence of his tutor, Mian
Meer, wrote a treatise on Sufiesm ‘The Compass of truth’, he also translated the Hindu religious
texts into Persian. He also wrote “a comparative study of Hinduism and Islam,
The Mingling of Two Oceans, which emphasized the compatibility of the two faiths and common
source of their divine revelations” (116).
However, William points out that the attempts of Dara though casted and created radical influences
on the elite Muslim classes of India at his time, still, it could not satiate the ulemas at operations
who sternly held all the traits of Sufism against the Quarnic scriptures. And therefore, William
comments in the context of the clashes between the extremist orthodoxy of Islam and Sufism:
“What is happening today is only the latest round of a much more ancient and intractable
theological conflict within the Islamic world” (136). 222 The Monk’s Tale ------------------
------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In The Monk’s Tale, William
narrates the case of a Buddhist Monk, Passang who dropped his Monk’s vow just in order to fight
against the Chinese invasion in Tibet as it appeared a direct threat to the very existence of his
‘Dharma’. Passang defends his stand of dropping the vow and take the weapons in hand in the
following terms: ‘I knew that if I stayed in a monastery under the Chinese there was no point in
being a monk. They wouldn’t let me practice my religion. So, to protect the ways of the Lord
Buddha, the Buddhist dharma, I decided to fight. (146) William meets him at Dharamshala, the
Dalai Lama’s residence-in-exile, a city on the Himalayan Range. The point that attracts William’s
interest in him is his giving up the monastic vows and taking up arms to resist. Basically, the
Buddhism is the religion whose basis is founded on the principles of non-violence and love to any
living creature. And in that, it is natural that it would surprise any observer when a Monk, the
preacher of the principles, resorts to violence and takes the weapons in hands. When William
meets the Monk, Passang, he has got retired from the Army, a special Tibetan unit of the Indian
Army, and lives in the old people’s house at Dharamshala. In the conversations with William
Passang shares his feelings after incurring the violence and his attempts to atone his bad deeds
through daily rituals of regrets. He tells William that he has met many Lamas and visited many holy
places. Citing the example of the great robber Angulimal, he tres to derive a kind of self satiation
that he would also be forgiven since he has also been remorseful true heartedly for what he has
done. Still, his agonies are not calmed down through all these means. He confesses: The lamas
told me that if my motivation was pure, and I had done violent acts to help others at the expense of
my own karma, then I can still be saved. But every sentient being has life and even the thought of
killing makes me unhappy. In truth I don’t know how much forgiveness I have gathered. I don’t
know yet whether on my deathbed I will feel calm and satisfied. May be I will never know… (149) In
his talks peeps a clear remorse for the violence he has committed though it was never driven out of
any personal lust or greed, but it was for the good of his entire community and dharma. 223 William
visits him at the McLeod Ganj, the Tibetan settlement in Dharamshala which he calls ‘a miniature
Tibet-outside-Tibet’, where in an old people’s house Passang has settled after retirement and has
taken the vow of monk after thirty years from once he renounced them. Passang devotes his spare
time after his three time ritual prayers in making wooden blocks and painting flags. Life of Tashi
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Passang is no less than a thriller. Passang narrates the entire chronicler of his life to William bit by
bit in several sittings. Passang was born, he says to William, in 1936 in an upper middle class
family in Dapka of Kham province of Eastern Tibet. The family led a semi-nomadic life just to cope
with the weather of the region. It was a sort of joint family leading life on the cattle rearing and
farming suited to the seasons. He started going with his Yak-herds from the early age. One of his
uncles was a Monk, and fascinated to his preaching and personality, Passang also dreamt of being
a Monk. He graced the Buddhism as a Monk with the help of his uncle and was happy leading life
of a Monk. But his happiness was not going to last long. During that time, even before he became
Monk, they noticed the presence of Chinese troops in their provinces. Initially, Passang says, the
Chinese troops behaved very frankly, they had easily overpowered and out umbered the primitive
under developed Tibetan Army. The Chinese announced that they were just like the elder brother
of Tibet and all they wanted was to help Tibet develop which they thought was not possible for the
Tibet to achieve single handedly. Soon, the Tibetans and the Buddhist Monks sensed the malignant
ideals of the Chinese troops who had begun to appear in larger number than before. When
Tibetans started gathering and collecting weapons, the Chinese started suppression. Passang
became the victim of their oppression. When he was hiding in the mountains with rifle, the Chinese
came his honme and tieing his mother started beating her. This kept on going everyday morning
and evening for a month till Passang got the news and he surrendered his rifle. The severe beating
had caused several internal injuries to his mother who died soon afterwards. The death of his
mother filled Passang with great hatred for the Chinese and though it was against his vows, he
wanted to avenge the death of his mother. Meanwhile, all the monks and other Tibetans started
gathering at Lhasa with the determination of agitating the Chinese, but their protest could not resist
the power and number of the Chinese army and all had to flee. The things grew so severe that
even the Dalai Lama had to flee secretly. Passang and some of his fellows got commissioned to
protect His Highness Dalai Lama. At one point of conversation, William asks Passang if all these
sufferings, pains and tortures and even loss of own 224 land make him weaken his faith. To this,
Passang says instead it strengthened his faith and narrated the incidents in which he and his
companions were saved from death or injuries from the deadly ammunitions fired at them by the
Chinese PLA. And at the same time quotes the Buddhist principle of ‘Karma’: We Buddhists believe
in Karma, and in cause and effect. An action has consequences; we are the consequences of our
acts. Perhaps because there was a time in the seventh century when we Tibetans invaded the
Chinese, so we are suffering this torture now. It is our turn to suffer for what we did in our previous
lives. (168) Passang also talks about his getting recruited in the Indian Army in the Special
Froentier Force or Sector 22 at the wake of Indo-China war of 1962. He says he and many of his
bretherns joined the army with a hope to get a chance to fight back to china for the freedom of
Tibet. But he feels sorry that he never had such a chance instead he had to kill many Pakistanis in
the Indo-Pak war of 1971. He retired from the Army position in1986, and as he had promised
himself, he took the first bus to Dharamshala and here, he has been trying to make up for what he
had done as a soldier. The effect of prayers have a considerable softening effects on him, and the
fire of hatred that remained burning for the Chinese for what they had done to his mother since her
death has started getting extinguished. Whenever I saw a Chinese restaurant in India, I would want
to throw stones at it. Even the colour red could make me boil with anger at what the Chinese have
done. But after I heard His Holiness say we must defeat hatred, I determined that I would try to eat
a Chinese meal in a Chinese restaurant to try to cure myself of this rage. I wanted to wash my
anger clean, as His Holiness puts it, to wash clean the blood. (173-174) At the time of William’s
meeting him, Passang was in his 70s, and when William asks him about his planning to go back to
his Motherland and see his only surviving brother, Passang confesses that he felt a great urge to
go back and die in the lap of his motherland. But somehow, conquering his personal feeling as if it
were the sign of his personal weakness, he expresses his desire: “But you know…I have always
felt that all of us fled together, and I should wait until a time came when we could al go back
together. It wouldn’t be right to go back alone…” (175). 225 The Maker of Idol ------------------
------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In The Maker of Idol, William
presents the details of the Chola bronze idols of deities – ‘the greatest works of art ever created in
India’, and their creator artists. Srikanda is a friend of his friend Krishnmurthy, from whom William
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collects information about the art and its lineage. William also picks up ground to comment on the
Indian, especially South Indian religious patterns, their temples, deities and the forms of festivals
woven around the deities throughout the year and in the lives of the people too. William, unlike his
other essays, is more eloquent in this essay and presents his research on the iconography and the
genesis of the tradition of the bronze idols in the south India, and also makes long commentary on
the eroticism displayed in the South Indian fine arts; especially sculptures and literary traditions.
What interests William more in this area is the fact he finds that the sexuality and erotic
expressions have been closely connected with the spirituality. The idols of the deities, both Gods
and Goddesses, are the epitome of attractiveness with beautiful curves and bearing all traits of
physical magnificence. William maintains that the expression of art erotica just through the implied
gestures in the idols or in the literary texts as well as spiritual scriptures is the result of the
existence of many paths leading to the divinity in the Hinduism. He cites two examples of this; the
famous idol of Nataraja and the other is that of ‘Sringarshatakam’ of the poet prince Bhartruhari.
The famous Nataraja statue represents on one hand the defeat of the demons of ignorance and
darkness and the pleasure of his consort; on the other it also stands for the destruction of the
universe just in order to give a way to the brand new one. Whereas in the literary text,
‘Sringarshatakam’, the poet presenting his dilemma raises open question as to which path one
should advance to: “There are two paths; the devotion of the sage, which is lovely because it
overflows with the nectarous waters of the knowledge of truth, and the lusty undertaking of
touching with one’s palm that hidden part in the firm lap of lovely limbed women, with great
expanses of breasts and thighs” (190). Even the full grown Chola poetic tradition is replete with the
erotic concerns. For this, William puts his observation as: Sexuality in India has always been
regarded as the subject of legitimate and sophisticated inquiry. Traditionally it was looked upon as
an essential part of 226 the study of aesthetics: ‘sringar rasa’ – the erotic rasa or flavour- being one
of the nine rasa comprising the classical Hindu aesthetic system. (187) And also notes that in the
Hindu scheme of the things, Kama remains one of the three (actually, there should be four; the
fourth being ‘Moksha’, the ultimate liberation of the soul from the cycle of births and rebirths)
fundamental goals of human existence, along with dharma, duty or religion, and arth, the creation
of wealth” (187). From his conversation with Srikanda, William comes to know that there is a full
length guidance book on the art of sculptures in Sanskrit language; ‘The Shilp Shastras’. On
William’s curiocity about the beauty and magnificence of the idols, he points out clearly: What is so
strange about the statues being beautiful and attractive? The erotic is part of human life – the
secret part – and the idol is the human form of God, God in the form of man. If it was unattractive
and ugly, would any one pray to it? The Shilp Shasrtas that guide us sculptors lay down certain
norms about the correct proportion for each God. We believe that unless these proportions are
exactly perfect, the god cannot live in the idol. As sculptors, we struggle to become the master
craftsmen just so that we can convey the beauty of the deity. (191) William also brings under the
focus of the significance of the idols in the Hinduism. Actually, he notes, the ancient Vedic texts
prescribe the devotional rituals through ‘Yagna’ traditions i.e. fire ceremonies, somewhere it also
prescribes to go for animals sacrifice, and at some extreme levels it also suggest the total
renouncement of worldly life and leading the existence as the ascetics. In all these, the
worshipping of the temple idols gave the followers a privilege to extend their devotions through the
deities via media of the idols and it secured the salvation as forcefully as the other forms of
devotions. Here the final climax of worship is still to have darshan: to actually see the beauty of the
divine image, and to meet the eyes of the god. The gaze of the bronze deity meets the eye of the
worshiper, and it this exchange of vision – the seeing and the seen – that acts as a focus for bhakti,
the passionate devotion of the devotee. (191) William visits the south Indian city of temples
Swamimalai to witness the festival procession and there he comes to know that it is the place
where the Chola tradition of Idol making has survived. He visits the place a couple of times. On his
first visit, he wanted to see the religious procession that was held every year in the 227 village. It
was the event in which the villagers were taking the deities for their marriage. He presents the story
of the marriage of the divine couple; Murugan, the son of lord Shiva and Valii, a daughter of sage
Sivamurti and most beautiful girl, from which the girl belonged to this village. The villagers proudly
assert that it was in the fields of this very village in which the divine couple made love. Every year
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to commemorate the marriage, the procession is taken out, in which the divine idols are mounted
on the rath (chariot) and are taken out to the marriage site. The event holds great importance as
the local people believe that since the deities themselves come to their doorsteps, any prayer or
petition made with pure heart would be granted on this special occasion. William also presents the
details of the historical grounds which might have stared and inspired the craft of bronze idol
making. He notes that the temples of Tamil Nadu are thought of as the palaces of the deities and it
is understood that the deities were the kings and they liked to observe their territories and domains
instead of sitting in the palaces. So the tradition of taking the deities out in the procession on the
days of special festivals came into existence. When these temples were first built, the large stone
idols of the temple sanctuaries were often found to be too large to move around. It was for this
reason that in the tenth century the first portable bronze deities began to be cast in Southern India.
The art seems to have begun in the court of the Pallava monarchs of Kanchipuram, but it was
under the patronage of their nemesis, the Chola kings of Tanjore, that the sculptors of this region
brought the art to perfection. (184) Srikanda informs William that he belongs to the linage of those
famous Chola sculptors. Srikanda Stapathy, a Brahmin, along with his two brothers has been
creating the bronze idols through the same process and spiritual rituals as the entire Chola idols
have been prepared in the course of time. William visits Srikanda stpathy’s workshop and
witnesses himself how with great devotions the god deities found their shapes. The entire process,
says Srikanda, has to be done as it has been prescribed in the shastras. Sikanda presents his own
views that he does never look at the idols as the pieces of art but for him they are like real deities,
and he considers himself just medium through whom the deities took their human forms. It clearly
appears from his talks that he regards his work with great reverence. “Our workshop should be like
a temple. Every second is holy. Some people think that what we do is an art, but we think of it
mainly as an act of devotion. For us art and religion are one: only when there is prayer can the
artist make a perfect sculpture” (197). 228 Srikanda informs William with a tinge of proud as how
he himself inherited the art of bronze casting, the unbroken tradition of 700 years, and the
perfection they have achieved in it. He also talks of his training under his father’s observations. But,
at William’s inquiry, whether his son would continue the lineage, he expresses concern that his son
was showing much interest in computers and if he did well in the exam, he was much keen to
adopt that career than to work as the sculptor. The Lady Twilight ------------------ ------------------
----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In The Lady Twilight William narrates the case
of Manisha Bhairavi Ma and her companion protector Tapan Sadhu, who live in the cremation land
of Tara Pith, near Kolkatta, West Bengal. William tracks these rather sinister looking place, gathers
the confidence of both Manisha and Tapan, the dwellers of this cremation ground and the ardent
devotees of the Goddess Tara, and makes them narrate their life stories along with the rituals and
tactics of worship of the ‘Tantric’ cult. The place is, on the one hand, the cremation ground where
the dead people are brought for their last funeral pyre, and on the other the sadhus, here, are
notoriously known for their mysterious worshipping and exercising the ‘Tantric’(black-magic) rituals.
And this is enough to keep the ordinary people to keep away from the place. Only those would
come who want to secure the unprecedented graces and blessings of Goddess Tara through the
medium of the tantric like Manisha Ma or Tapan Sadhu or many like them who have made the
place their home and devoted their entire existence in the worshiping of the Mother Goddess Tara.
William only points out in this essay that Tara Pith is the Shakt Pith, “One of the most holy places in
India, and said to be the abode of the Devi’s Third Eye.” (205) but he drops going in to the details
of the concept of the Shakt Pith in the Indian Mythology. Actually, the concept is built upon the
mythological story of Lord Shiva’s deadly dance of “Tandav” which he performed at the suicidal
death of his consort ‘Sati’ in the Ritual Pyre of Yagna at Daksha Prajapati’s, her father’s, place on
seeing that her husband Lord Shiva was not assigned his honoured Seat and thus insulted. When
Lord Shiva came to know about the death of his beloved wife he rushed to the spot and lifted her
burning body on his shoulders and started the deadly dance of ‘Tandav’ in the rage. The dance
was so destructive and severe to bear for any living being that it created a threat to the very
existence of the universe. Sensing the threat 229 and in order to calm Lord Shiva down, Lord
Narayan released his ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ which stated piercing the body of dead ‘Sati’ and cut it
into pieces and those pieces fell to various fifty-one places; these places eventually came to be
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regarded the sacred and the most holy places for ‘Shakti’ upasana i.e. ‘shakt pith’. It is this place of
Tara Pith that her third eye is said to have fallen. William notes that the best place where Goddess
Tara is worshipped is not the well built temple altars but she the place where she can best be
evoked is the grounds of cremation. Tara is, after all, one of the most wild and wayward of Hindu
goddesses, and cannot be tamed and contained within a venerated temple image. She is not only
the goddess of supreme knowledge who grants her devotees the ability to know and realize the
Absolute, she is also the Lady Twilight, the Cheater of Death, a figure of horror and terror, a stalker
of funeral pyres, who slaughters demons and evil ‘yakshis’ without hesitation, becoming as terrible
as them in order to defeat them: in the tenth-century hymn of a hundred names from ‘Mundamala
Tantra’, Tara is called ‘She Who likes Blood, She Who Is Smeared with Blood and She Who Enjoys
Blood Sacrifice. (211) William goes into the deep in the direction of the genesis of the whole tantric
sect, which he senses is present in similar forms in the East and the West, both cultures. He
asserts that the terms ‘star’ (English), ‘Tara’ (Sanskrit), ‘Stella’ (Latin), ‘Aster’ (Greek), ‘Sitara’
(Persian) bear conspicuous sameness which occur in the different languages of Indo-European
Family of Languages and sees the possibilities of the Catholic cult of Our Lady Stella Mariis, and
the tradition of worshipping the goddess as the consort of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and as
the source of female energy in Mahayan Buddhism being the parts of the same tradition. Further,
what surprises William is the continuity and survival of the cult as well as its ardent followers and
people devoting their entire lives for worship of the Goddess Tara, and daily sacrifice of no less
than twenty goats till the day even in the nation whose people and majority of faiths advocate
‘Ahimsa’ (Non-Violence). During his stay with Manish Ma William notices that the devotees
included people from all strata of society. There were range of people either seeking success at the
political fronts or desirous to pacify the goddess in order to secure peace in the family as well as
success in business. The Sadhus also came from different social sets. While Manish Ma came
from the strata of lower middle working class, Tapan was a Brahmin, and his family was the
educated one and his family members never approved of nor trusted or showed any reverence and
faith for the mysterious ‘dirty’ 230 path he had adopted. William also mentions the threat posed to
the cult by the existent Communist Gove4rnment by their campaign against the futility and
meaninglessness of the supernatural sorcery. But, in the corrupt and God fearing social set ups,
such threats did not hold any serious alarm. Next thing that interests William is the role of ‘Skulls’ in
this cult, for there were a lot many skulls spread all over the place. The essay itself opens with his
questioning about the skulls to Manisha Ma. Manisha Ma, though mentions at some place that
everything cannot be revealed, tells William that there is a special ritual of curing the skulls. In the
tantric cult there is different significance of different skulls. She tells him that the skulls of suicidal
death, of virgin girls given much significance. The night of the ‘No Moon Day’ is considered the
favourite time of the goddess, and the prayers and petitions lodged at that time get easily granted.
William asks her if she had ‘seen’ the goddess. To this she confesses though she has come across
certain apparitions and the goddesses favourite animals like jackals etc., the goddess ahs never
appeared to her in her real form. This she considers as the lack in her own devotion for her, but
she is sure some day, she will sure get the ‘Darshan’ of the goddess. William here notes that the
cult is by and large the product of the much obsessive orthodoxy Brahminical Hinduism. The
things, the material, the place, the time which are considered inauspicious and avoided with strict
rigidity are fairly welcome in this worshiping. Still, on the night of No Moon Day, when there was a
great pooja and sacrificial offerings presented to the Goddess, William sees the tantric could not
find any alternative to the yagna-fire. It is on this night that Manisha Ma and Tapan Sadhu talk to
William about their personal lives before they ended up here in the cremation land as tantrics. Both
Manisha Ma and Tapan Sadhu are a kind of outcaste from their family set ups. Before getting
settled here, both had their own families. Manisha Ma was married in a middleclass family and had
three daughters from it, and her husband ran a shop. But somehow owing to her troubled
childhood or feelings of unfit marriage locks, she got a sort of fit, which the local people took to be
‘Possession’. Right from childhood, she says, she enjoyed the bhajans and devotional songs. Even
after marriage she kept spending much time at the local temple, for which her mother-in-law
objected. And, at the temple, her fit, that frequented more, was started to be considered as
‘Possession’ of divine spirit and people started worshiping her and and tried to interprete whatever
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she spoke during her fit. This increased interest of the local people in her and they stared visiting
her at her home too. With the fear that this kind of 231 display of fit and people crowding around
his wife would adversely affect his business, her husband picked up a quarrel with her and beat her
severely. On that day, Manisha left her house forever. Initially she spent some weeks at temples
and other places and at last came and settled at a place near Tapan Sadhu’s hut in the cremation
ground. She confesses that she was interested in Tapan Sadhu, but initially could not collect
courage to talk to him. Tapan Sadhu was a Brahmin. He was married and had two children. But
after twenty years of married life, he says, he got the call of Goddess Tara and left everything and
came to reside here in Tara Pith. As Manisha was residing near his hut, people in the cremation
ground started gossiping about their relationship, so one day Manisha went up to him and asked
him to let her live with him and to end all the business of the gossip about their relationship. To this,
Tapan agreed and promised her to protect her and since then they are living together. Tapan, who
appears strong and sturdy, is a person in his sixties. He also confesses that he was greatly pained
when he was not allowed to meet and talk to his son on the event of his wife’s death. He says his
family consists of the people who would never trust or show any faith for whatever he is doing.
Manisha also has lost her husband, and now is pleased that she could lately maintain contacts with
her daughters who came searching her to the cremation ground of Tara Pith after her husband’s
death. In all this, Manisha clearly mentions to William that though the people like them who are
living in such sinister looking place are considered as outlaws and with a sort of contempt, they all
live here in the spirit of social unity. They all care for each other and stand strongly in the time of
need when one needs support and soothing. For such place of Tara Pith, William sums up that it is
the result of social process of reaction. Tara Pith, in other words, is a place where the ordinary
world is comprehensively turned upside down. Today, the rites that take place in the burning
ground involve forbidden substances and practices - alcohol, ganja and ritualised sex, sometimes
with menstruating women – for Tara’s devotees believe that the goddess transmutes all that is
forbidden and taboo, and turns these banned acts and forbidden objects into pathways of power.
On to this base of transgressive sacrality has grown a whole body of esoteric practice involving
secret knowledge, rituals, mantras and mandalas. (216) 232 The Songs of the Blind Minstrels
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this last monograph of the
book, William presents the case of the ‘Bauls of Bengal’; a school of ascetics, itinerant mystic
minstrels who lead their lives throwing away all the conventions and systems of the main stream
society. William visits the annual festival of the Bauls on which they leave their wandering and
converge on Kenduli, a place north to Shantiniketan in West Bengal. He traces the life of Kanai, the
blind minstrel and his fellow Bauls; and through their life details and their songs, seems to indicate
that whole Bual school has its foundations on a sort of revolt against the existing social orders and
practises of inequalities and discriminations. William notes, Throughout their 500-year history, the
Bauls of Bengal have refused to conform to the conventions of caste-conscious Bengali society.
Subversive and seductive, wild and abandoned, they have preserved a series of esoteric spiritual
teachings on breathing techniques, sex, asceticism, philosophy and mystical devotion. They have
also amassed a treasury of beautifully melancholic and often enigmatic teaching songs which help
map out their path to inner vision. (235) The Bauls have altogether rejected the need of the idols
and temples in order to grace and secure the divine favours as these set of systems have become
the abode of entire exercise of inequalities. They have also denied in the philosophies of securing
a place in the heavens by adopting a certain conventionally guided paths, rather they believe and
preach the village folks “that God is found not in a stone or bronze idol, or in heavens, or even in
the afterlife, but in the present moment, in the body of a man or woman who seeks the truth; all that
is required is that you give up your possessions, take up the life of road, find a guru and adhere to
the path of love” (235). William notes that the Bauls have drawn the elements of their philosophy
from many different cults and religions such as Sufism, Tantra, Shakta, Sahajiya, Vaishavism and
Buddhism, and they adore the deities like Krishna or Kali. They sometimes visit the temple sites
and wayside shrines - “but only as helpful symbols and signposts along a road to Enlightenment,
never as an end in themselves” (235) The Bauls, William notes, travel form place to place,
attracting public attention with their distinctive patchwork robe known as ‘alkhalla’, and their songs
which they sing in the accompaniment of ektara or dotara (musical instrument). 233 William brings
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in the historic and ancient Indian practices to justify the near atheist ways adopted by the school of
Bauls. William cites the philosophy of Charvak and the Rig Vedik questioning of the real spiritual
authority and asserts that such atheist practices are not new in the spiritual domain of Indian
philosophy. The songs of the Bauls embody the real concerns that perturb the rustic life. They sing
of desire and devotion, esctacy and madness; of life as a river and the body as a boast. They sing
of Radha’s mad love for the elusive Krishna, of the individual as the crazed Lover, and the Divine
as the unattainable Beloved. They remind their listeners of the transitory nature of this life, and
encourage them to renounce the divisions and hatreds of the world, so provoking them into facing
themselves. Inner knowledge, they teach, is acquired not through power to others, but over the
self. (237) William came across and got interested in the Bauls of Bengal right at the time when he
was interviewing Manisha Bhairavi Ma at the Tarapith while pursuing the details about the Lady
Twilight of Bengal. There at the cremation ground of Tarapith he was introduced to Kannai, the
Blind minstrel. The story of Kannai asserts how a boy of lower middle class family ends up as a
blind Baul. Kannai was not blind by birth, but while a small boy he caught small pox and went blind.
When he was only ten, he lost his brother in an accident and at eleven, exactly after a year of his
brother’s death, his father died of asthama attack. Two successive deaths came as unbearable
shock to the family and for Kannai things grew worse as now he remained the only male to support
the family. Initially, as he tells William, the things were simple as the villagers knew the family
tragedy, so freely donated to them food, rice and fuel in the form of cow dung cakes. Kannai says
to William, “I only had to say, I was hungry and I was fed.” Kannai also narrates the incident of his
sister’s suicide thinking that she was a burden to her blind brother who would never be able to
collect the dowry to married her off. Kannai confessed to William that the suicidle death of his sister
left him shattered; at that point of time he determined to do something for family instead of wasting
life in the village. He remembered the words of Ghanshyamdas Sadhu who, when he listened to
his singing as a child in the village pukur, once invited him to join him and that he would take him
as his chela (disciple). Kannai even against the will of his mother and the other surviving sister, left
home to join Ghanshyamdas Sadhu, who welcomed him, supported him and provided not only a
place to him, taught him the ways of Bauls; and also provided him with money in order to be sent to
support his mother and sister at home. Kannai also tells William that after the death of his guru, he
went to stay at Tarapith where Manish Ma and 234 other fellows helped him getting married to a
widow who was alone and did the duty of shoe keeping. Kannai narrates to William, “Wherever we
go, the people stop what they are doing and come and listen to us. They bring fish from the fish
ponds and cook some rice and dal for us, and while they do that we sing and teach them. We try to
give back some of the love we receive, to reconcile people and offer them peace and solace. We
try to help them with their difficulties and to show them the path to discover the man of the heart”
(245). In the conversation with William Kannai nicely glimpses the philosophy of the Bauls. He
points out that movement of their spiritual journey highly depends upon the songs. “For us Bauls,
our songs are a source of both love and knowledge. We tease the rich and the arrogant, and make
digs at the hypocrisy of the Brahmins. We sing against caste, and against injustice. We tell the
people that God is not in the temple, or in the Himalayas, nor in the skies or the earth or in the air.
We teach that Krishna was just a man. What is special about him in essence is in me now.
Whatever is in the cosmos is in our bodies; what is not in the body is not in the cosmos. It is all
inside – truth lies within. If this is so, then, why bother going to the mosque or the temple? So to the
Bauls a temple or a shrine has little value: it is just a way for the priests to make money and to
mislead people. The body is the true temple, the true mosque, the true church.” (245-246) Though
Kannai is blind, he has no complaint for it. He accepts it to be as a fruit of his bad ‘Karma’ of any
previous life. Rather for him it is a blessing that has sharpened his memory which enables him to
remember devotional songs. Married to Aarati, he enjoys a life of bliss with her and has got four
children from the marriage. Life of Deb Das is the instance of how social orthodoxy can go to the
extent of throwing away one’s own child out of the family. Actually Deb was the son of a purohit, a
Brahmin. As a small child, Deb says to William, he did not find any great fascination for his father’s
rounds of prayers and service to the idols. A continuous tiff kept on going between him and his
father on the grounds of his mixing with the Muslim friends or the Doms (The untouchables) who
looked after the cremation ground in his village. His father also objected his visiting the place of the
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Birangi Sadhus in the village. The things went extreme when Deb went to Kenduli mela with Sudhir
Das Baul at the age of thirteen or fourteen without informing any one at home in the runaway style.
When he came back home after five or six days, he was cruelly beaten by his elder brother and his
father on the grounds that he disgraced his family by mixing with the Muslims and the vagrants.
Still, in teens, without knowing where to go even without a single rupee in pocket, Deb reached the
railway station and 235 boared the first train and alighted at Birdhvan station. There an old Baul
Sadhu gave him food, blanket and his ektara and told him to go to Vrindavan, the home of Krishna.
Deb reached Vrindavan in the Toofan Express. He ate at a Lunger and satiated his days’ long
hunger. Then, the first thing he did was he threw aeway his sacred thread which gave him the
identity as a Brahmin and changed his name from Dev Kumar Bhattacharyya to Deb Das Baul.
After two years of wnderings, Deb says, he went back to his family tomake peace but all that he
received was a dire insult from his father and brother. Deb confesses to William that it was the
lowest time of his life, on the train he contemplated suicide by throwing himself awy in the river
outside. But all of a sudden he happened to listen some other Bauls sing, they turned out to be
Paban, Kannai and Sudhir Das Baul who had taken him to Kenduli. Since then, hwe says, he has
been enjoying his blissful; life of Baul. He also narrates his experience of great renouncement and
how Kannai, a blind man, saved him with help of villagers. William tries to bring out the secrets of
the Bauls’ practice of the Sexual Yoga or sadhana as they call it, but no Baul would go farther in
the subject. “The Bauls were always happy to to talk about their life and songs and beliefs but were
not prepared to discuss in public the esoteric sexual practices which each guru teaches to his
pupils when he considers they are ready” (255) William notes that the Bauls have their specific
tactics of love making and ritualized sex which they use as an instrument to obtain spiritual
loftiness. Kannai just touching the subject informed William that it was something like “a way of
awakening and controlling the latent erotic energies from the base of your body and bringing them
to the fore.” In the last part, William cites the case of an old Baul couple Laltha and Subhol, whom
he happens to meet near a temple at the Kenduli mela site, and cites their words that it was music
that provided them with the force of life full of solace and peace. To this Kannai says, “It (music)
makes us so happy that we don’t remember what sadness is” (260).
In many of his interviews, news paper articles and in public meetings as a part of
the promotion of his ‘Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India’, William Dalrymple
clearly mentions that he has adopted a new scheme in this book. And he has been favourably
received on this plain too. In his column in the Guardian, in connection to his scheme of narratives
in Nine Lives, he asserts, I decided to adopt a quite different form. When In Xanadu was published
at the end of the 80s, travel writing tended to highlight the narrator: his adventures were the
subject; the people he met were often reduced to objects 236 in the background. I have tried to
invert this, and keep the narrator in the shadows, so bringing the lives of the people I have met to
the fore and placing their stories centre stage. (
Guardian) Explaining his own stance as a travel writer, William makes it clear that he has tried to
bring forth what was important and what would attract the major interest of the readers, and
deliberately refrained from pouring out his own ‘View points’ and ‘Analysis’ of the stories being
narrated. Each of these characters live in the self contained moral universe of their own religious
and ethical systems, I have tried not to judge, though my choices and arrangement no doubt reveal
something of my views and preferences, I have tried to show rather than tell, and to let the
characters speak fro themselves. This may leave the book less analytical than some would wish,
but by rooting many of the stories in the darker sides of modern Indian life, with each of the
characters telling his or her own story, and only the frame created by the narrator, I have made a
conscious effort to try to avoid imposing myself on the stories told by my nine characters, and so
hope to have escaped many of the clichés about ‘Mystic India’ that blight so much Western writing
on Indian religion. (Nine Lives Xv) Back in the 1940s, Evelyn Waugh predicted the death of travel
writing. "Never again, I suppose, shall we land on foreign soil with a letter of credit and passport
and feel the world wide open before us," he despaired. Then along came Patrick Leigh Fermor, Jan
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Morris, Bruce Chatwin, Colin Thubron and a shipload of fellow travellers. The world, even after the
devastation of the second world war and the invention of the jet plane, still offered a vastness and
magic that stirred the soul and – through the pen of literary adventurers – set us all on voyages of
discovery. And many of the critics hailed this book as a revival of the genre. (Rory MacLean
theguardian.com) As compared to his previous books, ‘Nine Lives’ sets in tune with his ‘The Age of
Kali’, with the difference of the focus only. In The Age of Kali, his gaze had been fixed on the
political and social unrest and the hypocritical practices in the Indian society, here in ‘Nine Lives he
presents ethnographic study of religion in India. William taking advantage of his growing authority
over the Indian ethnographical phenomenon, Historical studies and much wider social acceptance
succeeded in attracting the audience for his books, through his stage shows, public performances
accompanying the real life characters from his book ‘Nine Lives’ at several Literary Festivals and
Theatres. 237 The events surrounding the publication of Nine Lives serve as further examples of
the ways in which Dalrymple transcends textual boundaries and negotiates his celebrity status. To
celebrate the publication of Nine Lives, Dalrymple went on the sort of publicity tour that he has
undertaken for his later books, encompassing a global itinerary of lectures and writers’ festival
events. Dalrymple also engineered a touring stage-show, featuring two of the more musical /
theatrical figures in Nine Lives and other artists collected for the occasion. The program for the
2010 Sydney Writers’ Festival claims: Dalrymple weaves the story of his latest book Nine Lives
through a rich variety of South Asian devotional music and spiritual transformation. … Curated and
narrated by Dalrymple, each element of this concert represents a spiritual tradition from his book.”
This depicts the event as a direct transposition from book to performance, reinforcing the
experiential version of authority on which travel writing relies. The show purports to engage the
audience with the characters within the text, although without removing the figure of William the
“narrator”. (Dorgello 258) William is also aware of the social acceptance within or outside India, his
own process of acquiring maturity and mastery over the Travel Writing genre, and the shift of focus
and style of narrations with an eye on the audience of his books. In an interview, William clearly
asserts that in his first book, In Xanadu, he wrote for the British audience, and was much welcome
in Britain only rather than in any other part of the globe though it was translated in many other
languages. His The Age of Kali received much severe criticism in India on the grounds that a
foreigner commented on the Indian legacy of culture and political main streams. So, he asserts, he
took up a different approach in the Nine Lives, and took the stance as he was writing for none
another but his next door neighbours of India, and the subject too was a day to day concern of
Indian life seeking divine favours for ordinary rut of life just as the Family of Mr Basu, at Tapan
Sadhu’s place, on the night of no moon day at Tarapith cremation ground, who wanted to offer the
goat to the Goddess in order to secure peace in the family and for the good luck of their children at
their studies or the different village families remaining ready with the thali of offering to the Divine
Couple who have come to their doorstep in the procession on the annual festival of divine couple’s
marriage. In the introduction of the book, William notes his encounter with the educated and
cosmopolitan Ajay Kumar Jha as a wanderer sadhu, wandering holy man, made him look into the
subject of the book more keenly. Then, he himself was on his way 238 to the shrine of Kedarnath,
one of the holiest places of Hinduism. Here when he finds people on their way to the holy shrine
displaying their utmost devotion despite the adverse climatic environment and the ways full of
hardships’ he feels the sheer contrast that on one hand India is developing on the all the fronts of
trade and commerce, in the percentage of literacy rates, and the eye-catching infrastructural
development and the westernized trends treading in the urban upper middle class, still, the
spirituality and divinity has remained intact with the Indian social life. In India, William notices that
the speed with which India has been growing from simple rustic clusters of habitations and the
simple rural lore of life to the complex cosmopolitan urbanization and in such transition and
transformation, certain questions pop up in his mind:
What does it actually mean to be a holy man or a Jain nun, a mystic or a tantric seeking salvation
on the roads of modern India, as the Tata trucks thunder past? Why does one individual embrace
armed resistance as a sacred calling, while another devoutly practices ahimsa, or non-violence?
Why does one think he can create a god, while another thinks that god can inhabit him? How is
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each specific religious path surviving the changes India is currently undergoing? What changes
and what remains the same? Does India still offer any sort of real spiritual alternative to
materialism, or is it now just another fast developing satrap of the wider capitalist world?
(Dalrymple Nine Lives Xiii)
In his talks with Anand Raj William clearly brings to the fore his idea of India as a Nation of variety
and the inexhaustible resource for writing stuff: India is so huge that after 30 years there is still stuff
that I experience for the first time,’’ he says, alluding to the time he spent working on one of his
most popular works,
a collection of stories about nine people from across the subcontinent, each of whom follows a
different religious belief. I enjoyed working on that one because I experienced so much during the
time I was researching the book,’’ he says. He met hundreds of people and interviewed scores of
potential subjects before choosing nine. “Why nine? Because that was the number of people I felt
would work well in the book,’’ he laughs… (Dalrymple Interview with Anand Raj) 239 The new saga
that William has opened up with his publication of Nine Lives is the adoption of new ways of
attracting the audience to his book. For this, he innovated the concept of tour and public discourses
and discussions not just in the monotonus way in which the author talks about his book only. But he
presented on the stage the very live characters about whose lives he is talking in the book. Rory
Maclean acknowledges Dalrymple’s this motive behind aggressive marketing of his book in his
review of Nine Lives: “But people are increasingly unwilling to be passive consumers. They want to
"experience" narratives and to interact with the world – which is precisely what travel writers have
been doing since Herodotus first let go of his mother's apron strings”. (MacLean Rev
theguardian.com) 240 Works Cited Dalrymple, William. Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern
India. London. Bloomsbury. 2009. Print. ---. Interview with Anand Raj OK, Features Editor, Friday
MagazinePublished: 00:00 March 1, 2013 Friday. Web. 10 Nov 2014. ---. “
Home Truths on Abroad.” The Guardian 19 Sept. 2009. n. pag. Web. 10 Nov 2014
Dorgelo, Rebecca. “Travelling into History: The Travel Writing and Narrative History of William
Dalrymple.” Diss. U of Tasmania 2011. Web. 24 Dec 2014.
MacLean, Rory. Rev. of Nine Lives by William Dalrymple. theguardian.com. 16 Dec. 2009. Web. 10
Nov 2014. 241 242
Conclusion ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- ---------------

Travel writing or travel literature has obtained new heights in the recent times. The popularity of the
genre has attracted much critical attention too. William Dalrymple was just twenty two when he
came out with his debut work In Xanadu and from his very first book; he adopted the genre of
travel writing. In the preparation and planning of the book, he clearly mentions his objectives
behind his selection. Right since then, he has been a consistent and prolific writer. He applies his
creative bent on writing travel books and later also wrote narrative histories. His narrative histories
and travel books have overlapping themes, which he himself asserts that while researching on his
second book, City of Djinns, he came across the Mughal Legacy and the then British Officials’
irresistible attraction for it. This cultivated an idea of the book White Mughal and after that came the
story Last Mughal, and latest one is A Return of a King in which he has presented his researched
history on the last war between the British army and the Afghan troops. He invests his sincere
efforts in the collection of the material of the books and sometimes risks his life too in the perusal of
the first hand resources. This study through its close examination of Dalrymple’s travel books
evaluates the merits of the author at the composition of the genre and his contribution in
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popularizing it and to bring forth to the world at large through the media of his books certain
unexplored and raging discourses, traditions and the buried legacies which in the course of time
lost sight of or are declining in the force of new development.
In all the books studied, William Dalrymple has carefully interwoven his personal reflections,
memoirs, historical facts which he collects through his toiling through different Archives, personal or
Institutional libraries, interviews of the natives who command the authority in the area of knowledge
of the topics/issues under focus, references to the earlier travel accounts along with his journey
and encounters with the local people and culture. He constitutes a very jovial and free narrative
with sparkles of humour and informative cubes. Close perusal of the texts gives us an idea that
William Dalrymple has carefully developed his persona in the narrative who is the centre or the
hero of his narrative. In his
doctoral thesis Dorgello has clearly 243 observed that, “
There are up to three Dalrymple figures involved in each text: the central, autobiographical
character, the narrator, and finally the author / public figure.
In conversation with Tim Youngs, Dalrymple firmly states: “I never consciously created a persona
around the ‘I’. The ‘I’, I suppose, is the me of that particular moment, and how I see things at that
particular moment” (40). Dalrymple’s denial of the use of fictional elements in the construction of
the iterations of the character of William glosses any changes in the ways in which William is
represented (within individual texts, or, particularly, across Dalrymple’s body of work) as accurate
reflections of Dalrymple’s intellectual and emotional development. Such a disingenuous approach
necessarily privileges the centrality of the authorial figure, and relies upon the (inherently personal)
authority of autobiography for its legitimacy”. [Dorgello Thesis] Moreover, the narrative constitutes
the chronicle of William’s observations on the countries and people encountered, and the
discomforts and hardships he and his companions face in the act of travel. The narrative tone
always remains to be that of the superior Western trope, despite his conscious mentions in various
interviews and public talks to maintain neutrality and confessions to be in love with the Indian soil
and the desire to be borne here in India if granted five more lives. The treasures of material which
can be coined and transformed into the bestselling books can have made him to wish to be borne
here, but all the same he seems and is truly writing for Home. Dorgello nicely points out this point,
…his texts can be read as belated echoes or iterations of prior colonial relationships and
representations. Essentially, Dalrymple’s texts portray a privileged, British protagonist who travels
to and writes about India (and occasionally other destinations). Not only does an anachronistically
characterised William repeat the traditional colonial journey from imperial metropole to colonial
outpost, but Dalrymple compounds this connection by making British India (rather than India itself)
his chief subject. This double connection with Britain’s imperial presence in India means that the
ways in which the British-Indian relationship is represented is all the more significant. (Dorgello
Thesis) The instances he uses to drive his point home or the projection of parallels all, all through
his books; go in direction of western sympathy. The sights which arrest his attention or the major
topics he picked up for his more journalistic travel accounts of The Age of Kali, seem to emboss a
pattern that he works with the designs to expose the vulnerable issues of the Indian civilization
which was staggering to raise itself to 244 the global equality levels especially during the late
nineties. Dalrymple received severe and bitter reactions within Indian circles but somehow through
his constant perusal of various issues, consistent production of books and their promotional
campaigns, presence at the public events like various Literary Festivals, and carefully manipulated
marketing strategies, he has obtained a groomed status, influence and managed to emerge as the
expert and authority of the south Asian affairs, histories and socio-political issues. The major
debate which Dalrymple raises within or outside his texts is that of the pendulum of power grid
which oscillated on the Indian horizons between the colonizers and the colonized. The research
and the fact finding exercise benefits him on the double fronts. As it being the favourite subject in
the West helps him magnet attention of the western literary-socio-political high powers and at the
same time within India too, works out the colonial obsessions and hangovers. Still, to his merits
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rests his constant perusal of the various socio-political issues, his sincerity, capacity and
willingness to go to any extent to collect firsthand experience and resources which impart gravity to
his works and take them to the top of the popularity columns. As a traveler he uses his guts to
enter any terrain where any ordinary home- dweller or foreigner could not access. The stories thus
collected create a sort of attraction and the point of perusal for the readers at home or of foreign
land. The narrative, as the genre itself demands, remains light vein, free and jovial. Dalrymple
stuffs humour as the text develops. His first book, In Xanadu displays much light veined humourous
account, in which the protagonist remains to be butt of innocence in the company of the two female
companions at first Laura and then in the later part his ex-girlfriend, Louisa. In the second book,
The City of Djinns, too, there are sparkles of humour spread all through the text. Much of it is found
at the place of his first settlement at Delhi, at the landlady, Mrs. Puri’s household. The elderly and
old landlord Mr.Puri’s amorous approaches to his wife, Olivia; William puts it in the light vein: “
During our first month in the flat, however, Mr. Puri was on his best behavior. Apart from twice
proposing marriage to my wife, he behaved with perfect decorum.”(City of Djinns 13)
The Landlady’s strictness of conduct in the day-today household activities and the housemaid or
the cook all these things and characters are presented in the humourous colourings. Moreover, his
major companion, the taxi- driver, Balvinder Singh’s enthusiasm to speak English and his habitual
drinking and driving eccentrics, his generalization for the English in connection to their sexual
habits, all this sorts of things contribute to the generation of mirth. The later works do not display
much such humourous stuffing, and it can be taken as his growing maturity and more command on
the narrative techniques. He himself talks about this 245 point in detail to Tim Youngs in his
interview with him “The fact is that it (In Xanadu) has got the best jokes and is a much funnier book
than the others. I think I have got progressively more politically correct and dull as I get middle
aged. But in readings In Xanadu will get a louder laugh than anything” (Interview with Tim Youngs
40). Just as he himself mentions, his later works do not raise much of the jovial spirits. On the
contrary, From the Holy Mountains treats the serious subject of devastation, destruction and
demise of Christianity from the regions of Middle East. The narrative documents the extinction and
the miserable plight of the eastern Christians in the very land where the Christianity originally
blossomed.The Age of Kali too is the representation of the beggar plights of the Indian continent on
the grounds of Socio-Political issues. The last book, Nine lives, as its sub title suggests, is the
search of sacred in modern India, still another serious subject and more serious stuff to be
discussed and brought under scrutiny, and so does not leave any room for free jovial cutting of
jokes. Still, the narrative sways in a manner that despite the serious themes or the issues; the
overall temperament finds an easy and conversational tone. Major travel texts adopt the scheme of
taking a key event, text or any specific route around which the entire account develops.
Sometimes, the writer picks up major happenings on his travelling experiences and narrates with
his creative bent.
William Dalrymple’s all the books even including his History Narratives, have a clear foundation.
His first book, In Xanadu is framed upon the famous silk route following
the footsteps of Marco Polo, i.e. from Jerusalem to Shang tu in China- popular in the West as
'Xanadu'. The
book presents William’s journey from Jerusalem to Chinese Shang tu in the company of two
companions; first of Laura and then, Louisa. The journey vividly documents the hardships,
dangers, toils and dare devil tricks taken by the traveler on the course of the journey. Dalrymple,
along with his constant compare and contrast of the present landscape with that of at the time of
Marco Polo as it has been reported by Polo in his Travels, also presents elaborate ethnographic
details along with detailed commentary on the issues of cultural or conventional continuations of
the regions he visits. Mostly he prefers to stay with the family of the locals, instead of in the hotels,
thus, picking up an opportunity to observe their life from the close quarters. At places, he brings
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forth the historical details and mythical stories too to describe the entire scenario of the place. His
second book The City of Djinns is a quite different, and can be taken as the dwelling account rather
than on the move. It along with presenting Dalrymple’s justifications for; and initial exercises of
settling down in Delhi, delineates his quest of the Historic Developments of this city. 246
Delhi, perhaps, might be the only city in the world which witnessed so many destructions and
devastations either natural or manmade. After each of the devastations the city breathed its rebirth
and resurgence with new enthusiasm and vigour. William Dalrymple
erects the foundation of the book on the very facts as he has been informed by Pir Sadr-ud-Din:
When I met Pir Sadr-ud-Din, that I learned the secret that kept the city returning to new life. ‘Delhi’,
said Pir Sadr-ud-Din, ‘was a city of djinns. Though it had been burned by invaders time and time
again, millennium after millennium, still the city was rebuilt; each time it rose like a phoenix from the
fire. Just as the Hindus believe that a body will be reincarnated over and over again until it
becomes perfect, so it seemed Delhi was destined to appear in a new incarnation century after
century. The reason for this, said Sadr-ud-din, was that the djinns loved Delhi so much they could
never bear to see it empty or deserted’... (
Dalrymple City of Djinns 9) He investigates the traces of all the cities right from the Lutyan’s to the
mythical Indraprasth of Mahabharata. In the course of the book, he also presents the post-partition
and post Indira Gandhi murder riots. He mixes with and spends time with group of the Eunuchs,
whose reference he found as the care takers of the Mughal Zenanas. The third book, From the
Holy Mountain, again takes the set route, earlier traversed by the famous traveler.
Here in this book he wanders in the Byzantine world where the great saint and scholar John
Moschos had journeyed in the company of
his disciple Sophronius,
the sophist.
John Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows provides the prime inspiration to William Dalrymple to
explore the parts of the Middle East and he tries to have the glimpses of John Moschos’s world of
Byzantium.
Thus, Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows gives him the thrust of traveling this world, William himself
notes: .... The Spiritual Meadows of John Moschos, the unlikely little book which first brought me to
this monastery, and the original manuscript of which I saw for the first time less than one hour ago.
God willing, John Moschos will lead me on, eastward to Constantinople and Anatolia, then
southwards to the Nile and thence, if it is still possible, to the great Khangra Oasis, once the
southern frontier of Byzantium. (From the Holy Mountain 4) The book
voices the concern on the lost glory of Christianity and seems an attempt to analyse the root
causes operating behind such drastic transitions.
Not only this, Dalrymple also presents the plights of the local people and their miseries on the 247
war stricken scenario, raging all around. One interesting outcome of the wars and constant
violence all around the region, as Dalrymple observes, is people’s evolving tendencies to go for fun
and delights in life and altogether aversion of eyes from any sort of serious art and development or
any form of constructive tasks. On getting such clues, he inquires the people and finds them
narrating the reason that they felt they were never certain of life even for the next day; and in such
uncertainty they felt it better to enjoy the time in their stock without caring and getting engaged in
the issues of serious nature. The Age of Kali, the fourth book of William Dalrymple concentrates its
focus
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on the bloodshed violence spread throughout the subcontinent. He states, he feels convinced that
the Age of ‘Kali’ has in reality cuffed the human race here, and made them thirsty of each other’s
blood- no matter whatever is the ground. Be it social, political or the religious, or on the grounds of
morality, status or family feuds, the human race seems on the dagger drawing stance. Tolerance
and broad-mindedness are no longer in the index of human virtues, rather they are considered to
be the attributes of weakness in the social arena. Man finds himself entangled with his own fellow
people and he feels he has to struggle hard to get what, he thinks, is essential for his well-being
and happiness. The weakest points of Democracy have got surfaced and the reins of power have
been grabbed by the persons with criminal backgrounds.
In this way, the book documents the evils spread through the society and tries to bring forth the
scanned facts which hold the alarm signals at the showy pomp and gongs of development and
modernization. Nine Lives picks up the issues of religion and spirituality in India. Here, William
Dalrymple investigates the parameters and the extents and extremity level to which the religious
conducts make part of human life in the modernistic traces and the streams of development. His
captioning of the subtitle ‘In search of Sacred in Modern India’ very well glimpses his under
currents of thoughts and intentions. The stories he has picked up, his interviews of the specific
religious characters, the struggles of these characters in their personal, social, and even at their
religious bodies, and his narrative strategy of letting the character be on the front of narration
directly in the first person reporting; all this in a way brings forth the varied cultural traditions co-
existing in India, but alongside it also pin points the shacking loose of faiths in the existing religious
conventions and a sure concern at the bottom to preserve some of them. Here he has picked up
the personas of Jainism, Buddhism, major trends of Hinduism, the Sufism and through the study of
these specific characters, he brings out several facts regarding them which otherwise would have
been inaccessible to the readers at 248 home or abroad. The protagonists of the different essays
are the representatives of caste system existent in Hinduism. The Theyyam dancer proudly and for
more than once in the essay reports that during the Theyyam seasons even the high cadre
Brahmins too would touch his feet and come seeking his blessings. The majority of the Bauls in
Bengal are from the lower strata of society. The daughters of Yellamma, the Devadasis are from
the lower caste families, and the singers of Epic are the members of nomadic families. In each
essay, Dalrymple first reaches up to the specific character he has intended to meet in order to
collect information about the specific creed or cult. Then he, after some propagating detailing and
initial queries, slides in the side and lets the character narrate the entire issue from his/her points of
views. This strategy works nicely in favour of the author, one as he is the outsider and the issues/
characters under discussion involve religious matter so it saves him from getting dragged into any
controversy. Secondly, the material presented seems much authentic. Travel books, in major
cases, present the detailed descriptions of the sights and the places and even the transportations
and the roads taken are also find their way in the narration. The writer views the place as the
outsider and the things, locations and everything that is different or located in different backgrounds
capture his attentions. His creative process incorporates such differences in the narrative. The
intensity or the lengths of details may vary in different travel writers i.e. some travel writers would
go for the detailed description of the travel process, the places visited and the people encountered
whereas some others would just draw outlines of the journey and develop the narrative on more
somber issues and the internal process that is taking shape in their mind rather than detailing the
physical part of the journey. Dalrymple incorporates details of the journey, gives fair account of the
places he visits and the people he encounters. He has got an extraordinary talent in creating a live
image of the place or person just with a line or two. He also takes enough time to detail the journey
and the transportations especially in In Xanadu and in From the Holy Mountains. The other three
books namely;
concentrate more on the places and people and the cultural detailing rather than on the journeying
on the road. In the very initial phase of the journey in In Xanadu, at the time of preparations for
departure, anticipating the nature of the travel, William notes: 249 Thus I committed myself to
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travelling across twelve thousand miles of extremely dangerous, inhospitable territory, much of
which seemed still to be closed to the foreigners, with two companions, one a complete stranger,
the other completely estranged. (In Xanadu 13-14) Along with the descriptions of the sights and
places, his reflections too generate gravity in the narration. Arriving at the holy city of Jerusalem,
he points out: For two thousand years Jerusalem has brought out the least attractive qualities in
every race that has lived there. The Holy City has had more atrocities committed in it, more
consistently, than any other town in the world. Sacred to three religions, the city has witnessed the
worst intolerance and self- righteousness of all of them. (In Xanadu 18) At some places William
presents his imaginations from the historical clues how the place would have been bustling with
activities during that time and close to it also presents how it appears to him at present. Describing
the han close to the sea port at Acre, William writes: During the months of the passagium, between
Easter and late autumn, the han would have been full of sea captains, merchants and sailors. Here
they would wake and sleep, eat and drink, buy and sell, free from the laws and customs of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem. It is a quite place now. You enter the compound under a narrow arch of red
and white polychrome keystones, past a pair of old metal-reinforced gates still hanging from their
original rusty hinges. (In Xanadu 23) The people are also described with picking their peculiarities.
On their way to the Armenia Capital of Sis, heading towards the citadel of Sis, after a walk of a mile
or two, he and Laura take a lift of a tractor full of local people. Here goes the description: Inside
was a vast earth-mother swathed in voluminous wraps of calico and taffeta. Beside her was a small
boy, presumably her son. She clucked around him like an old broody hen, wiping his nose and
removing hey from his hair. She said nothing, but blenched occasionally and fed herself noisily
from a nose-bag.
Good looks have been shared out unevenly among the Turks. Their men are almost all handsome
with dark, supple skin and strong features: good bones, sharp eyes and tall, masculine bodies. But
the women share their menfolk’s pronounced features in a most unflattering way. Very few are
beautiful. Their noses are too large, their chins too prominent. Baggy wraps conceal pneumatic
bodies. Here must lie the reason for the Turks’ easy drift 250 out of heterosexuality. (
Dalrymple In Xanadu 71) In the ‘City of Djinns’, William presents the travels in dwellings. His stay in
Delhi and his excavation of the different layers of history is replete with the descriptions of
monumental sights, different alleys of the city which bear historic importance, gardens sites,
streets, and people who bear authority in connection with the city’s history or keep the linage of
historic and representative art alive. Along with these monumental and historic descriptions,
William also provides the clues of the present day scenario and the beating life in the city of Delhi:
The damburst of western goods and ideas that were now pouring into India had brought with them
an undertow of western morality.
Adulterous couples now filled the public gardens; condom advertisements dominated the Delhi
skyline. The Indian capital,
once the last bastion of the chaperoned virgin, the double-locked bedroom and the arranged
marriage, was slowly filling with lovers: whispering, blushing, occasionally holding hands,
they loitered beneath flowering trees like figures from a miniature. Delhi was starting to unbutton.
After the long Victorian twilight, the sari was beginning to slip. (
City of Djinns 24) The study and interest in both the major religions of India, namely Hindu and
Islam; William comes to the level of drawing line between them, their apparent differences and
preferences. In ‘City of Djinns’ he presents his observations in regards of the both:
Hindus revere nature but never feel any need to marshal or mould it into a design of their own: a
Bunyan tree will almost be encouraged to spread its drooping creepers into the middle of any
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village market, or to block any backwoods track. It is revered for itself; however it develops, that
end is regarded as a sort of perfection. As in nature, so in architecture: Hindu palaces seem to
grow organically of their own will: a hall here, a shrine there, a sudden inexplicable curve in the
curtain wall somewhere else. The Muslim tradition is quite different. Inheriting the Greek love of
order and logic, Islamic gardens—like their buildings – are regimented into lines of perfect
symmetry; balance and design is all; nothing is left to impulse or chance. With these qualities, the
Mughal gardens dotted around the subcontinent are as alien to the Indian environment as the
Brighton Pavilion is to the English south coast, or the Chinese Pagoda to Kew. Outside the garden,
251 all is delightful chaos; inside, reflecting the central concept of Islam, spontaneity is crushed by
submission to a higher order”. (
City of Djinns 235) In the process of ransacking the city with the gauge of historic significance,
William consults certain people too who bear the authoritative knowledge and information about the
city’s gorgeous past. One such person is Dr. Yunus Jaffery whose ancestors were Persian tutors at
the Red Fort. William went to meet him on a rainy afternoon:
The door opened to reveal a gaunt, clean-shaven man. He wore white Mughal pyjamas whose
trouser-bottoms, wide and slightly flared, were cut in the style once favoured by eighteen-century
Delhi gallants. On his head he sported a thin white mosque-cap. Heavy black glasses perched on
the bridge of his nose, but the effect was not severe. (
City of Djinns 186) The Age of Kali too is full of lively descriptions of people, places, traditions and
conventions and the oddities and abnormalities that arrest William’s attention while his stay in
India. The main focus of the book is on the issues that Dalrymple finds to be followed in detail and
they are from Northern part of India to Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Goa, and the territories on the Indian
Ocean too.
What captures Dalrymple’s attention are the grounds gravely fixed on the stark reality of
commonplace life. He describes how caste, crime, money and muscle power have a stranglehold
on rural north Indian society, particularly Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan where women are
raped, and caste based militias kill each other with impunity. The agencies of administration and
police are often in collusion with the criminals. He also tries to understand the leagues of the
convicted murderers to win the elections, the student unions’ fascination for the power game of
politics for that their use of guns and grenades when actually books and journals should be their
concerns. On the whole, it is all about what William comes across during his travels across the
Indian subcontinent. Some places he visits, particularly the camps of Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and
the borders of Pakistan, demand great cautions and hold a bit of personal risk too. For these are
the places where fatal- deadly weapons trade free and even the local outsider is not easily well-
come within their staunch secretive circles and is looked at with sheer suspicion, and the slightest
blur of untrustworthiness from such an outsider might be justified with a shot of a gun.
Like ‘The Age of Kali’. ‘Nine Lives’ too focuses on the various issues or persons, but unlike it, here
the focus remains fixedly concentrated on the spiritual and religious orbit of the life of the ordinary
persons. Each essay describes different 252 person belonging to different religious background.
What fires his imagination for this book is the very basic questions which he himself puts forward in
the introduction of the book:
What does it actually mean to be a holy man or a Jain nun, a mystic or a tantric seeking salvation
on the roads of modern India, as the Tata trucks thunder past? Why does one individual embrace
armed resistance as a sacred calling, while another devoutly practices ahimsa, or non-violence?
Why does one think he can create a god, while another thinks that god can inhabit him? How is
each specific religious path surviving the changes India is currently undergoing? What changes
and what remains the same? Does India still offer any sort of real spiritual alternative to
materialism, or is it now just another fast developing satrap of the wider capitalist world? (Nine
Lives Xiii)
136
The book remains rich with the lively descriptions of the persons. Carl Thompson in his book Travel
Writing observes that: From the late eighteen century Travel Writing starts to look inwards as well
as outwards. At the same time, however, this new concern with the traveling self could be pursued
in several different ways, and it has since the eighteen century encompassed a variety of styles
and techniques for writing about the self. For example, the extent to which travel writers articulate
their inner world of thought and feeling can vary considerably. In many travelogues, this inward
scrutiny and subsequent self-expression does not go much further than a simple declaration of
what the traveler thought and felt at various junctures…..in more extreme forms, however, this
inward gaze may become an attempt to chart the flux of consciousness in the course of travel.
(Thompson Travel Writing 111) In his travel writing, William Dalrymple too presents the journey
within. He looks inwards and presents sometimes the entire flux of thought process though not in
the stream of conscious vein; his majority of concerns go regarding the travel or covering the
distance to the next destination or sometimes more on his reflection with the historical facts and the
present day plights of the place he visits. In his first book, ‘In Xanadu’, his majority of conversations
with ‘self’ focuses on the next destination and in bringing out the historical facts or in the excavating
the details presented in the ‘Travels’ of Marco Polo and comparing them with the present day
scenario, and thereby extending his own concerns for the things deteriorating. At one place, he
narrates his dream, which he sees while sleeping. It was about his aching front teeth which he
dreams Laura, in the form of the dentist tries to cure with pliers in hand, and 253 in the mean while
he gets up from the dream very shivering. The dream and the troubles in it signify the uncertainty
that prevails on their being able to reach to their destination and the exhausting hardships in the
transit they have been facing. And here comes the quotable quote of the traveler which only a
traveler with his personal felt sentiments could term it: “
There are moments in all long journeys when the whole business of travelling seems utterly futile.
One feels homesick, tired and above all bored. Nothing pleases. Everything palls” (
Dalrymple. In Xanadu 220). Sometimes, William comes to state the bare feelings that descend to
his mind as per the situation: in the Epilogue of In Xanadu, recording his feelings just after the
success of his mission he writes, “I had never understood Burton’s feelings until I left Xanadu.
Within the hour, the euphoria of having reached our goal and delivered the oil began to wear off”
(Dalrymple In Xanadu 301). City of Djinns encompasses author’s initial phase of settlement in the
city of Delhi along with the creative exercise of this book itself, thus, it makes us confront many
passages which narrate the mind of the author himself. He remains extremely busy with his project,
perturbed by the hot weather of the city. He visits several sights either alone or in the company
either of his wife, Olivia or Balvinder Singh, the taxi driver. He shows all the signs that he is in love
with the city. He presents his mantle state very often and clearly when he feels it best to:
To best appreciate New Delhi I used to walk to it from the Old City. Leaving behind the press and
confusion of Shahjehanabad ---- the noise and the heat, the rickshaws and the barrow-boys, the
incense and the sewer stink--- I would find myself suddenly in a gridiron of wide avenues and open
boulevards, a scheme as ordered and inevitable as a Bach fugue. Suddenly the roads would empty
and the air clean. There was no dust, no heat: all was shaded, green and cool. (
Dalrymple City of Djinns 81) The narrative of ‘From the Holy Mountain’ showcases many instances
of William’s introspective passages. As he witnesses the nightmarish plight of the eastern
Christians, and collects their painful stories of atrocities, his conscious experiences great pains that
somehow peep in the narration too. At the grave of Moschos, he is solely internalized and as if
communicating with only his own ‘self’, he presents the strain: I
stood before the grave of John Moschos, the man whose writings had brought me on this journey,
and in whose footsteps I was travelling.
On the top of the slab rested a modern icon of the man, shown old and grey with a scroll in one
hand and a quill in the other. So I thought, this was where he 254 started off, and where, after all
137
his travels through the width and breadth of Byzantine Levante, he ended up. Prompted by the
example of the nun, despite having half dropped the habit, I began to pray there, and the prayers
came with surprising ease. I
prayed for the people who had helped me on the journey, the monks who had showed me the
manuscript on Mount Ethos, the frightened Suriani of Mar Gabriel, the Armenians of Aleppo and
the Palestinian Christians in the camp of Mar Elias. And then I did what I suppose I had come to
do: I sought the blessing of John Moschos for the rest of the trip, and particularly asked for his
protection in the badlands of Upper Egypt, the most dangerous part of the journey. (Dalrymple
From the Holy Mountain 287) In his last two books, viz. ‘
The Age of Kali’, and ‘
Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India’, William Dalrymple
has adopted an entirely different scheme of narration. Here, he presents the accounts not on his
own but they are highly person or situation based. So the narration concentrates more around the
person or place under discussion. This sort of narration allows him to present the things from the
local view points, keeping the causes and effect principle in the balance of the local elements. He
just remains a platform provider from where the local place or person gets its/his voice amplified
through the medium of his book. Thus, though the entire scheme seems objective, still, in the
selection of the issues, person and places, his personality operates well nigh. Sometimes it seems
he tries to pick up the negative stuffs and through attempts to show these countries their place on
the index of Development. On the whole, the entire trope of writing represents a carefully staged
presentation of the author’s narrative persona. As Carl Thompson has pointed out that in many
cases the travel writer’s self fashioning also often proceeds by a logic of differentiation, whereby
the ‘Other’ is constructed in some subtle or unsubtle way principally as a foil or counterpoint to the
supposedly heroic, civilized and/or cultured protagonist. In the writings of William Dalrymple this
sort of scheme also remains fully at work. William at every chance picks up an opportunity to
project his superiority over the inferior, uncivilized locals and their lack of sophistication in the
simple life business in almost all the books. In the Chinese territory, in ‘In Xanadu’, he presents the
matter of cleaning of nose in a very sarcastic manner: Particularly unpleasant was the aggressive
old man with whom we shared our coal slag. Our relationship got off to a bad start on the first day
when during a mid-morning chai shop, I blew my nose in his presence. For this unforgivable 255
faux pas I earned myself a violent torrent of abuse. It appears that my crime was twofold: firstly
blowing my nose while he was drinking, secondly using a handkerchief. Apparently polite Uigur
etiquette demands that one walks away from any imbibing company, raises one’s left hand to the
ridge of one’s nose and blows heartily through the nostrils, aiming to discharge the deposit onto the
ground. Any overhang should then be wiped away, and the hand then cleaned on the shirt front.
(Dalrymple In Xanadu 273) The book abounds in many such examples. In ‘City of Djinns’ too,
William’s superior self finds amplification at every chance or opportunity. To cite an example from it:
to his queries regarding the festival of Diwali, Mrs. Puri explains to William that all the lighting and
firing crackers were not just burning of money but rather
it is about accumulating it. “Diwali is the festival of Laxmi, the goddess of Wealth”, explained Mrs.
Puri, “If we light candles and leave our front doors open, on this night Laxmi will come into our
house and count all our moneys.” “Why does she do that? I asked, intrigued by the idea of Laxmi
parking her lotus outside the gate and paying a visit in her avatar as divine auditor.” (
Dalrymple City of Djinns 93) Behind the compositions and motives of ‘The Age of Kali’, and ‘Nine
Lives’, there seem the exercise of sounding the trumpets of western superiority. The issues he has
picked up in The Age of Kali are all the mid-nineties issues which India encountered with the duel
storming at the socio-political domains; on one hand went the government policy of liberalization
and thereby the direct effects of foreign investments in the Indian markets. Though it had some
138
positive effects on the financial horizons yet, it acted as a trauma to the centuries’ long superior self
image of the Indian culture. Secondly, in the new wave of influence that took the society under its
umbrella was that of Television. The society and especially the middle class came under its strong
hold which took the westernized way of life as a parameter of modernity and advancement. The
financial flow increased the purchasing power of the middleclass which fairly invested in buying the
luxurious amenities and the average household got television sets, telephones and two-wheelers.
This transformation brought certain social evils too. The increased standards of life increased the
competitions too. The political scenario also underwent transformations. The voters started
demanding their ‘cost’ for casting votes in the favour of any certain political group. As elections
went costly, the degree of political scams too increased. And in this way the entire social institution
kept losing ethical dignity. Being the 256 outsider these issues arrest William Dalrymple’s attention
and he presents the journalistic stuff around them with a special captioning that though the matters
bear grave seriousness they pass as simple routine news articles in the Indian society. In case of
‘Nine Lives’ too, the sub title: ‘In search of Sacred in Modern India’; pin points the author’s motives
of undertaking exercise of locating the status of religion and spirituality which has acted as the
signature identity of Indian culture, especially in Modern Indian society. The author marks it with the
audible emphasis that in the fast and furious flow of modernity in the Indian society, somewhere the
ideological spirituality and the devotional avenues are eroded. The new generation is deviating
from the long cults of conventional lineages and looking forward to some new forms of careers.
This tendency of the younger generations mounts a sure pressure on the older generations who
feel it their moral responsibility to keep the strain alive and flowing. The concerns of Srikanda, the
idol maker, represent the worries of the entire lot of the elderly generation: “I don’t know”, said
Srikanda, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s all part of the world opening up. After all, as my son says,
this is the age of computers. And as much as I might want otherwise, I can hardly tell him this is the
age of bronze caster” (Dalrymple Nine Lives 204) [Perhaps here William derives the pleasure in
showing the West defeating the East.] Another strategy most travel writers resort to is that of
presenting themselves superior to the other travelers whom they happen to pass by on their routes
and transits accidently or by chance. William Dalrymple in his initial books makes use of this
strategy and uses the travelers of other countries in contrast to his own activities. In his first book,
‘In Xanadu’, when at the hotel Seljuk happens to encounter some German cyclists doing press-ups
in front of his room. Here he aims to show that their intentions were intellectual whereas the
Germans journeyed on the physical measures and were least interested in the intellectual pursuits.
Again on the bus when they happen to meet a Japanese tourist, he makes fun of him referring to
his name; Condom. Even in the Chinese Keriya the party of German geomorphologists is also
described with a sort of ridicule and comic vein. One of the Germans’ attempts to talk to Louisa as
a gesture to make a better acquaintance with her is also presented in a lighter vein: “German: My
father was in semi-conductors. I too vood have gone into semi-conductors, had I not discovered
moraines” (Dalrymple In Xanadu 267). In From the Holy Mountain, he presents the ancient
travellers’ irresponsible conducts in contrast to his own sincererity of purpose: The English traveller
the Hon. Robert Curzon is still considered one of the worst offenders: after a quick circuit around
the monastic libraries of Athos in the late 1840s (in the company, I am 257 ashamed to say, of my
great-great-uncle), Curzon left the Holy Mountain with his trunks bulging with illuminated
manuscripts and Byzantine chrysobuls (Pp.9 From the Holy Mountain). Further, Dalrymple refers
the celebrated Travel Writer Colin Thubron and his witnessing miracle and tries to erect a parallel
to him by his own experiences: When the travel writer Colin Thubron visited the convent in 1966,
he
claimed to have witnessed a miracle: to have seen the face of the icon of Notre Dame de Seidnaya
stream with tears. In the same church I too witnessed a miracle, or something that today would
certainly be regarded as a miracle in almost any other country in the Middle East. For the
congregation seemed to consist not of Christians but almost entirely of heavily bearded Muslim
men. (Dalrymple From the Holy Mountain 187) The travel writers travel with the set motive of
documenting their trip, they certainly keep and maintain log of their travels and keep on maintaining
139
the records of journey along with the original travels. Afterwards, at home they once again fare the
journey in their memory and enact it again in order to write it – an entire course of a creative
process takes place with all the tactics of selection, addition, and omission of facts and invented
issues. William Dalrymple, in the first book, gives us clear clues of maintaining and scribbling
through his log book, but in the later works does not find it necessary to report about it. He plans
his narrative in strategic modes. He would not just visit the place but would collect all the tit-bits of
the place, and at the time of composition, he also presents views presented for the place by the
previous travelers. He would also investigate the myths or any other popular or historic accounts or
local beliefs around the particular place. Wherever necessary he places a short story of mythical
stories about the place and thus keeps the narration replete with various interests worthy materials
and saves it being monotonous, dull and drab with only the place descriptions. His library research
enriches the work with knowledge cubes which otherwise would not have been accumulated by the
readers. In course of the first book In Xanadu, he presents accounts of the three Magi, and
presents the whole version of the story and examines its probable origin and suggests still there is
an avid need of close perusal. He also talks in detail about the Assassins’ group and their
mechanics of terror. When in Lahore, he comes to visit Jahangir’s tomb, he opens the whole
chapter of Tom Coryat’s travels and his descriptions of the places. In the hotel in the Mansehra, he
presents the weird stories about the local tribes and soon after that he presents the details of the
Maurya emperor Ashok whose stone carved edicts he visits. The whole narration remains pulsating
with this sort of strains of stories. In the 258 City of Djinns, he presents many such stories right
from the presenting the individual tragedy of the Sikh family in the post-Indira murder riots, partition
stories as well as the historic accounts of Shahjehan and his sons, and the detailed version of
Muhmmad Tughlaq’s Delhi to Dolatabad episode, the myth of Khwaja Khizr and many. In From the
Holy Mountains, he presents many mythical and historical accounts related to the places he visits
like the story of Abrahm’s Fish pond in Urfa and the stories of the Byzantine saints. The Age of Kali
and Nine Lives constitute themselves of the detailed accounts. In previous books the accounts or
the stories came as the fillers or occurred in between the travel places, but in the later two books
the description of process of journey goes silent and only the peculiar stories that arrest the writer’s
attention form the major part of the narrative. In his conversation with Tabish Khair, William
Dalrymple himself comments and clarifies his own stance and transformation of his own schemes
of travel texts: What I think is in all my books is a sense of place and a sense of history. In some
the history predominates, in others the place takes the lead. But any fascination I had with the
business of travel itself – walking, catching buses and trains, and getting from a to b – was pretty
well exhausted after In Xanadu. Since then I have been using the form to write either about the
place – trying to catch the essence of Delhi in City of Djinns for example; or about an issue – the
demise of the Middle Eastern Christians in From the Holy Mountain. Nine Lives is in some ways
deliberately the opposite of the sort of narrator-led travel narrative like In Xanadu: here the narrator
is almost absent, there is no description of travel, no continuous narrative, and I suppose it is as
much a work of journalism or anthropology or spirituality as a travel book; and yet it is in some
ways very much a classic travel book: the individual setting off with a notebook and set of
questions and writing it up when he gets home. (Dalrymple Interview with Tabish Khair 176) On the
whole the study of William Dalrymple’s travel books at least brings to the fore that the author is
sincere with his efforts and pursuits of the issues. When being asked by Tabish Khair about his
views of looking at the things and issues of the ‘Orient’ being a ‘Westerner’, Dalrymple nicely
opposed the point by asserting that I write about the world I live in, and write it as I see it, and
encounter it. Generations of my family have lived and died in India, I have Bengali blood swirling in
my veins, I’ve lived here for quarter of a century and I think of it as home. I will never be an Indian,
but like many people in the globalised world, I am both insider and outsider: who today spends
their lives in the village 259 where they are born? To have that dualism is I think a pretty useful
complexity for a writer, not an obstacle. (Dalrymple Interview with Tabish Khair 180)
In the same interview, William Dalrymple quotes the words of Colin Thubron whom he labels as the
most revered Travel writer of 80s and who is still at work: The sympathetic traveler who takes time
to immerse himself in a country may gain not only factual knowledge but also a sensuous and
140
emotional understanding, and convey a people’s psychology and their response to things in a way
that can never be accessed studying in a library. A good travel writer can give you the wrap and
weft of everyday life, the generalities of people’s existence that are rarely reflected in academic
writing or journalism, and hardly touched upon by any other discipline. Despite the
internet and revolution in communications, there is still no substitute for a good piece of travel
writing. (Dalrymple Interview with Tabish Khair 180) The same is true about William Dalrymple also.
He has brought many issues in the discussion. He has also worked meticulously against the faulty
generalizations regarding India by some of the western writers and travelers especially in the mid
70s and 80s. The most important privilege he enjoys is that of being insider and outsider at the
same time. His works encompass the issues which perhaps would never have got to the attention
and under the scholastic discussions, had he not presented them through his well researched and
well pursued interests. Moreover, to his expert gaze fall many occult details which he, with his
ability to emboss creativity, picks up and weaves them in lively narratives. Scopes for Advance
Research in the Context of Travel Literature
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the Researcher has stated
earlier, it is natural that the more one traverses in one subject-area, the more it opens one’s insight
and one gets clearer visions in that particular discipline of knowledge. Sometimes this clarity of
vision allows the person to talk more freely and with easier terminology and better explanatory
images about the subject under study which otherwise to other people appears tough, complex or
demanding more traits of concentrated efforts. As the Researcher went on studying the History of
Travel Writing, which, the Researcher must assert, has been nicely and in a systematic vein
preserved and documented in the West. In the eastern territories 260 of the globe, and especially
in the Indian sub-continent, there is no separate discipline of travel writing found, though travel and
descriptions of travels are found in almost all literatures of all languages right from Sanskrit to
Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, and many more. Whatever Travel Literature is found in India in different
languages can be traced as flourished either under direct or indirect influence of Western Travel
Writings and its critical principles. The conspicuous difference that the Researcher could strike
between the Western and Eastern approach of knowledge is that the Western excel the Eastern in
the matters of documentations of the evolved knowledge. The Researcher also noticed the facts
that during the time of Renaissance, the explorers were strictly instructed to keep and maintain
detailed log of their travels. The oddities or anything that appeared as entirely different from their
knowledge system was preserved along with the word descriptions in the forms of sketches. The
travel-logs were waited and at home were studied carefully as to keep the track and for the
guidance of the next batch of the sea-explorer. In this way it created a corpus of knowledge, which
helped society as the stepping support, and any one, as it was open to access to everybody in the
forms of book, could take his/her observation to new logical ends. The printing press technology
added new feather, and the books framed documents were more convenient. The information,
thus, evolved by the reports of journeys gave shape to the Histories and historical accounts. Later,
travel and history developed their own independent disciplines. Historically, the travel accounts,
then called traveller’s accounts, created a greater consciousness among the European societies
about the progress and availability of greater resources in the outer world, especially in the eastern
part of the globe. The information that travel induced; bred the desire to explore these parts and to
take hold of them and this might be considered as one of the contributing factors of the genesis of
Imperial- Colonial set ups in the history of human civilization. During the eighteenth century
travellers and travel accounts’ popularity attracted even many mediocre talents to it. The creative
artists fashioned their fictional novels on the grip of travel accounts. The things and the spirits of
exploitation and encashment of the form’s popularity went to the extent that there generated the
doubts on the authenticity of several travel accounts; this led to the consideration of travel accounts
as the forms of lesser arts. When, towards the first half of the twentieth century, most of the
colonies got independence as a result of emergence of Nationalism, Education and got conscious
of their own Nations cultures and societies as separate and unique entities. There emerged the
sense of resentment and contradiction to the representation of their 261 cultures on mere western
scales on the derogatory levels. Thus, the rose of the new ‘view’ of the worlds once represented by
141
the Eurocentric tones and attitudes; contradicting or presenting the views of the places and
societies not as ‘others’ but as ‘ours’ which is often identified as ‘Post-Colonial’ Travel Writing. With
the advent of new millennium, the first half of the twenty-first century witnessed immense
development of information technology. This new technology of information access and data-
transfer brought the world to the tip of one’s fingers with the internet access at 3G or 4G and
generations of Smart-phones. The world and the earth’s demographic carpet became accessible
both physically and with the aids of information technology. This gave rise to a new debate that
since now there is no unknown world, there are no unexplored worlds (where the ancient travellers
went and produced their stuff to the Home Dwellers who were probably never able to access the
place ‘HE’ visited and therefore was the only authority and authentic source of the ‘truths’ he
presented), this will leave no scope for the survival of travel writing. But, the assumptions proved
mistaken as there were some popular adventure- packed travel accounts on POLAR regions and
the advancements in the space science introduced possibilities in the space travel too. Against the
assumption of travel writing getting stalled with the advancement of information technology, travel
writing as a form of non-fiction and based on the REAL experiences acquired new heights of
popularity. In the world of novel realms of creative publications i.e. Television and Internet, travel
narration took the format of travel documentaries which allowed the new generation of spectators a
novel experience of witnessing how the traveller undertakes his/her expedition and encounters with
the subjects and situations in the foreign land. On the domain of World Wide Web, traveller Blogs
acquires immense popularity with the advantage of its quick reach to the readers the very evening
as soon as the traveller returns to his/her hotel or staying place composes the blog and shares it
with the readers. Not only this, with their new outlook and novel approaches to the destination
places, the new generations of travel writers have transformed the travel writing into a Brand new
genre in the category of non-fiction. In past the faculty of travelling was attributed only to the males;
the females were attributed to ‘sessility’ i.e. being grounded at Home. And this is why, though
women were very much present on the travels as wives, mistresses or prostitutes; 262 there are
comparatively less number of (Woman) travel accounts available; and those which are available
are in the forms of personal diaries. But now the scenario, outlook and sensibilities have changed.
Now there are women explorers who traverse the recesses of the globe and space all alone and
not as the accompanying travellers only. They come out with their own accounts not only in the
book formats in the forms of documentaries and Blogs too. Moreover, the history of human
civilization is the history of migrations, individual or mass, willing or forced. So there are many
scopes of varying view points as to how after generations of getting settled in the foreign land and
civilization, an individual from that group happens to visit back to one’s country of real origin and
how he/she reacts and responds to it i.e. what is known as Diasporic sensibilities of identity crisis
or search of the place in the social orbits once left behind by one’s forefathers. Looking to all this
facts the Researcher would like to draw attention of the aspiring Researchers to the following
topics which deserve full fathomed attention and if followed with keen interests, the end results of
them would be a real addition to the existing corpus of knowledge: (A) The Travels and Travel
Writings in India. The researcher can take different language groups and major contributors and
the patterns of their destination selection, motives behind the travel and their historical significance
in the making of modern India. (e.g. Gandhi’s travels, Vivekanand’s travels and their reflections on
their travelling in the different regions of India in their speeches letters, etc.) (B) The researcher can
also work to distinguish, compare and contrast, the real travelogues and the fictional travelogues.
(C) The researcher may also concentrate over the different views and visions adopted by two
different travel writers and their narrative styles in the composition of their travel texts. (D) The
researcher may also select some travel texts of the Eastern Travellers on the descriptions of
Western Destinations and the pattern of picking up the issues, pointing out the ethnographical,
cultural distinctions in their travel 263 narratives. (E) The researcher may also take up the task of
compare and contrast the attitudes of the different travellers in their respective travel texts. (F) The
Inter-disciplinary studies on Travel texts and Blogs and Travel Documentaries can also be
undertaken. (G) The researcher can also focus on the works of Woman Travel Writers. 264 Works
Cited
142
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Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009.
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Interview with Tim Youngs. Studies in Travel Writing 9 (2005): 37-63. Print ---,
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Tabish Khair. Post Colonial Travel Writing, Critical Explorations, Ed. Justin D. Edwards and Rune
Graulund, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.
Thompson, Carl. Travel Writing. London & New York: Routledge. 2011. Print.
York: Modern Language Association, 2009. Print. 265 266
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Hit and source - focused comparison, Side by Side:

Left side: As student entered the text in the submitted document.
Right side: As the text appears in the source.
Instances from: 10_chapter 5.pdf
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The Age of Kali Indian Travel & Encounters The Age of Kali Indian Travel & Encounters
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the
introduction William Dalrymple announces The Age of Kali is “a introduction William Dalrymple announces The Age of Kali is “a
collection of peripatetic essays, a distillation of ten year’s travel collection of peripatetic essays, a distillation of ten year’s travel
around the Indian subcontinent.” These essays and encounters have around the Indian subcontinent.” These essays and encounters have
been, as he himself states at the very outset, conceived during been, as he himself states at the very outset, conceived during
working on his second book ‘City of Djinns’. working on his second book ‘City of Djinns’.
Being a traveller, journalist and Historian the varied and eerie things Being a traveller, journalist and Historian the varied and eerie things
about this part of the globe attracts him. And the outcome of his toil about this part of the globe attracts him. And the outcome of his toil
on the socio-political conditions of these Asian nations is –this on the socio-political conditions of these Asian nations is –this
collection of essays. collection of essays.
The title of the book bears the reference to the Hindu mythological The title of the book bears the reference to the Hindu mythological
reference of labelling of the four different epochs of time. In the reference of labelling of the four different epochs of time. In the
introduction- Dalrymple tells the tale of his selection of the title. introduction- Dalrymple tells the tale of his selection of the title.
Explaining his point he notes: The book’s title is a reference to the Explaining his point he notes: The book’s title is a reference to the
concept in ancient Hindu cosmology that time is divided into four concept in ancient Hindu cosmology that time is divided into four
great epochs. Each age (or yug) is named after one of the four great epochs. Each age (or yug) is named after one of the four
throws, from best to worst, in a traditional Indian game of dice; throws, from best to worst, in a traditional Indian game of dice;
accordingly, each successive age represents a period of increasing accordingly, each successive age represents a period of increasing
moral and social deterioration. The ancient mythological Golden Age, moral and social deterioration. The ancient mythological Golden Age,
148
named after the highest throw of dice, is known as the Krita Yug, or named after the highest throw of dice, is known as the Krita Yug, or
the age of Perfection. As I was told again and again on my travels the age of Perfection. As I was told again and again on my travels
around the subcontinent, India is now in throes of the Kali yug, the around the subcontinent, India is now in throes of the Kali yug, the
Age of Kali, the lowest possible throw, an epoch of strife, corruption, Age of Kali, the lowest possible throw, an epoch of strife, corruption,
darkness and disintegration. (Dalrymple Age xi) To support his point, darkness and disintegration. (Dalrymple Age xi) To support his point,
and to strengthen the grounds for his focus and snap- shooting the and to strengthen the grounds for his focus and snap- shooting the
violent and degraded landscape of all the stories he has included in violent and degraded landscape of all the stories he has included in
this collection, he makes a point to site from the seventeenth century this collection, he makes a point to site from the seventeenth century
Vishnu Purana: The kings of Kali yug will be addicted to corruption Vishnu Purana: The kings of Kali yug will be addicted to corruption
and will seize the property of their subjects, but will, for the most part, and will seize the property of their subjects, but will, for the most part,
be of limited power, rising and falling rapidly. The property and be of limited power, rising and falling rapidly. The property and
wealth alone will confer rank; falsehood will be the only means of wealth alone will confer rank; falsehood will be the only means of
success in litigation. Corruption will be the universal means of success in litigation. Corruption will be the universal means of
subsistence. At the end, unable to support their avarios kings, the subsistence. At the end, unable to support their avarios kings, the
people of Kali Age will take refuge in the chasms between people of Kali Age will take refuge in the chasms between
mountains, they will wear rugged garments, and they will have too mountains, they will wear rugged garments, and they will have too
many 135 children. Thus in the Kali Age shall strife and decay many 135 children. Thus in the Kali Age shall strife and decay
constantly proceed, until the human race approaches annihilation. constantly proceed, until the human race approaches annihilation.
(Dalrymple Age xii) (Dalrymple Age xii)
On witnessing On witnessing the bloodshed violence spread throughout the

subcontinent, he states, he feels convinced that the Age of Kali has
the bloodshed violence spread throughout the subcontinent, he in reality cuffed the human race here, and made them thirsty of each
states, he feels convinced that the Age of Kali has in reality cuffed other’s blood- no matter whatever is the ground. Be it social, political
the human race here, and made them thirsty of each other’s blood- or the religious, or on the grounds of morality, status or family feuds,
no matter whatever is the ground. Be it social, political or the the human race seems on the dagger drawing stance. Tolerance and
religious, or on the grounds of morality, status or family feuds, the broad- mindedness are no longer in the index of human virtues,
human race seems on the dagger drawing stance. Tolerance and rather they are considered to be the attributes of weakness in the
broad- mindedness are no longer in the index of human virtues, social arena. Man finds himself entangled with his own fellow people
rather they are considered to be the attributes of weakness in the and he feels he has to struggle hard to get what, he thinks, is
social arena. Man finds himself entangled with his own fellow people essential for his well-being and happiness. The weakest points of
and he feels he has to struggle hard to get what, he thinks, is Democracy have got surfaced and the reins of power have been
essential for his well-being and happiness. The weakest points of grabbed by the persons with criminal backgrounds.....
149
Democracy have got surfaced and the reins of power have been The
grabbed by the persons with criminal backgrounds.....
blind race of these South-Asian nations for military power, and their
The accumulation of ‘Nuclear’ weapons, he notes, as the confirming step
towards the Puranic prophecy of the end of this ‘Kali Yug’ in the total
blind race of these South-Asian nations for military power, and their devastation by the thousands of blazing suns. As he asserts, if he
accumulation of ‘Nuclear’ weapons, he notes, as the confirming step has five lives, all of them he would like to spend in India— that is, he
towards the Puranic prophecy of the end of this ‘Kali Yug’ in the total is that much in love with this nation. His travels across this nation
devastation by the thousands of blazing suns. As he asserts, if he has brought him to the close quarters of the varied and variety of life-
has five lives, all of them he would like to spend in India— that is, he styles, beliefs, conventions and sometimes oddities of the lives of the
is that much in love with this nation. His travels across this nation people and perhaps owing to this throughout a concern that rings in
has brought him to the close quarters of the varied and variety of life- his mind is: “Whether the prosperity of the south and west of the
styles, beliefs, conventions and sometimes oddities of the lives of the country can outweigh the disorder and decay which is spreading out
people and perhaps owing to this throughout a concern that rings in from Bihar and the north” (Dalrymple Age xiii). He knows his
his mind is: “Whether the prosperity of the south and west of the selection of the issues is sensitive which might raise a few cries of
country can outweigh the disorder and decay which is spreading out protest and notes of dissent from the citizens of India. He might be
from Bihar and the north” (Dalrymple Age xiii). He knows his held to the critique as how far he has got the right to criticize the land
selection of the issues is sensitive which might raise a few cries of on which he has travelled for a few years and does not have the
protest and notes of dissent from the citizens of India. He might be enough knowledge of the overall perspectives of this ancient culture.
held to the critique as how far he has got the right to criticize the land But he makes it clear at the very outset that all his labour, research
on which he has travelled for a few years and does not have the and attachments have been bred out of his tender affections and
enough knowledge of the overall perspectives of this ancient culture. love for this land. And true — many commentators and reviewers
But he makes it clear at the very outset that all his labour, research have not taken this book with a well-come note. The critics and
and attachments have been bred out of his tender affections and commentators blame William on the grounds that in an attempt to
love for this land. And true — many commentators and reviewers prove his title appropriate, Dalrymple concentrates a bit too much on
have not taken this book with a well-come note. The critics and the negative side of the story and fails to predict the good things,
commentators blame William on the grounds that in an attempt to India would experience in the coming years. 136 But
prove his title appropriate, Dalrymple concentrates a bit too much on
the negative side of the story and fails to predict the good things, what captures Dalrymple’s attention are the grounds gravely fixed on
India would experience in the coming years. 136 But the stark reality of commonplace life. He describes how caste, crime,
money and muscle power have a stranglehold on rural north Indian
what captures Dalrymple’s attention are the grounds gravely fixed on society, particularly Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan where
the stark reality of commonplace life. He describes how caste, crime, women are raped, and caste based militias kill each other with
money and muscle power have a stranglehold on rural north Indian impunity. The agencies of administration and police are often in
society, particularly Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan where
150
women are raped, and caste based militias kill each other with collusion with the criminals. He also tries to understand the leagues
impunity. The agencies of administration and police are often in of the convicted murderers to win the elections, the student unions’
collusion with the criminals. He also tries to understand the leagues fascination for the power game of politics for that their use of guns
of the convicted murderers to win the elections, the student unions’ and grenades when actually books and journals should be their
fascination for the power game of politics for that their use of guns concerns. On the whole, it is all about what William comes across
and grenades when actually books and journals should be their during his travels across the Indian subcontinent. Some places he
concerns. On the whole, it is all about what William comes across visits, particularly the camps of Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the
during his travels across the Indian subcontinent. Some places he borders of Pakistan, demand great cautions and hold a bit of
visits, particularly the camps of Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the personal risk too. For these are the places where fatal- deadly
borders of Pakistan, demand great cautions and hold a bit of weapons trade free and even the local outsider is not easily well-
personal risk too. For these are the places where fatal- deadly come within their staunch secretive circles and is looked at with
weapons trade free and even the local outsider is not easily well- sheer suspicion, and the slightest blur of untrustworthiness from
come within their staunch secretive circles and is looked at with such an outsider might be justified with a shot of a gun.
sheer suspicion, and the slightest blur of untrustworthiness from
such an outsider might be justified with a shot of a gun. William has picked up those issues which created sensational
tremors among the socio-political circles of contemporary India in the
William has picked up those issues which created sensational last decade of 20 th century. As a developing nation, India has to
tremors among the socio-political circles of contemporary India in the tackle many such clashes, even the neighbouring nations Pakistan
last decade of 20 th century. As a developing nation, India has to and Srilanka too are undergoing same transitional phase. Some of
tackle many such clashes, even the neighbouring nations Pakistan the articles in this collection have been new versions of previously
and Srilanka too are undergoing same transitional phase. Some of published ‘Journalistic’ articles. And as the author confesses, “some
the articles in this collection have been new versions of previously of them have been, edited, trimmed and re-written... and some have
published ‘Journalistic’ articles. And as the author confesses, “some been suffixed with a new post scripts to bring them up to date”
of them have been, edited, trimmed and re-written... and some have (xv).The collection consists of six titles and each title presents two to
been suffixed with a new post scripts to bring them up to date” four different articles pertaining to that particular area of subject. The
(xv).The collection consists of six titles and each title presents two to first four cover the Indian milieu. ‘The North’ presents the scenario of
four different articles pertaining to that particular area of subject. The northern India, particularly the essay ‘The Age of Kali’ talks of the
first four cover the Indian milieu. ‘The North’ presents the scenario of political feudalism of the state of Bihar. ‘In the Kingdom of Avadh’
northern India, particularly the essay ‘The Age of Kali’ talks of the looks back into the glorious past of this Nawabi Kingdom; and
political feudalism of the state of Bihar. ‘In the Kingdom of Avadh’ presents the concerns of the persons associated with it. ‘The City of
looks back into the glorious past of this Nawabi Kingdom; and Widows’ captures and echoes the pains and untold sufferings of the
presents the concerns of the persons associated with it. ‘The City of widows spending their lives helplessly in the city of Vrindavan. The
Widows’ captures and echoes the pains and untold sufferings of the widows here are paid meagre wages for enchanting the name of
widows spending their lives helplessly in the city of Vrindavan. The God in shifts in the round the clock prayers!!!! And rest of their needs
151
widows here are paid meagre wages for enchanting the name of are satisfied through begging on the streets of this place of
God in shifts in the round the clock prayers!!!! And rest of their needs pilgrimage. ‘The Warrior Queen’ presents the story of the queen of
are satisfied through begging on the streets of this place of Gwalior, and provides the details of her political and personal life.
pilgrimage. ‘The Warrior Queen’ presents the story of the queen of The last one ‘East of Evans’ once again pays attention towards the
Gwalior, and provides the details of her political and personal life. public temperament resorting to violence even for the ordinary
The last one ‘East of Evans’ once again pays attention towards the offences received from the fellow beings. ‘The North’, thus snapshots
public temperament resorting to violence even for the ordinary 137 such situational scenario of the northern part of India that on the
offences received from the fellow beings. ‘The North’, thus snapshots whole gives one an impression that the Northern part of India is
137 such situational scenario of the northern part of India that on the standing on the mouth of a volcano which constantly emits the
whole gives one an impression that the Northern part of India is blazing flames of violence. The second title ‘In Rajasthan’ presents
standing on the mouth of a volcano which constantly emits the three articles. ‘The Sad Tale of Bahveri’ presents the painful case of
blazing flames of violence. The second title ‘In Rajasthan’ presents Bahveridevi. She was raped by the socially and politically privileged
three articles. ‘The Sad Tale of Bahveri’ presents the painful case of person and his men of her own village only at the fault of her that
Bahveridevi. She was raped by the socially and politically privileged they doubted she provided information to the government machinery
person and his men of her own village only at the fault of her that about the child-marriage in the said man’s family. Not only was she
they doubted she provided information to the government machinery raped in her farm in front of her husband, but was boycotted by the
about the child-marriage in the said man’s family. Not only was she whole village on the grounds that she was a ‘prostitute’ herself and
raped in her farm in front of her husband, but was boycotted by the by lodging complaint against village’s reputed people on the
whole village on the grounds that she was a ‘prostitute’ herself and allegation of rape, she had brought shame on their village. ‘Caste
by lodging complaint against village’s reputed people on the Wars’ presents another grave picture of society of Rajasthan. It
allegation of rape, she had brought shame on their village. ‘Caste documents that even at the end of the twentieth century/turn of
Wars’ presents another grave picture of society of Rajasthan. It twenty first century – still the society is segregated on the grounds of
documents that even at the end of the twentieth century/turn of caste in some regions of Rajasthan.’ ‘Sati Mata’ looks into the
twenty first century – still the society is segregated on the grounds of debated case of ‘Sati’ at Deorala village near Jaipur. Here, the
caste in some regions of Rajasthan.’ ‘Sati Mata’ looks into the ancient Hindu practice of ‘Sati’- i.e. ritually burning the widow of the
debated case of ‘Sati’ at Deorala village near Jaipur. Here, the dead person to death in the cremation pyre was attempted to be
ancient Hindu practice of ‘Sati’- i.e. ritually burning the widow of the revived. He sincerely tries to investigate whether the issue involved
dead person to death in the cremation pyre was attempted to be the voluntary selection of the lady to embrace death through the
revived. He sincerely tries to investigate whether the issue involved ancient tradition or was it the case of honour killing in which the lady
the voluntary selection of the lady to embrace death through the was compelled against her will to die in the name of tradition? In the
ancient tradition or was it the case of honour killing in which the lady third group of essays titled ‘The New India’, William Dalrymple brings
was compelled against her will to die in the name of tradition? In the under the focus the modern social strides of the elite class of the
third group of essays titled ‘The New India’, William Dalrymple brings metro cities of India which shows the direct impacts of the
under the focus the modern social strides of the elite class of the westernized culture. In ‘Two Bombay Portraits’ he presents the word
152
metro cities of India which shows the direct impacts of the paintings of two icons of modern India namely Baba Sehgal, the
westernized culture. In ‘Two Bombay Portraits’ he presents the word world’s first Hindi rap megastar and Shobha Dè, the lady English
paintings of two icons of modern India namely Baba Sehgal, the writer who has started a sort of writing which has been drastically
world’s first Hindi rap megastar and Shobha Dè, the lady English labelled “dirty and filthy” in the staunch Indian circles. He notes that
writer who has started a sort of writing which has been drastically the flow of cash through the liberal economic policies has given birth
labelled “dirty and filthy” in the staunch Indian circles. He notes that to a new elite class in the Indian society, especially in the
the flow of cash through the liberal economic policies has given birth metropolitan complexes of India like Delhi and Mumbai. And under
to a new elite class in the Indian society, especially in the the waves of the western influences getting filtered through the world
metropolitan complexes of India like Delhi and Mumbai. And under markets, the youth has adopted new age addiction to the party lives.
the waves of the western influences getting filtered through the world As a result of this, a new wave of bars and discotheques have got
markets, the youth has adopted new age addiction to the party lives. booming and mushrooming in the cities like Bombay. Shobha Dé
As a result of this, a new wave of bars and discotheques have got presents in her creative arena the tantalising details of the lives of
booming and mushrooming in the cities like Bombay. Shobha Dé the multimillionaires and the scandals that their wealth gives them
presents in her creative arena the tantalising details of the lives of legacy and privilege to enjoy. This kind of writings, though not
the multimillionaires and the scandals that their wealth gives them welcome openly by any elite literary levels, and adversely criticised
legacy and privilege to enjoy. This kind of writings, though not for the stinking ‘cheapness’—finds its way among the people 138
welcome openly by any elite literary levels, and adversely criticised and sells boomingly. This as Shobha herself claims, “I write readable
for the stinking ‘cheapness’—finds its way among the people 138 trash commercial novels. But I don’t think “commercial” is a dirty
and sells boomingly. This as Shobha herself claims, “I write readable word.....There is a market out there, and I’m filling the slot.” “Finger-
trash commercial novels. But I don’t think “commercial” is a dirty Lickin’Bad: Bangalore and Fast- food Invaders” presents the story of
word.....There is a market out there, and I’m filling the slot.” “Finger- the changing food habits and the agitations bred out of this change
Lickin’Bad: Bangalore and Fast- food Invaders” presents the story of among the certain social circles and manifestation and outburst of
the changing food habits and the agitations bred out of this change such underlying and suppressed oppose into the destructive attacks
among the certain social circles and manifestation and outburst of on the multi- national Fast-Food stores and the protest against the
such underlying and suppressed oppose into the destructive attacks “Miss World Contest” in the Indian Cyber city Bangalore. The social
on the multi- national Fast-Food stores and the protest against the circles appear broadly forked on the issue. On one hand there are
“Miss World Contest” in the Indian Cyber city Bangalore. The social the conventionalists who protest such events taking shape in the
circles appear broadly forked on the issue. On one hand there are name of dragging the nation once again back to the points of
the conventionalists who protest such events taking shape in the “Cultural Imperialism”, whereas there are the groups who claim it to
name of dragging the nation once again back to the points of be the stepping stone through which India could secure a true
“Cultural Imperialism”, whereas there are the groups who claim it to cosmopolitan status, and they on their part ridicule those who
be the stepping stone through which India could secure a true oppose this as being “insecure lot who cannot face the world.” The
cosmopolitan status, and they on their part ridicule those who fourth title ‘The South’ consists of three essays reflecting the way of
oppose this as being “insecure lot who cannot face the world.” The life and the faith holding agencies of the South Indian people. ‘At the
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fourth title ‘The South’ consists of three essays reflecting the way of Court of the Fish- Eyed Goddess’ is set in the southern Tamil temple
life and the faith holding agencies of the South Indian people. ‘At the town of Madurai. William here notes that Madurai was from the time
Court of the Fish- Eyed Goddess’ is set in the southern Tamil temple of 4th century an important trade centre on the Spice Route. The
town of Madurai. William here notes that Madurai was from the time city’s time phase has witnessed many scores of popularity of
of 4th century an important trade centre on the Spice Route. The Religious significance, but now with rising of the middle class there is
city’s time phase has witnessed many scores of popularity of a great influx of believers in the temple of Goddess. “Under the
Religious significance, but now with rising of the middle class there is Charminar” is once again Dalrymple’s choice of historical
a great influx of believers in the temple of Goddess. “Under the exploration. Here in this essay he revokes through the memmories of
Charminar” is once again Dalrymple’s choice of historical Mir Moazam Husain the glorious past of this Hydrabad State. William
exploration. Here in this essay he revokes through the memmories of holds this glorious past as the foil to present the constant
Mir Moazam Husain the glorious past of this Hydrabad State. William degradation of this state, just in the same tune of the Age of Kali. He
holds this glorious past as the foil to present the constant also brings in the ‘Police Action’ – the painful chapter of Indian Post-
degradation of this state, just in the same tune of the Age of Kali. He Independence History. And ends it in the same mood as the
also brings in the ‘Police Action’ – the painful chapter of Indian Post- destruction and devastations of the grandeur of Past has reached its
Independence History. And ends it in the same mood as the apex. The next essay “Parashakti” enacts the story of the Goddess
destruction and devastations of the grandeur of Past has reached its Parashakti in the city of Cochin of Keral State. What interests him
apex. The next essay “Parashakti” enacts the story of the Goddess here the most is the practise of relieving the “possessed” from the
Parashakti in the city of Cochin of Keral State. What interests him clutch of the eerie spirits through the invocation of the goddess. The
here the most is the practise of relieving the “possessed” from the fifth title, “On the Indian Ocean”, presents three essays on the three
clutch of the eerie spirits through the invocation of the goddess. The different islands on the face of the great Indian Ocean. The first of
fifth title, “On the Indian Ocean”, presents three essays on the three them “At Donna Georgina’s” presents the story of Goa. Donna
different islands on the face of the great Indian Ocean. The first of Georgina, the host of William at Goa and the ......., reveals the facts
them “At Donna Georgina’s” presents the story of Goa. Donna before the author-- the goans and their culture found their ecstasies,
Georgina, the host of William at Goa and the ......., reveals the facts or at the most were happy under the reign of the Portuguese
before the author-- the goans and their culture found their ecstasies, colonials, and also that the forceful seizer of Goa by India in
or at the most were happy under the reign of the Portuguese 1961was the worst fate of it. She claims to William that majority of
colonials, and also that the forceful seizer of Goa by India in Goan public feeling was against that but as they 139 were less in
1961was the worst fate of it. She claims to William that majority of number and feeble in force, they had to yield to “them”, i.e. Indians.
Goan public feeling was against that but as they 139 were less in “Up the Tiger Path” fine research of the author on the most
number and feeble in force, they had to yield to “them”, i.e. Indians. mysterious\secretive operations of the Tamil Tigers—the militant
“Up the Tiger Path” fine research of the author on the most force waging a civil war on the Srilankan land in the name of the
mysterious\secretive operations of the Tamil Tigers—the militant regions densely inhabited by the Indian Tamils in 1990. William visits
force waging a civil war on the Srilankan land in the name of the their training camps and interviews their leader too their leader too.
regions densely inhabited by the Indian Tamils in 1990. William visits “The Sorcerer’s Grave” relates the travel of the author to the
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their training camps and interviews their leader too their leader too. mountainous Indian Ocean Island, known today as Réunion. He also
“The Sorcerer’s Grave” relates the travel of the author to the weaves the mythical story of hidden treasure on this Island. Though
mountainous Indian Ocean Island, known today as Réunion. He also the Island lies on the heart of the Indian Ocean, half way between
weaves the mythical story of hidden treasure on this Island. Though Madagascar and Srilanka, William notes, it is a place of
the Island lies on the heart of the Indian Ocean, half way between heterogeneous\assorted cultures and is still the part of France. He
Madagascar and Srilanka, William notes, it is a place of also visits the grave of Levasseur, and there he comes to know that
heterogeneous\assorted cultures and is still the part of France. He while other graves in the centenary remained uncared the one that of
also visits the grave of Levasseur, and there he comes to know that La Buse was clearly much-visited and worshipped for favours people
while other graves in the centenary remained uncared the one that of desired to have. The sixth title “Pakistan” contains three essays on
La Buse was clearly much-visited and worshipped for favours people our neighbouring nation Pakistan. The first among them “Imaran
desired to have. The sixth title “Pakistan” contains three essays on Khan: Out for as Duck” presents William’s travel and close study of
our neighbouring nation Pakistan. The first among them “Imaran the corrupt mechanism of political machineries in Pakistan. Imaran
Khan: Out for as Duck” presents William’s travel and close study of Khan, the most popular captain of the Pakistani cricket team, opts to
the corrupt mechanism of political machineries in Pakistan. Imaran revolutionise the whole corrupt political system in Pakistan and with
Khan, the most popular captain of the Pakistani cricket team, opts to this noble end in mind contests the national elections under the
revolutionise the whole corrupt political system in Pakistan and with banner of a new political party he himself founded- ‘Tehrik-e-Insaaf’.
this noble end in mind contests the national elections under the William minutely covers his whole political campaign and reports the
banner of a new political party he himself founded- ‘Tehrik-e-Insaaf’. unprecedented welcome Imaran Khan received from the people of
William minutely covers his whole political campaign and reports the Pakistan. But, the results of the elections are adverse to all the
unprecedented welcome Imaran Khan received from the people of surveys and opinion polls which forecast\speculated the victory of
Pakistan. But, the results of the elections are adverse to all the Imaran Khan and his party. On the contrary there was a clean swipe
surveys and opinion polls which forecast\speculated the victory of of Tehrik-e-Insaf and neither Imaran nor any of his nominees win a
Imaran Khan and his party. On the contrary there was a clean swipe single seat in the election. “On the Frontier” again presents the
of Tehrik-e-Insaf and neither Imaran nor any of his nominees win a weakening conditions of law and order in Pakistan and the free trade
single seat in the election. “On the Frontier” again presents the and easy access to the deadly and fatal weapons in the frontier
weakening conditions of law and order in Pakistan and the free trade regions of Pakistan. “Blood on the Tracks” is the presentation of the
and easy access to the deadly and fatal weapons in the frontier partition tragedy from the other side of the Indian Frontiers. It is
regions of Pakistan. “Blood on the Tracks” is the presentation of the Dalrymple’s research on the architectural magnificence of the Lahore
partition tragedy from the other side of the Indian Frontiers. It is Railway Station, but how can he miss an opportunity to draw the
Dalrymple’s research on the architectural magnificence of the Lahore attention of the world to the facts that the same building had been an
Railway Station, but how can he miss an opportunity to draw the eminent witness to the partition tragedy? “Benazir Bhutto: Mills &
attention of the world to the facts that the same building had been an Boons in Karanchi” once again is a word sketch of a Pakistani
eminent witness to the partition tragedy? “Benazir Bhutto: Mills & Political tycoon Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of late president of
Boons in Karanchi” once again is a word sketch of a Pakistani Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged to death by the
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Political tycoon Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of late president of government of General zia. 140 All these essays are the result of
Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged to death by the William’s sincere research and personal rectifications of evidences.
government of General zia. 140 All these essays are the result of His travels bring him face to face with the degrading trends in all
William’s sincere research and personal rectifications of evidences. walks of life in the places he visits, or sometimes his interest drags
His travels bring him face to face with the degrading trends in all him to such places. Though there are adverse comments as William
walks of life in the places he visits, or sometimes his interest drags has picked up and has chosen to present only the dark sides of
him to such places. Though there are adverse comments as William developing India and sometimes exaggerates the social or political
has picked up and has chosen to present only the dark sides of reporting in order to prove his title appropriate, one cannot deny the
developing India and sometimes exaggerates the social or political truthfulness and reality of his observations on social and political
reporting in order to prove his title appropriate, one cannot deny the developments taking place in India, Srilanka, and Pakistan. The Age
truthfulness and reality of his observations on social and political of Kali The Age of Kali presents the violence stricken situltion of the
developments taking place in India, Srilanka, and Pakistan. The Age state of Bihar. The news published in Indian Express of 13 february
of Kali The Age of Kali presents the violence stricken situltion of the 1992, about the massecre of the upper caste people of Barra village
state of Bihar. The news published in Indian Express of 13 february by some 200 armed untouchables arrests his attention. Such news
1992, about the massecre of the upper caste people of Barra village has become so coomonplace one that eventhough a number of
by some 200 armed untouchables arrests his attention. Such news persons have been reported to have been repoted to be butchered
has become so coomonplace one that eventhough a number of mercilessly, it has been “burried somewhere in the middle pages” of
persons have been reported to have been repoted to be butchered the newspaper, and carries no waitage of being the Headline. More
mercilessly, it has been “burried somewhere in the middle pages” of surprising matter, as it seems to William, is the cold commonplace
the newspaper, and carries no waitage of being the Headline. More response of other Indians to it. Such a wild play of violence goes
surprising matter, as it seems to William, is the cold commonplace taken for granted in case of Bihar, as this state “where Buddha
response of other Indians to it. Such a wild play of violence goes attained his enlightenment”, is more well-known for such outbrusts of
taken for granted in case of Bihar, as this state “where Buddha violence, creeping coppuptions and endemic caste-warfare. The
attained his enlightenment”, is more well-known for such outbrusts of weaker points of Democracy are at their peak as the sphere of
violence, creeping coppuptions and endemic caste-warfare. The Politics-election- all this has become the dirty power games;
weaker points of Democracy are at their peak as the sphere of especially in Bihar. The criminals and the persons with legal liabilities
Politics-election- all this has become the dirty power games; get elected and at the time of elections unfair means, Booth-
especially in Bihar. The criminals and the persons with legal liabilities capturing, etc. keep their course and results of this, as William
get elected and at the time of elections unfair means, Booth- presents, “no fewer than thiry three of Bihar’s State Assembly MLAs
capturing, etc. keep their course and results of this, as William had criminal records, and a figure like Dular Chand YAdav, who had
presents, “no fewer than thiry three of Bihar’s State Assembly MLAs a hundred cases of Decoity and fifty murders cases pending against
had criminal records, and a figure like Dular Chand YAdav, who had him, could also be addressed as Honourable Member for Barh.
a hundred cases of Decoity and fifty murders cases pending against Media catches crystle clear reflections of society, and the news from
him, could also be addressed as Honourable Member for Barh. Bihar teem with the stories of crimes and breaches of laws. Here the
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Media catches crystle clear reflections of society, and the news from Minister and his supporters illigally capture Railway compartment
Bihar teem with the stories of crimes and breaches of laws. Here the crushing every vioce of protest and with the boasting claim of being
Minister and his supporters illigally capture Railway compartment the creator of the law gave them the unsaid priviledge of brecking
crushing every vioce of protest and with the boasting claim of being them too. Another news of the civil servant G. Krishnaiah’s 141
the creator of the law gave them the unsaid priviledge of brecking merciless murder by the local MP Anand Mohan Singh who
them too. Another news of the civil servant G. Krishnaiah’s 141 “exherted his followers to lynch the upstart official.” The Minister --
merciless murder by the local MP Anand Mohan Singh who the representative of public—caters criminal gangs and uses them to
“exherted his followers to lynch the upstart official.” The Minister -- demonstrate his power—this is the most grave face of democracy.
the representative of public—caters criminal gangs and uses them to And what is more alarming to the temperament and well being of
demonstrate his power—this is the most grave face of democracy. damocracy—is Anand Mohan’s contesting the general election 1996
And what is more alarming to the temperament and well being of and retaining his seat of MP inspite of being in the jail. Dalrymple,
damocracy—is Anand Mohan’s contesting the general election 1996 naturally being wondered at such scenario being reported in the
and retaining his seat of MP inspite of being in the jail. Dalrymple, news, decides to have the first hand information on the issue of
naturally being wondered at such scenario being reported in the massecre of Barr village. He finds out Ashok Singh, one of the two
news, decides to have the first hand information on the issue of fellows who escaped death in the massecre and visits the ‘site’of
massecre of Barr village. He finds out Ashok Singh, one of the two massecre at Barrr. The description of the event is breath taking. On
fellows who escaped death in the massecre and visits the ‘site’of that fateful night all the male members of this ‘Bhumihar’families
massecre at Barrr. The description of the event is breath taking. On were taken to one clearing in the farm and murdered one by one. As
that fateful night all the male members of this ‘Bhumihar’families Ashok narrates all the murders were executed by two persons, so
were taken to one clearing in the farm and murdered one by one. As the other victims had to wait and watch the barberious play of
Ashok narrates all the murders were executed by two persons, so butchering of their own kiths and kins. He saw with his own eyes his
the other victims had to wait and watch the barberious play of father, brothers and cousins bing treated with the edge of a sickle:
butchering of their own kiths and kins. He saw with his own eyes his They killed all my brothers. They killed my father and they killed my
father, brothers and cousins bing treated with the edge of a sickle: uncle and cousins. Eventually my turn came. One of the men pushed
They killed all my brothers. They killed my father and they killed my me forward and the other got his sickle and took three swipes. It
uncle and cousins. Eventually my turn came. One of the men pushed made deep cuts on the back of my neck and head. I was senseless.
me forward and the other got his sickle and took three swipes. It The next thing i knew i woke up in hospital in Gaya.; it was three
made deep cuts on the back of my neck and head. I was senseless. weeks before i could get out of bed. (08) Even after this nightmare,
The next thing i knew i woke up in hospital in Gaya.; it was three back at the village the ladies and the male members who survived
weeks before i could get out of bed. (08) Even after this nightmare, the mishap live under terrified cicumstances and constant threat of
back at the village the ladies and the male members who survived being attcked. The new houses they built remind William some
the mishap live under terrified cicumstances and constant threat of miniature castle or “the Peel towewrs erected across the Scotish
being attcked. The new houses they built remind William some boarders in the sixteenth century” (08). Recurrence of such events at
miniature castle or “the Peel towewrs erected across the Scotish cetain intervals at one or the other corner of Bihar makes one
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boarders in the sixteenth century” (08). Recurrence of such events at wonder with the notion that it is receding towards the DARK AGES.
cetain intervals at one or the other corner of Bihar makes one William rightly observes much of Bihar’s violence has roots in the
wonder with the notion that it is receding towards the DARK AGES. caste fuedalism: There, two rival militia were at work: the Savarna
William rightly observes much of Bihar’s violence has roots in the Liberation Front, which represented the interests of the high-caste
caste fuedalism: There, two rival militia were at work: the Savarna llandowning Bhumihars, and the Maoist Communist Centre, which
Liberation Front, which represented the interests of the high-caste took the part lower castes and Untouchables who farmed the
llandowning Bhumihars, and the Maoist Communist Centre, which Bhumihars’ fields. Week after week, the Bhumihars would go ‘Harijan
took the part lower castes and Untouchables who farmed the hunting’, setting off in convoys of jeeps to masecre’uppity
Bhumihars’ fields. Week after week, the Bhumihars would go ‘Harijan Untouchables’, ‘to make an example’; in retaliation, the peasants
hunting’, setting off in convoys of jeeps to masecre’uppity would emerge from the fields at night and silently behead an
Untouchables’, ‘to make an example’; in retaliation, the peasants oppressive landliord or two. The police did little to protwest either
would emerge from the fields at night and silently behead an group. 142 William drags attention to the point of Laloo Prasad
oppressive landliord or two. The police did little to protwest either Yadav’s in Bihar and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s in Uttarpradesh—the
group. 142 William drags attention to the point of Laloo Prasad lower caste politicians’ emergence on the political horizons as a
Yadav’s in Bihar and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s in Uttarpradesh—the stride of turning of tables. He notes that Indian politics has always
lower caste politicians’ emergence on the political horizons as a been dominated by the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas—the two
stride of turning of tables. He notes that Indian politics has always castes on the top of the caste pyramid. But, the social revolution,
been dominated by the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas—the two bred out of dissatisfaction towards the oppressions and atrocities of
castes on the top of the caste pyramid. But, the social revolution, the upper castes, has taken the lead and now these lower caste
bred out of dissatisfaction towards the oppressions and atrocities of political leaders are gaining power which they “ use to ensure that
the upper castes, has taken the lead and now these lower caste their lot is bettered,” and as Laloo Yadav puts it in his talks with
political leaders are gaining power which they “ use to ensure that William: Because we were from the Yadav caste we were not entitled
their lot is bettered,” and as Laloo Yadav puts it in his talks with to sit on the chair, they (the upper caste people) made us sit on the
William: Because we were from the Yadav caste we were not entitled ground. I remember all that humiliation. Now I am in chair and I want
to sit on the chair, they (the upper caste people) made us sit on the those people to sit on the ground. It is in my mind to teach them a
ground. I remember all that humiliation. Now I am in chair and I want lesson. (15) William decides to meet Laloo Prasad Yadav, the chief
those people to sit on the ground. It is in my mind to teach them a minister of Bihar, the apostle of lower caste lead on the Indian
lesson. (15) William decides to meet Laloo Prasad Yadav, the chief political Horizons, and fortunately happens to find him on the same
minister of Bihar, the apostle of lower caste lead on the Indian flight to Patna. This is how he describes his meeting and first
political Horizons, and fortunately happens to find him on the same impression he forms about him: He finds in Laloo a perfect
flight to Patna. This is how he describes his meeting and first combination of personality who can adorn many facets for successful
impression he forms about him: He finds in Laloo a perfect trade in Indian politics. He appears an ordinary gullible villager with
combination of personality who can adorn many facets for successful his acute assent of Bihari language but when time demands he could
trade in Indian politics. He appears an ordinary gullible villager with easily take resort to unfair means, guns and violence. Laloo comes
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his acute assent of Bihari language but when time demands he could from a lower caste family and he had no privileged childhood. But he
easily take resort to unfair means, guns and violence. Laloo comes is fully confident about the social awakening of the lower castes of
from a lower caste family and he had no privileged childhood. But he which he boasts to the representative: “The backward castes will rise
is fully confident about the social awakening of the lower castes of up,” he said, “Even now they are waking up and raising their voices.
which he boasts to the representative: “The backward castes will rise You will see: we will break the power of these [upper caste]
up,” he said, “Even now they are waking up and raising their voices. people....” (24). And this sort of awakening will result in his own
You will see: we will break the power of these [upper caste] political empowerment as he asserts: The BJP [Bharatiya Janta
people....” (24). And this sort of awakening will result in his own Party] and the Congress are both Brahminical Parties. The Backward
political empowerment as he asserts: The BJP [Bharatiya Janta castes have no reason to vote for them. Already they have realised
Party] and the Congress are both Brahminical Parties. The Backward this in Bihar. In time they will realise this everywhere. The support of
castes have no reason to vote for them. Already they have realised these parties will dry up likea dirty puddle in summer. (24) He seems
this in Bihar. In time they will realise this everywhere. The support of totally indifferent to the total failure of administration in Bihar state:
these parties will dry up likea dirty puddle in summer. (24) He seems ..... the economy is stagnant, crime is completely out of
totally indifferent to the total failure of administration in Bihar state: control:64,085 violent offences (such as armed robbery, looting,
..... the economy is stagnant, crime is completely out of rioting and murder) took place between January and June 1997. This
control:64,085 violent offences (such as armed robbery, looting, igure includes 2625 murders 1116 kidnapping and 127 abduction for
rioting and murder) took place between January and June 1997. This ransom, meaning that Bihar witnesses 14 143 murders everyday and
igure includes 2625 murders 1116 kidnapping and 127 abduction for a kidnapping every four hour. Whatever index of prosperity and
ransom, meaning that Bihar witnesses 14 143 murders everyday and development you choose, Bihar comes triumphantly at the bottom. It
a kidnapping every four hour. Whatever index of prosperity and has the lowest literacy, the highest crime, the fewest cinemas. Its per
development you choose, Bihar comes triumphantly at the bottom. It capita income is less than half the Indian average. Not long ago it
has the lowest literacy, the highest crime, the fewest cinemas. Its per had a major famine. The state has withered; Bihar is now nearing a
capita income is less than half the Indian average. Not long ago it situation of anarchy. (17) The other examples of mal-administration,
had a major famine. The state has withered; Bihar is now nearing a Dalrymple picks up/ finds out in his visit to the vice-chancellor, Prof.
situation of anarchy. (17) The other examples of mal-administration, Mohinuddin and Mr. Uttam Sen Gupta, the editor of Patna edition of
Dalrymple picks up/ finds out in his visit to the vice-chancellor, Prof. the Times Of India—are the students’ attack of the Vice – Chancellor
Mohinuddin and Mr. Uttam Sen Gupta, the editor of Patna edition of as they were stopped from malpracticing in the exam, the broken
the Times Of India—are the students’ attack of the Vice – Chancellor down X- Ray machine for a year in the Patna civil Hospital and the
as they were stopped from malpracticing in the exam, the broken Capital City of Bihar _patna going dark after the sunset as there
down X- Ray machine for a year in the Patna civil Hospital and the were no light-bulbs in the streetslamps. William puts it in his unique
Capital City of Bihar _patna going dark after the sunset as there style: “.......everyday at sunset, Patna a city of over a million people,
were no light-bulbs in the streetslamps. William puts it in his unique was plunged into medieval darkness” (19). And, In a very real sense,
style: “.......everyday at sunset, Patna a city of over a million people, Bihar may be a kind of Heart of Darkness pumping violence and
was plunged into medieval darkness” (19). And, In a very real sense, corruption, pulse after pulse, out into the rest of the subcontinent.
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Bihar may be a kind of Heart of Darkness pumping violence and The first ballot-rigging recorded in India took place in Bihar in 1962
corruption, pulse after pulse, out into the rest of the subcontinent. general election. Thirty year later, it is common across the country.
The first ballot-rigging recorded in India took place in Bihar in 1962 The first example of major crimiminals winning parliamentary seats
general election. Thirty year later, it is common across the country. took place in Bihar in 1980 election. Again, it is now quite normal all
The first example of major crimiminals winning parliamentary seats over India. (20) Here—‘corruption, lawlessness, marauding caste
took place in Bihar in 1980 election. Again, it is now quite normal all armies and the background of government’ does prevail and make
over India. (20) Here—‘corruption, lawlessness, marauding caste the average citizen sighs (as it is expressed by Ashok Singh, the
armies and the background of government’ does prevail and make victim of the Barr tragedy): “We are left at the mercy of God. This is
the average citizen sighs (as it is expressed by Ashok Singh, the the Kali Yug (the Age of Kali), the epoch of disintegration” (21). In the
victim of the Barr tragedy): “We are left at the mercy of God. This is ‘Postscript’ to the essay, William wonders at the miraculous results of
the Kali Yug (the Age of Kali), the epoch of disintegration” (21). In the 1998 general election in which, despite his arrest under the fodder
‘Postscript’ to the essay, William wonders at the miraculous results of scam Laloo won his seat—his wife’s government returned to power
1998 general election in which, despite his arrest under the fodder in alliance with the Congress, and –robbery—crime, rage still gaining
scam Laloo won his seat—his wife’s government returned to power speed. [Note: on 3 rd of October 2013 Laloo was sentenced five
in alliance with the Congress, and –robbery—crime, rage still gaining years of confinement by the CBI court and on legal ground got
speed. [Note: on 3 rd of October 2013 Laloo was sentenced five disqualified from holding the membership of Parliament.] 144 In the
years of confinement by the CBI court and on legal ground got Kingdom of Avadh Lucknow -1998
disqualified from holding the membership of Parliament.] 144 In the ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kingdom of Avadh Lucknow -1998 Lucknow—the capital city of Avadh in her pre-colonial period
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- especially its spectacular skyline—with its domes and towers and
Lucknow—the capital city of Avadh in her pre-colonial period gilded cupolas, its palaces and pleasure gardens, ceremonial
especially its spectacular skyline—with its domes and towers and avenues and wide maidans— reminded the travellers [from West] of
gilded cupolas, its palaces and pleasure gardens, ceremonial Constantinople, Paris or even Venice. Avadh [or Oudh] was also
avenues and wide maidans— reminded the travellers [from West] of renowned for etiquette and refinement. In the realm of ‘Flamboyant
Constantinople, Paris or even Venice. Avadh [or Oudh] was also Nawabs, during the eighteenth century, the city resembled ‘ an
renowned for etiquette and refinement. In the realm of ‘Flamboyant Indian version of [pre-Revolutionary] Tehran, Monte Carlo and Las
Nawabs, during the eighteenth century, the city resembled ‘ an Vegas, with just a touch of Glyndebourne for good measure.’ But the
Indian version of [pre-Revolutionary] Tehran, Monte Carlo and Las Golden era came to a jostled end at the 1857 mutiny. The vengeful
Vegas, with just a touch of Glyndebourne for good measure.’ But the Britishers did all to reduce the glory of the city to near devastation
Golden era came to a jostled end at the 1857 mutiny. The vengeful stature. See, how the glories of this grand city get reflected in the
Britishers did all to reduce the glory of the city to near devastation words of a western traveller, as quoted by William: Not Rome, not
stature. See, how the glories of this grand city get reflected in the Athens, not Constantinople, not any city I have ever seen appears to
words of a western traveller, as quoted by William: Not Rome, not me so striking and beautiful as this. The sun playing on the gilt
Athens, not Constantinople, not any city I have ever seen appears to domes and spires, the exceeding richness of the vegetation and
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me so striking and beautiful as this. The sun playing on the gilt forests and gardens remind one somewhat of the view of the Bois de
domes and spires, the exceeding richness of the vegetation and Boulogne from the hill over St Cloud...but for the thunder of the guns
forests and gardens remind one somewhat of the view of the Bois de and the noise of the balls cleaving the air, how peaceful the scene
Boulogne from the hill over St Cloud...but for the thunder of the guns would be! (31) (The British war correspondent William Russel in the
and the noise of the balls cleaving the air, how peaceful the scene middle of the Great Mutiny) But the fateful event of the Great Mutiny
would be! (31) (The British war correspondent William Russel in the brought upon the city a sort of hard- luck and its charms were
middle of the Great Mutiny) But the fateful event of the Great Mutiny ruthlessly butchered by the Armies of the East India Company. Still,
brought upon the city a sort of hard- luck and its charms were the city maintained her development and regained her charms to be
ruthlessly butchered by the Armies of the East India Company. Still, known ‘as one of the great cities of the Raj” even it managed to
the city maintained her development and regained her charms to be revert the pattern of devastation and destruction brought upon it on
known ‘as one of the great cities of the Raj” even it managed to the event of Partition. 145 The City of Widows ------------------------
revert the pattern of devastation and destruction brought upon it on ----------------------- ---------------------- ---------------- They have no
the event of Partition. 145 The City of Widows ------------------------ privacy, no luxuries, no holidays. They simply pray until they keel
----------------------- ---------------------- ---------------- They have no over and die. There are eight thousand of them at present in the
privacy, no luxuries, no holidays. They simply pray until they keel town, and every year their number is increasing. (51) In ‘The City of
over and die. There are eight thousand of them at present in the Widows’, William devotes his time in studying such painful lives of
town, and every year their number is increasing. (51) In ‘The City of the numberless widows spending their days and waiting for death in
Widows’, William devotes his time in studying such painful lives of this pious city of pilgrimage, Vrindavan of Uttarpradesh which
the numberless widows spending their days and waiting for death in according to the Indian scriptures is the birth place of the great
this pious city of pilgrimage, Vrindavan of Uttarpradesh which Indian deity Lord Krishna. He opens his essay with a factual painting
according to the Indian scriptures is the birth place of the great of the plight: “The eye of faith can often see much that is hidden from
Indian deity Lord Krishna. He opens his essay with a factual painting the vision of the non believer” (49). In the nation like India whose
of the plight: “The eye of faith can often see much that is hidden from very core of life-style takes one or another religio-centric foundation,
the vision of the non believer” (49). In the nation like India whose any attempts to throw light on the real plights must be counter
very core of life-style takes one or another religio-centric foundation, attacked in the name of faith, but still the reality cannot be evaded on
any attempts to throw light on the real plights must be counter any measure. He presents two views of the city. In the first case he
attacked in the name of faith, but still the reality cannot be evaded on says in the view of a secular being, the city is a nothing more than a
any measure. He presents two views of the city. In the first case he rundown. But the same complex finds divine touch in the view of a
says in the view of a secular being, the city is a nothing more than a pilgrim; his wistful eyes behold elements of lord Krishna in each and
rundown. But the same complex finds divine touch in the view of a every molecule of the city. William paints it from the view point of a
pilgrim; his wistful eyes behold elements of lord Krishna in each and devout pilgrim: “Devout Hindus believe that Krishna is still present in
every molecule of the city. William paints it from the view point of a this temple town with its crumbling palaces and swarming ashrams,
devout pilgrim: “Devout Hindus believe that Krishna is still present in its open sewers and its stalls selling brightly coloured lithographs of
this temple town with its crumbling palaces and swarming ashrams, the God Child” (49). Reaching at the root levels William notes: In
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its open sewers and its stalls selling brightly coloured lithographs of traditional Hindu society a woman loses her status the moment her
the God Child” (49). Reaching at the root levels William notes: In husband dies. She is forbidden to wear colours or jewellery or to eat
traditional Hindu society a woman loses her status the moment her meat. She is forbidden to remarry (at least if she is reasonably high
husband dies. She is forbidden to wear colours or jewellery or to eat cast; low-caste and Untouchable women can do what they want) and
meat. She is forbidden to remarry (at least if she is reasonably high she is forbidden to own property. She may no longer be expected to
cast; low-caste and Untouchable women can do what they want) and commit ‘sati’ and throw herself on her husband’s funeral pyre, but in
she is forbidden to own property. She may no longer be expected to many traditional communities, particularly in the more remote
commit ‘sati’ and throw herself on her husband’s funeral pyre, but in villages, she is still expected to shave her head and live like an
many traditional communities, particularly in the more remote ascetic, sleeping on the ground, living only to fast and pray for her
villages, she is still expected to shave her head and live like an departed spouse. (50) And in such scenario, the widows are literally
ascetic, sleeping on the ground, living only to fast and pray for her thrown out of their households and societies and they are forced to
departed spouse. (50) And in such scenario, the widows are literally lead a pitiable life of misery on the dirty streets and alleys of the
thrown out of their households and societies and they are forced to pious city Vrindavan. 146 Every day widows from all over India arrive
lead a pitiable life of misery on the dirty streets and alleys of the in Vrindavan. They come to seek the protection of Krishna, to chant
pious city Vrindavan. 146 Every day widows from all over India arrive mantras and to meditate on their own mortality. They live in great
in Vrindavan. They come to seek the protection of Krishna, to chant poverty. In return for four hours of chanting, the principal ashram will
mantras and to meditate on their own mortality. They live in great give a widow a cupful of rice and two rupees---about four pence. (50)
poverty. In return for four hours of chanting, the principal ashram will William traces the painful story of Kankalatha. She had been living
give a widow a cupful of rice and two rupees---about four pence. (50) here in Vrindavan for last forty years i.e. the major part of her life she
William traces the painful story of Kankalatha. She had been living has spent here chanting the name of god and begging! Her days
here in Vrindavan for last forty years i.e. the major part of her life she starts at four thirty after her offering service to her private idol of
has spent here chanting the name of god and begging! Her days Krishna, she world go for chanting shift from six to ten and after that
starts at four thirty after her offering service to her private idol of her time would spend in begging in order to meet her expenses; the
Krishna, she world go for chanting shift from six to ten and after that major of it being the rent of the ‘air less’ room in which she nurses
her time would spend in begging in order to meet her expenses; the her age old mother. Despite all these pains, worries and uncertainty
major of it being the rent of the ‘air less’ room in which she nurses of life, William is wonderstruck to note the ladies’ unfathomable, love
her age old mother. Despite all these pains, worries and uncertainty and faith on Lord. “If Govinda doesn’t look after us who will?” said
of life, William is wonderstruck to note the ladies’ unfathomable, love Kanaklatha. “If I didn’t believe in him how could I stay alive?” Pain,
and faith on Lord. “If Govinda doesn’t look after us who will?” said pain, and pain only drips form their utterances: “It is all fate.” It was
Kanaklatha. “If I didn’t believe in him how could I stay alive?” Pain, the mother speaking. “When we were young we never imagined this
pain, and pain only drips form their utterances: “It is all fate.” It was would be our end” (53). As kankalatha puts; “We were a land owning
the mother speaking. “When we were young we never imagined this family. Now we have to beg to beg to survive. Even now I’m full of
would be our end” (53). As kankalatha puts; “We were a land owning shame when I beg, thinking I m from a good family. It is the same
family. Now we have to beg to beg to survive. Even now I’m full of with all the widows. Our usefulness is past we are all reject. This is
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shame when I beg, thinking I m from a good family. It is the same our karma” (53). The blame doesn’t fix on any other agency than on
with all the widows. Our usefulness is past we are all reject. This is their own karma and there isn’t the slightest tone of complaint for god
our karma” (53). The blame doesn’t fix on any other agency than on either. He is held with the esteem of a guardian. “Only Govinda
their own karma and there isn’t the slightest tone of complaint for god knows our pain and misery,” said her mother. “No one else could
either. He is held with the esteem of a guardian. “Only Govinda understand” (53). Many of these widows have literally been thrown
knows our pain and misery,” said her mother. “No one else could out of their houses by their own sons and in some cases on the
understand” (53). Many of these widows have literally been thrown grounds of ‘shame’ that might fall on their family as they beg in the
out of their houses by their own sons and in some cases on the streets; they are cut off of all sorts of contacts. In such plight it is
grounds of ‘shame’ that might fall on their family as they beg in the natural that a question might rise in their minds as the age old
streets; they are cut off of all sorts of contacts. In such plight it is mother of Kanaklatha, at the age of 95, in ill and bedridden state
natural that a question might rise in their minds as the age old raises; “We haven’t committed a crime. Why should we go through
mother of Kanaklatha, at the age of 95, in ill and bedridden state all this?” (54) And the shocking and heart rendering height of the
raises; “We haven’t committed a crime. Why should we go through case is that the pain and misery of such life makes them feel to
all this?” (54) And the shocking and heart rendering height of the validate the system of sati; instead of dying every moment with acute
case is that the pain and misery of such life makes them feel to humiliations of begging, pains and the feeling they are not 147
validate the system of sati; instead of dying every moment with acute important to anybody on this earth. Their existing or not made no
humiliations of begging, pains and the feeling they are not 147 difference to anybody in the society. William also meets her landlord,
important to anybody on this earth. Their existing or not made no Pandit Krishna Gopal Shulka and receives some more alarming
difference to anybody in the society. William also meets her landlord, details regarding the widows in the city. Shukla informs him about the
Pandit Krishna Gopal Shulka and receives some more alarming money laundering mechanics of the business houses as well as the
details regarding the widows in the city. Shukla informs him about the black trade of the young widows for mistresses and the scandals of
money laundering mechanics of the business houses as well as the selling them to the whorehouses. The research of the writer places
black trade of the young widows for mistresses and the scandals of the miserable plight of the widows in real light and shows how in the
selling them to the whorehouses. The research of the writer places name of tradition the widowed women are deprived of their rights
the miserable plight of the widows in real light and shows how in the and left uncared and in vulnerable conditions. Perhaps the old
name of tradition the widowed women are deprived of their rights woman who comes to up William in the end rightly says: “We all died
and left uncared and in vulnerable conditions. Perhaps the old the day our husbands died how can anyone describe our pains our
woman who comes to up William in the end rightly says: “We all died hearts are on fire with sorrow. Now we just wait for the day when all
the day our husbands died how can anyone describe our pains our this will end” (59). And perhaps all this makes Kamala Ghosh a local
hearts are on fire with sorrow. Now we just wait for the day when all women’s rights activist puts, as quoted by William, “If I were to sit
this will end” (59). And perhaps all this makes Kamala Ghosh a local under a tree and tell you the sadness of the widows of Vrindavan,
women’s rights activist puts, as quoted by William, “If I were to sit the leaves that tree would fall like tears”(51). Warrior Queen: The
under a tree and tell you the sadness of the widows of Vrindavan, Rajmata of Gwalior ------------------------ -----------------------
the leaves that tree would fall like tears”(51). Warrior Queen: The ---------------------- ----------------- “At the age of seventy-nine she is still
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Rajmata of Gwalior ------------------------ ----------------------- an enigma.” This is the response of the author after following
---------------------- ----------------- “At the age of seventy-nine she is still personally the persona and personality and personal and political
an enigma.” This is the response of the author after following activities of the Dowager Maharani of Gwalior, Rajmata Vijayaraje
personally the persona and personality and personal and political Scindia. A strong and hard-liner Hindu political theory holder,
activities of the Dowager Maharani of Gwalior, Rajmata Vijayaraje Rajmata holds many important positions in Indian politics. After
Scindia. A strong and hard-liner Hindu political theory holder, having got her own dynastical reign dissolved after the Indian
Rajmata holds many important positions in Indian politics. After Independence from the British rule in 1947, Rajmata entered into the
having got her own dynastical reign dissolved after the Indian active politics. The well known slit in her family has an interesting
Independence from the British rule in 1947, Rajmata entered into the story. When Indira Gandhi, the Congress Prime Minister, imposed
active politics. The well known slit in her family has an interesting emergency in India in 1975, Rajmata was also arrested and sent to
story. When Indira Gandhi, the Congress Prime Minister, imposed the Tihar jail. During this instead of standing by his mother her son,
emergency in India in 1975, Rajmata was also arrested and sent to Madhavrao Scindia went into the league with the Congress
the Tihar jail. During this instead of standing by his mother her son, Government and managed to flee to Nepal leaving his mother to her
Madhavrao Scindia went into the league with the Congress fate in the Jail. This had cast deep and serious dent in the mother’s
Government and managed to flee to Nepal leaving his mother to her psyche —“.....in the Emergency he left me inside that jail with the
fate in the Jail. This had cast deep and serious dent in the mother’s criminals and prostitutes. Imagine it: one of the inmates had twenty-
psyche —“.....in the Emergency he left me inside that jail with the four cases against her, including four murders. These were the
criminals and prostitutes. Imagine it: one of the inmates had twenty- companions he thought suitable for his mother” (67). 148 Though
four cases against her, including four murders. These were the engaged in many social and political activities, Rajmata is the lady of
companions he thought suitable for his mother” (67). 148 Though great faith. She tries to attribute all the developments with the will of
engaged in many social and political activities, Rajmata is the lady of God. Her day begins with two hour long Puja to lord Krishna, and to
great faith. She tries to attribute all the developments with the will of the question how does she take her lord Krishna to be, she
God. Her day begins with two hour long Puja to lord Krishna, and to blushingly replies: “...it’s like two lovers: you can’t say to them,
the question how does she take her lord Krishna to be, she “Describe how you behave when you are together” (65). The resident
blushingly replies: “...it’s like two lovers: you can’t say to them, in which Rajmata resides is a massive Jai Vilas Palace built
“Describe how you behave when you are together” (65). The resident according to the status of the Maharaja. William, who has seen many
in which Rajmata resides is a massive Jai Vilas Palace built gorgeous buildings of the world, too gets impressed by the beauty of
according to the status of the Maharaja. William, who has seen many this building: Then I noticed that to one side of the palace, a few
gorgeous buildings of the world, too gets impressed by the beauty of hundred yards away, lay another, fven larger, edifice. Suddenly I
this building: Then I noticed that to one side of the palace, a few realised that the vast building I had just toured was only a small,
hundred yards away, lay another, fven larger, edifice. Suddenly I detached wing—a kind of garden cottage— tucked off to the side of
realised that the vast building I had just toured was only a small, the main bulk of the Jai Vilas Palace. This far larger palace was the
detached wing—a kind of garden cottage— tucked off to the side of home of Sardar’s enemy, the Maharaja. Like the building we were
the main bulk of the Jai Vilas Palace. This far larger palace was the standing in, it was a late-nineteen-century construction built in an
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home of Sardar’s enemy, the Maharaja. Like the building we were Italian baroque style: a kind of massive Milanese wedding cake air-
standing in, it was a late-nineteen-century construction built in an dropped into the jungle of central India. (69) Another two things that
Italian baroque style: a kind of massive Milanese wedding cake air- arrest William’s attention are the World’s second largest Chandelier
dropped into the jungle of central India. (69) Another two things that and the Solid Silver model railway on the dining table. Noting the
arrest William’s attention are the World’s second largest Chandelier historical event associated with the whole palace complex and the
and the Solid Silver model railway on the dining table. Noting the two eccentricities namely the Chandelier and the model train, William
historical event associated with the whole palace complex and the states that it all came to shape on the ‘Ill-fated visit of the Prince and
two eccentricities namely the Chandelier and the model train, William Princess of Wales to Gwalior in 1857.’ William also brings into the
states that it all came to shape on the ‘Ill-fated visit of the Prince and light the mishaps that occurred on the visit of the royal couple in his
Princess of Wales to Gwalior in 1857.’ William also brings into the humorous vein. The train which was designed to impress the Prince
light the mishaps that occurred on the visit of the royal couple in his stumbled into the Prince’s lap at the dining table and the magnificent
humorous vein. The train which was designed to impress the Prince marble bath-tub itself disappeared into the floor at the time of
stumbled into the Prince’s lap at the dining table and the magnificent princess’ bath. William also notes that the real reign of Maharaja in
marble bath-tub itself disappeared into the floor at the time of Gwalior was a sweet dream of the residents of the state. The people
princess’ bath. William also notes that the real reign of Maharaja in still remember those days when they were looked after by the Ruler
Gwalior was a sweet dream of the residents of the state. The people in the spirits of guardianship. Here too, there is a common shared
still remember those days when they were looked after by the Ruler discontent for the present corrupt bureaucracy: The Maharaja would
in the spirits of guardianship. Here too, there is a common shared himself go around the city, at night, incognito, and see how the things
discontent for the present corrupt bureaucracy: The Maharaja would were being managed. He really did believe his subjects were his
himself go around the city, at night, incognito, and see how the things children. Now where you go there is corruption and extortion. (The
were being managed. He really did believe his subjects were his Major said) (71) And, as Vanmala said: 149 Today every babu in the
children. Now where you go there is corruption and extortion. (The civil services thinks he is a Maharaja, and tries to make difficulties for
Major said) (71) And, as Vanmala said: 149 Today every babu in the the common man. But in those days there was only just one King.
civil services thinks he is a Maharaja, and tries to make difficulties for The people of Gwalior had confidence that if they told their story he
the common man. But in those days there was only just one King. would listen and try to redress them. (71) Such is the estimation of
The people of Gwalior had confidence that if they told their story he their Kings—the rulers in the minds of the people. Equally grand was
would listen and try to redress them. (71) Such is the estimation of their life-style. In their time the Kings enjoyed regal luxuries and even
their Kings—the rulers in the minds of the people. Equally grand was after their death, the kings are treated as living entities and given the
their life-style. In their time the Kings enjoyed regal luxuries and even same treatment as if they were alive. In the places where their
after their death, the kings are treated as living entities and given the memorials are erected, their statues are extended the real regal
same treatment as if they were alive. In the places where their treatment right from the morning awaking music to the softer bed for
memorials are erected, their statues are extended the real regal night. Everything is done on the exact time-table. This practise
treatment right from the morning awaking music to the softer bed for reminds William of the pyramids of Egypt: “Grave goods—everything
night. Everything is done on the exact time-table. This practise the Maharani would need for the afterlife—lay scattered all around. I
165
reminds William of the pyramids of Egypt: “Grave goods—everything felt rather as if I had stumbled into a Pyramid twenty years after the
the Maharani would need for the afterlife—lay scattered all around. I death of Ramses II” (73). After enjoying the warm hospitality of
felt rather as if I had stumbled into a Pyramid twenty years after the Rajmata and having spent some quality time with her, William
death of Ramses II” (73). After enjoying the warm hospitality of wonders about the media reporting about this lady. He finds not a
Rajmata and having spent some quality time with her, William single trait of obscurity in her as it is being reported about her in the
wonders about the media reporting about this lady. He finds not a media by her detractors in the Indian press. Rather he finds her to
single trait of obscurity in her as it is being reported about her in the be: “....endearing, there was absolutely nothing sinister about her”
media by her detractors in the Indian press. Rather he finds her to (73). Through the link of Rajmata Scindia, William picks up, here, an
be: “....endearing, there was absolutely nothing sinister about her” opportunity to express his observations on the emerging strength of
(73). Through the link of Rajmata Scindia, William picks up, here, an the hard-line Hindu political ideology in eminence through the
opportunity to express his observations on the emerging strength of Bhartiya Janta Party and its mentor institution RSS {Rastriya
the hard-line Hindu political ideology in eminence through the Swayam Sevak Sang} {Association of National Volunteers}. He puts
Bhartiya Janta Party and its mentor institution RSS {Rastriya forward his observations on the RSS as a fascist institution hatching,
Swayam Sevak Sang} {Association of National Volunteers}. He puts in vein, the dream of national integrity, strength and purity: Like
forward his observations on the RSS as a fascist institution hatching, Phalange in Lebanon, the RSS was founded in direct imitation of
in vein, the dream of national integrity, strength and purity: Like 1930s European fascist movement; and like its models it still makes
Phalange in Lebanon, the RSS was founded in direct imitation of much of daily parading in khakhi drill. The RSS views this as an
1930s European fascist movement; and like its models it still makes essential element in the creation of a corps of dedicated and
much of daily parading in khakhi drill. The RSS views this as an disciplined paramilitary followers who, so the theory goes, will form
essential element in the creation of a corps of dedicated and the basis of a revival of some long-lost golden age of national
disciplined paramilitary followers who, so the theory goes, will form strength and purity. (63) William draws attention towards the
the basis of a revival of some long-lost golden age of national founding principle of this association which, he quotes the early RSS
strength and purity. (63) William draws attention towards the leader, Madhav Gowalkar, holds the ideal as that of the Germans’
founding principle of this association which, he quotes the early RSS treatment to the Jews and that: “The non-Hindu people in Hindustan
leader, Madhav Gowalkar, holds the ideal as that of the Germans’ must learn... to revere the Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but
treatment to the Jews and that: “The non-Hindu people in Hindustan the glorification of the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving
must learn... to revere the Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but nothing” (63). 150 William notes that it was this RSS that took the
the glorification of the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving lead of the most horrifying atrocities against the Indian Muslims
nothing” (63). 150 William notes that it was this RSS that took the during the Partition. He also asserts Nathu Ram Godsay’s, the
lead of the most horrifying atrocities against the Indian Muslims assassinator of Mahatma Gandhi, RSS connection. In the course of
during the Partition. He also asserts Nathu Ram Godsay’s, the time the BJP has moved away from the neo-fascist Hindu
assassinator of Mahatma Gandhi, RSS connection. In the course of fundamentalism and assumed rather conservative nationalist
time the BJP has moved away from the neo-fascist Hindu opinion. Thus, on one hand the Congress has lost the trust of the
fundamentalism and assumed rather conservative nationalist minorities and on the other BJP is attracting the nationalists ---as a
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opinion. Thus, on one hand the Congress has lost the trust of the result of this it is getting momentum. William has almost, as he
minorities and on the other BJP is attracting the nationalists ---as a asserts, forgotten the manuscripts on Rajmata, but the sudden,
result of this it is getting momentum. William has almost, as he unexpected and fateful events of 6 th December 1992, once again
asserts, forgotten the manuscripts on Rajmata, but the sudden, brought Rajmata on the Headlines of the press, and this reminded
unexpected and fateful events of 6 th December 1992, once again him of his study of Rajmata’s persona. He puts the event of ‘Babari
brought Rajmata on the Headlines of the press, and this reminded Mosque Demolition’ by the Hindus in the city of Ayodhya—the birth
him of his study of Rajmata’s persona. He puts the event of ‘Babari place of the Hindu legendary God Lord Ram, that day in the following
Mosque Demolition’ by the Hindus in the city of Ayodhya—the birth terms, see: Shouting slogans like ‘Victory to Ram!’ Hindustan is for
place of the Hindu legendary God Lord Ram, that day in the following Hindus’ and ‘Death to the Muslims!’ they began tearing the mosque
terms, see: Shouting slogans like ‘Victory to Ram!’ Hindustan is for apart with sledgehammers, ropes, pickaxes and their bare hands.
Hindus’ and ‘Death to the Muslims!’ they began tearing the mosque One after another, like symbols of India’s traditions of tolerance,
apart with sledgehammers, ropes, pickaxes and their bare hands. democracy and secularism, the three domes of the mosque fell to
One after another, like symbols of India’s traditions of tolerance, the ground. In the little more than four hours the entire structure had
democracy and secularism, the three domes of the mosque fell to been reduced not just to ruination but—quite literally—to rubble. (74)
the ground. In the little more than four hours the entire structure had William, then, reports the post Babari communal violence that spread
been reduced not just to ruination but—quite literally—to rubble. (74) through the entire nation, in which millions of Muslims and their
William, then, reports the post Babari communal violence that spread properties were attacked, torched and assassinated. Even Bombay
through the entire nation, in which millions of Muslims and their like most cosmopolitan city was set to blaze after the reporting of the
properties were attacked, torched and assassinated. Even Bombay event of a Hindu family brutally roasted alive in a petrol bomb attack
like most cosmopolitan city was set to blaze after the reporting of the on 7 th of January 1993. The Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thakaray openly
event of a Hindu family brutally roasted alive in a petrol bomb attack claimed that the Muslim must learn the lesson or be prepared to be
on 7 th of January 1993. The Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thakaray openly dealt with as the Jews in the Nazi Germany. William tries to collect
claimed that the Muslim must learn the lesson or be prepared to be Rajmata’s reaction to all this brutal treatments towards the Muslims
dealt with as the Jews in the Nazi Germany. William tries to collect by her party and its alliances. The response was astonishing; this
Rajmata’s reaction to all this brutal treatments towards the Muslims coy Granny was of the opinion that the Muslims must respect the
by her party and its alliances. The response was astonishing; this creed of the majority. She was not prepared to pay heed to the
coy Granny was of the opinion that the Muslims must respect the atrocities exercised against the minorities. Thus, William concludes:
creed of the majority. She was not prepared to pay heed to the In her blindness, the Rajmata remains an unsettling reminder that
atrocities exercised against the minorities. Thus, William concludes: you need not be personally objectionable to subscribe to the most
In her blindness, the Rajmata remains an unsettling reminder that deeply objectionable political creeds: charm and sweetness are not
you need not be personally objectionable to subscribe to the most guarantees against either violent 151 nationalism or the most
deeply objectionable political creeds: charm and sweetness are not xenophobic religious fundamentalism and bigotry. (79) The postscript
guarantees against either violent 151 nationalism or the most to this essay reports the formation of an alliance government in India
xenophobic religious fundamentalism and bigotry. (79) The postscript in the lead of BJP, and the appointment of party’s moderate
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to this essay reports the formation of an alliance government in India personality, Atal Bihari Vajpayi as the prime minister. But still, in the
in the lead of BJP, and the appointment of party’s moderate decision of exploding the ‘Hindu’ nuclear bomb and the demands of
personality, Atal Bihari Vajpayi as the prime minister. But still, in the erecting a temple at the site of the blast, William sees that the
decision of exploding the ‘Hindu’ nuclear bomb and the demands of extremist elements are yet to be tamed. East of Eton Lucknow 1997
erecting a temple at the site of the blast, William sees that the --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
extremist elements are yet to be tamed. East of Eton Lucknow 1997 William quotes the editorial remarks of the Times of India in the issue
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- of the Republic Day 1997, with the addition of his own remark that
William quotes the editorial remarks of the Times of India in the issue though there might have been widespread celebrations marking fifty
of the Republic Day 1997, with the addition of his own remark that years of Indian Independence in Britain, in India there has been
though there might have been widespread celebrations marking fifty much less rejoicing: ...in this landmark year not much remains of the
years of Indian Independence in Britain, in India there has been hope, idealism and expectations that our founding fathers poured
much less rejoicing: ...in this landmark year not much remains of the into the creation of the Republic. In their place we now have a sense
hope, idealism and expectations that our founding fathers poured of abject resignation, an increasing sense of drift. We are ostensibly
into the creation of the Republic. In their place we now have a sense on the verge of a global breakthrough; yet the truth is that the
of abject resignation, an increasing sense of drift. We are ostensibly deprived India is eating voraciously into the margins of the
on the verge of a global breakthrough; yet the truth is that the prosperous India. (83) He captions an astonishing and barbarous
deprived India is eating voraciously into the margins of the incident of the murder of a teacher by some mysterious shooters
prosperous India. (83) He captions an astonishing and barbarous while he was resting in his room at the La Martiniere, India’s oldest
incident of the murder of a teacher by some mysterious shooters and once it’s most distinguished public school of Lucknow on the
while he was resting in his room at the La Martiniere, India’s oldest dawn of 7 th March 1997. The incident took place just one month
and once it’s most distinguished public school of Lucknow on the and eleven days after the celebration of the fiftieth Republic Day in
dawn of 7 th March 1997. The incident took place just one month India. The PT instructor of the school, an Anglo-Indian—Fredrik
and eleven days after the celebration of the fiftieth Republic Day in Gomes was shot dead. The murder remained a mystery, but the
India. The PT instructor of the school, an Anglo-Indian—Fredrik investigation brought out the facts of many a variety of fatal weapons
Gomes was shot dead. The murder remained a mystery, but the being circulated among the school students. The nutshell question
investigation brought out the facts of many a variety of fatal weapons that raised its head was: “If India’s increasingly endemic violence
being circulated among the school students. The nutshell question and corruption could creep into such an institution, what was the
that raised its head was: “If India’s increasingly endemic violence hope for the rest of India?” (83) The murder of a teacher in the
and corruption could creep into such an institution, what was the school and the needle of suspicion pointing towards the possibility of
hope for the rest of India?” (83) The murder of a teacher in the the culprits being among the lot of the school students is 152
school and the needle of suspicion pointing towards the possibility of enough/ clear indicator of the index of the law and order situation in
the culprits being among the lot of the school students is 152 the state of Uttar Pradesh. William observes that like Bihar, Uttar
enough/ clear indicator of the index of the law and order situation in Pradesh is also travelling on the tracks of Dark Ages. The Chief
the state of Uttar Pradesh. William observes that like Bihar, Uttar Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav has on his Assembly a grand total of
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Pradesh is also travelling on the tracks of Dark Ages. The Chief 150 members with criminal records. Even his score of criminal
Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav has on his Assembly a grand total of offences reached up to a couple of dozens. The entire political
150 members with criminal records. Even his score of criminal system had become corrupt with the weapon trafficking, entertaining
offences reached up to a couple of dozens. The entire political the thugs and outlaws. The power was demonstrated through
system had become corrupt with the weapon trafficking, entertaining outnumbering the rivals with the extravagance of deadly weapons
the thugs and outlaws. The power was demonstrated through and the acts of atrocities on the weaker parts of the rival groups. To
outnumbering the rivals with the extravagance of deadly weapons drive his point home as to what extent the political degradation has
and the acts of atrocities on the weaker parts of the rival groups. To acquired its apex in the state, William quotes Mohan Sohani, the
drive his point home as to what extent the political degradation has Lucknow correspondent of the Calcutta Statesman, who has been
acquired its apex in the state, William quotes Mohan Sohani, the monitoring the decay of UP for more than a decade: There is intense
Lucknow correspondent of the Calcutta Statesman, who has been rivalry between the leaders of the different political parties to recruit
monitoring the decay of UP for more than a decade: There is intense the state’s biggest criminals and gangsters. Of course, the criminals
rivalry between the leaders of the different political parties to recruit are delighted. Once they become politicians, the police who used to
the state’s biggest criminals and gangsters. Of course, the criminals hunt them down have to protect them instead, while the cases which
are delighted. Once they become politicians, the police who used to are pending against them – murder, abduction, banditry—will either
hunt them down have to protect them instead, while the cases which be dropped, or else investigated so slowly they will not make it the
are pending against them – murder, abduction, banditry—will either courts for decades. Moreover, if they are already in prison, and win
be dropped, or else investigated so slowly they will not make it the their seat from behind the bars, they will almost certainly be released
courts for decades. Moreover, if they are already in prison, and win on bail to attend parliament. It’s just getting worse and worse.
their seat from behind the bars, they will almost certainly be released Democracy is badly under threat. (88) When he comes to know that
on bail to attend parliament. It’s just getting worse and worse. such political training starts at the early stage in the schools and
Democracy is badly under threat. (88) When he comes to know that colleges, William goes to see the students of the Habibullah Hostel—
such political training starts at the early stage in the schools and the student resident hall most notorious for the group wars among
colleges, William goes to see the students of the Habibullah Hostel— the students backed and supported by rival political parties. Here,
the student resident hall most notorious for the group wars among the students talk to him about their war with the students group of
the students backed and supported by rival political parties. Here, Victoria Hostel and their attempt to murder the leader of the
the students talk to him about their war with the students group of opponent group, Abhay Singh. The students’ reporting clearly hint
Victoria Hostel and their attempt to murder the leader of the that this sort of fierce activity added to their qualification to be eligible
opponent group, Abhay Singh. The students’ reporting clearly hint and strong claimers of nomination by one or the other political party
that this sort of fierce activity added to their qualification to be eligible as their candidate in the state or central elections. The students
and strong claimers of nomination by one or the other political party whose best companions, in an ideal case, should be books and
as their candidate in the state or central elections. The students journals and to excel in the exams and competition must be their
whose best companions, in an ideal case, should be books and chief concerns, but instead here they are well nigh immersed in the
journals and to excel in the exams and competition must be their blood shot business of murders and revenges. When asked, one of
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chief concerns, but instead here they are well nigh immersed in the them with pride replies: “The guns we buy in the bazaar, the
blood shot business of murders and revenges. When asked, one of grenades we make ourselves” (92). 153 The narration of the group
them with pride replies: “The guns we buy in the bazaar, the war among the students does not in any aspect lack or fall short of
grenades we make ourselves” (92). 153 The narration of the group the wars among the professional Gangsters. There are ample
war among the students does not in any aspect lack or fall short of weapons and ammunitions, and somewhere the police appear but in
the wars among the professional Gangsters. There are ample the form of spectators only. They could even take law in their hands
weapons and ammunitions, and somewhere the police appear but in and beat anybody when their purpose is not served. They could run
the form of spectators only. They could even take law in their hands rampage in the hospital and could beat doctors too: “We took them
and beat anybody when their purpose is not served. They could run (their wounded friends who got injured in a tussle with the opponent
rampage in the hospital and could beat doctors too: “We took them group) to the hospital,” said Pravin, “but the doctors wouldn’t
(their wounded friends who got injured in a tussle with the opponent operate. They said it was a police case and they couldn’t touch them.
group) to the hospital,” said Pravin, “but the doctors wouldn’t So we beat the place up. We trashed the emergency ward and
operate. They said it was a police case and they couldn’t touch them. burned the ambulance. We hit the doctors and tore the clothes off
So we beat the place up. We trashed the emergency ward and the nurses and shoved injections up the doctors’ back-sides. We
burned the ambulance. We hit the doctors and tore the clothes off said, “Save them,” but the doctors said, “They’re dying. Let them
the nurses and shoved injections up the doctors’ back-sides. We die.” In the end the police came and thirteen of us were arrested.”
said, “Save them,” but the doctors said, “They’re dying. Let them (93) When the author advised them to make peace and leave this
die.” In the end the police came and thirteen of us were arrested.” dirty power game and told that if they were not turning goondas, the
(93) When the author advised them to make peace and leave this response reflects the whole mindset of the youth--- No: we’re
dirty power game and told that if they were not turning goondas, the students. We’ve only become goondas because of the situation. If
response reflects the whole mindset of the youth--- No: we’re we stop now we’ll be shot dead. We regret that politics is getting
students. We’ve only become goondas because of the situation. If more and more violent and that we have to use guns for self-
we stop now we’ll be shot dead. We regret that politics is getting protection. But the psychology here is such that people without
more and more violent and that we have to use guns for self- muscle- power can’t do anything. If it’s necessary to use muscle-
protection. But the psychology here is such that people without power, then that is what we will have to do. (93) And, Right now you
muscle- power can’t do anything. If it’s necessary to use muscle- can’t fight election without a pistol. Naturally we are sad. But that is
power, then that is what we will have to do. (93) And, Right now you the situation. Whatever the situation is, you must adjust to it. (93)
can’t fight election without a pistol. Naturally we are sad. But that is The plight or the snap shot of the political power game in the state of
the situation. Whatever the situation is, you must adjust to it. (93) UP as presented by Dalrymple here in this essay is just a glimpse of
The plight or the snap shot of the political power game in the state of the real scenario. And one can imagine the future of the nation
UP as presented by Dalrymple here in this essay is just a glimpse of whose youth has taken the road to violence. It is true that it is only
the real scenario. And one can imagine the future of the nation one side of the social reality; there is much constructive work too.
whose youth has taken the road to violence. It is true that it is only The youth of India has excelled in many areas of life. There are
one side of the social reality; there is much constructive work too. ample examples of quality enhancement in many fields. In certain
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The youth of India has excelled in many areas of life. There are fields the Indian youth has proved superior on the worldly
ample examples of quality enhancement in many fields. In certain horizons...but still one cannot avert eyes to the facts presented in
fields the Indian youth has proved superior on the worldly this essay. 154 In Rajasthan William’s travels in the Rajasthan State
horizons...but still one cannot avert eyes to the facts presented in bring him at the close quarters of the unique socio-political traditions
this essay. 154 In Rajasthan William’s travels in the Rajasthan State of this Land of the Kings. Quite different from that of Bihar and Uttar
bring him at the close quarters of the unique socio-political traditions Pradesh, still the issues based on the same line of caste-wars and
of this Land of the Kings. Quite different from that of Bihar and Uttar higher- lower division of society, atrocities by the higher and
Pradesh, still the issues based on the same line of caste-wars and privileged on the weaker section of society-- capture his attention
higher- lower division of society, atrocities by the higher and and the essays voice the great drift between the modernistic
privileged on the weaker section of society-- capture his attention developing India and the one that struggles to keep hold of what has
and the essays voice the great drift between the modernistic remained in prominent existence for centuries in the name of
developing India and the one that struggles to keep hold of what has conventions. The Sad Tale of Bahveri Devi
remained in prominent existence for centuries in the name of -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
conventions. The Sad Tale of Bahveri Devi The sad tale of Bahveri Devi is William’s close following of an
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- atrocious incident with a poor lower caste lady in the village called
The sad tale of Bahveri Devi is William’s close following of an Batteri. Having come to know about the incident through the news
atrocious incident with a poor lower caste lady in the village called paper reporting, William visits the village personally and witnesses
Batteri. Having come to know about the incident through the news the real hostile treatment to the victim by the entire village
paper reporting, William visits the village personally and witnesses community. He also observes the near wreckage spirits of the
the real hostile treatment to the victim by the entire village victim’s family, and brings forth the facts of the whole matter in
community. He also observes the near wreckage spirits of the journalistic way. The village of destination, Batteri falls some fifty
victim’s family, and brings forth the facts of the whole matter in kilometres away from the nearest city Jodhpur. William sets out in
journalistic way. The village of destination, Batteri falls some fifty the company of Sanjiv, a journalist from Jaipur.... Though he is going
kilometres away from the nearest city Jodhpur. William sets out in there to have a close look at the case of Bahaveri Devi, his gaze
the company of Sanjiv, a journalist from Jaipur.... Though he is going never misses the to view and narrate the landscape outside as the
there to have a close look at the case of Bahaveri Devi, his gaze car travels from the urban to country side of Rajasthan. And the
never misses the to view and narrate the landscape outside as the same narration also stands symbolic to the mental landscape of the
car travels from the urban to country side of Rajasthan. And the Bahveri Devi. For a while the country is green and fertile. Sometimes
same narration also stands symbolic to the mental landscape of the you turn a corner and the fields ahead blaze bright yellow with
Bahveri Devi. For a while the country is green and fertile. Sometimes ripening crop of spring mustard. But the further you drive, the drier
you turn a corner and the fields ahead blaze bright yellow with and drier it becomes. Winter wheat gives way to drooping
ripening crop of spring mustard. But the further you drive, the drier sunflowers; dust-devils circle; melon beds tangle amid the sand flats
and drier it becomes. Winter wheat gives way to drooping of the scrub. Turning right off the tarmac road and across a level
sunflowers; dust-devils circle; melon beds tangle amid the sand flats crossing, you pass for miles amid mile along the narrowing dirt tracks
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of the scrub. Turning right off the tarmac road and across a level the settlements grow poorer; the camel throne closes in. The colour
crossing, you pass for miles amid mile along the narrowing dirt tracks drains away, but for the odd flash of red sari as a woman winds her
the settlements grow poorer; the camel throne closes in. The colour way to well. (99) The village appears “a silent, half deserted and
drains away, but for the odd flash of red sari as a woman winds her strangely sinister place” (99); and the first responses to their inquiry
way to well. (99) The village appears “a silent, half deserted and about Bahaveri’s address make them aware 155 about Bahveri and
strangely sinister place” (99); and the first responses to their inquiry her family’s plight. She is openly addressed with insulting terms
about Bahaveri’s address make them aware 155 about Bahveri and ‘bitch’, ‘liar’ etc, and held responsible for bringing shame on their
her family’s plight. She is openly addressed with insulting terms village. Since from all sides Bahveri was considered the root of all
‘bitch’, ‘liar’ etc, and held responsible for bringing shame on their the troubles in the village and had brought the outside agencies to
village. Since from all sides Bahveri was considered the root of all intervene into the matters which could have been easily resolved
the troubles in the village and had brought the outside agencies to within the village by their own panchayat...she and her family were
intervene into the matters which could have been easily resolved thrown out of all the social circles and they led the lives of total
within the village by their own panchayat...she and her family were boycott. The real trouble stood at the issue of child marriages at
thrown out of all the social circles and they led the lives of total Badri’s place. Badri Gujjar was the local serpanch and the political
boycott. The real trouble stood at the issue of child marriages at leader of the district’s dominant caste, the Gujjars; whereas Bahveri
Badri’s place. Badri Gujjar was the local serpanch and the political was the ‘sathin’(a lady social as well as medical worker who
leader of the district’s dominant caste, the Gujjars; whereas Bahveri instruments awareness among the ladies of the local area). As per
was the ‘sathin’(a lady social as well as medical worker who her responsibility, Bahveri tried to prevent Badri from marrying his
instruments awareness among the ladies of the local area). As per one year old granddaughter as he infringed the law by doing so.
her responsibility, Bahveri tried to prevent Badri from marrying his Badri’s political and social status helped him and the marriages went
one year old granddaughter as he infringed the law by doing so. on despite Bahveri ’s repeated warnings. But Bahveri’s , a lower
Badri’s political and social status helped him and the marriages went caste ladies’ intervention in his family affairs seemed a sort of dent to
on despite Bahveri ’s repeated warnings. But Bahveri’s , a lower his social prestige , Badri publicly vowed to teach Bahveri a lesson.
caste ladies’ intervention in his family affairs seemed a sort of dent to In his rage to avenge his insult, Badri and his associates captured
his social prestige , Badri publicly vowed to teach Bahveri a lesson. Bahveri and beat her husband and raped her. By doing this they
In his rage to avenge his insult, Badri and his associates captured wanted to show her her place and position. Badri was sure that his
Bahveri and beat her husband and raped her. By doing this they political background was strong enough to subdue any possible
wanted to show her her place and position. Badri was sure that his reactionary steps by Bahveri. In fact, Badri was right. Initially there
political background was strong enough to subdue any possible was no support and sympathy from any side that considered
reactionary steps by Bahveri. In fact, Badri was right. Initially there Bahveri’s pains as any matter of consideration. On the contrary,
was no support and sympathy from any side that considered Bahvery became the butt of shame for the village whose lies incurred
Bahveri’s pains as any matter of consideration. On the contrary, a great damage to the village’s reputation. William here pin points
Bahvery became the butt of shame for the village whose lies incurred the social as well as the political dominance and arrogance of the
a great damage to the village’s reputation. William here pin points upper castes that the lower caste society member is not even
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the social as well as the political dominance and arrogance of the supported by the other fellow beings of his/her own caste; and there
upper castes that the lower caste society member is not even is a total boycott. Even, the legal proceedings were kept deliberately
supported by the other fellow beings of his/her own caste; and there slow and lazy that ultimately helped to paralyze the case. William
is a total boycott. Even, the legal proceedings were kept deliberately finds entirely another version of the story at Badri Gujjar’s place.
slow and lazy that ultimately helped to paralyze the case. William Even the claim was Badri and his son were not even present in the
finds entirely another version of the story at Badri Gujjar’s place. village when there was a tussle between Bahveri’s husband and the
Even the claim was Badri and his son were not even present in the village priest over the issue of a cow’s ownership. And the rape issue
village when there was a tussle between Bahveri’s husband and the was Bahveri’s invention just as a woman of a mean and base
village priest over the issue of a cow’s ownership. And the rape issue character could do nothing else than this. William too felt the same
was Bahveri’s invention just as a woman of a mean and base when he heard the police officer confirming Bahveri’s being type of a
character could do nothing else than this. William too felt the same base character and might be lying in order to avenge her insult...and
when he heard the police officer confirming Bahveri’s being type of a 156 on this grounds, as he claims, he lost all his interests in the case
base character and might be lying in order to avenge her insult...and and dropped the idea to consider it with any seriousness. But the
156 on this grounds, as he claims, he lost all his interests in the case development in the case after the entry of Kavitha Srivastav,changed
and dropped the idea to consider it with any seriousness. But the the whole course of the event. Being the trainer of Bahveri, she had
development in the case after the entry of Kavitha Srivastav,changed full trust on Bahveri and her second motive was not just to secure
the whole course of the event. Being the trainer of Bahveri, she had justice to Bahveri but also to set an example in the society that law
full trust on Bahveri and her second motive was not just to secure was sovereign, otherwise she knew the social awakening that had
justice to Bahveri but also to set an example in the society that law started taking place in the comparatively highly conventional rural
was sovereign, otherwise she knew the social awakening that had areas of Rajasthan through the system of ‘sathins’ would meet an
started taking place in the comparatively highly conventional rural utter failure. Kavitha’s efforts reaped good fruits for Bahveri and
areas of Rajasthan through the system of ‘sathins’ would meet an ultimately justice N. M. Tibrewal, the High Court Judge made severe
utter failure. Kavitha’s efforts reaped good fruits for Bahveri and comments on the ‘highly dubious’ role of the police in the entire legal
ultimately justice N. M. Tibrewal, the High Court Judge made severe investigation and imprisoned the accused. On getting the news of
comments on the ‘highly dubious’ role of the police in the entire legal Bahveri’s triumph, with revived interests in the case, Dalrymple once
investigation and imprisoned the accused. On getting the news of again visits Batteri. He notes on this second visit the villagers’
Bahveri’s triumph, with revived interests in the case, Dalrymple once attitude towards Bahveri was greatly changed, Bahveri herself too
again visits Batteri. He notes on this second visit the villagers’ appeared relaxed with a sense of satisfaction generated through
attitude towards Bahveri was greatly changed, Bahveri herself too having received the justice. The plight at the Badri’s place was now
appeared relaxed with a sense of satisfaction generated through weaker, Dalrymple notes, as all the working males had been
having received the justice. The plight at the Badri’s place was now imprisoned; there was no body to take charge of the agriculture
weaker, Dalrymple notes, as all the working males had been activities and the things became hard on their part. Caste Wars
imprisoned; there was no body to take charge of the agriculture Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 1990
activities and the things became hard on their part. Caste Wars -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In
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Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 1990 this essay, the focus concentrates upon the atrocious attack on Dr.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Tyagi’s dispensary set up at Gagadi village near Jodhpur. As per, Dr.
this essay, the focus concentrates upon the atrocious attack on Dr. Tyagi about three truck loads of high-caste Rajput youth raided his
Tyagi’s dispensary set up at Gagadi village near Jodhpur. As per, Dr. campus and turned everything into ashes-- -“everything we had built
Tyagi about three truck loads of high-caste Rajput youth raided his up over seven years.(111)” The reason why the high upper caste
campus and turned everything into ashes-- -“everything we had built Rajput hates the mission and the activities of Dr. Tyagi is simple and
up over seven years.(111)” The reason why the high upper caste linear. Dr. Tyagi’s institution tries to literate and educate the ‘Harijans’
Rajput hates the mission and the activities of Dr. Tyagi is simple and or ‘the so called untouchables’. Dr.Tyagi feels that because of his
linear. Dr. Tyagi’s institution tries to literate and educate the ‘Harijans’ welfare courses for the downtrodden, the upper castes are getting
or ‘the so called untouchables’. Dr.Tyagi feels that because of his deprived of their traditional stock of ‘labourers’ and the ‘doers of their
welfare courses for the downtrodden, the upper castes are getting dirty jobs’. And this aggravates them towards his activities. But, Dr.
deprived of their traditional stock of ‘labourers’ and the ‘doers of their Tyagi’s logic is really impressive when he says: An institution like
dirty jobs’. And this aggravates them towards his activities. But, Dr. ours needs such incidents if it is to regenerate forward. It highlights
Tyagi’s logic is really impressive when he says: An institution like the injustice the Harijans are facing.” And very strikingly makes as
ours needs such incidents if it is to regenerate forward. It highlights 157 point to Dalrymple,” You yourself wouldn’t have come here if this
the injustice the Harijans are facing.” And very strikingly makes as had not happened. (112) Dalrymple brings out many facts regarding
157 point to Dalrymple,” You yourself wouldn’t have come here if this the rigid caste system in the Hindu society especially in the villages
had not happened. (112) Dalrymple brings out many facts regarding of Rajasthan. He aptly observes: In West, as everywhere in the
the rigid caste system in the Hindu society especially in the villages world, there is a caste system of sorts, and dress is an important
of Rajasthan. He aptly observes: In West, as everywhere in the element of it: a pin stripe suit and tie places the wearer in one caste,
world, there is a caste system of sorts, and dress is an important a workman’s dirty overalls in another. What is different about the
element of it: a pin stripe suit and tie places the wearer in one caste, Indian model is its rigidity and its its central place in Hindu
a workman’s dirty overalls in another. What is different about the philosophy. In much of rural India, caste still defines not only what
Indian model is its rigidity and its its central place in Hindu you wear, but where youy live, what tread you follow, whom you
philosophy. In much of rural India, caste still defines not only what marry, even the colour you paint your home. Every detail of life in the
you wear, but where youy live, what tread you follow, whom you traditional Indian village, where eighty percent of Indians still live, is
marry, even the colour you paint your home. Every detail of life in the regulated. (115) Not only this, Dalrymple drives his point home by
traditional Indian village, where eighty percent of Indians still live, is bringing into the span of discussion the fact that such deep rooted
regulated. (115) Not only this, Dalrymple drives his point home by ‘caste-system’ can create a political and social havoc and a
bringing into the span of discussion the fact that such deep rooted movement, massacres and murders throughout the whole Indian
‘caste-system’ can create a political and social havoc and a sub-continent. He brings into discussion the issue of the ‘Mandal
movement, massacres and murders throughout the whole Indian Commission’s provisions for the Reservation of posts in Government
sub-continent. He brings into discussion the issue of the ‘Mandal jobs for Dalits’. This provisions made the upper caste youth perceive
Commission’s provisions for the Reservation of posts in Government that their rights to have government jobs are shrinking and they
174
jobs for Dalits’. This provisions made the upper caste youth perceive literary opened agitation against the Government. In one such event
that their rights to have government jobs are shrinking and they of expression of the protest against the provision of Madal
literary opened agitation against the Government. In one such event Commission, Rajiv Goswami, a young man from a middle class
of expression of the protest against the provision of Madal Punjabi Brahmin family, set himself ablaze and died. Rajiv’s death
Commission, Rajiv Goswami, a young man from a middle class proved catalytic agent and added fuel to the protests movement. The
Punjabi Brahmin family, set himself ablaze and died. Rajiv’s death caste system is so deeply rooted in the Indian society that the upper
proved catalytic agent and added fuel to the protests movement. The castes feel the increased ratio of reservation quota would turn the
caste system is so deeply rooted in the Indian society that the upper hierarchy upside down and the persons of the lower castes would
castes feel the increased ratio of reservation quota would turn the begin to enjoy more success and power in the time to come. But,
hierarchy upside down and the persons of the lower castes would William also puts the case of the Dalit making success on their own
begin to enjoy more success and power in the time to come. But, by siting the case of Gadvada village near Jodhpur. Here the
William also puts the case of the Dalit making success on their own ‘Harijans’ have obtained great economical success in their leather
by siting the case of Gadvada village near Jodhpur. Here the work business, and set a grand example of upward progress. Still in
‘Harijans’ have obtained great economical success in their leather the majority cases the ‘harijans’ find their place at the lowest and be
work business, and set a grand example of upward progress. Still in the butt of hatred with no apparent crime on their part. And,
the majority cases the ‘harijans’ find their place at the lowest and be Dalrymple ends his discussion that with this kind of situations being
the butt of hatred with no apparent crime on their part. And, prevalent, especially in the rural regions of 158 Rajasthan, one can
Dalrymple ends his discussion that with this kind of situations being just hope for the removal of the stigma of the caste system in the
prevalent, especially in the rural regions of 158 Rajasthan, one can course of time and with the better fruits of spread of education. Sati
just hope for the removal of the stigma of the caste system in the Mata
course of time and with the better fruits of spread of education. Sati ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In
Mata this essay Dalrymple picks up the most debated issue of reviving the
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In age old tradition of Sati. As per the incident, in the Deorala village,
this essay Dalrymple picks up the most debated issue of reviving the on 4 September 1987 Roop Kamwar, a young and ‘exceptionally
age old tradition of Sati. As per the incident, in the Deorala village, beautiful’ 18 year old girl mounted her late husband’s pyre and was
on 4 September 1987 Roop Kamwar, a young and ‘exceptionally bernt to death. Roop’s husband had died after a brief illness. Since
beautiful’ 18 year old girl mounted her late husband’s pyre and was they belonged to the higher Rajput caste, there was no possibiity of
bernt to death. Roop’s husband had died after a brief illness. Since re-marriage of this childless eighteen year old and ‘exceptionally
they belonged to the higher Rajput caste, there was no possibiity of beautiful’ widow. And as per the incident narrated by the fasmily
re-marriage of this childless eighteen year old and ‘exceptionally members of her in-laws, The folowing morning, (she) the young
beautiful’ widow. And as per the incident narrated by the fasmily widow appeared at the door of the family’s eighteen-century haveli.
members of her in-laws, The folowing morning, (she) the young She was dressed in her finnest wedding sari, decked in jewllery, with
widow appeared at the door of the family’s eighteen-century haveli. her hands brightly painted with bridal henna..... (124) They say she
She was dressed in her finnest wedding sari, decked in jewllery, with firmly resisted al attempts, by both her in-laws and the village
175
her hands brightly painted with bridal henna..... (124) They say she brahmins, to dissudade her from becoming a Sati. (125) They say
firmly resisted al attempts, by both her in-laws and the village she smiled beautifully from the pyre as the flames danced arround
brahmins, to dissudade her from becoming a Sati. (125) They say her. (125) What interests and rather puzzles Dalrymple is the
she smiled beautifully from the pyre as the flames danced arround multifaceted stories being weaved arround the whole incident. Even
her. (125) What interests and rather puzzles Dalrymple is the the media industry, the most responsible social enterprises go on
multifaceted stories being weaved arround the whole incident. Even reporting the news in unauthentic baseless vein. Dalryple makes it
the media industry, the most responsible social enterprises go on clear from his study of the whole incident and after having done his
reporting the news in unauthentic baseless vein. Dalryple makes it personal investigations that on this issue there are two forking
clear from his study of the whole incident and after having done his streams of the Indian society: The issue highlights a national divide i
personal investigations that on this issue there are two forking India, showing the growing mental gulf that now separates the towns
streams of the Indian society: The issue highlights a national divide i from the villages of the sub-continent, a gulf into which all discussion
India, showing the growing mental gulf that now separates the towns of the Deoralasati has become lost. Most secular urban Indians , and
from the villages of the sub-continent, a gulf into which all discussion especially the feminist lobby, have started from the assumption that
of the Deoralasati has become lost. Most secular urban Indians , and in the late twentiethy century no educated woman could possibly
especially the feminist lobby, have started from the assumption that commit 159 sati, ahd that Roop Kanwar’s sati could only have been
in the late twentiethy century no educated woman could possibly forced. The villagers of Rajasthan, male and female, have very
commit 159 sati, ahd that Roop Kanwar’s sati could only have been different perspective. (129) ....in rural Rajasthan the villagers are
forced. The villagers of Rajasthan, male and female, have very quite unrepentant, and continue piously to revere past Satis. (128)
different perspective. (129) ....in rural Rajasthan the villagers are Even the fact that over 750,000 people turning up at the site of sati at
quite unrepentant, and continue piously to revere past Satis. (128) Deorala village and four hundred turning up to worship sati mata
Even the fact that over 750,000 people turning up at the site of sati at everyday even after seven months of the incident demonstrates the
Deorala village and four hundred turning up to worship sati mata huge drift in the perspective. Article 17 of the Indian Constitution
everyday even after seven months of the incident demonstrates the reads: Untouchability’ is abolished and its practice in any form is
huge drift in the perspective. Article 17 of the Indian Constitution forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of
reads: Untouchability’ is abolished and its practice in any form is ‘Untouchability’ shall be an offence in accordance with law. Bhanwari
forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of was gang raped on September 22, 1992 in retaliation for her
‘Untouchability’ shall be an offence in accordance with law. Bhanwari activities, and then faced hostile police machinery that refused to
was gang raped on September 22, 1992 in retaliation for her register the case, and a male doctor at the primary health center
activities, and then faced hostile police machinery that refused to refused to conduct a medical examination. The medical examination
register the case, and a male doctor at the primary health center was finally conducted after 52 hours, leading effectively to the
refused to conduct a medical examination. The medical examination destruction of evidence of rape. The trial at the sessions court began
was finally conducted after 52 hours, leading effectively to the only in October 1994 and the judgement which was passed chose to
destruction of evidence of rape. The trial at the sessions court began disregard the evidence of Bhanwari Devi and her husband Mohan
only in October 1994 and the judgement which was passed chose to (who had witnessed the rape) and to give undue weight to the
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disregard the evidence of Bhanwari Devi and her husband Mohan medical evidence. In passing his judgement, the judge commented
(who had witnessed the rape) and to give undue weight to the that: The court is of the opinion that Indian culture has not fallen to
medical evidence. In passing his judgement, the judge commented such low depths; that someone who is brought up in it, an innocent,
that: The court is of the opinion that Indian culture has not fallen to a rustic man, will turn into a man of evil conduct who disregards
such low depths; that someone who is brought up in it, an innocent, caste and age differences and becomes animal enough to assault a
a rustic man, will turn into a man of evil conduct who disregards woman. [Rajagopal and Dutta, 1996:28] Thus, the statements in the
caste and age differences and becomes animal enough to assault a judgment itself contradict the above quoted Article 17. And what is
woman. [Rajagopal and Dutta, 1996:28] Thus, the statements in the more alarming is the trial judge’s acquittal of the accused on the
judgment itself contradict the above quoted Article 17. And what is grounds that “rape is usually committed by the teenagers, and since
more alarming is the trial judge’s acquittal of the accused on the the accused are middle-aged and therefore respectable, they could
grounds that “rape is usually committed by the teenagers, and since not have committed the crime. An upper caste man could not have
the accused are middle-aged and therefore respectable, they could defiled himself by raping a lower–caste woman.” (Emphasis added)
not have committed the crime. An upper caste man could not have In the caste and political power games of the issue, a new dimension
defiled himself by raping a lower–caste woman.” (Emphasis added) that is illuminated is the issue of poverty. As Aruna Roy aptly pin
In the caste and political power games of the issue, a new dimension points: 160 Bhanwari Devi’s valiant battle in Rajasthan has taught us
that is illuminated is the issue of poverty. As Aruna Roy aptly pin the importance of looking at violence against women in poverty
points: 160 Bhanwari Devi’s valiant battle in Rajasthan has taught us debate. Here, again, poverty has been a critical factor---for Banwari
the importance of looking at violence against women in poverty De vi to fight her battle, she has to be able to afford the fees of a
debate. Here, again, poverty has been a critical factor---for Banwari lawyer. The root cause of the whole Bhanwari issue is the evil of
De vi to fight her battle, she has to be able to afford the fees of a child marriages still prevalent in the rural regions. Mahatma Gandhi
lawyer. The root cause of the whole Bhanwari issue is the evil of denounced this system from all the perspectives. He expressed his
child marriages still prevalent in the rural regions. Mahatma Gandhi views against this evil at every possible opportunity, and in Young
denounced this system from all the perspectives. He expressed his India, he mentions under the title “Curse of Child Marriages” that the
views against this evil at every possible opportunity, and in Young practice of child marriage is not only weakening and harmful to the
India, he mentions under the title “Curse of Child Marriages” that the young age girls who become mothers owing to such marriages but
practice of child marriage is not only weakening and harmful to the the generation thus delivered face severe problems. And even after
young age girls who become mothers owing to such marriages but seven decades, the same issue causes troubles draws attention to
the generation thus delivered face severe problems. And even after the needs of social awakening. The same concern may be
seven decades, the same issue causes troubles draws attention to expressed for the ‘Sati’ issues. As for Dlarymple’s attractions and
the needs of social awakening. The same concern may be interests in the issue of Sati , a nice explanation is found when John
expressed for the ‘Sati’ issues. As for Dlarymple’s attractions and Staton Hawley confesses “ Modern research confirms what
interests in the issue of Sati , a nice explanation is found when John traditional Brahminical treatises imply—that ‘sati’ has always been
Staton Hawley confesses “ Modern research confirms what very much exception rather than the rule in Hindu life. Yet, from the
traditional Brahminical treatises imply—that ‘sati’ has always been time of Marco Polo until well into Nineteenth century (Sati was
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very much exception rather than the rule in Hindu life. Yet, from the officially abolished in Bengal in 1929), Westerners publishing dairies
time of Marco Polo until well into Nineteenth century (Sati was of their travels in India always included a chapter on Sati they had
officially abolished in Bengal in 1929), Westerners publishing dairies witnessed. Thus, capturing of these three issues bring on the surface
of their travels in India always included a chapter on Sati they had and make the point of debate how on one front India’s infrastructural
witnessed. Thus, capturing of these three issues bring on the surface development is claimed with pomp and gong, the issues of upper
and make the point of debate how on one front India’s infrastructural –lower caste disseminations, caste issues and the attempts or the
development is claimed with pomp and gong, the issues of upper claims to revive the superstitious traditions like Sati show much work
–lower caste disseminations, caste issues and the attempts or the still remains to be done at the rural regions of the nation. As a
claims to revive the superstitious traditions like Sati show much work traveller and especially being the writer, William dives deep into the
still remains to be done at the rural regions of the nation. As a issues which with their flaring colours stand apart from the ordinary
traveller and especially being the writer, William dives deep into the commonplace routines. The entire exercise and pains undertaken at
issues which with their flaring colours stand apart from the ordinary his ends are the attempts to learn exactly what operates at the root
commonplace routines. The entire exercise and pains undertaken at causes of such happenings. Moreover, the probe also encompasses
his ends are the attempts to learn exactly what operates at the root the measures as to what extent the Indian sociological temperament
causes of such happenings. Moreover, the probe also encompasses has come to the statures of adaptability of the urbane westernised
the measures as to what extent the Indian sociological temperament mode of development or still are they at the struggle to adopt or not
has come to the statures of adaptability of the urbane westernised the New Developments or rather go back to the conventional
mode of development or still are they at the struggle to adopt or not heritage that the centuries old culture is holding and adoring in one
the New Developments or rather go back to the conventional or another form. 161 The New India ------------------ ------------------
heritage that the centuries old culture is holding and adoring in one ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In the third
or another form. 161 The New India ------------------ ------------------ group of essays titled ‘The New India’, William Dalrymple brings
----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In the third under the focus the modern social strides of the elite class of the
group of essays titled ‘The New India’, William Dalrymple brings metro cities of India which shows the direct impacts of the
under the focus the modern social strides of the elite class of the westernized culture. William here puts forward his observations on
metro cities of India which shows the direct impacts of the the city life of India, especially the metro-politan cities of India, which
westernized culture. William here puts forward his observations on present the new face of developing India----the India of twen ty first
the city life of India, especially the metro-politan cities of India, which century, of the new Millennium. Two Bombay Portraits
present the new face of developing India----the India of twen ty first ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- In ‘Two
century, of the new Millennium. Two Bombay Portraits Bombay Portraits’ he presents the word sketches of two icons of
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- In ‘Two modern India namely Baba Sehgal, the world’s first Hindi rap
Bombay Portraits’ he presents the word sketches of two icons of megastar and Shobha Dè, the lady English writer who has started a
modern India namely Baba Sehgal, the world’s first Hindi rap sort of writing which has been drastically labelled “dirty and filthy” in
megastar and Shobha Dè, the lady English writer who has started a the staunch Indian circles. He notes that the flow of cash through the
sort of writing which has been drastically labelled “dirty and filthy” in liberal economic policies has given birth to a new elite class in the
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the staunch Indian circles. He notes that the flow of cash through the Indian society, especially in the metropolitan complexes of India like
liberal economic policies has given birth to a new elite class in the Delhi and Mumbai. And under the waves of the western influences
Indian society, especially in the metropolitan complexes of India like getting filtered through the world markets, the youth has adopted
Delhi and Mumbai. And under the waves of the western influences new age addiction to the party lives. As a result of this, a new wave
getting filtered through the world markets, the youth has adopted of bars and discotheques have got booming and mushrooming in the
new age addiction to the party lives. As a result of this, a new wave cities like Bombay. The rise of figure like Baba Sahegal in the form of
of bars and discotheques have got booming and mushrooming in the the world’s first ever Hindi rap star, the success and the immense
cities like Bombay. The rise of figure like Baba Sahegal in the form of financial booming of his programmes, all this is eonugh to show how
the world’s first ever Hindi rap star, the success and the immense fast the country’s youth getting the dying of the western cult. The
financial booming of his programmes, all this is eonugh to show how trend was accelarated, as Dalrymple comments, by the entry of the
fast the country’s youth getting the dying of the western cult. The ‘Star TV’, which brought the Indian youth in direct touch with the
trend was accelarated, as Dalrymple comments, by the entry of the current trends on the western entertainment industry. The figure like
‘Star TV’, which brought the Indian youth in direct touch with the Baba Sahegal got the direct advantage of it, and it is clearly reflected
current trends on the western entertainment industry. The figure like in the increasing popularity and fattening of the sales figures of his
Baba Sahegal got the direct advantage of it, and it is clearly reflected recorded cassettes. Dalrymple nicely puts: ....he(Baba) also became
in the increasing popularity and fattening of the sales figures of his the first rock singer ever to become a star in his own right:
recorded cassettes. Dalrymple nicely puts: ....he(Baba) also became previously, celebrity status in India had been reserved exclusively for
the first rock singer ever to become a star in his own right: actors, holy men and cricketers. (139) 162 Shobha Dé presents in
previously, celebrity status in India had been reserved exclusively for her creative arena the tantalising details of the lives of the
actors, holy men and cricketers. (139) 162 Shobha Dé presents in multimillionaires and the scandals that their wealth gives them legacy
her creative arena the tantalising details of the lives of the and privilege to enjoy. This kind of writings, though not welcome
multimillionaires and the scandals that their wealth gives them legacy openly by any elite literary levels, and adversely criticised for the
and privilege to enjoy. This kind of writings, though not welcome stinking ‘cheapness’—finds its way among the people and sells
openly by any elite literary levels, and adversely criticised for the boomingly. This as Shobha herself claims, “I write readable trash----
stinking ‘cheapness’—finds its way among the people and sells commercial novels. But I don’t think “commercial” is a dirty
boomingly. This as Shobha herself claims, “I write readable trash---- word.....There is a market out there, and I’m filling the slot” (153).
commercial novels. But I don’t think “commercial” is a dirty William notes that Shobha De has been the most adversely criticised
word.....There is a market out there, and I’m filling the slot” (153). lady. Her bold and scandalized works have won her the titles like
William notes that Shobha De has been the most adversely criticised ‘Maharani of Malice’, ‘the Empress of Erotica’ and ‘the Princess of
lady. Her bold and scandalized works have won her the titles like Pulp’. Besides her bold novels serving the audience with the
‘Maharani of Malice’, ‘the Empress of Erotica’ and ‘the Princess of tantalising sensational stuff, Shobha also runs a successful gossip
Pulp’. Besides her bold novels serving the audience with the column-‘Nita’s Natter’ in India’s most prestigious glamour magazine,
tantalising sensational stuff, Shobha also runs a successful gossip ‘Stardust’. William brings out the quantum traits of Shobha De’s
column-‘Nita’s Natter’ in India’s most prestigious glamour magazine, personality. According to him: Turning herself in to the Jackie Collins
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‘Stardust’. William brings out the quantum traits of Shobha De’s of India has not been very easy: her notoriety is the product of hard
personality. According to him: Turning herself in to the Jackie Collins work. Born Anuradha Rajyadhyaksha, daughter of a Brahmin district
of India has not been very easy: her notoriety is the product of hard judge from small-town middle India, she has spent forty-three years
work. Born Anuradha Rajyadhyaksha, daughter of a Brahmin district becoming Shobha De., the rich and fashionably unfashionable pulp
judge from small-town middle India, she has spent forty-three years novelist from metropolitqan Bombay.(146) Shobha began her career
becoming Shobha De., the rich and fashionably unfashionable pulp as a successfu model, at a time, as William rightly points out, “When
novelist from metropolitqan Bombay.(146) Shobha began her career joining a modelling agency in India was considered about as
as a successfu model, at a time, as William rightly points out, “When respectable as joining a brothel.” In her personal life too she has
joining a modelling agency in India was considered about as taken bold steps just as that of her professional life. She left her first
respectable as joining a brothel.” In her personal life too she has husband, picked up a French lovwer, and then married another man.
taken bold steps just as that of her professional life. She left her first To take such socially outregeous steps, that in the highly traditional
husband, picked up a French lovwer, and then married another man. Indian society, Wlilliam truely observes, requires a dynamic
To take such socially outregeous steps, that in the highly traditional personality as well as daring outlook. Even Shobha herself admits in
Indian society, Wlilliam truely observes, requires a dynamic her response to Dalrymple’s one of the questions: “No, I love this
personality as well as daring outlook. Even Shobha herself admits in town. At least here I can live on my own terms. I wouldn’t be able to
her response to Dalrymple’s one of the questions: “No, I love this function anywhere else.” “I don’t think Shobha De (I) would be
town. At least here I can live on my own terms. I wouldn’t be able to allowed to exist anywhere else in India. Another city would have
function anywhere else.” “I don’t think Shobha De (I) would be crushed me” (157). Shobha has created her own circles and style of
allowed to exist anywhere else in India. Another city would have life. Just like her creative world, she too lives the life of glamour. And
crushed me” (157). Shobha has created her own circles and style of this is why even to the person like Dalrymple who is the traveller of
life. Just like her creative world, she too lives the life of glamour. And the world she appears an enigmatic personality: Spend a week with
this is why even to the person like Dalrymple who is the traveller of her, meet her friends, ride in her cars and go to her parties—at the
the world she appears an enigmatic personality: Spend a week with end of it you are still left with a lurking suspicion that you have
her, meet her friends, ride in her cars and go to her parties—at the stumbled on to some sort of film set peopled with actors speaking
end of it you are still left with a lurking suspicion that you have lines from a 163 Jilly Cooper script. Back to your hotel room you look
stumbled on to some sort of film set peopled with actors speaking through your notes and ask yourself yet again: “Is this woman for
lines from a 163 Jilly Cooper script. Back to your hotel room you look real. (147) Finger-Lickin’Bad: Bangalore and Fast-food Invaders
through your notes and ask yourself yet again: “Is this woman for ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ -----------------
real. (147) Finger-Lickin’Bad: Bangalore and Fast-food Invaders --------------- Finger-Lickin’Bad: Bangalore and Fast-food Invaders
------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- presents the story of the city of Bangalore. From the changing food
--------------- Finger-Lickin’Bad: Bangalore and Fast-food Invaders habits and the agitations bred out of this change among the certain
presents the story of the city of Bangalore. From the changing food social circles and manifestation and outburst of such underlying and
habits and the agitations bred out of this change among the certain suppressed protests into the destructive attacks on the multi-national
social circles and manifestation and outburst of such underlying and Fast-Food stores, to the protest against the “Miss World Contest” in
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suppressed protests into the destructive attacks on the multi-national the Indian Cyber city Bangalore, the social circles appear broadly
Fast-Food stores, to the protest against the “Miss World Contest” in forked on the issues. On one hand there are the conventionalists
the Indian Cyber city Bangalore, the social circles appear broadly who protest such events taking shape in the name of dragging the
forked on the issues. On one hand there are the conventionalists nation once again back to the points of “Cultural Imperialism”,
who protest such events taking shape in the name of dragging the whereas there are the modernistic elite groups who claim it to be the
nation once again back to the points of “Cultural Imperialism”, stepping stone through which India could secure a true cosmopolitan
whereas there are the modernistic elite groups who claim it to be the status, and they on their part ridicule those who oppose this as being
stepping stone through which India could secure a true cosmopolitan insecure lot who cannot face the world. William opens his discussion
status, and they on their part ridicule those who oppose this as being on Bangalore on the foundation facts that it has been the city of
insecure lot who cannot face the world. William opens his discussion metropolitan cult right from the course of the history. William
on Bangalore on the foundation facts that it has been the city of maintaining his observations on Bangalore writes that the protests
metropolitan cult right from the course of the history. William against the Western influences would be taken naturally, had they
maintaining his observations on Bangalore writes that the protests been displayed in the other Indian territories, but when such
against the Western influences would be taken naturally, had they extremities take place in Bangalore, they generate a shock on the
been displayed in the other Indian territories, but when such grounds that, “For although since 1947 India has had an
extremities take place in Bangalore, they generate a shock on the understandable fondness for protectionist isolationism, the one place
grounds that, “For although since 1947 India has had an you would not expect to find any such introversion was Bangalore,
understandable fondness for protectionist isolationism, the one place which has long prided itself, with some reason, on being the most
you would not expect to find any such introversion was Bangalore, cosmopolitan city in India” (159). William maintains a discourse on
which has long prided itself, with some reason, on being the most the India’s adoption of the Fabian socialism ideology in time of
cosmopolitan city in India” (159). William maintains a discourse on Nehru. He presents his study on the transformations of the Indian
the India’s adoption of the Fabian socialism ideology in time of economic policies along with the observations of the other experts on
Nehru. He presents his study on the transformations of the Indian the nature of Indian economical and cultural trends. What points he
economic policies along with the observations of the other experts on wants to draw upon are with the liberalised economic policies and by
the nature of Indian economical and cultural trends. What points he opening doors to the world market, the Indian society has been
wants to draw upon are with the liberalised economic policies and by abruptly exposed to the best products and services available in the
opening doors to the world market, the Indian society has been world market. This includes the range of the cosmetic products to the
abruptly exposed to the best products and services available in the Automobile 164 sector, even the TV and other media and the
world market. This includes the range of the cosmetic products to the entertainment industry too. The Indian society and market which until
Automobile 164 sector, even the TV and other media and the now was monotonously dominated by specific stereotype products
entertainment industry too. The Indian society and market which until now started teeming with greater and better options. Bangalore wore
now was monotonously dominated by specific stereotype products a new identity in the new wave of development. It started moving up
now started teeming with greater and better options. Bangalore wore in the graph of development on account of its developing as the
a new identity in the new wave of development. It started moving up South Asian Hub of software Industry. And the Bangalore which once
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in the graph of development on account of its developing as the was famous for the Botanical gardens has now acquired a new label
South Asian Hub of software Industry. And the Bangalore which once of ‘silicon valley’. Since Western software companies started arriving
was famous for the Botanical gardens has now acquired a new label in the city ten years ago— attracting in the process a wave of highly
of ‘silicon valley’. Since Western software companies started arriving skilled expatriate Indian software engineers to return home to work
in the city ten years ago— attracting in the process a wave of highly for them—the Bangalore streetscape has altered beyond recognition.
skilled expatriate Indian software engineers to return home to work The city now has the only supermarkets in the subcontinent, and a
for them—the Bangalore streetscape has altered beyond recognition. shopping mall modelled, so proud Bangalorean will tell you, on one
The city now has the only supermarkets in the subcontinent, and a in Los Angeles. (163) The cosmopolitan temperament was most
shopping mall modelled, so proud Bangalorean will tell you, on one suited to the high profile Miss World contest, and so was the
in Los Angeles. (163) The cosmopolitan temperament was most projection--- ‘in mid-October 1996, it was announced that the 1997
suited to the high profile Miss World contest, and so was the Miss World contest was to be held in Bangalore’ (165). The
projection--- ‘in mid-October 1996, it was announced that the 1997 announcement aggravated the suppressed protest in the minds of
Miss World contest was to be held in Bangalore’ (165). The the extremists. The entire event began to be presented as “an
announcement aggravated the suppressed protest in the minds of assault on traditional Indian morality”. All the opposing groups e.g.
the extremists. The entire event began to be presented as “an RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Muslim Jmaat-i-Islami, forgetting their
assault on traditional Indian morality”. All the opposing groups e.g. internal enmities and feudalisms, stood together in the protests
RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Muslim Jmaat-i-Islami, forgetting their against such a contest. William nicely dissects the real problem
internal enmities and feudalisms, stood together in the protests behind this sort of protests. His conclusions on the entire affair draw
against such a contest. William nicely dissects the real problem different dimensions of the entire issue. As per his views, the abrupt
behind this sort of protests. His conclusions on the entire affair draw and enormous development and the adverse effects of these
different dimensions of the entire issue. As per his views, the abrupt modernistic advancements are in the roots of the explosion of the
and enormous development and the adverse effects of these aggravations. Everything changed overnight when the city gained the
modernistic advancements are in the roots of the explosion of the reputation of being the cradle of India’s high-tech revolution. Foreign
aggravations. Everything changed overnight when the city gained the investment and personnel poured in at a quite extraordinary rate.
reputation of being the cradle of India’s high-tech revolution. Foreign Unemployed migrant workers followed quickly on their heels, and
investment and personnel poured in at a quite extraordinary rate. what has been known as the Garden City suddenly found itself
Unemployed migrant workers followed quickly on their heels, and ringed with stinking shanty towns. Because of this unparalleled
what has been known as the Garden City suddenly found itself immigration, between 1971 and1996 Bangalore’s population jumped
ringed with stinking shanty towns. Because of this unparalleled from 1.7 million to over six million, making it one of the fastest
immigration, between 1971 and1996 Bangalore’s population jumped growing cities in the world. The pressure on the land grew, causing
from 1.7 million to over six million, making it one of the fastest house prices to rise stratospherically, increasing by 50 per cent per
growing cities in the world. The pressure on the land grew, causing annum throughout the early 1990s. As population grew worse and
house prices to rise stratospherically, increasing by 50 per cent per the city’s green space began to disappear, the average temperature
annum throughout the early 1990s. As population grew worse and rose by several degrees every year. (167) 165 William states it
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the city’s green space began to disappear, the average temperature clearly that these demonstrations of the people are just their
rose by several degrees every year. (167) 165 William states it responses to what is happening to their Bangalore. People’s fear
clearly that these demonstrations of the people are just their finds vent through their violent attacks on the food restaurants or
responses to what is happening to their Bangalore. People’s fear their joining hands to protest the Miss World contest being held in
finds vent through their violent attacks on the food restaurants or Bangalore considering all these as the direct attacks on the Indian
their joining hands to protest the Miss World contest being held in culture. But actually their fear lies in the fact that in the very near
Bangalore considering all these as the direct attacks on the Indian future everything about Bangalore will change. To prove this, he
culture. But actually their fear lies in the fact that in the very near brings in the point of T. P. Issar’s book on Bangalore’s architecture at
future everything about Bangalore will change. To prove this, he the end of 1980s being turned into just that of archival value as 95
brings in the point of T. P. Issar’s book on Bangalore’s architecture at per cent of the buildings he described in the book have been pulled
the end of 1980s being turned into just that of archival value as 95 down just within ten years under the pressure of increasing
per cent of the buildings he described in the book have been pulled population. When William argues to Professor M. D.
down just within ten years under the pressure of increasing Nanjundaswamy, President of Karnataka State Farmers’ Association,
population. When William argues to Professor M. D. that ‘Three thousand tandori restaurants in London don’t seem to
Nanjundaswamy, President of Karnataka State Farmers’ Association, have destroyed British culture’(171), his defensive stance to the
that ‘Three thousand tandori restaurants in London don’t seem to western cultural invasion comes on the surface. Equally, his counter
have destroyed British culture’(171), his defensive stance to the argument to the increase of the cases of sexual harassment and
western cultural invasion comes on the surface. Equally, his counter eves teasing on account of the westernised television programmes
argument to the increase of the cases of sexual harassment and lead to his safeguarding the western culture as he points it out that
eves teasing on account of the westernised television programmes ‘Hinduism has celebrated the erotic for millennia’ and produced the
lead to his safeguarding the western culture as he points it out that vast legacy of ‘Kamsutra’ and the erotic art at ‘Khajuraho’. So,
‘Hinduism has celebrated the erotic for millennia’ and produced the according to him, to argue just the display of the beauty contest
vast legacy of ‘Kamsutra’ and the erotic art at ‘Khajuraho’. So, would cause a serious damage to the Indian culture is nothing but a
according to him, to argue just the display of the beauty contest superficial excuse. He compares the modern sense of decorum and
would cause a serious damage to the Indian culture is nothing but a morality in India to the English Victorian social currents and calls
superficial excuse. He compares the modern sense of decorum and them nothing but ‘home-grown’. And brings out the historic fact that
morality in India to the English Victorian social currents and calls “.... after all, the women of Bangalore, as else in the south India,
them nothing but ‘home-grown’. And brings out the historic fact that went about bare-breasted until the British encouraged them to cover
“.... after all, the women of Bangalore, as else in the south India, up in the nineteenth century” (173). His mind constantly keeps on
went about bare-breasted until the British encouraged them to cover making some implied comparisons between the Indian and his
up in the nineteenth century” (173). His mind constantly keeps on Western culture and when, in India, there is a direct blaming on the
making some implied comparisons between the Indian and his western culture, not only he strongly retaliates but tries to bring out
Western culture and when, in India, there is a direct blaming on the the traits which contribute to prove the western culture more better
western culture, not only he strongly retaliates but tries to bring out and superior too. He concludes with the Moghul Emperor Babur’s
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the traits which contribute to prove the western culture more better remarks, and he seems to be in the full agreement to it, on India in
and superior too. He concludes with the Moghul Emperor Babur’s the early sixteenth century, “In India everything is done differently
remarks, and he seems to be in the full agreement to it, on India in from the rest of the world. Nothing will ever change this” (173). 166
the early sixteenth century, “In India everything is done differently The South ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------
from the rest of the world. Nothing will ever change this” (173). 166 ----------------- --------------- This fourth group of essays presents
The South ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ William Dalrymple’s travels in the Southern part of Indian
----------------- --------------- This fourth group of essays presents subcontinent. His travels in the south and observations find a shift of
William Dalrymple’s travels in the Southern part of Indian the focus. Whereas his North presented and snapshot the political
subcontinent. His travels in the south and observations find a shift of and social anarchies which made the people sigh at every stage that
the focus. Whereas his North presented and snapshot the political it was the time of degradation, the age of Kali, the South presents
and social anarchies which made the people sigh at every stage that the increased faith of the common man in the godly authority, an
it was the time of degradation, the age of Kali, the South presents another facet of the common man’s frustration from the present
the increased faith of the common man in the godly authority, an situations through which he has been living, and seeking a sort of
another facet of the common man’s frustration from the present miraculous relief by going into the abode of the supreme authority. At
situations through which he has been living, and seeking a sort of the Court of the Fish-Eyed Goddess ------------------ ------------------
miraculous relief by going into the abode of the supreme authority. At ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In ‘At the Court
the Court of the Fish-Eyed Goddess ------------------ ------------------ of the Fish-Eyed Goddess’ Dalrymple depicts the famous Meenakshi
----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In ‘At the Court temple and the city of Madurai at the time of the famous ‘Teppam
of the Fish-Eyed Goddess’ Dalrymple depicts the famous Meenakshi Festival’. In his typical style he explores the city, meets the local as
temple and the city of Madurai at the time of the famous ‘Teppam well as the visitors of the city, studies the various activities being
Festival’. In his typical style he explores the city, meets the local as performed within and outside this centre of sacred faith, brings out
well as the visitors of the city, studies the various activities being the myths, history, and the Western connection to the ancient city of
performed within and outside this centre of sacred faith, brings out Madurai, and cites the ancient travelers to the city who have their
the myths, history, and the Western connection to the ancient city of own unique views expressed in the context of this city. The whole
Madurai, and cites the ancient travelers to the city who have their essay helps the reader to have a virtual tour to Madurai in the genius
own unique views expressed in the context of this city. The whole company of Dalrymple. Dalrymple visits the city at time of the famous
essay helps the reader to have a virtual tour to Madurai in the genius ‘Teppam Festival’ when the whole city is on the move in the great
company of Dalrymple. Dalrymple visits the city at time of the famous procession for the annual bathing ceremony of the Minaksshi Amma
‘Teppam Festival’ when the whole city is on the move in the great and her consort lord Sundareshvara. He moves along the entire
procession for the annual bathing ceremony of the Minaksshi Amma route of the procession recording his observations taking all the
and her consort lord Sundareshvara. He moves along the entire minute details which arrest his attention. The striking fact that makes
route of the procession recording his observations taking all the him wonder is the continuity of the ancient traditions and practices so
minute details which arrest his attention. The striking fact that makes forcefully and so naturally in this part of the earth that whereas their
him wonder is the continuity of the ancient traditions and practices so contemporary Deities like the gods of Thebes and the Parthenon
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forcefully and so naturally in this part of the earth that whereas their have long been forgotten in the Western world, Meenakshi—the
contemporary Deities like the gods of Thebes and the Parthenon Fish-Eyed Goddess is revered with the utmost faith and her temple
have long been forgotten in the Western world, Meenakshi—the site still holds the status of the Tirtha, “a crossing place linking the
Fish-Eyed Goddess is revered with the utmost faith and her temple profane to the sacred.’. Since the temple of Madurai stretches its
site still holds the status of the Tirtha, “a crossing place linking the existence from the time ancient, Dalrymple notes, the advantage of
profane to the sacred.’. Since the temple of Madurai stretches its 167 watching its present festivals and its several traditions and
existence from the time ancient, Dalrymple notes, the advantage of practices performed is that these might be the same glimpses as
167 watching its present festivals and its several traditions and might have been witnessed by Greek visitors to India before the rise
practices performed is that these might be the same glimpses as of ancient Rome. He brings out the whole history of the city of
might have been witnessed by Greek visitors to India before the rise Madurai, just as the city had been an important terminus of the spice
of ancient Rome. He brings out the whole history of the city of route, and the details of its existence are found to be noted in the
Madurai, just as the city had been an important terminus of the spice West in the fourth century BC: ‘Megastenes, the Greek Ambassador
route, and the details of its existence are found to be noted in the who visited India in 302 BC, recorded the town’s legendary riches,
West in the fourth century BC: ‘Megastenes, the Greek Ambassador and it is gien pride of place in the earliest document detailing the
who visited India in 302 BC, recorded the town’s legendary riches, spice trade, the Periplus Maris Erythraei, written by anonymous
and it is gien pride of place in the earliest document detailing the Alexandrian Greek in the first century AD” (183). Dalrymple tries to
spice trade, the Periplus Maris Erythraei, written by anonymous demonstrate that while the Ancient Western civilization was still in its
Alexandrian Greek in the first century AD” (183). Dalrymple tries to cradle, ever since the region of Madurai has been the centre of
demonstrate that while the Ancient Western civilization was still in its prosperity and civilization. The rich arena of this ancient cult is nicely
cradle, ever since the region of Madurai has been the centre of recorded and reflected in the literary traditions which well bloomed
prosperity and civilization. The rich arena of this ancient cult is nicely around this area namely the ‘Sangam’ or the academy of Tamil
recorded and reflected in the literary traditions which well bloomed poets. Besides the literary traditions, the region also gives ample
around this area namely the ‘Sangam’ or the academy of Tamil evidences of developments in all sorts of arts and conceptual
poets. Besides the literary traditions, the region also gives ample sociality from the time ancient. See how naturally Dalrymple’s eyes
evidences of developments in all sorts of arts and conceptual capture the one of the sculpture from one of the ten thousand pillars
sociality from the time ancient. See how naturally Dalrymple’s eyes in the Madurai temple: One for example, showed a Tamil village
capture the one of the sculpture from one of the ten thousand pillars woman with a coir shopping basket and a baby strapped to her
in the Madurai temple: One for example, showed a Tamil village breast. Her head was turned so she could see a second baby she
woman with a coir shopping basket and a baby strapped to her was carrying in a backpack, while beside her waked a third child, a
breast. Her head was turned so she could see a second baby she little boy eating an apple; the woman’s hand rested gently on her
was carrying in a backpack, while beside her waked a third child, a son’s head. It is an image of startling humanity---the same sight can
little boy eating an apple; the woman’s hand rested gently on her be seen today in any bazaar in Tamilnadu--- yet the statue predates
son’s head. It is an image of startling humanity---the same sight can the beginning of the Italian Renaissance by over a century.’
be seen today in any bazaar in Tamilnadu--- yet the statue predates [Emphasis mine] (187) In the spirits of a traveler, Dalrymple joins the
185
the beginning of the Italian Renaissance by over a century.’ procession and the visits the temple site of Meenakshi, which is
[Emphasis mine] (187) In the spirits of a traveler, Dalrymple joins the standing just as a city within the city. The narrow streets and the
procession and the visits the temple site of Meenakshi, which is beggars at the entrance arrest his attention, yet leaving them to their
standing just as a city within the city. The narrow streets and the business he enters the holly shrine. The gopura, the ceremonial
beggars at the entrance arrest his attention, yet leaving them to their entrance has already picked up his attention even from the very
business he enters the holly shrine. The gopura, the ceremonial distance as they dominated the ‘skyline’ of the city of Madurai. He
entrance has already picked up his attention even from the very compares them with the Cathedrals of Middle Ages of Europe, and
distance as they dominated the ‘skyline’ of the city of Madurai. He gives a detailed description of them. To him this Gopuras appear
compares them with the Cathedrals of Middle Ages of Europe, and great towers symbolizing the Indians’ faith in their deities: They rise
gives a detailed description of them. To him this Gopuras appear in great, tapering, wedge-shaped pyramids--- each layer swarming
great towers symbolizing the Indians’ faith in their deities: They rise with brightly coloured images of gods and demons, heroes and
in great, tapering, wedge-shaped pyramids--- each layer swarming yakshis—until three quarters of the way to their apex, they terminate
with brightly coloured images of gods and demons, heroes and in a crown of cobra heads tipped with a pair of cat’s-eared demon
yakshis—until three quarters of the way to their apex, they terminate finials. The astonishing 168 complexity and elaboration of the
in a crown of cobra heads tipped with a pair of cat’s-eared demon gopura’s decoration is something you can see from far away, long
finials. The astonishing 168 complexity and elaboration of the before you are able to distinguish even the beginning of its detail.
gopura’s decoration is something you can see from far away, long (177) Equally interesting he finds the architecture and the stone
before you are able to distinguish even the beginning of its detail. carvings of the Meenakshi temple, which signify the faith and
(177) Equally interesting he finds the architecture and the stone devotion for which the Goddess Meenakshi is worshipped, namely
carvings of the Meenakshi temple, which signify the faith and for the power of reproduction, for having more and more children
devotion for which the Goddess Meenakshi is worshipped, namely with her grace and boons. I passed under the Gate of Eight
for the power of reproduction, for having more and more children Goddesses and into the long, arcaded passage beyond. Inside, it
with her grace and boons. I passed under the Gate of Eight was dark and magnificent. A forest of carved pillars --- on closer
Goddesses and into the long, arcaded passage beyond. Inside, it inspection lines of heavy breasted Hindu caryatids: yakshis,
was dark and magnificent. A forest of carved pillars --- on closer courtesans, goddesses and dancing girls--- flanked me on either
inspection lines of heavy breasted Hindu caryatids: yakshis, side. Everything about the architecture was deeply, and consciously,
courtesans, goddesses and dancing girls--- flanked me on either feminine: heading towards the innermost sanctuary of the presiding
side. Everything about the architecture was deeply, and consciously, goddess, one sunk deeper and deeper in to the darkness, down a
feminine: heading towards the innermost sanctuary of the presiding long, straight, womb-like passage. (179) And, The conscious
goddess, one sunk deeper and deeper in to the darkness, down a fecundity of the temple is evident in every aspect of its decoration…
long, straight, womb-like passage. (179) And, The conscious It is as if Meenakshi’s fertility is such that every inch of the stonework
fecundity of the temple is evident in every aspect of its decoration… is organically sprouting with supernatural forms, just as the bare
It is as if Meenakshi’s fertility is such that every inch of the stonework desert sprouts with camel-thorn after the rain. (180) Dalrymple also
is organically sprouting with supernatural forms, just as the bare confirms the details with the visitors of the temple. Out of curiosity,
186
desert sprouts with camel-thorn after the rain. (180) Dalrymple also he follows the company of a newly wedded Bride and her friends to
confirms the details with the visitors of the temple. Out of curiosity, the inside the temple, just to know what they are doing, and he finds
he follows the company of a newly wedded Bride and her friends to out that the friends of the Bride had taken her to a particular idol of a
the inside the temple, just to know what they are doing, and he finds Yakshi giving birth to a child in order to secure grace for the Bride.
out that the friends of the Bride had taken her to a particular idol of a He also talks with the Keralean devotees who have come all the way
Yakshi giving birth to a child in order to secure grace for the Bride. from their place to secure grace of the goddess in the form of some
He also talks with the Keralean devotees who have come all the way more children. His conversation with Mr. Bhaskar, a post graduate
from their place to secure grace of the goddess in the form of some MSc in biochem from Mysore University, shows that the faith and
more children. His conversation with Mr. Bhaskar, a post graduate devotion for the Amma is not limited to the village and illiterate strata
MSc in biochem from Mysore University, shows that the faith and of the society, but the people from the higher strata of the society too
devotion for the Amma is not limited to the village and illiterate strata feel the same trance for the Goddess and the traditions of the
of the society, but the people from the higher strata of the society too festivals which stretch their continuity from the time ancient as the
feel the same trance for the Goddess and the traditions of the priest of the temple claims it to be the continuity of four or more
festivals which stretch their continuity from the time ancient as the centuries. William seems to draw upon the note that the things will
priest of the temple claims it to be the continuity of four or more go on simply as they had descended from the time ancient with the
centuries. William seems to draw upon the note that the things will spiritual couple enjoying their union every night in the temple of
go on simply as they had descended from the time ancient with the Madurai in order to secure the continuity of the universe. 169 Under
spiritual couple enjoying their union every night in the temple of the Char Minar Hyderabad 1998
Madurai in order to secure the continuity of the universe. 169 Under -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the Char Minar Hyderabad 1998 Under The Char Minar presents Dalrymple’s research on the City of
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hyderabad the capital city of Nizam. He meets Mir Moazam and
Under The Char Minar presents Dalrymple’s research on the City of through his memories tries to make alive the gorgeous past of the
Hyderabad the capital city of Nizam. He meets Mir Moazam and city, which in the present lot of time faces the cruel consequences of
through his memories tries to make alive the gorgeous past of the sheer neglect and waiting ruins. The whole essay presents the
city, which in the present lot of time faces the cruel consequences of nostalgic visions of the Mir Moazam, who in his conversation with
sheer neglect and waiting ruins. The whole essay presents the Dalrymple, shifts very naturally to the past glories of the city and her
nostalgic visions of the Mir Moazam, who in his conversation with subjects that the present ruinous state of the city makes him utterly
Dalrymple, shifts very naturally to the past glories of the city and her unhappy. Along with the issues of weakening of the ancestral
subjects that the present ruinous state of the city makes him utterly legacies of aristocratic Hyderabad, William’s conversations with Mir
unhappy. Along with the issues of weakening of the ancestral Moazam also bring in the issues of recent history of Hyderabad
legacies of aristocratic Hyderabad, William’s conversations with Mir namely the events following the Indian Independence, the Nizam’s
Moazam also bring in the issues of recent history of Hyderabad declaration of Hyderabad as the Independent state even from India
namely the events following the Indian Independence, the Nizam’s and the eventual Indian Army Operation- ‘Operation Polo’ or ‘The
declaration of Hyderabad as the Independent state even from India Police Action’ in 1948, and the massacre of the residents of
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and the eventual Indian Army Operation- ‘Operation Polo’ or ‘The Hyderabad. The essay opens with the depiction of Aristocratic life-
Police Action’ in 1948, and the massacre of the residents of style of Mir Moazam’s Grand Father, Fakrool Mulk, who had been
Hyderabad. The essay opens with the depiction of Aristocratic life- the Deputy Prime-Minister in the Nizam’s government. According to
style of Mir Moazam’s Grand Father, Fakrool Mulk, who had been Mir Moazam the principal passion of his grandfather was to get great
the Deputy Prime-Minister in the Nizam’s government. According to buildings erected. He would go on his evening walk with the
Mir Moazam the principal passion of his grandfather was to get great company of his men and as per his moods would draw the outline of
buildings erected. He would go on his evening walk with the the building in his mind on the ground with his walking stick which his
company of his men and as per his moods would draw the outline of draughts men would copy down and the next couple of days would
the building in his mind on the ground with his walking stick which his pass in reviewing and revising the plans and then the masons would
draughts men would copy down and the next couple of days would be commissioned to start the building. Mir Moazam claims his
pass in reviewing and revising the plans and then the masons would grandfather to have gifted one of his favourite palaces to the Nizam
be commissioned to start the building. Mir Moazam claims his himself just when he came to know that the particular building
grandfather to have gifted one of his favourite palaces to the Nizam fascinated the Nizam. Fakrool Mulk helped his hobby of Tiger
himself just when he came to know that the particular building shooting by building a track on the hill near his resident palace and
fascinated the Nizam. Fakrool Mulk helped his hobby of Tiger on the track a stuffed tiger would be let loose from the top of the hill
shooting by building a track on the hill near his resident palace and and he would fire on this stuffed tiger from his position. Another great
on the track a stuffed tiger would be let loose from the top of the hill aspect of Fakrool Mulk was his style of dinner. Mir Moazam informs
and he would fire on this stuffed tiger from his position. Another great William about the multi-course dinner of his grandfather, which
aspect of Fakrool Mulk was his style of dinner. Mir Moazam informs observed strict protocol: “There was very strict protocol: we wouldn’t
William about the multi-course dinner of his grandfather, which sit until asked to, and wouldn’t dream of talking until talked to. He did
observed strict protocol: “There was very strict protocol: we wouldn’t the talking, we responded” (195). 170 Like his Deputy Prime-
sit until asked to, and wouldn’t dream of talking until talked to. He did Minister, Nizam’s own world was full of eccentricities. William brings
the talking, we responded” (195). 170 Like his Deputy Prime- in the account of Iris Portal, a friend of his Grandmother, who visited
Minister, Nizam’s own world was full of eccentricities. William brings India in late 1930s: The Nizam, said to be the richest man in the
in the account of Iris Portal, a friend of his Grandmother, who visited world, had no fewer than eleven thousand servants: thirty-eight
India in late 1930s: The Nizam, said to be the richest man in the dusted the chandeliers, others were employed only to prepare betel
world, had no fewer than eleven thousand servants: thirty-eight nut. In addition, he had three official wives, forty-two concubines and
dusted the chandeliers, others were employed only to prepare betel nearly twenty children. (197) In all the conversational pieces of Mir
nut. In addition, he had three official wives, forty-two concubines and Moazam there always rings the concern of the glories of Hyderabad
nearly twenty children. (197) In all the conversational pieces of Mir being wasted. But among the ruins of the old ancient aristocratic
Moazam there always rings the concern of the glories of Hyderabad traces and in the waves of new urbanization where everything is
being wasted. But among the ruins of the old ancient aristocratic altered according to the new necessities, still, there are some place
traces and in the waves of new urbanization where everything is which are standing stern holding the graces and glories of past
altered according to the new necessities, still, there are some place framed intact in them. One such place in Hyderabad is the
188
which are standing stern holding the graces and glories of past Falaknuma palace. William describes the state of the building as it
framed intact in them. One such place in Hyderabad is the resisted the slaps of passing time just in the ‘red-wax sealed’
Falaknuma palace. William describes the state of the building as it condition on account of certain legal encumbrance. It was originally
resisted the slaps of passing time just in the ‘red-wax sealed’ the residence of the sixth Nizam, the father of Osman Ali Khan. The
condition on account of certain legal encumbrance. It was originally complexes to the east of this Falaknuma appeal greatly to
the residence of the sixth Nizam, the father of Osman Ali Khan. The Dalrymple: They are wonderfully ebullient and foppish monuments
complexes to the east of this Falaknuma appeal greatly to dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with domes swelling
Dalrymple: They are wonderfully ebullient and foppish monuments out of all proportion to the bases, like a watermelon attempting to
dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with domes swelling balance on a fig. above the domes rises the craggy citadel of
out of all proportion to the bases, like a watermelon attempting to Golconda, source of the ceaseless stream of diamonds which
balance on a fig. above the domes rises the craggy citadel of ensured that Hyderabad’s rulers would never be poor. Inside the
Golconda, source of the ceaseless stream of diamonds which walls you pass a succession of harems and bathing pools, pavilions
ensured that Hyderabad’s rulers would never be poor. Inside the and pleasure gardens--- a world that seems to have jumped straight
walls you pass a succession of harems and bathing pools, pavilions out of the pages of The Arabian Nights. (201) In this connection he
and pleasure gardens--- a world that seems to have jumped straight also brings out from the pages of the History of a love story of an
out of the pages of The Arabian Nights. (201) In this connection he English Resident Lieutenant-Colonel James Achilles Kirkpatrick with
also brings out from the pages of the History of a love story of an a Muslim lady Khair-un-Nissa, who had been a great niece of the
English Resident Lieutenant-Colonel James Achilles Kirkpatrick with diwan of Hyderabad. William points out the stir of concern that
a Muslim lady Khair-un-Nissa, who had been a great niece of the stormed in Britain at Kirkpatrick’s adoption of the Muslim style
diwan of Hyderabad. William points out the stir of concern that garments and way of life. William also curiously finds out the ‘scaled-
stormed in Britain at Kirkpatrick’s adoption of the Muslim style down plaster model’ which Kirkpatrick got erected I order to allow his
garments and way of life. William also curiously finds out the ‘scaled- beloved wife who remained in the Purdah the idea of the truest
down plaster model’ which Kirkpatrick got erected I order to allow his designs of his newly built palace. He also mentions the neglected
beloved wife who remained in the Purdah the idea of the truest status of such valuable Historical evidence. Next, William narrates
designs of his newly built palace. He also mentions the neglected the stories of people of Hyderabad’s love, trust and dependence on
status of such valuable Historical evidence. Next, William narrates the tactics of magic. The person who practiced such magic was
the stories of people of Hyderabad’s love, trust and dependence on known 171 as Murshad and he enjoyed a high social status and
the tactics of magic. The person who practiced such magic was people revered the Murshads in the form of the close agents of
known 171 as Murshad and he enjoyed a high social status and Gods. Just as the stories of Mir Moazam appear farfetched and fibs
people revered the Murshads in the form of the close agents of so are the talks of Begum Meherunissa, the wife of Mir Moazam,
Gods. Just as the stories of Mir Moazam appear farfetched and fibs about the Murshad appear fictional, but she claims them to have
so are the talks of Begum Meherunissa, the wife of Mir Moazam, happened before her own eyes so here Dalrymple’s researcher
about the Murshad appear fictional, but she claims them to have spirits present them as they have been narrated by her and he
happened before her own eyes so here Dalrymple’s researcher himself remains away from making any personal comments on them.
189
spirits present them as they have been narrated by her and he His second session of conversation with Mir Moazam shifts the focus
himself remains away from making any personal comments on them. from the glories of the Nawabian Aristocracy to the fall of Hyderabad.
His second session of conversation with Mir Moazam shifts the focus Mir Moazam clearly opines that the Nizam should better have
from the glories of the Nawabian Aristocracy to the fall of Hyderabad. negotiated with Nehru realistically exactly when the British were
Mir Moazam clearly opines that the Nizam should better have leaving: He (The Nizam) might have got a viable deal , a treaty that
negotiated with Nehru realistically exactly when the British were would have allowed him to keep some form of real autonomy. That
leaving: He (The Nizam) might have got a viable deal , a treaty that way a lot of bloodshed might have been avoided. (207) Even, the
would have allowed him to keep some form of real autonomy. That roots of Operation Polo, i.e. Nizam’s decision of declaring his Nation
way a lot of bloodshed might have been avoided. (207) Even, the Hyderabad an Independent nation seems full of foolish sentiments to
roots of Operation Polo, i.e. Nizam’s decision of declaring his Nation Mir Moazam: Half-hearted negotiations dragged on, until eventually
Hyderabad an Independent nation seems full of foolish sentiments to the Nizam decided to declare outright independence from India. It
Mir Moazam: Half-hearted negotiations dragged on, until eventually was utter madness. Legally and constitutionally he may have had the
the Nizam decided to declare outright independence from India. It right to do so, but it was still quite unrealistic. (207) William
was utter madness. Legally and constitutionally he may have had the confesses as he was warned not to open up the subject of the
right to do so, but it was still quite unrealistic. (207) William Operation Polo with Mir Moazam as it was the most painful chapter
confesses as he was warned not to open up the subject of the of his life, he cautiously encourages him on this topic. But Mir
Operation Polo with Mir Moazam as it was the most painful chapter Moazam himself started giving a detailed account of it. And his
of his life, he cautiously encourages him on this topic. But Mir account must be the authentic one as he was the collector of the
Moazam himself started giving a detailed account of it. And his region from where the Indian forces opened attack on Hyderabad on
account must be the authentic one as he was the collector of the the day of 13 September 1948. William presents Mir Moazam’s
region from where the Indian forces opened attack on Hyderabad on account, without intervening, directly through his own narration. It
the day of 13 September 1948. William presents Mir Moazam’s makes clear that Hyderabad proved very feeble against the Indian
account, without intervening, directly through his own narration. It land and air attacks and the whole affair came to a clear result within
makes clear that Hyderabad proved very feeble against the Indian a few hours only. Another fact he brings forth is the treatment they
land and air attacks and the whole affair came to a clear result within received just after the invasion and being overpowered was the
a few hours only. Another fact he brings forth is the treatment they same as the one enemy nation extends just after overpowering any
received just after the invasion and being overpowered was the nation: When an Army invades any country---whether it’s Alexander
same as the one enemy nation extends just after overpowering any the Great, Timur, Hitlar or Mussoline—when it gets into a town, you
nation: When an Army invades any country---whether it’s Alexander know what the soldiery does. It’s very difficult for the officers to
the Great, Timur, Hitlar or Mussoline—when it gets into a town, you control them. I can’t tell you 172 how many were raped or killed, but I
know what the soldiery does. It’s very difficult for the officers to saw the bodies of many. Old scores were paid off across the state.
control them. I can’t tell you 172 how many were raped or killed, but I (209) William here brings in the report on the massacre in the
saw the bodies of many. Old scores were paid off across the state. Operation Polo which Nehru got prepared on the fateful events, and
(209) William here brings in the report on the massacre in the some part of it being smuggled out of India and published under the
190
Operation Polo which Nehru got prepared on the fateful events, and title : ‘Hyderabad: After the Fall’ in America. Now looking at the lost
some part of it being smuggled out of India and published under the glories of Hyderabad Mir Moazam feels great pains, as he knows
title : ‘Hyderabad: After the Fall’ in America. Now looking at the lost after the fall those who remained here in India were left with no
glories of Hyderabad Mir Moazam feels great pains, as he knows legacy of the Aristocracy nor were they any bit accustomed to do any
after the fall those who remained here in India were left with no money-earning activities, so the only thing they were left with was
legacy of the Aristocracy nor were they any bit accustomed to do any their real estates, which they sold out eventually. Thus, in ‘Under The
money-earning activities, so the only thing they were left with was Char Minar’ William unfolds another painful chapter of Indian history.
their real estates, which they sold out eventually. Thus, in ‘Under The He picks up not only the tresses of the glories of this city of Nawabs
Char Minar’ William unfolds another painful chapter of Indian history. but purposefully holds it a background to the painful chapter of The
He picks up not only the tresses of the glories of this city of Nawabs Police Action, a troubled ordeal which he labels “a bloodbath
but purposefully holds it a background to the painful chapter of The comparable to parts of the Punjab during Partition” (210). Parashakti
Police Action, a troubled ordeal which he labels “a bloodbath Cochin,1993
comparable to parts of the Punjab during Partition” (210). Parashakti --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cochin,1993 This is the shortest essay of the entire collection in which William has
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- dealt with the South Indian City of Cochin and especially the shrine
This is the shortest essay of the entire collection in which William has of the Goddess Parashakti. The city attracts little of his attention in
dealt with the South Indian City of Cochin and especially the shrine comparison to the temple of Chottanikkara where he spends
of the Goddess Parashakti. The city attracts little of his attention in maximum time in the company of Mr. Venugopal, a retired chief-
comparison to the temple of Chottanikkara where he spends engineer of All-Kerala Electricity Board. Mr. Venugopal makes
maximum time in the company of Mr. Venugopal, a retired chief- arrangements for Mr. William Dalrymple to be allowed inside the
engineer of All-Kerala Electricity Board. Mr. Venugopal makes shrine as ‘Non-Hindus’ are literally not allowed to enter most of the
arrangements for Mr. William Dalrymple to be allowed inside the famous temples of South. William opens the essay with the
shrine as ‘Non-Hindus’ are literally not allowed to enter most of the description of the treatment being given to the ‘possessed’ ladies at
famous temples of South. William opens the essay with the this famous temple. And in his conversation with Mr. Venugopal, he
description of the treatment being given to the ‘possessed’ ladies at brings out the details of the ‘Healing Procedure’ as well as he himself
this famous temple. And in his conversation with Mr. Venugopal, he observes all the ‘Healing’ procedure which claims to set the
brings out the details of the ‘Healing Procedure’ as well as he himself ‘possessed bodies’ free from the mighty claws of the Evil Spirits. In
observes all the ‘Healing’ procedure which claims to set the his talks Mr. Venugopal, about whom William is quite suspicious for
‘possessed bodies’ free from the mighty claws of the Evil Spirits. In his claim of being the ‘Retired Chief- Engineer’ as to him it appears
his talks Mr. Venugopal, about whom William is quite suspicious for to be an exaggerated claim, tells William that now the people have
his claim of being the ‘Retired Chief- Engineer’ as to him it appears realized their mistake about the materialistic way of lives and have
to be an exaggerated claim, tells William that now the people have returned back to the spiritual avenues of religious faith and therefore
realized their mistake about the materialistic way of lives and have the temple of 173 Parashakti now remains more crowded than it
returned back to the spiritual avenues of religious faith and therefore used to be few years before. William directly presents the views of
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the temple of 173 Parashakti now remains more crowded than it Mr. Venugopal about the influences of the supernatural agencies on
used to be few years before. William directly presents the views of the Human beings and the reasons behind their this kind of activities:
Mr. Venugopal about the influences of the supernatural agencies on We Hindus believe that some of the symptoms of epiletsy-delirious
the Human beings and the reasons behind their this kind of activities: convulsions and mad utterances- are due to the effect of Yakshis,
We Hindus believe that some of the symptoms of epiletsy-delirious our spirits. These spirits have astral bodies only, and invisible. Their
convulsions and mad utterances- are due to the effect of Yakshis, identity can only be guessed at by the symptoms of possessed
our spirits. These spirits have astral bodies only, and invisible. Their persons, and also by the astrological calculations of our brahmins.
identity can only be guessed at by the symptoms of possessed Our feeling is that every evil spirit would like to unite with the
persons, and also by the astrological calculations of our brahmins. almighty. But thanks to his bad deeds he cannot. For this reasons
Our feeling is that every evil spirit would like to unite with the there are too many evil spirits roaming around in the atmosphere.
almighty. But thanks to his bad deeds he cannot. For this reasons Now, the aim of these Yakshis is to get inside the bodies of weak-
there are too many evil spirits roaming around in the atmosphere. minded peoples. Then they think they will be brought a temple where
Now, the aim of these Yakshis is to get inside the bodies of weak- some compensatory puja wil be done or them, and in this way they
minded peoples. Then they think they will be brought a temple where will get salvation. (216) William also presents the mythical story
some compensatory puja wil be done or them, and in this way they woven around the Goddess Parashakti who is being known and
will get salvation. (216) William also presents the mythical story worshipped in different names and forms in almost all the corners of
woven around the Goddess Parashakti who is being known and India. Once, a demonic yakshi desired a handsome young Brahmin,
worshipped in different names and forms in almost all the corners of and so changed into a nubile Tamil girl to seduce him. Stopping at a
India. Once, a demonic yakshi desired a handsome young Brahmin, holy man’s hut the yakshi refused to enter and so the holy man
and so changed into a nubile Tamil girl to seduce him. Stopping at a realised the demon’s true nature. He gave a red cloth to the young
holy man’s hut the yakshi refused to enter and so the holy man man and told him to run as fast as he could to the shrine of
realised the demon’s true nature. He gave a red cloth to the young Parashakti and throw the red cloth over the idol. As the young man
man and told him to run as fast as he could to the shrine of ran out of the hut, the yakshi saw she had been discovered and
Parashakti and throw the red cloth over the idol. As the young man regained her true form. She became as tall as a mountain with a
ran out of the hut, the yakshi saw she had been discovered and mouth like a cave, and her hair was a mass of hissing cobras. The
regained her true form. She became as tall as a mountain with a yakshi chased after the boy, and just as he neared the shrine and
mouth like a cave, and her hair was a mass of hissing cobras. The threw the red cloth over the idol, the yakshi pulled him from the
yakshi chased after the boy, and just as he neared the shrine and gateway. At that moment the Kali idol came to life. Seeing her
threw the red cloth over the idol, the yakshi pulled him from the devotee in trouble, the goddess brandished her sword and chased
gateway. At that moment the Kali idol came to life. Seeing her the yakshi into the forest. Beside a jungle pond the goddess caught
devotee in trouble, the goddess brandished her sword and chased the demon and cut off her head. Then she drank the yakshi’s blood.
the yakshi into the forest. Beside a jungle pond the goddess caught So much gore flowed from the corpse that to this day the pond
the demon and cut off her head. Then she drank the yakshi’s blood. beneath the temple has a reddish tinge. But the goddess Parashakti
So much gore flowed from the corpse that to this day the pond got a taste for blood and now she cannot live without it. (220) 174
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beneath the temple has a reddish tinge. But the goddess Parashakti William visits the temple at night with Mr. Venugopal in order to
got a taste for blood and now she cannot live without it. (220) 174 witness the rituals of exorcising the evil spirits from the bodies of the
William visits the temple at night with Mr. Venugopal in order to possessed ones by invoking the graces of the goddess by offering
witness the rituals of exorcising the evil spirits from the bodies of the her her favourite appetite in the accompaniment of musical
possessed ones by invoking the graces of the goddess by offering enchantment of her favourite verses. He minutely observes the
her her favourite appetite in the accompaniment of musical treatment being extended towards the possessed ones. He incurs
enchantment of her favourite verses. He minutely observes the the displeasure of Mr. Venugopal by defining this kind of treatment as
treatment being extended towards the possessed ones. He incurs a sort of ‘faith Healing’. Mr. Venugopal feels offended and quite
the displeasure of Mr. Venugopal by defining this kind of treatment as annoyed too at this kind of reflection from William, even William too
a sort of ‘faith Healing’. Mr. Venugopal feels offended and quite feels he ought not to have expressed his views in this way. Mr.
annoyed too at this kind of reflection from William, even William too Venugopal declares his verdict at William’s interrogation about the
feels he ought not to have expressed his views in this way. Mr. supremacy of the Goddess, saying: “Parashakti is the supreme
Venugopal declares his verdict at William’s interrogation about the Goddess. But to see her work, maybe you must be god fearing and
supremacy of the Goddess, saying: “Parashakti is the supreme god-loving, only then can you really understand her power…” (224).
Goddess. But to see her work, maybe you must be god fearing and Thus, through this essay the beliefs about the special supernatural
god-loving, only then can you really understand her power…” (224). agencies at work and their taking hold of human entity and a full-
Thus, through this essay the beliefs about the special supernatural fledged mechanism to exorcise such supernatural agencies at work
agencies at work and their taking hold of human entity and a full- in certain part of India are brought on discussion by William
fledged mechanism to exorcise such supernatural agencies at work Dalrymple. On the Indian Ocean ------------------ ------------------
in certain part of India are brought on discussion by William ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- The fifth
Dalrymple. On the Indian Ocean ------------------ ------------------ collection of the essays explores the coastal as well as the Islands
----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- The fifth on the Indian Ocean, so the author calls them ‘On the Indian Ocean’.
collection of the essays explores the coastal as well as the Islands There are three well textured essays on Goa, Sri Lanka and the
on the Indian Ocean, so the author calls them ‘On the Indian Ocean’. Reunion, an island, in which William Dalrymple presents his
There are three well textured essays on Goa, Sri Lanka and the reflections on the cultures, ways of life of the people of these
Reunion, an island, in which William Dalrymple presents his particular regions. He also picks up some contemporary issues and
reflections on the cultures, ways of life of the people of these digs History too in order to bring the region’s truest colours afresh to
particular regions. He also picks up some contemporary issues and his readers. Compared to the previous groups of essays, here
digs History too in order to bring the region’s truest colours afresh to William appears more of a travel writer and his journalistic and
his readers. Compared to the previous groups of essays, here judgemental attitudes seem giving way to the true traveling motives
William appears more of a travel writer and his journalistic and and his focus captures the impressive avenues of the place he visits.
judgemental attitudes seem giving way to the true traveling motives At Donna Georgina’s ------------------ ------------------ -----------------
and his focus captures the impressive avenues of the place he visits. ------------------ ----------------- --------------- The first one is the essay on
At Donna Georgina’s ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- Goa, At Donna Georgina’s. He travels in this historical Portuguese
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------------------ ----------------- --------------- The first one is the essay on territory on the Indian sub-continent in 1993 and captures the snaps
Goa, At Donna Georgina’s. He travels in this historical Portuguese of its glorious past as well as explores the History of it too. He meets
territory on the Indian sub-continent in 1993 and captures the snaps and interviews Donna Georgina, whose name occurs in the title
of its glorious past as well as explores the History of it too. He meets itself, and brings out the 175 things from her conversation which
and interviews Donna Georgina, whose name occurs in the title would seem shocking to any Indian but allow anybody outside India
itself, and brings out the 175 things from her conversation which to fancy that it must be a place of western civilization within the
would seem shocking to any Indian but allow anybody outside India Indian territory, as the residents of it too prefer to define themselves
to fancy that it must be a place of western civilization within the aloof from the Indian culture and emphasis the ‘otherness’ to the
Indian territory, as the residents of it too prefer to define themselves Indians. “Goa is the an area of great natural abundance , and the
aloof from the Indian culture and emphasis the ‘otherness’ to the state is envied throughout India for its rich red soil and fertile paddy
Indians. “Goa is the an area of great natural abundance , and the fields, its bittersweet mangoes and cool sea breezes”(228). This is
state is envied throughout India for its rich red soil and fertile paddy how Dalrymple introduces Goa. His historical interests are at work
fields, its bittersweet mangoes and cool sea breezes”(228). This is here and the consequence is the lively narration of the history of
how Dalrymple introduces Goa. His historical interests are at work Goa: In its earliest incarnation Old Goa was a grim fortress city, the
here and the consequence is the lively narration of the history of head quarters of a string of fifty heavily armed artillery bastions
Goa: In its earliest incarnation Old Goa was a grim fortress city, the stretching the length of the Indian littoral. But by 1600, the process
head quarters of a string of fifty heavily armed artillery bastions that would transform the conquistadors into dandies had turned Old
stretching the length of the Indian littoral. But by 1600, the process Goa from a fortified barracks into a thriving metropolis of seventy-five
that would transform the conquistadors into dandies had turned Old thousand people, the swaggering capital of the Portuguese Empire in
Goa from a fortified barracks into a thriving metropolis of seventy-five the East. It was larger than contemporary Madrid, and virtually as
thousand people, the swaggering capital of the Portuguese Empire in populous as Lisbon, whose civic privileges it shared. The mangrove
the East. It was larger than contemporary Madrid, and virtually as swamps were cleared, and in their place rose the walls and towers of
populous as Lisbon, whose civic privileges it shared. The mangrove vice regal palaces, elegant townhouses, austere monasteries and
swamps were cleared, and in their place rose the walls and towers of elaborate baroque cathedrals. (228) He also presents the amatory
vice regal palaces, elegant townhouses, austere monasteries and temperament of Goa in his typical comparative measure by giving
elaborate baroque cathedrals. (228) He also presents the amatory the description of the portraits of the Portuguese Viceroys which are
temperament of Goa in his typical comparative measure by giving in the state of total neglect in the abandoned convent of St. Francis
the description of the portraits of the Portuguese Viceroys which are of Assisi in Old Goa. He observes whereas the earlier Viceroys
in the state of total neglect in the abandoned convent of St. Francis appear in their gallant and brave get ups, their later representative
of Assisi in Old Goa. He observes whereas the earlier Viceroys “Mascarenhas is a powdered dandy in silk stockings; a fluffy lace ruff
appear in their gallant and brave get ups, their later representative brushes his chin. He is pictured leaning on a stick, his lips pursed
“Mascarenhas is a powdered dandy in silk stockings; a fluffy lace ruff and his tunic half-unbuttoned; he looks as if he is on his way out of
brushes his chin. He is pictured leaning on a stick, his lips pursed brothel.” He goes further to make comparison between the
and his tunic half-unbuttoned; he looks as if he is on his way out of transformation of the strong and sturdy Turkish Moguls into the “pale
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brothel.” He goes further to make comparison between the princes in petticoats” on the Gangatic plains and the transformation
transformation of the strong and sturdy Turkish Moguls into the “pale of the Portuguese conquistadors into “effeminate fops in bows and
princes in petticoats” on the Gangatic plains and the transformation laces.” This gives the reader idea about the mastery and the sound
of the Portuguese conquistadors into “effeminate fops in bows and study of the writer on the different phases of the Indian History. As
laces.” This gives the reader idea about the mastery and the sound every where else on the Indiadn sub-continent, the precious and
study of the writer on the different phases of the Indian History. As valuable ancient sites are facing sheer neglet on account of the
every where else on the Indiadn sub-continent, the precious and modern commercial developments and lack of the desired
valuable ancient sites are facing sheer neglet on account of the awareness towards the value of such historical monuments. And as
modern commercial developments and lack of the desired in other essays here too, William comes with his concerns: The
awareness towards the value of such historical monuments. And as Panorama from the chapel’s front steps is astonishing. The odd
in other essays here too, William comes with his concerns: The spire, a vault, a cupola, a broken pedimentcan be seen poking out of
Panorama from the chapel’s front steps is astonishing. The odd the forest canopy. 176 You look down past the domes and spires of
spire, a vault, a cupola, a broken pedimentcan be seen poking out of churches and monasteries, and see the evening light pick out the
the forest canopy. 176 You look down past the domes and spires of wandering course of Mandovi river beyond. (230) The river is empty
churches and monasteries, and see the evening light pick out the now: the docks are deserted; the galleons long sunk. Of one of the
wandering course of Mandovi river beyond. (230) The river is empty greatest cities of the Renaissance world, almost nothing now
now: the docks are deserted; the galleons long sunk. Of one of the remains” (230). (emphasis mine) His conversations with the Hostess,
greatest cities of the Renaissance world, almost nothing now Donna Gorgiana brings out other aspects of the Goan people’s
remains” (230). (emphasis mine) His conversations with the Hostess, displeasures and sentimental bent towards their colonial rulers.
Donna Gorgiana brings out other aspects of the Goan people’s Donna asserts to William that they were far happier and prosperous
displeasures and sentimental bent towards their colonial rulers. under the four century long Portuguise colonial reign than they are
Donna asserts to William that they were far happier and prosperous today. And she goes to the extent of calling the Indian Liberation
under the four century long Portuguise colonial reign than they are operation the Botheration operation. She clearly opines that Goa has
today. And she goes to the extent of calling the Indian Liberation been looted by the political mafias of India: When the Indians came
operation the Botheration operation. She clearly opines that Goa has to Goa in 1961 it was 100 per cent an invasion. From what were they
been looted by the political mafias of India: When the Indians came supposed to be liberating us? Not the Portuguese, because the
to Goa in 1961 it was 100 per cent an invasion. From what were they Portuguese never oppressed us. Let me tell you exactly what it was
supposed to be liberating us? Not the Portuguese, because the the Indians were freeing us from. They were kindly liberating us from
Portuguese never oppressed us. Let me tell you exactly what it was peace and from security. (232) Donna claims that Goa has become
the Indians were freeing us from. They were kindly liberating us from an unsafe place in comparison to it was under the reign of the
peace and from security. (232) Donna claims that Goa has become Portuguese. She also expresses her concerns regarding the cutting
an unsafe place in comparison to it was under the reign of the of the forests and the spoiling of the natural resources in the name of
Portuguese. She also expresses her concerns regarding the cutting the Industrial development. Donna is pained as the land owned by
of the forests and the spoiling of the natural resources in the name of her people is being handed over to other by the Indian politicians in
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the Industrial development. Donna is pained as the land owned by the reward of the votes. Dalrymple claims that the story of Donna
her people is being handed over to other by the Indian politicians in and the expression of disrespect and dissatisfaction towards the
the reward of the votes. Dalrymple claims that the story of Donna Indian seizure of Goa from the Portuguese is the common trait
and the expression of disrespect and dissatisfaction towards the among all the Goans. He also puts that like Donna Georgiana, even
Indian seizure of Goa from the Portuguese is the common trait the educated Goans would talk about “crossing boards to India”,
among all the Goans. He also puts that like Donna Georgiana, even ’those Indians” and also about “their visit ‘home’ to their cousins in
the educated Goans would talk about “crossing boards to India”, the Algarve or their brothers in Cintra. They feel they have to pay a
’those Indians” and also about “their visit ‘home’ to their cousins in bigger price to their financial prosperity that they have gained after
the Algarve or their brothers in Cintra. They feel they have to pay a being merged into the Indian territories as the natural innocent Goan
bigger price to their financial prosperity that they have gained after temperament is beng replaced everywhere by the corrupt and
being merged into the Indian territories as the natural innocent Goan hiterocentric. The next painful score to Donna Georgina about Indian
temperament is beng replaced everywhere by the corrupt and Political Goa is it is being the Tourist hot spot with all sorts of mean
hiterocentric. The next painful score to Donna Georgina about Indian groups of people all over the world heading Goa in order to satisfy
Political Goa is it is being the Tourist hot spot with all sorts of mean their indecent desires and making it the destination for illicit drug
groups of people all over the world heading Goa in order to satisfy trafficking and sex rackets. She mentions in a highly complaining
their indecent desires and making it the destination for illicit drug tone to 177 Dalrymple that such activities have spoilt the entire
trafficking and sex rackets. She mentions in a highly complaining reputation of Goan culture. To Dalrymple she naturally responds to
tone to 177 Dalrymple that such activities have spoilt the entire this sort of transformations of her Goa: In fact, since 1961 we’ve had
reputation of Goan culture. To Dalrymple she naturally responds to two invasions. First it was the Indians. They plundered Goa: cut
this sort of transformations of her Goa: In fact, since 1961 we’ve had down our forests and took away our woods. Their politicians created
two invasions. First it was the Indians. They plundered Goa: cut havoc. Then after that it was the turn of the hippies. Disgusting.
down our forests and took away our woods. Their politicians created That’s what those people were. Dees-gusting. All that nudism. And
havoc. Then after that it was the turn of the hippies. Disgusting. sexual acts: on the beach, on the roads- even in Panjim. Panjim!
That’s what those people were. Dees-gusting. All that nudism. And Imagine: kissing in public and I don’t know what else. Disgusting.
sexual acts: on the beach, on the roads- even in Panjim. Panjim! (234) In this way, the essay records William’s observations on Goa
Imagine: kissing in public and I don’t know what else. Disgusting. as to a greater extent the territory which is really a part of Indian sub-
(234) In this way, the essay records William’s observations on Goa continent from the geographical perspectives, but the subjects of the
as to a greater extent the territory which is really a part of Indian sub- territory feel being unworthily forced to move away from their distinct
continent from the geographical perspectives, but the subjects of the identity at the absorption of it to the Indian political system. He also
territory feel being unworthily forced to move away from their distinct deliberately wishes to draw attention upon the neglect of the
identity at the absorption of it to the Indian political system. He also precious Historical monuments as well as the encroachment of the
deliberately wishes to draw attention upon the neglect of the varied social cultures upon the serene identity of this natural abode
precious Historical monuments as well as the encroachment of the of the coastal land which has earned its distinct identity through the
varied social cultures upon the serene identity of this natural abode congenial reign of the colonizers for more than four centuries. The
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of the coastal land which has earned its distinct identity through the dissatisfaction and disrespect clearly gets filtered through what
congenial reign of the colonizers for more than four centuries. The Donna Georgiana has to say, and how Dalrymple quotes her: “Drugs
dissatisfaction and disrespect clearly gets filtered through what and sexual acts and I don’t know what else. I don’t know which is
Donna Georgiana has to say, and how Dalrymple quotes her: “Drugs worse: those hippies or our modern Indian politicians. The
and sexual acts and I don’t know what else. I don’t know which is Portuguese wouldn’t have allowed either” (235) Up the Tiger Path :
worse: those hippies or our modern Indian politicians. The Jaffna SRI LANKA, 1990 ------------------ ------------------ -----------------
Portuguese wouldn’t have allowed either” (235) Up the Tiger Path : ------------------ ----------------- --------------- This essay presents the tiff
Jaffna SRI LANKA, 1990 ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- between the Sighalese and the Tamil Tiger group on the Sri Lankan
------------------ ----------------- --------------- This essay presents the tiff Island. Dalrymple has been sent, as he mentions, to Sri Lanka to
between the Sighalese and the Tamil Tiger group on the Sri Lankan cover the event of withdrawal of the Indian Peace Army from Sri
Island. Dalrymple has been sent, as he mentions, to Sri Lanka to Lanka with a note of failure in the mission of implementing peace.
cover the event of withdrawal of the Indian Peace Army from Sri And Dalrymple doesn’t fail to mention that rather it was a defeat on
Lanka with a note of failure in the mission of implementing peace. the Indian side. He finds the event parallel to the retreat of Russia
And Dalrymple doesn’t fail to mention that rather it was a defeat on from Kabul, or that of fall of Saigon, just here too a large Army was
the Indian side. He finds the event parallel to the retreat of Russia sent to back foot position by a small but committed group. He also
from Kabul, or that of fall of Saigon, just here too a large Army was makes it clear that though this event of March 1990 held great
sent to back foot position by a small but committed group. He also significance on the currents of International political streams, it did
makes it clear that though this event of March 1990 held great not secure deserving coverage and space in the Western Media.
significance on the currents of International political streams, it did Resolving the issue he himself projects the reasons for this. He
not secure deserving coverage and space in the Western Media. mentions that 178 the issues of Vietnam or the Mujahidin of
Resolving the issue he himself projects the reasons for this. He Afghanistan have got fair sized media coverage, but since the Tamil
mentions that 178 the issues of Vietnam or the Mujahidin of Tigers have been less friendly to the journalists they have remained
Afghanistan have got fair sized media coverage, but since the Tamil “faceless, unsung, unknown” (to the Western World). And this
Tigers have been less friendly to the journalists they have remained absence of enough information on this group encouraged him to
“faceless, unsung, unknown” (to the Western World). And this bring before the world the hidden recess of this group working with
absence of enough information on this group encouraged him to utmost discipline and devotion to their cause. Through his constant
bring before the world the hidden recess of this group working with following and acute observations, he outlines salient features of this
utmost discipline and devotion to their cause. Through his constant group: The Tigers were fanatically disciplined. There was a strict
following and acute observations, he outlines salient features of this code of conduct on using the intoxicating materials, and if anybody
group: The Tigers were fanatically disciplined. There was a strict found breaching it, the punishment was to be ready to be thrown out
code of conduct on using the intoxicating materials, and if anybody of the group, and the crime related to adultery would invite death
found breaching it, the punishment was to be ready to be thrown out penalty. Their chief commander, Prabhakaran enjoyed sovereignty
of the group, and the crime related to adultery would invite death and was revered as a godly stature. “The Tigers were suicidically
penalty. Their chief commander, Prabhakaran enjoyed sovereignty brave.” and due to this, there were reports that the caught group
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and was revered as a godly stature. “The Tigers were suicidically members/ or sometimes whole of the camp committing suicide as
brave.” and due to this, there were reports that the caught group soon as they found themselves under threat of being interrogated.
members/ or sometimes whole of the camp committing suicide as Every group member carried a phial of crystal of cyanide which they
soon as they found themselves under threat of being interrogated. used to end their lives as a strategic weapon. (238) Next, the Tigers
Every group member carried a phial of crystal of cyanide which they were prolific in executing the masses of opponent groups and the
used to end their lives as a strategic weapon. (238) Next, the Tigers frequencies of such massacres brought to the consequences was so
were prolific in executing the masses of opponent groups and the high that it generates a just response in Dalrymple: “It was as if the
frequencies of such massacres brought to the consequences was so Tigers actually enjoyed killing, as if to them it was a hobby, or even
high that it generates a just response in Dalrymple: “It was as if the an art form. Yet this unpleasant cocktail of qualities has turned the
Tigers actually enjoyed killing, as if to them it was a hobby, or even Tigers in to arguably the most efficient and successful guerrilla group
an art form. Yet this unpleasant cocktail of qualities has turned the operating anywhere in the world today” (239). Opening the chapters
Tigers in to arguably the most efficient and successful guerrilla group of the History of this Island, Dalrymple notes the genesis of the entire
operating anywhere in the world today” (239). Opening the chapters movement in a very brief but informative narration. As per it once the
of the History of this Island, Dalrymple notes the genesis of the entire Tamil groups felt the threat of being pushed into the margins and felt
movement in a very brief but informative narration. As per it once the the loosening grips on the political horizons, they started their violent
Tamil groups felt the threat of being pushed into the margins and felt retaliation and got collected with their mission of establishing their
the loosening grips on the political horizons, they started their violent own unique and separate state “Eelam” or “Precious Land”( ). Thus,
retaliation and got collected with their mission of establishing their the seeds of the foundation of Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam
own unique and separate state “Eelam” or “Precious Land”( ). Thus, (LTTE) were sown. Dalrymple notes the History of the tiff between
the seeds of the foundation of Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam the two in a very interesting way: 179 The Tamils and the Singhalese
(LTTE) were sown. Dalrymple notes the History of the tiff between have been neighbors in Sri Lanka for nearly three thousand years,
the two in a very interesting way: 179 The Tamils and the Singhalese and throughout much of that time they have been fighting each other.
have been neighbors in Sri Lanka for nearly three thousand years, The north and east of the island is the preserve of the dark- skinned
and throughout much of that time they have been fighting each other. Tamils: small and sharp and hard-working and Hindu. Elsewhere the
The north and east of the island is the preserve of the dark- skinned island is dominated by the Singhalese, a languid and strikingly
Tamils: small and sharp and hard-working and Hindu. Elsewhere the beautiful race of fair-skinned Buddhists. (239) William notes the
island is dominated by the Singhalese, a languid and strikingly clash between both these groups has become tremendously severe
beautiful race of fair-skinned Buddhists. (239) William notes the that “up to 1990, perhaps 150,000 people lost their lives in fighting.
clash between both these groups has become tremendously severe For an island whose total population is barely fifteen million, that is a
that “up to 1990, perhaps 150,000 people lost their lives in fighting. colossal slaughter” (242). Taking George, a Tamil speaking
For an island whose total population is barely fifteen million, that is a Singhalese driver as his escort, Dalrymple heads towards
colossal slaughter” (242). Taking George, a Tamil speaking Jaffna—into the land of Eelam, a nearly banned for the outsiders.
Singhalese driver as his escort, Dalrymple heads towards Along with the tense outside, he tries to fill the slot with the comic
Jaffna—into the land of Eelam, a nearly banned for the outsiders. relief provided by George’s tactics. His eyes do not fail to capture the
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Along with the tense outside, he tries to fill the slot with the comic changing scenario moving from one part of the island to another. The
relief provided by George’s tactics. His eyes do not fail to capture the flora and fauna, near Anuradhapura, the capital and Singhalese
changing scenario moving from one part of the island to another. The dominated area which was thick with green vegetations and replete
flora and fauna, near Anuradhapura, the capital and Singhalese with throbbing life is replaced by the arid savanna tracts as they
dominated area which was thick with green vegetations and replete approach Jaffna the Tamil territory. Having crossed the arid
with throbbing life is replaced by the arid savanna tracts as they savannas, passing through the road which was more of the display
approach Jaffna the Tamil territory. Having crossed the arid gallery or the holder of the reminiscence of the war which it has
savannas, passing through the road which was more of the display faced on the face with the full reserved craters created by the land
gallery or the holder of the reminiscence of the war which it has mines and the scares of bombing and strafing, at Vavuniya, he finds
faced on the face with the full reserved craters created by the land a chance to have the first personal encounter with the Tamil Tigers,
mines and the scares of bombing and strafing, at Vavuniya, he finds what surprises him is the age group of the Tigers, all the tigers were
a chance to have the first personal encounter with the Tamil Tigers, from sixteen to twenty age group. Actually, he had the previous
what surprises him is the age group of the Tigers, all the tigers were experiences that these guerrillas never opened up and shared
from sixteen to twenty age group. Actually, he had the previous anything with the outsiders, yet once close to them, William throws
experiences that these guerrillas never opened up and shared the topic of weapons and it works...., the bored guerrillas start
anything with the outsiders, yet once close to them, William throws conversation with him with George as his translator. Apart from
the topic of weapons and it works...., the bored guerrillas start singing their glories in how they liquidated the enemies and how
conversation with him with George as his translator. Apart from acutely their fellows worked to master the situation, William also
singing their glories in how they liquidated the enemies and how make them to relate their bad moments too. To his question about
acutely their fellows worked to master the situation, William also bad and sad moments, one of the boys, rather hesitantly, narrates
make them to relate their bad moments too. To his question about the incident of his leading patrol with his group and coming on to the
bad and sad moments, one of the boys, rather hesitantly, narrates Indians. However, others managed the escape but his friend being in
the incident of his leading patrol with his group and coming on to the danger of arrest had to swallow the phial. He said he could not still
Indians. However, others managed the escape but his friend being in forget the dying face of his friend as owing to either the phial being
danger of arrest had to swallow the phial. He said he could not still old or anything else, it took time to die. The dying boy requested the
forget the dying face of his friend as owing to either the phial being Indians to shoot him, but they did not. 180 Having obtained
old or anything else, it took time to die. The dying boy requested the permission from the authority, William proceeds to Jaffna, close to
Indians to shoot him, but they did not. 180 Having obtained the head quarter of the Tigers, and this time he finds an opportunity
permission from the authority, William proceeds to Jaffna, close to to interview the most curtained troop of the Tiger Group—the
the head quarter of the Tigers, and this time he finds an opportunity Freedom Birds, the regiment of beautiful Tamil Amazons, like their
to interview the most curtained troop of the Tiger Group—the male counter parts, the girls also take pride in killings. To the query
Freedom Birds, the regiment of beautiful Tamil Amazons, like their of the author if they did not feel bad about these merciless killings,
male counter parts, the girls also take pride in killings. To the query the astonishing reply came naturally, that there was no room for
of the author if they did not feel bad about these merciless killings, feeling bad because those who were killed were the enemies and if
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the astonishing reply came naturally, that there was no room for they did not kill them, they would kill them too. William notes the zeal
feeling bad because those who were killed were the enemies and if of these ladies not only for the freedom movement, but also for the
they did not kill them, they would kill them too. William notes the zeal social concerns for the ladies of their own society, and in the time of
of these ladies not only for the freedom movement, but also for the ‘peace’ they devoted their time in the social welfare of them. William
social concerns for the ladies of their own society, and in the time of nicely captures the extraordinariness in the troop of Amazons: “It
‘peace’ they devoted their time in the social welfare of them. William was an extraordinary sight: six beautiful and feminine fourteen-year
nicely captures the extraordinariness in the troop of Amazons: “It old girls, sitting relaxed and with their friends, giggling and joking,
was an extraordinary sight: six beautiful and feminine fourteen-year talking about guerrilla warfare as if it were O-level results, rock bands
old girls, sitting relaxed and with their friends, giggling and joking, or boyfriends” (249). Next, William approaches the Jaffna central
talking about guerrilla warfare as if it were O-level results, rock bands office of the Tigers and tries to secure an appointment with their
or boyfriends” (249). Next, William approaches the Jaffna central political chief, Anton Balasingham. Balasingham was the real brain
office of the Tigers and tries to secure an appointment with their behind the guns of these Guerrilla group, and his being Anglophile,
political chief, Anton Balasingham. Balasingham was the real brain William was sure that meeting him would surely open his way to the
behind the guns of these Guerrilla group, and his being Anglophile, most mysterious asset of the Tigers, the Jungle Camp, where till that
William was sure that meeting him would surely open his way to the day no outsider was permitted. After a long day’s wait in vain to
most mysterious asset of the Tigers, the Jungle Camp, where till that obtain official permission to approach the chief, William was really
day no outsider was permitted. After a long day’s wait in vain to tired and sure that under one or the other alibi either his message
obtain official permission to approach the chief, William was really was not reached to the desired end or might there be no provision for
tired and sure that under one or the other alibi either his message such a meeting in their strategy. Frustrated thus as he was
was not reached to the desired end or might there be no provision for instructing his driver to move, he by chance saw Balasingham along
such a meeting in their strategy. Frustrated thus as he was with his Australian wife, arriving in the office. He approached him,
instructing his driver to move, he by chance saw Balasingham along and he was happy to be interviewed by him. On the very initial
with his Australian wife, arriving in the office. He approached him, questioning, William understood that none of the message of his
and he was happy to be interviewed by him. On the very initial request from the morning reached him. William finds in him to be “the
questioning, William understood that none of the message of his textbook revolutionary, intellectual: quick witted and intense, fond of
request from the morning reached him. William finds in him to be “the gesticulation and dogmatic generalization”( ). He discussed at length
textbook revolutionary, intellectual: quick witted and intense, fond of the ideals of their group, the development and the impactful fights
gesticulation and dogmatic generalization”( ). He discussed at length and battles he and his group waged which he called “freedom
the ideals of their group, the development and the impactful fights struggle”. And at a very important juncture, William came out with his
and battles he and his group waged which he called “freedom request to allow him to visit one of their jungle camps. To this
struggle”. And at a very important juncture, William came out with his Balasingham asserted it was really a difficult task, and that
request to allow him to visit one of their jungle camps. To this Prabhakaram would not grant permission for any of Jafna Junlge
Balasingham asserted it was really a difficult task, and that camp to be visited by any journalist. But he helped William by
Prabhakaram would not grant permission for any of Jafna Junlge making some arrangements for him to visit the camp of Amparai,
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camp to be visited by any journalist. But he helped William by where his(Balasingham’s) friend ‘Castro’ was in charge. 181 Having
making some arrangements for him to visit the camp of Amparai, got a ray of hope for his wish of visiting the jungle camp to be
where his(Balasingham’s) friend ‘Castro’ was in charge. 181 Having fulfilled, William took George to Amparai, reaching where he got the
got a ray of hope for his wish of visiting the jungle camp to be message from ‘Castro’ to be ready at nine next morning in order to
fulfilled, William took George to Amparai, reaching where he got the be taken to the destination. William confesses that he had very little
message from ‘Castro’ to be ready at nine next morning in order to information about this ‘Castro’, who was considered one of the most
be taken to the destination. William confesses that he had very little brilliant young commander, and had imagined him to some hardened
information about this ‘Castro’, who was considered one of the most guerrilla leader, but when he faced him in person, to his great
brilliant young commander, and had imagined him to some hardened surprise he turned out to be a “shy, handsome figure” of his own age.
guerrilla leader, but when he faced him in person, to his great As ‘Castro goes on talking about the operations undertaken by their
surprise he turned out to be a “shy, handsome figure” of his own age. group and the modus operendy adopted, William as he asserts
As ‘Castro goes on talking about the operations undertaken by their himself, developed the sense of “Déjà-vu”, because all the ideas and
group and the modus operendy adopted, William as he asserts strategies were either adopted or were inspired from the Hollywood
himself, developed the sense of “Déjà-vu”, because all the ideas and action movies. Castro accepts the fact that watching the war films
strategies were either adopted or were inspired from the Hollywood was a fair part of their training curriculum, and the camps are
action movies. Castro accepts the fact that watching the war films equipped with television and video- libraries: “War films are shown
was a fair part of their training curriculum, and the camps are three times a week, and are compulsory viewing. We often consult
equipped with television and video- libraries: “War films are shown videos like The Predator and Rambo before planning our ambushes.
three times a week, and are compulsory viewing. We often consult None of us are trained soldiers. We have learnt all we know from
videos like The Predator and Rambo before planning our ambushes. these films” (254). Next, after strict security checking of several
None of us are trained soldiers. We have learnt all we know from stages, they reached the Jungle camp. The camp itself had the
these films” (254). Next, after strict security checking of several infrastructure of a university. It was the size of a university campus: a
stages, they reached the Jungle camp. The camp itself had the heavily camouflaged jungle town, built in and around a forest
infrastructure of a university. It was the size of a university campus: a clearing. The buildings were surprisingly solid structures of
heavily camouflaged jungle town, built in and around a forest wickerwork, bamboo and thatch: arsenals and hospitals, command
clearing. The buildings were surprisingly solid structures of huts and dormitories, restrooms and conference centers, refectories
wickerwork, bamboo and thatch: arsenals and hospitals, command and lecture rooms. (255) William notes here that there were around
huts and dormitories, restrooms and conference centers, refectories two thousand guerrillas in the camp, all studded with heavy
and lecture rooms. (255) William notes here that there were around weaponry and busy with their unified activities. What catches
two thousand guerrillas in the camp, all studded with heavy William’s attention is the average age group of these Guerrillas, just
weaponry and busy with their unified activities. What catches as at the earlier camp he visited; here too, they were all between
William’s attention is the average age group of these Guerrillas, just eighteen and twenty – the age of playing, partying or love-making.
as at the earlier camp he visited; here too, they were all between William also note that they were all fiercly fanatic for their cause and
eighteen and twenty – the age of playing, partying or love-making. enjoyed their tasks as sacred duties. He was not allowed for long in
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William also note that they were all fiercly fanatic for their cause and the camp. After six months, in Delhi he remembers the plight of the
enjoyed their tasks as sacred duties. He was not allowed for long in people of Jaffna, the lot which was crushed between two warring
the camp. After six months, in Delhi he remembers the plight of the forces. Even after the Indian forces had been withdrawn, the Sri
people of Jaffna, the lot which was crushed between two warring Lankan Army was randomly attacking the Jaffna region with
forces. Even after the Indian forces had been withdrawn, the Sri domestic explosives, causing a great damage to the property as well
Lankan Army was randomly attacking the Jaffna region with as the civilians of the area. As one civilian complains: “It is a living
domestic explosives, causing a great damage to the property as well hell—that is, for those of us who are alive” (260). 182 The essay
as the civilians of the area. As one civilian complains: “It is a living remains a unique example of war reporting as well as a piece of
hell—that is, for those of us who are alive” (260). 182 The essay travel writing as William makes his readers confront an entirely
remains a unique example of war reporting as well as a piece of unknown society of the Tamil Tigers, their way of life and the mission
travel writing as William makes his readers confront an entirely and motto with which they wage a war against the majority
unknown society of the Tamil Tigers, their way of life and the mission Government system, their sources of inspiration and strategy
and motto with which they wage a war against the majority buildings. Moreover, his eyes keep on capturing the variety of flora
Government system, their sources of inspiration and strategy and fauna of the region. Consciously or unconsciously he goes on
buildings. Moreover, his eyes keep on capturing the variety of flora addressing the western audience as all his comparisons, captioning
and fauna of the region. Consciously or unconsciously he goes on go on in the western terms. For example describing the scenario at
addressing the western audience as all his comparisons, captioning the Sri Lankan Island, he naturally takes resort of the Western
go on in the western terms. For example describing the scenario at references: Although the event was getting little coverage in the
the Sri Lankan Island, he naturally takes resort of the Western Western press, it was, in its way, as extraordinary an event as the
references: Although the event was getting little coverage in the Russian retreat from Kabul, or, before that, the fall of Saigon. Once
Western press, it was, in its way, as extraordinary an event as the again, as in Afghanistan and Vietnam, a superpower army—India
Russian retreat from Kabul, or, before that, the fall of Saigon. Once has 1.3 million men under arms---had suffered a humiliating defeat at
again, as in Afghanistan and Vietnam, a superpower army—India the hands of a small but dedicated guerrilla group. (238) On The
has 1.3 million men under arms---had suffered a humiliating defeat at Sorcerer’s Grave
the hands of a small but dedicated guerrilla group. (238) On The -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorcerer’s Grave On the Sorcerer’s Grave is another superb piece of travel writing in
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- which we confront William’s extraordinary talent and clutch of the art.
On the Sorcerer’s Grave is another superb piece of travel writing in In this essay William presents his trip to the Mountainous Indian
which we confront William’s extraordinary talent and clutch of the art. Ocean Island, Ile de Bourbon, presently known as Reunion. In his
In this essay William presents his trip to the Mountainous Indian unique style, he opens the essay with the famous incident of La
Ocean Island, Ile de Bourbon, presently known as Reunion. In his Buse, the pirate’s accidently finding the Treasure and his speech at
unique style, he opens the essay with the famous incident of La the time of being hanged and scattering the map of the treasure
Buse, the pirate’s accidently finding the Treasure and his speech at which he had hidden on the island. William nicely weaves the
the time of being hanged and scattering the map of the treasure Ethnography, Geography and the History of this Island. The Island,
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which he had hidden on the island. William nicely weaves the as he observes, is the place of most heterogonous cultures.
Ethnography, Geography and the History of this Island. The Island, Basically, the colony of the French, and being dominated by the
as he observes, is the place of most heterogonous cultures. French, on the superficial look, it might give one impression of the
Basically, the colony of the French, and being dominated by the Frenchness in all walks of life on this Island. For Reunion is still part
French, on the superficial look, it might give one impression of the of France; at first sight it appears to be every bit as Gallic, as
Frenchness in all walks of life on this Island. For Reunion is still part developed and as prosperous as its distant mother country. The
of France; at first sight it appears to be every bit as Gallic, as people all have French passport, the male-school leavers are obliged
developed and as prosperous as its distant mother country. The to go to France to perform their national service. The language is
people all have French passport, the male-school leavers are obliged French, the television is French, the cars are French, the croissants
to go to France to perform their national service. The language is and baguettes at breakfast are French, and the wines in the
French, the television is French, the cars are French, the croissants restaurants are defiantly and exclusively French. 183 Nine-tenths of
and baguettes at breakfast are French, and the wines in the the island’s trade is with France. It is as if Reunion lay just off the
restaurants are defiantly and exclusively French. 183 Nine-tenths of coast from Cannes, not ten thousand miles to the south. (266) In the
the island’s trade is with France. It is as if Reunion lay just off the mettissage lies the very essence of this island” (266) What catches
coast from Cannes, not ten thousand miles to the south. (266) In the William’s attention is not the simple Frenchness of the place but the
mettissage lies the very essence of this island” (266) What catches most uncommonly common cultural trait at this island which “the
William’s attention is not the simple Frenchness of the place but the Reunionnais call ‘metissage’: the racial intermixture that has made
most uncommonly common cultural trait at this island which “the the island a model of melting- pot multi culturalism.” ( ) Narrating the
Reunionnais call ‘metissage’: the racial intermixture that has made ethnographic details and examining the roots of this cultural
the island a model of melting- pot multi culturalism.” ( ) Narrating the intermixture, William notes, during the mid nineteenth century the
ethnographic details and examining the roots of this cultural place was mainly inhabited by several thousand French exiles who
intermixture, William notes, during the mid nineteenth century the had taken abode at this place with the visions of farming the hill-
place was mainly inhabited by several thousand French exiles who farms on this island. Many of this populace were of Madagascan
had taken abode at this place with the visions of farming the hill- origin. In the course of time, the Tamil Muslims, Canton Chinese and
farms on this island. Many of this populace were of Madagascan Yemeni Arabs were imported in the form of indentured labourers to
origin. In the course of time, the Tamil Muslims, Canton Chinese and work for the plantation. Living close to close and being aloof from the
Yemeni Arabs were imported in the form of indentured labourers to main lands of the world, these different cultures influenced each
work for the plantation. Living close to close and being aloof from the other and as Dalrymple uses it, ‘melted’ into each other to formulate
main lands of the world, these different cultures influenced each uniquely a novel form of social culture: Today, these very different
other and as Dalrymple uses it, ‘melted’ into each other to formulate communities are intermixed in the most astonishing manner: there
uniquely a novel form of social culture: Today, these very different can be few places on the earth—and few moments in history—where
communities are intermixed in the most astonishing manner: there so many radically different peoples, religions, cultures, languages
can be few places on the earth—and few moments in history—where and cuisines have become so spectacularly intermingled. (267) The
so many radically different peoples, religions, cultures, languages effects of this intermingling are conspicuous on the families, faith,
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and cuisines have become so spectacularly intermingled. (267) The food and language of the island. William drawn through curiosity
effects of this intermingling are conspicuous on the families, faith, inquires about this to the native persons and is presented with the
food and language of the island. William drawn through curiosity facts which are capable enough to surprise anyone. The most
inquires about this to the native persons and is presented with the sensitive of the human issues, Religion has also got so much
facts which are capable enough to surprise anyone. The most absorption in the different cultures and has acquired natural phase of
sensitive of the human issues, Religion has also got so much routine life that even the faith and the bizarre practices are the
absorption in the different cultures and has acquired natural phase of results of these intermingling of different cultures. William notes that
routine life that even the faith and the bizarre practices are the people’s faith and offerings at the tomb of La Buse is the result of
results of these intermingling of different cultures. William notes that this intermixing of the cultures. One more instance, he gives about
people’s faith and offerings at the tomb of La Buse is the result of this in: Grandmere Kale, who is said to live in the island’s volcano,
this intermixing of the cultures. One more instance, he gives about emerging to eat up Reunionnais children who don’t finish their
this in: Grandmere Kale, who is said to live in the island’s volcano, greens or who refuse to do their homework, is a cross between the
emerging to eat up Reunionnais children who don’t finish their witches of European folklore and Kali, the Hindu goddess of
greens or who refuse to do their homework, is a cross between the destruction. (267) William also notes that this kind of mixture has
witches of European folklore and Kali, the Hindu goddess of also influenced the general outlook of the people and made them
destruction. (267) William also notes that this kind of mixture has more tolerant and open to others: 184 The mixture of different faiths,
also influenced the general outlook of the people and made them often within a single family, has had a profound influence on the
more tolerant and open to others: 184 The mixture of different faiths, Reunionnais’ attitude to the world. It has made them unusually
often within a single family, has had a profound influence on the tolerant and open minded, but also deeply heterodox. (267) Another
Reunionnais’ attitude to the world. It has made them unusually important aspect of human life i.e. food has acquired strong
tolerant and open minded, but also deeply heterodox. (267) Another influences, and made this place a sought after destination for the
important aspect of human life i.e. food has acquired strong travelers as it has many variety of dishes to offer; many of them are
influences, and made this place a sought after destination for the brand new as they have been the results of intermingling of different
travelers as it has many variety of dishes to offer; many of them are cuisines More enjoyable for traveler, the island’s brand of Creole
brand new as they have been the results of intermingling of different cooking is also wonderfully multicultural, and quite unique. It mixes
cuisines More enjoyable for traveler, the island’s brand of Creole French and Indian culinary enthusiasms with a dash of Arab,
cooking is also wonderfully multicultural, and quite unique. It mixes Chinese and Malagasy influence. The result is a fusion startlingly
French and Indian culinary enthusiasms with a dash of Arab, unlike any of its parent traditions. A typical Reunion meal might
Chinese and Malagasy influence. The result is a fusion startlingly consists, for example, of cari z’ourite et cari pouple (a creamy sea
unlike any of its parent traditions. A typical Reunion meal might urchin and octopus curry) and bredes (a spinach –like digestive) ;
consists, for example, of cari z’ourite et cari pouple (a creamy sea pudding might be gateau patate (a sweet, heavy potato-cake). To
urchin and octopus curry) and bredes (a spinach –like digestive) ; add to the complexity of the island’s cuisine, in some areas of
pudding might be gateau patate (a sweet, heavy potato-cake). To Reunion Arab influence result is the use of cloves and nutmeg,
add to the complexity of the island’s cuisine, in some areas of Chinese influence in a taste of ginger, and Malagasy influence in a
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Reunion Arab influence result is the use of cloves and nutmeg, variety of delicious dishes with a coconut-cream base and several
Chinese influence in a taste of ginger, and Malagasy influence in a memorably disgusting once involving roasted wasp grubs. (268)
variety of delicious dishes with a coconut-cream base and several Language too finds the same variety as these different cultures have
memorably disgusting once involving roasted wasp grubs. (268) close states. There is no paucity of the elements of different
Language too finds the same variety as these different cultures have languages in the local language of the Island: “The metissage has
close states. There is no paucity of the elements of different also formed the islanders’ language: they speak both conventional
languages in the local language of the Island: “The metissage has modern French and an impenetrable Creole patois which mixes
also formed the islanders’ language: they speak both conventional Malagasy, Tamil and Arabic on a base of eighteen-century nautical
modern French and an impenetrable Creole patois which mixes French” (268). Driven by curiosity, William visits the tomb of La Buse,
Malagasy, Tamil and Arabic on a base of eighteen-century nautical which is the most visited place on the island and is the place of
French” (268). Driven by curiosity, William visits the tomb of La Buse, ‘black magic’ being practiced on the island. William notices that
which is the most visited place on the island and is the place of every night many people visit this tomb, and come with their bizarre
‘black magic’ being practiced on the island. William notices that offerings which include pack of cigars which people burn on the tomb
every night many people visit this tomb, and come with their bizarre with faith to be offered to the possessor of the tomb, the bottles of
offerings which include pack of cigars which people burn on the tomb Brandy and so on. William also notes that the treasure that La Buse
with faith to be offered to the possessor of the tomb, the bottles of claimed to have hidden somewhere on the island is still hunted: “To
Brandy and so on. William also notes that the treasure that La Buse this day the treasure has never been found, despite adventurers
claimed to have hidden somewhere on the island is still hunted: “To coming to Reunion to search for it for 250 years” (264) (Emphasis
this day the treasure has never been found, despite adventurers Mine) Another thing William notes about this Island is the names of
coming to Reunion to search for it for 250 years” (264) (Emphasis the places and the domination of the different parts of it. He brings
Mine) Another thing William notes about this Island is the names of out the historical facts that since the coastline of it has always been
the places and the domination of the different parts of it. He brings dominated by the colonist French, the coastal 185 places and the
out the historical facts that since the coastline of it has always been culture bear strong imprints of French influences, but as soon as one
dominated by the colonist French, the coastal 185 places and the left the coastline and ventured within the mountainous part, one
culture bear strong imprints of French influences, but as soon as one would see another incarnation of the island and the reason is still the
left the coastline and ventured within the mountainous part, one simple one, the mountains were the hiding places for the escaped
would see another incarnation of the island and the reason is still the Malagasy slaves. The instance of it he nicely captures in the place
simple one, the mountains were the hiding places for the escaped name “Cilaos” which is a corruption of the Malagache “tsy laosana”
Malagasy slaves. The instance of it he nicely captures in the place meaning “the place from which you never return.” William’s interest
name “Cilaos” which is a corruption of the Malagache “tsy laosana” in history makes him dig into the lost facets of the Cilaos’ history.
meaning “the place from which you never return.” William’s interest And as per it he presents that Cilaos was popular and fond
in history makes him dig into the lost facets of the Cilaos’ history. destination for the colonial officials as the sight offered the deemed-
And as per it he presents that Cilaos was popular and fond European atmosphere and its brooks flowed with mildly radioactive
destination for the colonial officials as the sight offered the deemed- waters which acted as healing sources to cure the officials of their
205
European atmosphere and its brooks flowed with mildly radioactive rheumatic ailments. This continued until the land slid abruptly
waters which acted as healing sources to cure the officials of their stopped the flow and killed the city dead soon after the Second
rheumatic ailments. This continued until the land slid abruptly World War. William here notes even the unexpected return of the
stopped the flow and killed the city dead soon after the Second waters in 1971 has not been of any help to the rejuvenation and
World War. William here notes even the unexpected return of the restoring the earlier charms and glories to the city. As per his typical
waters in 1971 has not been of any help to the rejuvenation and pattern, William here too maintains a dialogue with the local person.
restoring the earlier charms and glories to the city. As per his typical Here, he meets the cilaos peasant Loulou and collects information
pattern, William here too maintains a dialogue with the local person. about the way of life, traditions, beliefs and comes projects the real
Here, he meets the cilaos peasant Loulou and collects information first hand information of the grass root levels. Loulou, the man
about the way of life, traditions, beliefs and comes projects the real deeply rooted with land of Cialos, informs him about the hardships
first hand information of the grass root levels. Loulou, the man and the change taking place on the island. In the conversation with
deeply rooted with land of Cialos, informs him about the hardships Loulou it becomes clear that the natives of these mountainous
and the change taking place on the island. In the conversation with regions looked at the French coastal dwellers with a great amount of
Loulou it becomes clear that the natives of these mountainous suspicion and considered them as oppressors as the term they used
regions looked at the French coastal dwellers with a great amount of for them “z’oreille” meant the cutter of the ears. From this the
suspicion and considered them as oppressors as the term they used inference might be taken as there must have been such outrageous
for them “z’oreille” meant the cutter of the ears. From this the practices which planted a permanent fear and in the minds of the
inference might be taken as there must have been such outrageous gullible natives of Cilaos. William also investigates the story of the
practices which planted a permanent fear and in the minds of the great sorcerer La Sitarane. The concluding note that William puts
gullible natives of Cilaos. William also investigates the story of the forward bears his detailed scrutiny and the wholesome study of the
great sorcerer La Sitarane. The concluding note that William puts entire culture of the Island; though the island bore its roots in the
forward bears his detailed scrutiny and the wholesome study of the French culture, day by day with the intermixture of the different
entire culture of the Island; though the island bore its roots in the cultures on the island, it is becoming less and less French. Certainly
French culture, day by day with the intermixture of the different the façade was still there—the croissants, the baguettes and the
cultures on the island, it is becoming less and less French. Certainly burgundy—but at its heart the island seemed to be fast evolving its
the façade was still there—the croissants, the baguettes and the own quite separate identity, spinning off into its own orbit, as the
burgundy—but at its heart the island seemed to be fast evolving its metissage led to a constantly shifting fusion of faiths, ideas and
own quite separate identity, spinning off into its own orbit, as the superstitions. (277) 186 Pakistan
metissage led to a constantly shifting fusion of faiths, ideas and -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
superstitions. (277) 186 Pakistan The essays under this title present William's travels in the land of
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan, more precisely, two of them are William's interviews of two
The essays under this title present William's travels in the land of celebrities of Pakistan, namely Imran Khan and Benazir Bhutto. The
Pakistan, more precisely, two of them are William's interviews of two essays present William's detailed study of violence stricken
celebrities of Pakistan, namely Imran Khan and Benazir Bhutto. The environment of Pakistan and put on the surface the weakening traits
206
essays present William's detailed study of violence stricken of peaceful public life. His interviews and close following of Imran
environment of Pakistan and put on the surface the weakening traits Khan and beautiful Benazir Bhutto provide great stuff for reading and
of peaceful public life. His interviews and close following of Imran give a life sketch of these celebrity figures as to how they spend their
Khan and beautiful Benazir Bhutto provide great stuff for reading and private hours, their fond activities and the company they prefer to be
give a life sketch of these celebrity figures as to how they spend their within their private lives. The essay “On the Frontier” presents the
private hours, their fond activities and the company they prefer to be account of William's travels on the Pakistan-India border and
within their private lives. The essay “On the Frontier” presents the showcases the wild play of weaponry and drug trafficking. In the
account of William's travels on the Pakistan-India border and essay ‘Blood on the Tracks’, Dalrymple picks up the historical Lahore
showcases the wild play of weaponry and drug trafficking. In the Railway station which showcases the architectural merits and since
essay ‘Blood on the Tracks’, Dalrymple picks up the historical Lahore being in the proximity of the frontiers has the provisions of being
Railway station which showcases the architectural merits and since converted into the war time bunker. He also uses it to narrate the
being in the proximity of the frontiers has the provisions of being painful historical event of Partition. Imran Khan: Out for a Duck
converted into the war time bunker. He also uses it to narrate the ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The man
painful historical event of Partition. Imran Khan: Out for a Duck (Imran Khan) is a National Obsession. He combines the status of
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The man royalty, the prestige of a cabinet minister and the gossip value of a
(Imran Khan) is a National Obsession. He combines the status of pop star in a country which doesn’t have any royals, whose cabinet
royalty, the prestige of a cabinet minister and the gossip value of a ministers are hopelessly corrupt and whose pop stars are mostly
pop star in a country which doesn’t have any royals, whose cabinet Indian, and therefore national enemies. (281) William has got the
ministers are hopelessly corrupt and whose pop stars are mostly stuff of this essay on Imran Khan from his Interviews. At the very
Indian, and therefore national enemies. (281) William has got the outset, he makes this clear that out of these two, the first interview
stuff of this essay on Imran Khan from his Interviews. At the very he had taken when “Imran was a bachelor playboy and the captain of
outset, he makes this clear that out of these two, the first interview the Pakistan cricket team; then seven years later, after his marriage,
he had taken when “Imran was a bachelor playboy and the captain of when he had entered politics to campaign against corruption in
the Pakistan cricket team; then seven years later, after his marriage, Pakistani public life” (281) William notes that the massive celebrity
when he had entered politics to campaign against corruption in status that Imran enjoys in Pakistan would be in luck of very few
Pakistani public life” (281) William notes that the massive celebrity successful persons. To give the rational idea of this he opens his
status that Imran enjoys in Pakistan would be in luck of very few talks about Imran with the instance that if a monstrous celebrity
successful persons. To give the rational idea of this he opens his super- creature is produced by mixing several British celebrities and
talks about Imran with the instance that if a monstrous celebrity that new creature would 187 enjoy the gossip value such a gossip
super- creature is produced by mixing several British celebrities and value is to Imran Khan in Pakistan. For William confesses that even
that new creature would 187 enjoy the gossip value such a gossip the name of Imran or just having his Autobiography in hand would
value is to Imran Khan in Pakistan. For William confesses that even secure unbelievable favours at any corner in Pakistan. Be it the
the name of Imran or just having his Autobiography in hand would international Airport, a rickshaw or a hotel or road side tea stall any
secure unbelievable favours at any corner in Pakistan. Be it the where one would find Imran closely followed, and discussed with
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international Airport, a rickshaw or a hotel or road side tea stall any devotion. Meeting personally, William finds Imran to be a good
where one would find Imran closely followed, and discussed with natured personality who possessed all the guts of the international
devotion. Meeting personally, William finds Imran to be a good figure and the most coveted young man of his land. When he went to
natured personality who possessed all the guts of the international meet him for the first time he had to wait for him as he was busy in
figure and the most coveted young man of his land. When he went to saying his prayer i.e. offering ‘Namaz.’ When William expresses
meet him for the first time he had to wait for him as he was busy in surprise to his strict religious practicing of five time offering to Mecca
saying his prayer i.e. offering ‘Namaz.’ When William expresses and Friday praying at the Mosque, Imran Khan presents his
surprise to his strict religious practicing of five time offering to Mecca sensibilities as being the sinner and trying to follow the path led by
and Friday praying at the Mosque, Imran Khan presents his the Rules of Koran. William puts his figure thus in his typical precise
sensibilities as being the sinner and trying to follow the path led by way: “Whatever he gets up to in England, Imran Khan is a Pakistani
the Rules of Koran. William puts his figure thus in his typical precise Muslim at home” (284). Even he quotes Imran on his own divided
way: “Whatever he gets up to in England, Imran Khan is a Pakistani lifestyle: I suppose I like a bit of both life styles. I spend summer in
Muslim at home” (284). Even he quotes Imran on his own divided England seeing my friends—ten appointments a day—then come
lifestyle: I suppose I like a bit of both life styles. I spend summer in home to Pakistan in winter. Time slows down. I get mobbed if I go
England seeing my friends—ten appointments a day—then come into the streets, so my life here is private, I have close circle of
home to Pakistan in winter. Time slows down. I get mobbed if I go friends who see a lot of, but I hardly ever go out. I’m very shy. I get
into the streets, so my life here is private, I have close circle of awkward if I’m recognized.(284) William too nicely summarizes the
friends who see a lot of, but I hardly ever go out. I’m very shy. I get different traits of Imran’s personality: Imran is an intriguing
awkward if I’m recognized.(284) William too nicely summarizes the compendium of contradictions: extrovert and cripplingly shy, openly
different traits of Imran’s personality: Imran is an intriguing arrogant yet disarmingly modest, austere and sensual, jet-set yet
compendium of contradictions: extrovert and cripplingly shy, openly oddly primitive. He can switch one persona to another with
arrogant yet disarmingly modest, austere and sensual, jet-set yet remarkable ease. (284) From his close contacts with Imran William
oddly primitive. He can switch one persona to another with points out Imran’s personality traits such as: 1). The cricketer 2). The
remarkable ease. (284) From his close contacts with Imran William gossip-column boy 3). The pious Muslim 4). The oxford graduate
points out Imran’s personality traits such as: 1). The cricketer 2). The with coherent political views And, 5). The writer. Dalrymple also talks
gossip-column boy 3). The pious Muslim 4). The oxford graduate about his experiences with other facets of Imran’s personality i.e.
with coherent political views And, 5). The writer. Dalrymple also talks Imran: the Afghan Pathan, the staunch follower of the sooth-sayer,
about his experiences with other facets of Imran’s personality i.e. and the lover of hunting. Dalrymple travels with Imran to the tribal
Imran: the Afghan Pathan, the staunch follower of the sooth-sayer, area at Mohammed 188 ud-Din’s palace, where he witnesses along
and the lover of hunting. Dalrymple travels with Imran to the tribal with the lavish luxuries, the wild play of weapons. Everyone present
area at Mohammed 188 ud-Din’s palace, where he witnesses along over there including the host and Imran too were concerned with the
with the lavish luxuries, the wild play of weapons. Everyone present weapons and as William puts forward his western logic that it was
over there including the host and Imran too were concerned with the not at all healthy from any point of view to allow easy availability of
weapons and as William puts forward his western logic that it was the weapons in the private hands, only to be scoffed at by the host
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not at all healthy from any point of view to allow easy availability of with his unique logic: You Westerner are always telling us this. But
the weapons in the private hands, only to be scoffed at by the host for poor people tribal system is very good. In the settled area of
with his unique logic: You Westerner are always telling us this. But Pakistan there is much violence…..In Pakistan you can kill a man in
for poor people tribal system is very good. In the settled area of broad daylight and if you have the money you can buy justice. But
Pakistan there is much violence…..In Pakistan you can kill a man in with the tribal law rich men and poor men are equal. You cannot buy
broad daylight and if you have the money you can buy justice. But the tribal council—you pay with your neck. (291) Two years later,
with the tribal law rich men and poor men are equal. You cannot buy Imran retired from cricket and married to an English lady Jemima.
the tribal council—you pay with your neck. (291) Two years later, This created great tremors in Britain and Pakistan too, which was
Imran retired from cricket and married to an English lady Jemima. followed by Imran’s raising und for his cancer hospital. And exactly
This created great tremors in Britain and Pakistan too, which was after that, he founded his own political party with the high ideals of
followed by Imran’s raising und for his cancer hospital. And exactly cleansing Pakistani government and public life from the creeping
after that, he founded his own political party with the high ideals of corruption- Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Justice Movement). When in 1996, Imran
cleansing Pakistani government and public life from the creeping mobilizes his political party for the general Elections in Pakistan;
corruption- Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Justice Movement). When in 1996, Imran Dalrymple again visits Pakistan to cover Imran’s campaigning.
mobilizes his political party for the general Elections in Pakistan; Dalrymple closely follows Imran’s massive single handed campaign
Dalrymple again visits Pakistan to cover Imran’s campaigning. mission which succeeds in drawing unprecedented crowd to his
Dalrymple closely follows Imran’s massive single handed campaign meetings, blocking the roads and jamming the traffic. Imran too in
mission which succeeds in drawing unprecedented crowd to his the style of a seasoned statesman doesn’t miss any chance to bring
meetings, blocking the roads and jamming the traffic. Imran too in out the wreckages of the political system. At one such public
the style of a seasoned statesman doesn’t miss any chance to bring meeting, Imaran appeals to the massive crowd: For fifty years the
out the wreckages of the political system. At one such public politicians have been exploting the people of Pakistan. They have
meeting, Imaran appeals to the massive crowd: For fifty years the been looting and plundering the country! The thief protects thief. We
politicians have been exploting the people of Pakistan. They have want to bring the plunderers to justice! We will hang the corrupt! The
been looting and plundering the country! The thief protects thief. We people of Pakistan should unite to achieve their cause. (295)
want to bring the plunderers to justice! We will hang the corrupt! The Dalrymple makes it clear at the very outset that though Imran Khan
people of Pakistan should unite to achieve their cause. (295) might have been pulling the crowds, there was no assurance all
Dalrymple makes it clear at the very outset that though Imran Khan these crowds being translated into vote, as the Justice movement of
might have been pulling the crowds, there was no assurance all Imran Khan wanted to win elections only on the ideals, whereas in
these crowds being translated into vote, as the Justice movement of reality votes could be translated by handing over bribes to the voters
Imran Khan wanted to win elections only on the ideals, whereas in prior to elections. . Everyone even around Imran had sympathies for
reality votes could be translated by handing over bribes to the voters him but they all too had doubts as they knew the real temperament
prior to elections. . Everyone even around Imran had sympathies for of the Pakistani voters. The chief argument at Imran's impractical
him but they all too had doubts as they knew the real temperament grounds was Imran himself was an Oxford graduate and had all the
of the Pakistani voters. The chief argument at Imran's impractical celebrity life, and out of his mind's frenzy he had stared off to bring a
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grounds was Imran himself was an Oxford graduate and had all the political revolution in Pakistan. People also speculated that as Imran
celebrity life, and out of his mind's frenzy he had stared off to bring a had recommended and 189 made statements supporting the
political revolution in Pakistan. People also speculated that as Imran 'Shariya-Law’ people might choose him as their leader. Dalrymple
had recommended and 189 made statements supporting the also refers to the shedding of blood and feudal murders as the
'Shariya-Law’ people might choose him as their leader. Dalrymple inevitable evils of Pakistani political power games. In the tribal areas
also refers to the shedding of blood and feudal murders as the it added to the merit of a person if he had murdered his enemies.
inevitable evils of Pakistani political power games. In the tribal areas These Zamindars are the sub- governing agencies who work out
it added to the merit of a person if he had murdered his enemies. parallel governing in their areas and claim to own the people. The
These Zamindars are the sub- governing agencies who work out idea of their strong hold of the constituencies gets clear by the
parallel governing in their areas and claim to own the people. The remark of one of the political commentator puts to Dalrymple: “In
idea of their strong hold of the constituencies gets clear by the some constituencies, if the feudal put up their dog as a candidate,
remark of one of the political commentator puts to Dalrymple: “In that dog would get elected with 99 per cent of the vote” (298).
some constituencies, if the feudal put up their dog as a candidate, Dalrymple also makes it a point from his observations that it was an
that dog would get elected with 99 per cent of the vote” (298). untold qualification one had to belong to Zamindars' family in order to
Dalrymple also makes it a point from his observations that it was an join Pakistani Politics.As Imran himself relates his experience at one
untold qualification one had to belong to Zamindars' family in order to of Zmindars: One area we went to, a land owner's wife entertained
join Pakistani Politics.As Imran himself relates his experience at one us. She was trying to impress us, and over tea she remarked, “My
of Zmindars: One area we went to, a land owner's wife entertained husband is a very powerful man around here. Do you know he had
us. She was trying to impress us, and over tea she remarked, “My eight hundred people killed last year? (305) Dalrymple also brings in
husband is a very powerful man around here. Do you know he had the real impression of the Pakistani government and labeling
eight hundred people killed last year? (305) Dalrymple also brings in Pakistan as the marked state for its corruption by the several
the real impression of the Pakistani government and labeling international agencies. And in the 'Postscript' to this essay notes that
Pakistan as the marked state for its corruption by the several though Imran did not get physically assassinated in his political
international agencies. And in the 'Postscript' to this essay notes that venture, his party Tehreek-e-Insaff could not even win a single seat.
though Imran did not get physically assassinated in his political Still, “His (Imran's) party has, however, succeeded in putting the
venture, his party Tehreek-e-Insaff could not even win a single seat. issue of corruption into the centre of Pakistani political debate, no
Still, “His (Imran's) party has, however, succeeded in putting the small achievement in a country which has become so inured to the
issue of corruption into the centre of Pakistani political debate, no dishonesty and venality of its politicians....” (312). On the Frontier
small achievement in a country which has become so inured to the Peshawar, 1989
dishonesty and venality of its politicians....” (312). On the Frontier -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On
Peshawar, 1989 the frontier is the essay narrating William Dalrymple’s exploration of
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the North–West frontier of Pakistan. At the very outset, William
the frontier is the essay narrating William Dalrymple’s exploration of makes it clear as he experiences over there that though the area
the North–West frontier of Pakistan. At the very outset, William might technically be the part of Pakistani territories; it has nothing to
210
makes it clear as he experiences over there that though the area do with the Pakistani Government. The country’s Administrative or
might technically be the part of Pakistani territories; it has nothing to Legal powers retained no effectiveness, but rather the area was
do with the Pakistani Government. The country’s Administrative or dominated by the Tribal groups which operated their reigns ++among
Legal powers retained no effectiveness, but rather the area was the people with 190 their unique tribal conventional laws, rules and
dominated by the Tribal groups which operated their reigns ++among regulations. The prosperity of the area, Dalrymple notes, makes its
the people with 190 their unique tribal conventional laws, rules and way through the drug trafficking. The valley has also protected many
regulations. The prosperity of the area, Dalrymple notes, makes its Historical monuments which bring History alive to Dalrymple’s
way through the drug trafficking. The valley has also protected many visions. Violence is to the North-West Frontier what religion to
Historical monuments which bring History alive to Dalrymple’s Vatican. It is a raison d’’etre, a way of life, an obsession a philosophy.
visions. Violence is to the North-West Frontier what religion to Bandoliers hang over the people’s shoulders; grenades are tucked
Vatican. It is a raison d’’etre, a way of life, an obsession a philosophy. into their pockets. Status symbols here are not Mercedes or Servile
Bandoliers hang over the people’s shoulders; grenades are tucked Row suits; in Peshawar you know you have arrived when you can
into their pockets. Status symbols here are not Mercedes or Servile drive to work in a captured Russian T-72 Tank. (313) Quoting
Row suits; in Peshawar you know you have arrived when you can reasons for people’s obsession for weaponries, Dalrymple holds the
drive to work in a captured Russian T-72 Tank. (313) Quoting region’s geographical conditions responsible. Secondly, he observes
reasons for people’s obsession for weaponries, Dalrymple holds the genetic varieties as displayed in the physiology of the people moving
region’s geographical conditions responsible. Secondly, he observes around and makes a guessing that as the region is on the strategic
genetic varieties as displayed in the physiology of the people moving pass of the meeting place of the different continents there must be
around and makes a guessing that as the region is on the strategic the mixture of Persians, Arabs, Turks, Moghuls, Sikhs, British,
pass of the meeting place of the different continents there must be Russians—“…they retain the mixture of arrogance and suspicion that
the mixture of Persians, Arabs, Turks, Moghuls, Sikhs, British, this history has produced their character.” Dalrymple also notes the
Russians—“…they retain the mixture of arrogance and suspicion that fact that the violence and profusion of weapons in the private hands
this history has produced their character.” Dalrymple also notes the that there is no guarantee to safety and that is why he makes it clear:
fact that the violence and profusion of weapons in the private hands The tribal areas are officially closed to all foreigners, as their safety
that there is no guarantee to safety and that is why he makes it clear: cannot be guaranteed by the Pakistan government: kidnapping and
The tribal areas are officially closed to all foreigners, as their safety murder are so frequent here that they are virtually cottage industries.
cannot be guaranteed by the Pakistan government: kidnapping and To visit you have to smuggle yourself quietly across the tribal border,
murder are so frequent here that they are virtually cottage industries. ideally in the company of some tribal older. (314) [Emphasis mine]
To visit you have to smuggle yourself quietly across the tribal border, Having arrived into the market place of Darra Adam Khel, a place
ideally in the company of some tribal older. (314) [Emphasis mine] just over the border in Tribal territory, Dalrymple is astonished to
Having arrived into the market place of Darra Adam Khel, a place witness a free-sale market of the deadly weapons, his shocking
just over the border in Tribal territory, Dalrymple is astonished to surprise nicely get translated into the pictorial description he makes
witness a free-sale market of the deadly weapons, his shocking of the landscape: ..lines of high-explosive warheads sit in glass
surprise nicely get translated into the pictorial description he makes cupboards facing on to the streets as innocently as jars of humbugs
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of the landscape: ..lines of high-explosive warheads sit in glass in as English village store. The stacked mortar shells and the anti-
cupboards facing on to the streets as innocently as jars of humbugs tank ammunition are available over the counter, for cash, as if they
in as English village store. The stacked mortar shells and the anti- were tins of Heinz backed beans. Nearby the belts of machine-gun
tank ammunition are available over the counter, for cash, as if they bullets are hung up like strings of onions. Outside, left lying around
were tins of Heinz backed beans. Nearby the belts of machine-gun the streets like so much discarded gardening equipment can be
bullets are hung up like strings of onions. Outside, left lying around found heavy machine-guns. (314) Dalrymple also collects
the streets like so much discarded gardening equipment can be information about the prospective buyers of these weapons. He is
found heavy machine-guns. (314) Dalrymple also collects informed even the lower middle-class person would equip himself
information about the prospective buyers of these weapons. He is 191 with two-to-four medium sized artilleries and one-or two big
informed even the lower middle-class person would equip himself ones. He was also said that the Afghan war was also secured good
191 with two-to-four medium sized artilleries and one-or two big bossiness for the traders of the weapons, and that now it being over
ones. He was also said that the Afghan war was also secured good the local tribesmen did the purchase in order to meet their regular
bossiness for the traders of the weapons, and that now it being over needs. Besides the astonishing trades of the weapons, another
the local tribesmen did the purchase in order to meet their regular lucrative source of revenue for the local people was the illicit trade of
needs. Besides the astonishing trades of the weapons, another drug. Dalrymple goes to the visit of such center of opium trade, Lindy
lucrative source of revenue for the local people was the illicit trade of Khotal, though it was no free from risk of losing life. He describes the
drug. Dalrymple goes to the visit of such center of opium trade, Lindy availability of the variety of narcotics in this area just as day today
Khotal, though it was no free from risk of losing life. He describes the use commodities in other parts of world: Landi Khotal was awash
availability of the variety of narcotics in this area just as day today with narcotics. Heroine itself was generally kept out of sight under
use commodities in other parts of world: Landi Khotal was awash the counter, but hashish and opium were freely available and as
with narcotics. Heroine itself was generally kept out of sight under casually displayed as cigarettes and betel nut. Some of the hash was
the counter, but hashish and opium were freely available and as set in great toffee-like blocks; other pieces were folded into hash
casually displayed as cigarettes and betel nut. Some of the hash was chapattis or toutured into spaghetti strands. One roadside stall
set in great toffee-like blocks; other pieces were folded into hash moulsded its hash into curvilinear arrangements that looked like
chapattis or toutured into spaghetti strands. One roadside stall liquorices allsorts. (322) In the talks with one of the locals Dalrymple
moulsded its hash into curvilinear arrangements that looked like finds the results of the rehabilitation of the illicit trade of the narcotics,
liquorices allsorts. (322) In the talks with one of the locals Dalrymple as the local person told him that the wells built with the US funding at
finds the results of the rehabilitation of the illicit trade of the narcotics, the promise of leaving this trade and replacing the crops, is now
as the local person told him that the wells built with the US funding at used to produce better quality opium. Another trade of the place is
the promise of leaving this trade and replacing the crops, is now the smuggled goods market which might be ranked among the
used to produce better quality opium. Another trade of the place is biggest ones in Asia. Here the smuggled goods from all the Asian
the smuggled goods market which might be ranked among the countries are easily available. Exploring the Valley of Swat River,
biggest ones in Asia. Here the smuggled goods from all the Asian Dalrymple comes across the ruins of Monastic complexes. What
countries are easily available. Exploring the Valley of Swat River, atttrcts his attention is the perfect European architecture of this
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Dalrymple comes across the ruins of Monastic complexes. What structures. This gives him the chance to expose the facts from
atttrcts his attention is the perfect European architecture of this historical happenings. Here, he enacts the history of Alaxander the
structures. This gives him the chance to expose the facts from great i.e. how Alexander defeated the Hindu Rajah of Swat and
historical happenings. Here, he enacts the history of Alaxander the hearing about the fairy-tale like stories about India’s riches he
great i.e. how Alexander defeated the Hindu Rajah of Swat and ordered his platoons to march further towards India. But
hearing about the fairy-tale like stories about India’s riches he unfortunately, scared by the monsoon rains on the swollen banks of
ordered his platoons to march further towards India. But Beas, his homesick troops denied to go further, and suspending his
unfortunately, scared by the monsoon rains on the swollen banks of ideas of marching further, he returned to Greeek, leaving his
Beas, his homesick troops denied to go further, and suspending his conqured lands in charge of his Greek garrisons. When Alexander
ideas of marching further, he returned to Greeek, leaving his died or perhaps murdered on his return journey to Greece, whole of
conqured lands in charge of his Greek garrisons. When Alexander his conquered lands split into million pieces. The greek garrisons in
died or perhaps murdered on his return journey to Greece, whole of India and Afghanistan had no choice in this anarchy but to stay back
his conquered lands split into million pieces. The greek garrisons in and get rooted to the places where they were placed: 192 They had
India and Afghanistan had no choice in this anarchy but to stay back no choice but to stay on in Asia, intermingling with the local peoples
and get rooted to the places where they were placed: 192 They had and leavening Indian learning with Greek philosophy and
no choice but to stay on in Asia, intermingling with the local peoples classicalideas. Over the following thousand years, further cross-
and leavening Indian learning with Greek philosophy and fertilised by Central Asian influences brought by conquering
classicalideas. Over the following thousand years, further cross- Kushans, an astounding civilization grew up in the fastness of the
fertilised by Central Asian influences brought by conquering Karakorums, deep within the isolated and mountaneous kingdom
Kushans, an astounding civilization grew up in the fastness of the known as Ghadhar. Hellenic in spirit, Buddhist in religion,
Karakorums, deep within the isolated and mountaneous kingdom worshipping an encyclopedic pantheon of Greek,Roman, Iranian,
known as Ghadhar. Hellenic in spirit, Buddhist in religion, Hindu and Buddhist deities, Gandhara’s principal icon was a
worshipping an encyclopedic pantheon of Greek,Roman, Iranian, meditating Buddha dressed in a Greek toga. (325) Another site
Hindu and Buddhist deities, Gandhara’s principal icon was a which exhibits the petals of golden era of the Gandhar kingdom is
meditating Buddha dressed in a Greek toga. (325) Another site Pushkalvaati, the city of lotus. Dalrymple visits it and his historic
which exhibits the petals of golden era of the Gandhar kingdom is interests make him wonder the grandeurs of the monuments: It was
Pushkalvaati, the city of lotus. Dalrymple visits it and his historic like entering a lost world, a forgotten Eden isolated on its hih
interests make him wonder the grandeurs of the monuments: It was Himalayan plateau. Everywhere you looked were the undecayed
like entering a lost world, a forgotten Eden isolated on its hih remains of the Gandharan golden age: colossal Buddhas and reliefs
Himalayan plateau. Everywhere you looked were the undecayed of the Kushan King Kanishka cut into the rockface; huge stupas
remains of the Gandharan golden age: colossal Buddhas and reliefs rising from hexagonal drums; and a series of fortresses sitting on
of the Kushan King Kanishka cut into the rockface; huge stupas vast bluffs of rock overlooking the old Silk Road. (329) The next site
rising from hexagonal drums; and a series of fortresses sitting on he visits is Taxila, Gandhara’s ancient city at the Malakand Pass.
vast bluffs of rock overlooking the old Silk Road. (329) The next site Dalrymple visiting the site once again opens pages of History.
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he visits is Taxila, Gandhara’s ancient city at the Malakand Pass. Alexander stayed at this place and the king of Taxila preferred
Dalrymple visiting the site once again opens pages of History. instead of entering into clash with Alexander’s army made a treaty
Alexander stayed at this place and the king of Taxila preferred and guided them into this mountainous area. The architecture of the
instead of entering into clash with Alexander’s army made a treaty buildings and the images of Buddha too exhibit strong influence of
and guided them into this mountainous area. The architecture of the the western world: At Sirkap on the edge of Taxila, the Bactrian
buildings and the images of Buddha too exhibit strong influence of Greeks founded a classical Greek quarter in 190 BC. It was to be
the western world: At Sirkap on the edge of Taxila, the Bactrian new Taxila, a great advance on the old city, and they carefully laid
Greeks founded a classical Greek quarter in 190 BC. It was to be out the streets iun a grid of straight lines, like a chess board. As
new Taxila, a great advance on the old city, and they carefully laid Athens, a magnificent boundry wall loops around the residential
out the streets iun a grid of straight lines, like a chess board. As areas and rises up to the fortified citadel, Sirkap’s answer to the
Athens, a magnificent boundry wall loops around the residential Parthenon. (331) Another thing that arrests his attention is the
areas and rises up to the fortified citadel, Sirkap’s answer to the insignia of the double-headed eagle: “Most intriguing of all, one of
Parthenon. (331) Another thing that arrests his attention is the the shrines bears the same symbol was to become the crest first of
insignia of the double-headed eagle: “Most intriguing of all, one of Byzantium, then of the Habsburgs, and finally of Imperial Russia. Its
the shrines bears the same symbol was to become the crest first of first appearance, here in a lost city on the edge of Karakorum’s, is
Byzantium, then of the Habsburgs, and finally of Imperial Russia. Its one of Gandhara’s great unsolved mysteries” (331). 193 Dalrymple’s
first appearance, here in a lost city on the edge of Karakorum’s, is observant eyes capture the centuries’ long continuity of the same
one of Gandhara’s great unsolved mysteries” (331). 193 Dalrymple’s culture in the region. He notes the sculptors of these monuments
observant eyes capture the centuries’ long continuity of the same have inscribed the minutest details of the surrounding lives in the
culture in the region. He notes the sculptors of these monuments carvings; and the same details are still found in the modern traces of
have inscribed the minutest details of the surrounding lives in the lives unchanged and intact: The writing tablet and reed pen which
carvings; and the same details are still found in the modern traces of the Buddha uses are still used in the more remote frontier primary
lives unchanged and intact: The writing tablet and reed pen which schools. The turbans which the Gandharan chieftains sported in the
the Buddha uses are still used in the more remote frontier primary sixth century AD. have yet to disappear, and many of the tribes men
schools. The turbans which the Gandharan chieftains sported in the dye their beards, just as they did when nearchus wandered through
sixth century AD. have yet to disappear, and many of the tribes men the streets of Taxila in the third century B.C. the sandals of the
dye their beards, just as they did when nearchus wandered through Bodhisattavas are still worn; their musical instruments still played;
the streets of Taxila in the third century B.C. the sandals of the their jewellery still manufactured in the a silver bazaar today. Even
Bodhisattavas are still worn; their musical instruments still played; the design of the houses remains more or less unchanged by the
their jewellery still manufactured in the a silver bazaar today. Even passage of time. (333) The images of Buddha in the museum remind
the design of the houses remains more or less unchanged by the Dalrymple of the expression worn by the Pathan clan outside in the
passage of time. (333) The images of Buddha in the museum remind market, another form of continuity: Hawk eyed, eagle beaked, they
Dalrymple of the expression worn by the Pathan clan outside in the are a proud people; and as the Buddhas demonstrate, their poise
market, another form of continuity: Hawk eyed, eagle beaked, they and self confidence directly reflect that of the Gandharan Bectarian
214
are a proud people; and as the Buddhas demonstrate, their poise Greeks who sculpted these images in the plains of Peshawar nearly
and self confidence directly reflect that of the Gandharan Bectarian two millennia ago. (334) The entire piece exhibits Dalrymple’s
Greeks who sculpted these images in the plains of Peshawar nearly consummate cutch of the art, his narration sweeps between past and
two millennia ago. (334) The entire piece exhibits Dalrymple’s present, sometimes picking the present landscape in view and very
consummate cutch of the art, his narration sweeps between past and interestingly turning to the past glories of histories and trying to seek
present, sometimes picking the present landscape in view and very links between this past and present. The issues of blood feuds and
interestingly turning to the past glories of histories and trying to seek revenge murders are nicely woven with the histories of Alexander,
links between this past and present. The issues of blood feuds and and the ancient kingdom of Gandhara and its Buddhist monuments.
revenge murders are nicely woven with the histories of Alexander, Blood on the Tracks LAHORE, 1997
and the ancient kingdom of Gandhara and its Buddhist monuments. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This
Blood on the Tracks LAHORE, 1997 essay enacts the story of the most disturbing chapter of the
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Continent’s history, viz. the Partition massacre of India-Pakistan.
essay enacts the story of the most disturbing chapter of the Dalrymple opens the essay by narrating the wonderful miracle
Continent’s history, viz. the Partition massacre of India-Pakistan. effected by the Britishers’ massive investment in the continent; The
Dalrymple opens the essay by narrating the wonderful miracle Railways. Dalrymple notes the Railways founded by the Britishers in
effected by the Britishers’ massive investment in the continent; The India in the wake of industrialization was the greatest investment: “It
Railways. Dalrymple notes the Railways founded by the Britishers in was the biggest, and most costly, 194 construction project
India in the wake of industrialization was the greatest investment: “It undertaken by any colonial power in any colony anywhere in the
was the biggest, and most costly, 194 construction project world. It was also the largest single investment of British capital in
undertaken by any colonial power in any colony anywhere in the the whole of the nineteenth century” (338). William Dalrymple makes
world. It was also the largest single investment of British capital in a historical observation in connection to the railways in Indian sub-
the whole of the nineteenth century” (338). William Dalrymple makes continent that it not only revolutionized the travelling activities of the
a historical observation in connection to the railways in Indian sub- people but in also affected a social revolution as it created a room
continent that it not only revolutionized the travelling activities of the which was free from the century long class consciousness; more
people but in also affected a social revolution as it created a room particularly it was the place where anyone could purchase the ticket
which was free from the century long class consciousness; more and occupy his/her place without being curbed into the class system.
particularly it was the place where anyone could purchase the ticket Secondly, it was the railway that made travelling faster and that
and occupy his/her place without being curbed into the class system. brought the extremely diversified culture together and planted to it
Secondly, it was the railway that made travelling faster and that the consciousness of oneness, a feeling like nationalism…. And due
brought the extremely diversified culture together and planted to it to this facts Dalrymple goes to the extent of passing a judgment like
the consciousness of oneness, a feeling like nationalism…. And due statement: Moreover, as journey times shrank, India became aware
to this facts Dalrymple goes to the extent of passing a judgment like of itself for the first time as a single unified nation. As the bullock cart
statement: Moreover, as journey times shrank, India became aware gave way to the locomotive, a subcontinent disjointed by vast
of itself for the first time as a single unified nation. As the bullock cart distances and primeval communications suddenly, for the first time,
215
gave way to the locomotive, a subcontinent disjointed by vast became aware of itself as a single geographical unit. It was the
distances and primeval communications suddenly, for the first time, railways that made India a nation. (339) [Emphasis mine] Just as the
became aware of itself as a single geographical unit. It was the British introduction: the railways made and created its whirls of
railways that made India a nation. (339) [Emphasis mine] Just as the change into the lives of Indians, Dalrymple notes, the Indians too had
British introduction: the railways made and created its whirls of their own treatment to offer to the railways, see how he notes it in his
change into the lives of Indians, Dalrymple notes, the Indians too had typical style: Just as India has always seduced and transformed its
their own treatment to offer to the railways, see how he notes it in his conquerors, so in the same way it slowly took over and indigenized
typical style: Just as India has always seduced and transformed its the railways. Soon the stations were inhabited by whole villages of
conquerors, so in the same way it slowly took over and indigenized people washing, sleeping and cooking in the ticket halls, arriving
the railways. Soon the stations were inhabited by whole villages of days early for a train and building encampments on the platforms.
people washing, sleeping and cooking in the ticket halls, arriving Within few years something quintessentially English had been
days early for a train and building encampments on the platforms. forever transformed into something quintessentially Indian. (341)]
Within few years something quintessentially English had been [Emphasis mine] And, The hierarchy of the railways seemed directly
forever transformed into something quintessentially Indian. (341)] to echo the Hindu caste system, with a pyramid that rose, rank after
[Emphasis mine] And, The hierarchy of the railways seemed directly rank, from the lowly armies of sweepers through the parcel clerks,
to echo the Hindu caste system, with a pyramid that rose, rank after goods clerks, booking clerks and special ticket examiners to the
rank, from the lowly armies of sweepers through the parcel clerks, twice-born apex of stationmaster and general manager. For the
goods clerks, booking clerks and special ticket examiners to the Muslims too, there may have been something appealing in
twice-born apex of stationmaster and general manager. For the submission to a railway timetable at once as merciful, omnipotent
Muslims too, there may have been something appealing in and lofty inflexible as the great Koran itself.(341) 195 Dalrymple also
submission to a railway timetable at once as merciful, omnipotent notes that the Lahore Railway Station had been the most calculated
and lofty inflexible as the great Koran itself.(341) 195 Dalrymple also construction as Lahore lied on the nearest destination from the
notes that the Lahore Railway Station had been the most calculated Khyber Pass--- in case of the possible invasion from the Russian
construction as Lahore lied on the nearest destination from the Army, it could be transformed into a colossal Bunker, with its sliding
Khyber Pass--- in case of the possible invasion from the Russian roofs and tricky masonry works..Though the station never had to be
Army, it could be transformed into a colossal Bunker, with its sliding transformed into a “fortified bunker” in order to evade any outside
roofs and tricky masonry works..Though the station never had to be invasion, it witnessed excessive bloodshed, as any monument at the
transformed into a “fortified bunker” in order to evade any outside war frontiers, at the time of the great unfortunate event of Partition.
invasion, it witnessed excessive bloodshed, as any monument at the He presents the accounts of the Partition Massacres to how the
war frontiers, at the time of the great unfortunate event of Partition. trains loaded with the dead bodies crossed the new born frontiers.
He presents the accounts of the Partition Massacres to how the The stationmaster of Lahore station, Khawajah Bilal, narrated to
trains loaded with the dead bodies crossed the new born frontiers. Dalrymple exactly what happened on 14 th August, 1947: On 14
The stationmaster of Lahore station, Khawajah Bilal, narrated to August I was on duty. We heard an announcement that Partition had
Dalrymple exactly what happened on 14 th August, 1947: On 14 taken place. Soon after that the killing started, the slaughter began.
216
August I was on duty. We heard an announcement that Partition had Everywhere we looked we saw carnage and destruction of human
taken place. Soon after that the killing started, the slaughter began. life. There was no law and order, even when the soldiers came and
Everywhere we looked we saw carnage and destruction of human made the barricade with the barbed wire outside the station. Despite
life. There was no law and order, even when the soldiers came and their presence, many were being killed---on the platforms, on the brid
made the barricade with the barbed wire outside the station. Despite ges, in the ticket halls. There were stabbings, rapes, attempts at
their presence, many were being killed---on the platforms, on the brid arson. I had my charpoy in my stationmaster’s office: I didn’t dare to
ges, in the ticket halls. There were stabbings, rapes, attempts at go back to my house. But at night I could not sleep because of the
arson. I had my charpoy in my stationmaster’s office: I didn’t dare to screams and moans of dying coming from the platform. In the
go back to my house. But at night I could not sleep because of the morning, when the light came, bodies would be lying everywhere.
screams and moans of dying coming from the platform. In the (344) The episode might record millions of such painful stories, who
morning, when the light came, bodies would be lying everywhere. survived this nightmarish event in the continent’s history. Like many
(344) The episode might record millions of such painful stories, who other stories of the corpus of partition literature, William’s essay too
survived this nightmarish event in the continent’s history. Like many presents the plight of carnage and tries to voice individual tragedies
other stories of the corpus of partition literature, William’s essay too parallel to the mass destruction and draws the concluding note that:
presents the plight of carnage and tries to voice individual tragedies Listening `to these horror stories, it was clear that for the people of
parallel to the mass destruction and draws the concluding note that: India and Pakistan the horrors of partition were not just the stuff of
Listening `to these horror stories, it was clear that for the people of history, consigned to the memories of a few old men; for most people
India and Pakistan the horrors of partition were not just the stuff of they were still livid scars, unhealed wounds which were still
history, consigned to the memories of a few old men; for most people poisoning relation between Hindu and Muslims, India and Pakistan,
they were still livid scars, unhealed wounds which were still half a century later. (345) 196 Benazir Bhutto: Mills & Boon in
poisoning relation between Hindu and Muslims, India and Pakistan, Karachi KARACHI, 1994 ------------------ ------------------ -----------------
half a century later. (345) 196 Benazir Bhutto: Mills & Boon in ------------------ ----------------- --------------- This essay presents before
Karachi KARACHI, 1994 ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- us Dalrymple’s reflections on Pakistani First ever lady Prime Minister
------------------ ----------------- --------------- This essay presents before Benazir Bhutto and prepares a nice word picture of this stateswoman
us Dalrymple’s reflections on Pakistani First ever lady Prime Minister whose life and personality remains a butt of attraction and attention
Benazir Bhutto and prepares a nice word picture of this stateswoman not only for the people of Pakistan but in the West too for many a
whose life and personality remains a butt of attraction and attention political interests. The phrase, “Mills & Boon” in the title itself makes
not only for the people of Pakistan but in the West too for many a it clear that Benazir has got her strong roots in the West and ‘the
political interests. The phrase, “Mills & Boon” in the title itself makes West’ knows it very well too. Dalrymple’s interests in her too churn
it clear that Benazir has got her strong roots in the West and ‘the the points how this lady tries to come true to her dreams and tackles
West’ knows it very well too. Dalrymple’s interests in her too churn the tough situations through which sometimes she need to make
the points how this lady tries to come true to her dreams and tackles steep choices between the near and dears or the political legacy of
the tough situations through which sometimes she need to make her father. In her conversations with Dalrymple, as he noptes, she
steep choices between the near and dears or the political legacy of emerges with multi-facet personality—a responsible daughter who
217
her father. In her conversations with Dalrymple, as he noptes, she incessantly toils to take further the political legacy of her father, a
emerges with multi-facet personality—a responsible daughter who glamorous lady who has her strong hold in the hearts of Pakistani
incessantly toils to take further the political legacy of her father, a public, a mother, a daughter of a widowed mother with whom she
glamorous lady who has her strong hold in the hearts of Pakistani shares many misunderstandings, and above all the Prime Minister of
public, a mother, a daughter of a widowed mother with whom she Pakistan. Dalrymple has enough evidences to prove why Benazir is
shares many misunderstandings, and above all the Prime Minister of a favoured political personality in the West, still in Pakistan among
Pakistan. Dalrymple has enough evidences to prove why Benazir is the people her own strategies of political lead have not found any
a favoured political personality in the West, still in Pakistan among sound moldings. For the West she is a fond persona as she presents
the people her own strategies of political lead have not found any the image of a liberalized leader and has no scorns for the Western
sound moldings. For the West she is a fond persona as she presents countries and does not issue ‘fatavah’ against the West. Her
the image of a liberalized leader and has no scorns for the Western accession to the premiere position still could not bring out any radical
countries and does not issue ‘fatavah’ against the West. Her or impactful landmarks. As Dalrymple is addressing the western
accession to the premiere position still could not bring out any radical audience on this issue, he makes this unconsciously clear in the
or impactful landmarks. As Dalrymple is addressing the western comment: There is no doubt that Pakistanis are, on the whole,
audience on this issue, he makes this unconsciously clear in the grateful to Benazir Bhutto for bringing back democracy, and that
comment: There is no doubt that Pakistanis are, on the whole, many regard her as a brave and impressive woman. But the fact
grateful to Benazir Bhutto for bringing back democracy, and that remains that they have never felt as enthusiastic about her as WE in
many regard her as a brave and impressive woman. But the fact the West would sometimes like to believe. (350) [Emphasis mine]
remains that they have never felt as enthusiastic about her as WE in (The emphasis tries to emboss the west-centric approach of the
the West would sometimes like to believe. (350) [Emphasis mine] narrator) 197 Dalrymple also brings to the light Benazir’s Thatcher-
(The emphasis tries to emboss the west-centric approach of the like use of Royal ‘we’, and also the style of her speech during the
narrator) 197 Dalrymple also brings to the light Benazir’s Thatcher- interview being ‘unstoppable’ just like Lady Thatcher whom she
like use of Royal ‘we’, and also the style of her speech during the frequently cited as her ‘Role Model’. For India Benazir holds the
interview being ‘unstoppable’ just like Lady Thatcher whom she typical Pakistani views and on the issue of the murders of the
frequently cited as her ‘Role Model’. For India Benazir holds the separatists Kashmiries on the Indian side appears to her the
typical Pakistani views and on the issue of the murders of the atrocious handling. Dalrymple digs deep into the family strife from
separatists Kashmiries on the Indian side appears to her the the either sides. The issues of sending her brother Murtaza to jail
atrocious handling. Dalrymple digs deep into the family strife from and her alleged ordering the police to open fire on the camp of her
the either sides. The issues of sending her brother Murtaza to jail mother and brother’s supporters on at the grave site of Bhutto on the
and her alleged ordering the police to open fire on the camp of her Birthday of the “Shaheed”, have aggravated the relations between
mother and brother’s supporters on at the grave site of Bhutto on the the family members and the family has been divided into two hostile
Birthday of the “Shaheed”, have aggravated the relations between camps. To the question of Dalrymple Benazir nicely replies that
the family members and the family has been divided into two hostile seeing his children contesting election against each other and
camps. To the question of Dalrymple Benazir nicely replies that fighting an open battle, their father would surely have been greatly
218
seeing his children contesting election against each other and pained. Benazir’s mother Begum Nusrat Bhutto has also her grave
fighting an open battle, their father would surely have been greatly complaints against her daughter who, according to her, has lost her
pained. Benazir’s mother Begum Nusrat Bhutto has also her grave sense of proportion in the blind race of obtaining power and aptly
complaints against her daughter who, according to her, has lost her cites the Western proverb in her connection, “Power corrupts and
sense of proportion in the blind race of obtaining power and aptly more power corrupts even more.” In the post script to the essay
cites the Western proverb in her connection, “Power corrupts and William describes the murder of Murtaza at Clifford and Murtaza’s
more power corrupts even more.” In the post script to the essay widowed wife, Ghinwa Bhutto and her step daughter, Fatima taking
William describes the murder of Murtaza at Clifford and Murtaza’s the reins of Murtaza’s PPP- Shaheed Bhutto faction and leading a
widowed wife, Ghinwa Bhutto and her step daughter, Fatima taking massive campaign against Benazir. William concludes the results of
the reins of Murtaza’s PPP- Shaheed Bhutto faction and leading a such campaigns and the facts of the massive corruption charges
massive campaign against Benazir. William concludes the results of leveled against Benazir and her husband Zardari, ‘Mr. Ten Percent’,
such campaigns and the facts of the massive corruption charges in the general election of 1997, Benazir’s party could not perform
leveled against Benazir and her husband Zardari, ‘Mr. Ten Percent’, well and had to remain satisfied being the largest opposition. Nine
in the general election of 1997, Benazir’s party could not perform years after publication of this book, on 27 December 2007, while
well and had to remain satisfied being the largest opposition. Nine Benazir Bhutto was campaigning for her party for upcoming General
years after publication of this book, on 27 December 2007, while Elections (scheduled on January, 2008), she was attacked by gun-
Benazir Bhutto was campaigning for her party for upcoming General shots as well as a suicide-bomb and was assassinated. As per the
Elections (scheduled on January, 2008), she was attacked by gun- details of the incident, as she was coming out after addressing a
shots as well as a suicide-bomb and was assassinated. As per the political rally at the Liaquat Bagh, a close gun firing was opened on
details of the incident, as she was coming out after addressing a her and immediately after that a suicide-bomb detonated at very
political rally at the Liaquat Bagh, a close gun firing was opened on close to the spot injuring her fatally. After the corruption charges and
her and immediately after that a suicide-bomb detonated at very sevaral court cases, Bhutto had taken self exile spending eight years
close to the spot injuring her fatally. After the corruption charges and in Dubai and London and had returned only for the upcoming
sevaral court cases, Bhutto had taken self exile spending eight years General Elections and had escaped same attempt two months
in Dubai and London and had returned only for the upcoming earlier soon after her arrival while, on 18 October 2007, she was en
General Elections and had escaped same attempt two months route to a rally in Karachi, two explosions occurred shortly after she
earlier soon after her arrival while, on 18 October 2007, she was en had landed and left. As per the causes of the assassination so many
route to a rally in Karachi, two explosions occurred shortly after she debates and theories have been 198 mounted but till date it remains
had landed and left. As per the causes of the assassination so many the murder mystery. As Griff Witte observed in his article in The
debates and theories have been 198 mounted but till date it remains Washington Post, dated 29 December 2007, titled “Masses Mourn
the murder mystery. As Griff Witte observed in his article in The Bhutto as Unrest Spreads”: “the crime scene was cleared before any
Washington Post, dated 29 December 2007, titled “Masses Mourn forensic examination could be completed and no formal autopsy was
Bhutto as Unrest Spreads”: “the crime scene was cleared before any performed before burial. Despite the ambiguity surrounding her
forensic examination could be completed and no formal autopsy was death, Bhutto's husband Mr Asif Zardari did not allow a formal
219
performed before burial. Despite the ambiguity surrounding her autopsy to be conducted citing his fears regarding the procedure
death, Bhutto's husband Mr Asif Zardari did not allow a formal being carried out in Pakistan. Due to which, even today the true
autopsy to be conducted citing his fears regarding the procedure cause of her death remains uncertain.” On the whole Dalrymple has
being carried out in Pakistan. Due to which, even today the true presented and captured the plight of the entire social and political
cause of her death remains uncertain.” On the whole Dalrymple has ruts of life in Pakistan in these four essays. This decade of nineties
presented and captured the plight of the entire social and political has witnessed a great political upheaval in Pakistan too, along with
ruts of life in Pakistan in these four essays. This decade of nineties the neighboring nation India. There are trends now among people of
has witnessed a great political upheaval in Pakistan too, along with Pakistan where undercurrents for justice and equality are voiced in
the neighboring nation India. There are trends now among people of public and media too. Another point that can be noted is the
Pakistan where undercurrents for justice and equality are voiced in presence and the close following of the Western nations of this part.
public and media too. Another point that can be noted is the The West is present in the forms of Diplomats, Tourists or the
presence and the close following of the Western nations of this part. Journalists who record the slightest tremors of public life in this part
The West is present in the forms of Diplomats, Tourists or the of the earth. Dalrympl’s historic scholarship attracts and arrests his
Journalists who record the slightest tremors of public life in this part attention towards the ruinous monuments in the Swat valley dating
of the earth. Dalrympl’s historic scholarship attracts and arrests his back to the time of Alexander the great. 199 Works Cited
attention towards the ruinous monuments in the Swat valley dating
back to the time of Alexander the great. 199 Works Cited Bhandare, Murlidhar C. Contributor: Bhandare Sunanda, Struggle for
Gender Justice: Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lectures.
Bhandare, Murlidhar C. Contributor: Bhandare Sunanda, Struggle for Penguine Books India, 2010.
Gender Justice: Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial Lectures.
Penguine Books India, 2010. Dalrymple, William, The Age of Kali, Penguin Books, 1998.
Dalrymple, William, The Age of Kali, Penguin Books, 1998. Dupee, Jeffrey. N. Traveling India in the Age of Gandhi, University
Press of America, 2008.
Dupee, Jeffrey. N. Traveling India in the Age of Gandhi, University
Press of America, 2008. Print.
Print. Hawley, John Staton. Sati : the Blessing and the Curse: the burning
of wives in India. Oxford University Press. 1994. Print.
Hawley, John Staton. Sati : the Blessing and the Curse: the burning
of wives in India. Oxford University Press. 1994. Print. James, Edward Holton. I Tell Everything: The Book on India.
Geneva: Impremerie Kundig, 1931.
James, Edward Holton. I Tell Everything: The Book on India.
Geneva: Impremerie Kundig, 1931. Print.
220
Print. Joganand, P. G. ed. Dalit Woman: Issues and perspectives. New

Delhi: Gyan Publishing House. 1995. Print.
Joganand, P. G. ed. Dalit Woman: Issues and perspectives. New
Delhi: Gyan Publishing House. 1995. Print. Mahatma Gandhi, “Young India”, Aug. 26, 1926, 302.
Mahatma Gandhi, “Young India”, Aug. 26, 1926, 302. Print.
Print. Modern Language Association. The MLA Handbook for Writers of

Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association.
Modern Language Association. The MLA Handbook for Writers of 2009.
2009. Print.
Print. Nirula, Smita. Broken People: Caste Violence Against India’s

‘Untouchables’. Human Rights Watch. 1999.
Nirula, Smita. Broken People: Caste Violence Against India’s
‘Untouchables’. Human Rights Watch. 1999. Print.
Print. Rao, Anupan. Understanding Sirasgaon, Notes Towards

Conceptualising the Role of Law, Caste and Gender in a case of
Rao, Anupan. Understanding Sirasgaon, Notes Towards “Atrocity”. Signposts: Gender Issues in Post Independence India,
Conceptualising the Role of Law, Caste and Gender in a case of Rutgers University Press, 1999.
“Atrocity”. Signposts: Gender Issues in Post Independence India,
Rutgers University Press, 1999. Print. Roy, Aruna. Democracy: Women’s Struggle Against Poverty,
Struggle for Gender Justice: Justice Sunda Bhandare Memorial
Print. Roy, Aruna. Democracy: Women’s Struggle Against Poverty, Lectures, Penguine Books India, 2010. Print.
Struggle for Gender Justice: Justice Sunda Bhandare Memorial
Lectures, Penguine Books India, 2010. Print. 200 201
221
Nine Lives ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ Nine Lives ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------
----------------- ---------------- Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern ----------------- ---------------- Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern
India India
weaves the ‘sacred’ in the texture of the book for which India has weaves the ‘sacred’ in the texture of the book for which India has
been spearheading for the time ancient. William Dalrymple tries to been spearheading for the time ancient. William Dalrymple tries to
locate this ‘Religious’ temperament of the Indian generations even in locate this ‘Religious’ temperament of the Indian generations even in
the full speed development of the nation from all view points of the full speed development of the nation from all view points of
modern developments. The very title of the book makes the focus of modern developments. The very title of the book makes the focus of
the author well nigh clear: ‘In Search of Sacred in Modern India’ the author well nigh clear: ‘In Search of Sacred in Modern India’
(Emphasis mine); through this the author tries to inspect into the (Emphasis mine); through this the author tries to inspect into the
matter how ardently and with what intensity the religious matters are matter how ardently and with what intensity the religious matters are
observed among the Indian social circles while the whole scenario of observed among the Indian social circles while the whole scenario of
the national social and economic fronts is undergoing a beat of the national social and economic fronts is undergoing a beat of
transformation under the globalization and liberalization issues. transformation under the globalization and liberalization issues.
Dalrymple has followed a well defined framework in the planning of Dalrymple has followed a well defined framework in the planning of
the book. Even after the publication of it; he led and staged shows the book. Even after the publication of it; he led and staged shows
and demonstrations to make the things heard about the book and and demonstrations to make the things heard about the book and
invested ample efforts to popularize his crafted creation. Published in invested ample efforts to popularize his crafted creation. Published in
2009 in multiple editions, the book secured attention of world 2009 in multiple editions, the book secured attention of world
community and literary circles and has bagged a couple of awards. community and literary circles and has bagged a couple of awards.
The heritage of India is the heritage of sacredness. There are The heritage of India is the heritage of sacredness. There are
thousands of religious traditions alive and co-exist in the forming the thousands of religious traditions alive and co-exist in the forming the
several spectrum strips of society. This is perhaps the typicality that several spectrum strips of society. This is perhaps the typicality that
fixes the visitors’ attention without fail; of which William Dalrymple is fixes the visitors’ attention without fail; of which William Dalrymple is
no exception. In the last decades of twentieth century, Indian culture no exception. In the last decades of twentieth century, Indian culture
and society has undergone and absorbed massive transforming and society has undergone and absorbed massive transforming
influences on all the domains, say, be it the economical, social, influences on all the domains, say, be it the economical, social,
political, commercial or the field of infrastructural developments. political, commercial or the field of infrastructural developments.
Everywhere there is a boost of and wave of betterment. The speed Everywhere there is a boost of and wave of betterment. The speed
with which the landscape is changing appears quite unimaginable. In with which the landscape is changing appears quite unimaginable. In
222
the very introduction of Nine Lives, William Dalrymple captions: the very introduction of Nine Lives, William Dalrymple captions:
“Living in India over last few years, I have seen the country change “Living in India over last few years, I have seen the country change
at a rate that was impossible to imagine. The speed of development at a rate that was impossible to imagine. The speed of development
is breath taking to any one used to the plodding growth rates of is breath taking to any one used to the plodding growth rates of
Western Europe: the sort of construction that would take twenty-five Western Europe: the sort of construction that would take twenty-five
years in Britain comes up in five month” (Dalrymple. Nine Lives Xii). years in Britain comes up in five month” (Dalrymple. Nine Lives Xii).
At the same time, there are sites and scenes--- especially on the At the same time, there are sites and scenes--- especially on the
Rural Side which have remained outside the umbrella of the Rural Side which have remained outside the umbrella of the
developments and infrastructural 202 advancements. Dalrymple, developments and infrastructural 202 advancements. Dalrymple,
being the outsider, catches this conspicuous contrast and makes it a being the outsider, catches this conspicuous contrast and makes it a
point that the drive of ten to twenty minutes on the highway past any point that the drive of ten to twenty minutes on the highway past any
metro city, the landscape is replaced with serenity, simplicity and metro city, the landscape is replaced with serenity, simplicity and
natural flora and fauna in their original unaltered form. Here, the natural flora and fauna in their original unaltered form. Here, the
question: how India manages to balance such fast-swift question: how India manages to balance such fast-swift
developments on one facet and the exactly opposite to it, the calm developments on one facet and the exactly opposite to it, the calm
and serene traditional rut of life on the other? This very sanctum of and serene traditional rut of life on the other? This very sanctum of
fact rivets Dalrymple’s attention and forms the very foundation of the fact rivets Dalrymple’s attention and forms the very foundation of the
book. Dalrymple’s travels in this subcontinent have made him face- book. Dalrymple’s travels in this subcontinent have made him face-
to-face with many such magnificent and fascinating life-styles and to-face with many such magnificent and fascinating life-styles and
life-holding beliefs. There exists a miraculous harmony between life-holding beliefs. There exists a miraculous harmony between
these exactly occult and opposing forces. Dalrymple himself voices these exactly occult and opposing forces. Dalrymple himself voices
his surprise to such variety thus: Yet to my surprise, for all the his surprise to such variety thus: Yet to my surprise, for all the
changes and development that have taken place, an older India changes and development that have taken place, an older India
endures, and many of the issues that I found my holy men endures, and many of the issues that I found my holy men
discussing and agonizing about remained the same eternal discussing and agonizing about remained the same eternal
quandaries that absorbed the holy men of classical India or the Sufis quandaries that absorbed the holy men of classical India or the Sufis
of the middle ages, hundreds of years ago: the quest for material of the middle ages, hundreds of years ago: the quest for material
success and comfort against the claims of the life of the spirit; the success and comfort against the claims of the life of the spirit; the
call of the life of action against the life of contemplation; the way of call of the life of action against the life of contemplation; the way of
stability against the lure of the open road; personal devotion against stability against the lure of the open road; personal devotion against
conventional or public religion; textual orthodoxy against emotional conventional or public religion; textual orthodoxy against emotional
appeal of mysticism; the age-old war of duty and desire. The water appeal of mysticism; the age-old war of duty and desire. The water
moves on, a little faster than before, yet still the great river flows. moves on, a little faster than before, yet still the great river flows.
(Dalrymple Nine Lives xvii) The Nun’s Tale (Dalrymple Nine Lives xvii) The Nun’s Tale
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In the very first account of Nine Lives: Search for a sacred India, In the very first account of Nine Lives: Search for a sacred India,
William delineates the life story of a Jain Nun who has left the social William delineates the life story of a Jain Nun who has left the social
luxurious life in a quest of supreme truth and graced the life of luxurious life in a quest of supreme truth and graced the life of
ascetic codes which even do not allow her to travel by a vehicle, ascetic codes which even do not allow her to travel by a vehicle,
retain any relation with her family or anybody else and expect her to retain any relation with her family or anybody else and expect her to
observe total detachment from the mundane world except to remain observe total detachment from the mundane world except to remain
within it as the flower of lotus exists in the water body, and many within it as the flower of lotus exists in the water body, and many
other strict code of conducts. William engages himself in prolonged other strict code of conducts. William engages himself in prolonged
conversations with the Nun and tries to understand how on spiritual conversations with the Nun and tries to understand how on spiritual
path the advancement is achieved through leading such an austere path the advancement is achieved through leading such an austere
life. The Nun, Prasanmati Mataji, relates in her conversations her life. The Nun, Prasanmati Mataji, relates in her conversations her
personal 203 choices for the Nun hood, her struggles and progress personal 203 choices for the Nun hood, her struggles and progress
on the path of attainment of total salvation i.e. ‘Moksha’. In India on the path of attainment of total salvation i.e. ‘Moksha’. In India
Jainism has flourished parallel to the Buddhism as a strong reaction Jainism has flourished parallel to the Buddhism as a strong reaction
to the Brahminical stubborn form of Hinduism. The main principle on to the Brahminical stubborn form of Hinduism. The main principle on
which both these philosophies derive inspiration is the principle of which both these philosophies derive inspiration is the principle of
‘Ahimsa’ i.e. “Non-Violence”. The Caste system of Brahminical ‘Ahimsa’ i.e. “Non-Violence”. The Caste system of Brahminical
Hinduism was another strong factor to nourish the cults. The main Hinduism was another strong factor to nourish the cults. The main
differences between both the cults are very nominal. The Buddhist differences between both the cults are very nominal. The Buddhist
monks shave their heads whereas the Jain Monks pluck their hair monks shave their heads whereas the Jain Monks pluck their hair
from the roots, a painful process. The Buddhist monk would bed for from the roots, a painful process. The Buddhist monk would bed for
his food, whereas the Jains have to have their food without asking. his food, whereas the Jains have to have their food without asking.
William presents the historical details regarding two prominent William presents the historical details regarding two prominent
figures of Indian History, whose lives and story have cast really figures of Indian History, whose lives and story have cast really
shaping effects to the Indian life; Chandra Gupt Maurya, the first shaping effects to the Indian life; Chandra Gupt Maurya, the first
Emperor of India and Prince Bahubali who adopted and accepted the Emperor of India and Prince Bahubali who adopted and accepted the
Jain principles being tired of excessive violence. William visits the Jain principles being tired of excessive violence. William visits the
place of Chandragupta, “It was here, in the third century BC, that the place of Chandragupta, “It was here, in the third century BC, that the
first Emperor of India, Chandragupt Maurya, embraced the Jain first Emperor of India, Chandragupt Maurya, embraced the Jain
religion and died through a self imposed fast to death” (01). The tale religion and died through a self imposed fast to death” (01). The tale
of Prince Bahubali also goes in the same line of attainment of victory of Prince Bahubali also goes in the same line of attainment of victory
not over the outer enemies but to be the master of one’s own not over the outer enemies but to be the master of one’s own
mundane desires and to be liberated from the web of vein honours. mundane desires and to be liberated from the web of vein honours.
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Once entering in a duel fight and overpowering his own brother Once entering in a duel fight and overpowering his own brother
Bharat for getting absolute control over his father’s kingdom, Bharat for getting absolute control over his father’s kingdom,
Bahubali realized that it was sheer foolishness and greed to crush Bahubali realized that it was sheer foolishness and greed to crush
the weak with his own muscular powers, and renounced at once the weak with his own muscular powers, and renounced at once
whatever he won from his brother. According to the Jains, he was the whatever he won from his brother. According to the Jains, he was the
first human being to attain ‘Moksha’: ‘Spiritual Liberation’ by first human being to attain ‘Moksha’: ‘Spiritual Liberation’ by
conquering the real enemies like passions, ambitions, pride and conquering the real enemies like passions, ambitions, pride and
desires. William notes that there are two sects of Janism: Digambara desires. William notes that there are two sects of Janism: Digambara
and Swetambera. Actually, the term Digambara is the deviated form and Swetambera. Actually, the term Digambara is the deviated form
of Sanskrit term ‘Dik Ambara’ i. e. whose clothes are the four of Sanskrit term ‘Dik Ambara’ i. e. whose clothes are the four
direction or who are sky clad and the place ‘Sravana Belgeda’ is the direction or who are sky clad and the place ‘Sravana Belgeda’ is the
main centre of faith just as Vatican is for Christianity. The rules in this main centre of faith just as Vatican is for Christianity. The rules in this
sect are very severe. The monks of this sect remain completely sect are very severe. The monks of this sect remain completely
naked. “They show their total renunciation of the worldly …..by naked. “They show their total renunciation of the worldly …..by
travelling through it completely naked, as light as the air, as they travelling through it completely naked, as light as the air, as they
conceive it, and as clear as the Indian sky” (02). The ‘Tirthankararas’ conceive it, and as clear as the Indian sky” (02). The ‘Tirthankararas’
are the hollies figures in the Jain sects. They are believed to have are the hollies figures in the Jain sects. They are believed to have
attained total nirvana and are worshipped as the path guider to the attained total nirvana and are worshipped as the path guider to the
common and ordinary followers. The statues of these common and ordinary followers. The statues of these
‘Tirthankararas’: the liberators 204 to be worshipped, are found ‘Tirthankararas’: the liberators 204 to be worshipped, are found
erected in the Jain temples. The statues are carved in the cupped erected in the Jain temples. The statues are carved in the cupped
hand position, shaven heads and sitting in the ‘Virasana Samadhi’. hand position, shaven heads and sitting in the ‘Virasana Samadhi’.
William first saw the Nun, ‘Mataji’ in a temple while she was busy William first saw the Nun, ‘Mataji’ in a temple while she was busy
with her ritual of prayers. She bowed to each of the figures and with her ritual of prayers. She bowed to each of the figures and
prayed them. William’s request for meeting or rather in the religious prayed them. William’s request for meeting or rather in the religious
terms ‘Darshan’, he was granted. In the conversation with her, terms ‘Darshan’, he was granted. In the conversation with her,
William discusses the primary and the basic principles of the Jain William discusses the primary and the basic principles of the Jain
philosophy. Mataji also informs him about the special rituals of the philosophy. Mataji also informs him about the special rituals of the
cult. One such ritual and the one which she opines to be on the cult. One such ritual and the one which she opines to be on the
culmination point of any follower’s life path is ‘Sulekhana’: a ritual culmination point of any follower’s life path is ‘Sulekhana’: a ritual
fast to death. As a Jain Nun she believes it to be the route to fast to death. As a Jain Nun she believes it to be the route to
‘Nirvana’. Death is not believed as the final event of life, rather it is ‘Nirvana’. Death is not believed as the final event of life, rather it is
thought of as a path to get a new life. When asked whether thought of as a path to get a new life. When asked whether
‘Sulekhans’ being a kind of suicide, Mataji nicely and with confident ‘Sulekhans’ being a kind of suicide, Mataji nicely and with confident
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arguments explained that the suicide was painful and full of arguments explained that the suicide was painful and full of
sufferings whereas ‘Sulekhana’ was a beautiful thing. It is, she sufferings whereas ‘Sulekhana’ was a beautiful thing. It is, she
explains to William, a planed process and undertaken under the explains to William, a planed process and undertaken under the
guidance of any senior and experienced ‘Mataji’ or ‘Guru’. The guidance of any senior and experienced ‘Mataji’ or ‘Guru’. The
person undertaking it has to leave food one by one day by day. The person undertaking it has to leave food one by one day by day. The
word ‘Jain’ is derived from ‘Jina’ --- A liberator or the spiritual word ‘Jain’ is derived from ‘Jina’ --- A liberator or the spiritual
conqueror. Mataji describes in detail the lineage of twenty four such conqueror. Mataji describes in detail the lineage of twenty four such
spiritual conquerors that are ardently adored and worshipped in spiritual conquerors that are ardently adored and worshipped in
Jainism. These ‘Tirthankaars’ are those lofty souls who succeeded in Jainism. These ‘Tirthankaars’ are those lofty souls who succeeded in
discovering the path which would liberate the soul from the eternal discovering the path which would liberate the soul from the eternal
cycle of deaths and rebirths. Mataji also points out the striking cycle of deaths and rebirths. Mataji also points out the striking
differences among the other religions and Jainism. The Jains, she differences among the other religions and Jainism. The Jains, she
opines, are different from the Hindus and the Buddhists in many opines, are different from the Hindus and the Buddhists in many
ways. They reject the Hindu idea about the creation of this world. ways. They reject the Hindu idea about the creation of this world.
They oppose the Brahminical rituals. The most important sacrifice for They oppose the Brahminical rituals. The most important sacrifice for
a Jain is not ‘Puja’ or ritual but the sacrifice of his/her own body. The a Jain is not ‘Puja’ or ritual but the sacrifice of his/her own body. The
Jains conceive ‘Karma’ as a fine material substance that physically Jains conceive ‘Karma’ as a fine material substance that physically
attaches itself to the soul. To gain final liberation, one must live life in attaches itself to the soul. To gain final liberation, one must live life in
a way that stops one accumulating more ‘Karma’. The Jains believe a way that stops one accumulating more ‘Karma’. The Jains believe
that the soul’s journey takes place in the universe in a perfect that the soul’s journey takes place in the universe in a perfect
preconceived pattern. For them, the universe is like a gigantic preconceived pattern. For them, the universe is like a gigantic
cosmic human body. “For Jains, the universe is shaped like a cosmic human body. “For Jains, the universe is shaped like a
gigantic cosmic human body. Above the body is a canopy containing gigantic cosmic human body. Above the body is a canopy containing
the liberated and perfected souls --- ‘Siddhas’ --- who, like the the liberated and perfected souls --- ‘Siddhas’ --- who, like the
‘Tirthankars’ have escaped the cycle of rebirths. At the top of the ‘Tirthankars’ have escaped the cycle of rebirths. At the top of the
body, level with chest, is the celestial upper world, the blissful home body, level with chest, is the celestial upper world, the blissful home
of the Gods they believe the middle world at the waist and the hell of the Gods they believe the middle world at the waist and the hell
below this” (09). 205 Their belief holds that the reincarnation of the below this” (09). 205 Their belief holds that the reincarnation of the
soul in the blissful form of God depends upon the actions and soul in the blissful form of God depends upon the actions and
‘Karmas’ accumulated by the soul. And therefore the Monks and the ‘Karmas’ accumulated by the soul. And therefore the Monks and the
Nuns who walk on the path of ‘Nirvana’ have to follow the austere life Nuns who walk on the path of ‘Nirvana’ have to follow the austere life
full of severe code of conducts. “…the monk and the Nun must full of severe code of conducts. “…the monk and the Nun must
embrace the three Jewels, namely ‘Right Knowledge’, ‘Right Faith’, embrace the three Jewels, namely ‘Right Knowledge’, ‘Right Faith’,
and ‘Right Conduct’, and take five vows: No Violence, No Untruth, and ‘Right Conduct’, and take five vows: No Violence, No Untruth,
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No Stealing, No Sex, and No Attachments.” (10) William personally No Stealing, No Sex, and No Attachments.” (10) William personally
observes the way of life of Mataji. At the breakfast, he notices how observes the way of life of Mataji. At the breakfast, he notices how
indifferently she consumes the food that is offered to her by the indifferently she consumes the food that is offered to her by the
ladies. She takes all care not to kill even the tiniest insect or any ladies. She takes all care not to kill even the tiniest insect or any
other living creature. William coins a new term for the process of her other living creature. William coins a new term for the process of her
food consuming as the “Silent Meal”. In the course of conversation, food consuming as the “Silent Meal”. In the course of conversation,
Mataji talks to William about her social life before she graced the Mataji talks to William about her social life before she graced the
ascetic life. William presents all these details directly from the mouth ascetic life. William presents all these details directly from the mouth
of Mataji in the first person narration: “I was born in Raipur, of Mataji in the first person narration: “I was born in Raipur,
Chattisgarh, in 1972,” said Mataji, “in those days my name was Chattisgarh, in 1972,” said Mataji, “in those days my name was
Rekha. My family were wealthy merchants” (12). Her family basically Rekha. My family were wealthy merchants” (12). Her family basically
was from Rajasthan and she was the only girl in three generations was from Rajasthan and she was the only girl in three generations
and therefore she was the most pampered child in the entire family. and therefore she was the most pampered child in the entire family.
Everyone of the family remained eager to please her ant took care Everyone of the family remained eager to please her ant took care
not to displease her in any matter. Once as a child she happened to not to displease her in any matter. Once as a child she happened to
see Dayasagar Maharaj, a Jain monk, and this made her take see Dayasagar Maharaj, a Jain monk, and this made her take
interest in the matters of ‘Dharma’; i.e. Religion. “I was very interest in the matters of ‘Dharma’; i.e. Religion. “I was very
impressed and stated thinking. It didn’t take long before I decided I impressed and stated thinking. It didn’t take long before I decided I
wanted to be like him. His words and his teachings totally changed wanted to be like him. His words and his teachings totally changed
my life” (13). Initially, she started observing the rules of ascetic my life” (13). Initially, she started observing the rules of ascetic
beings such as not to take food after dark, etc. then she went to beings such as not to take food after dark, etc. then she went to
spend two years with the ‘Sanga’. The years spent in the ‘Sanga’ spend two years with the ‘Sanga’. The years spent in the ‘Sanga’
took her closer to the life of ascetic and at the end of these two years took her closer to the life of ascetic and at the end of these two years
she had come to a firm decision that she would grace the life of she had come to a firm decision that she would grace the life of
ascetic and take ‘Diksha’ (the Jain ritual of becoming a full time Monk ascetic and take ‘Diksha’ (the Jain ritual of becoming a full time Monk
or Nun). Her decision to take Diksha generated great pains among or Nun). Her decision to take Diksha generated great pains among
her family members. No one wanted her to go away from the family her family members. No one wanted her to go away from the family
and grace the tough life of Nun. But her stern determination brushed and grace the tough life of Nun. But her stern determination brushed
away all the hindrances and got them agreed. A day was decided for away all the hindrances and got them agreed. A day was decided for
the Diksha ceremony which was followed by the hair plucking the Diksha ceremony which was followed by the hair plucking
ceremony. She was given a new name ‘Prassannmati’ as this was ceremony. She was given a new name ‘Prassannmati’ as this was
something like a rebirth, Prassannmati Mataji also talks of her bosom something like a rebirth, Prassannmati Mataji also talks of her bosom
friend Prayogmati who took Diksha on the same day under the same friend Prayogmati who took Diksha on the same day under the same
Guru as of hers. She says both of them enjoyed good communion. Guru as of hers. She says both of them enjoyed good communion.
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They travelled everywhere together on foot. As it is said 206 earlier They travelled everywhere together on foot. As it is said 206 earlier
the Jain monks are forbidden to use any vehicle as a means of the Jain monks are forbidden to use any vehicle as a means of
transportation. Walking is the part of their ‘tapasya’. Mataji explains transportation. Walking is the part of their ‘tapasya’. Mataji explains
to William, “Walking is very important to us Jains. The Buddha was to William, “Walking is very important to us Jains. The Buddha was
enlightened while sitting under a tree, but our great Tirthankar, enlightened while sitting under a tree, but our great Tirthankar,
Mahavira was enlightened while walking. We believe that walking is Mahavira was enlightened while walking. We believe that walking is
an important part of ‘tapasya’. We don’t use cars or any vehicles an important part of ‘tapasya’. We don’t use cars or any vehicles
partly because travelling so fast can kill so many living creatures, but partly because travelling so fast can kill so many living creatures, but
partly also because we have two legs and travelling on foot is the partly also because we have two legs and travelling on foot is the
right speed for human beings. Walking sorts out your problems and right speed for human beings. Walking sorts out your problems and
anxieties, and calms your worries” (22). It was on such travelling on anxieties, and calms your worries” (22). It was on such travelling on
foot journey that her friend Prayogmati started facing troubles, and foot journey that her friend Prayogmati started facing troubles, and
her troubles grew worse to worst during the span of ten years. Mataji her troubles grew worse to worst during the span of ten years. Mataji
narrates in detail how her friend’s health deteriorated day by day and narrates in detail how her friend’s health deteriorated day by day and
how she nursed her for unto her last breath. At the severe stage of how she nursed her for unto her last breath. At the severe stage of
her illness, Prayogmati decided to take ‘sulekhana’ with idea of being her illness, Prayogmati decided to take ‘sulekhana’ with idea of being
“the victor of death than to be the victim of it” (24). Prassannmati “the victor of death than to be the victim of it” (24). Prassannmati
Mataji confesses to William that for the first time in her nun hood she Mataji confesses to William that for the first time in her nun hood she
breached the code of conduct and became the butt of frown of her breached the code of conduct and became the butt of frown of her
Guruji at the death of her friend Prayogmati. She cried severely Guruji at the death of her friend Prayogmati. She cried severely
though it was against the rule as the Nuns and Monks must be free though it was against the rule as the Nuns and Monks must be free
from ANY sort of affectionate bonds. And she left the place very next from ANY sort of affectionate bonds. And she left the place very next
morning, “It was the first time as a nun that I had ever walked morning, “It was the first time as a nun that I had ever walked
anywhere alone” (26). On the last meeting, Prassannamati Mataji anywhere alone” (26). On the last meeting, Prassannamati Mataji
reveals to William that now that her friend has departed, it would be reveals to William that now that her friend has departed, it would be
easy for her to go too. Thus, she indicates that she has also started easy for her to go too. Thus, she indicates that she has also started
walking on the path of ‘Sulekhana’. When William questions her if it walking on the path of ‘Sulekhana’. When William questions her if it
would not be the waste of precious life and argues that it was right would not be the waste of precious life and argues that it was right
for Prayogmati as she was ill, but for her to take up ‘Sulekhana’ just for Prayogmati as she was ill, but for her to take up ‘Sulekhana’ just
at the early age of thirty eight is not a good idea, Mataji presents her at the early age of thirty eight is not a good idea, Mataji presents her
views: “’Sulekhana’ is the aim of all Jain munies. It is the last views: “’Sulekhana’ is the aim of all Jain munies. It is the last
renouncement. First you give up your home, then your possessions. renouncement. First you give up your home, then your possessions.
Finally you give up your body” (27). Throughout the account, William Finally you give up your body” (27). Throughout the account, William
lets the Nun narrate her reflections and he remains silent but for lets the Nun narrate her reflections and he remains silent but for
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some reactional remarks. 207 The Dancer of Kannur some reactional remarks. 207 The Dancer of Kannur
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In the second account, William narrates the details of the Theyyam In the second account, William narrates the details of the Theyyam
Dancers of Kerala through the case of Hari Das. He follows Hari Das Dancers of Kerala through the case of Hari Das. He follows Hari Das
for constant two seasons i.e. two years and from his several for constant two seasons i.e. two years and from his several
personal interactions as well as personal witnessing the dance personal interactions as well as personal witnessing the dance
performances constructs the life story of Hari Das and from his case performances constructs the life story of Hari Das and from his case
the plight of his entire class and clan and the glimpses of their the plight of his entire class and clan and the glimpses of their
struggles, social conflicts and the projection of their coming struggles, social conflicts and the projection of their coming
generations’ dilemma as whether to continue with such part-time but generations’ dilemma as whether to continue with such part-time but
lucrative and prestigious occupation or to start a new with some lucrative and prestigious occupation or to start a new with some
modern vocations. William digs deep into the entire Theyyam modern vocations. William digs deep into the entire Theyyam
tradition and asserts that the very term “Theyyam’ is the derivation tradition and asserts that the very term “Theyyam’ is the derivation
from the Sanskrit word ‘Daivam’- i.e. pertaining to the deities. What from the Sanskrit word ‘Daivam’- i.e. pertaining to the deities. What
interests William about this tradition is its inverted cone of the rigid interests William about this tradition is its inverted cone of the rigid
caste system. Kerala- ‘God’s own country’ as the Malayalies prefer caste system. Kerala- ‘God’s own country’ as the Malayalies prefer
to introduce their land, is the most rigid in the caste discriminations. to introduce their land, is the most rigid in the caste discriminations.
Here the Brahmin and other upper castes, especially the Nairs, Here the Brahmin and other upper castes, especially the Nairs,
enjoyed upper hand in treating the lower caste persons at their own enjoyed upper hand in treating the lower caste persons at their own
will. The things are same from time ancient, as William quotes will. The things are same from time ancient, as William quotes
Francis Buchanan, the British traveler and doctor, reporting the Francis Buchanan, the British traveler and doctor, reporting the
scenario of caste system in Kerala where the Warrior caste Nair scenario of caste system in Kerala where the Warrior caste Nair
enjoyed the privilege “to behead and kill a lower- caste man if the enjoyed the privilege “to behead and kill a lower- caste man if the
latter dared to appear on the same road at the same time” (35), latter dared to appear on the same road at the same time” (35),
even, William further notes, “as late as the early years of twentieth even, William further notes, “as late as the early years of twentieth
century, lower-caste tenants were still regularly being murdered by century, lower-caste tenants were still regularly being murdered by
their Nair landlords for failing to present sweets as token of their their Nair landlords for failing to present sweets as token of their
submission” (35). In the modern times the things are not as rigid as submission” (35). In the modern times the things are not as rigid as
they used to remain in past still; the inter-caste love-affairs involving they used to remain in past still; the inter-caste love-affairs involving
the lower caste man to the upper caste girl would cause a severe the lower caste man to the upper caste girl would cause a severe
tremor of social unrest. In the ordinary case, in the presence of the tremor of social unrest. In the ordinary case, in the presence of the
upper caste persons “Dalits are still expected to bow their heads and upper caste persons “Dalits are still expected to bow their heads and
stand at a respectful distance” (35). The ‘Theyyam’ dance is the stand at a respectful distance” (35). The ‘Theyyam’ dance is the
ritual that inverts the regular caste system as in the Theyyam ritual that inverts the regular caste system as in the Theyyam
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performances Gods and other spiritually powerful deities are claimed performances Gods and other spiritually powerful deities are claimed
to incarnate not in the upper caste Brahmins but in the Dalit youths to incarnate not in the upper caste Brahmins but in the Dalit youths
who rest on the bottom of the social ladder. During the Theyyam who rest on the bottom of the social ladder. During the Theyyam
seasons, from December to February, the Theyyam performers, the seasons, from December to February, the Theyyam performers, the
Dalit youths like Hari Das, are worshipped as the Deities and are Dalit youths like Hari Das, are worshipped as the Deities and are
considered the powerful sources to secure divine appeasement considered the powerful sources to secure divine appeasement
through their media not only by the lower classes of society but also through their media not only by the lower classes of society but also
by the Brahmins 208 themselves, and are held not in the temples of by the Brahmins 208 themselves, and are held not in the temples of
Brahminical authorities but in the small shrines in the jungle Brahminical authorities but in the small shrines in the jungle
clearances once again symbolically defying the social infrastructural clearances once again symbolically defying the social infrastructural
set ups and treating everyone equally. Hari Das presents the picture set ups and treating everyone equally. Hari Das presents the picture
of the heightened status of the Theyyam dancers during the seasons of the heightened status of the Theyyam dancers during the seasons
of Theyyam: For those months we become Gods. Everything of Theyyam: For those months we become Gods. Everything
changes. We don’t eat meat or fish and are forbidden to sleep with changes. We don’t eat meat or fish and are forbidden to sleep with
our wives. We bring blessings to the village and the villagers, and our wives. We bring blessings to the village and the villagers, and
exorcise evil spirits. We are the vehicles through which people can exorcise evil spirits. We are the vehicles through which people can
thank the gods for fulfilling their prayers and granting their wishes. thank the gods for fulfilling their prayers and granting their wishes.
Though we are all Dalits even the most bigoted and casteist Though we are all Dalits even the most bigoted and casteist
Namboodiri Brahmins worship us, and queue up to touch our feet. Namboodiri Brahmins worship us, and queue up to touch our feet.
(33) [Emphasis Mine] The ‘Theyyam’ tradition has helped the entire (33) [Emphasis Mine] The ‘Theyyam’ tradition has helped the entire
community of Dalits to have self-respect and boosted them with community of Dalits to have self-respect and boosted them with
confidence and consequently making them take education. In this confidence and consequently making them take education. In this
way, the tradition has helped the entire community in double fold. In way, the tradition has helped the entire community in double fold. In
the first case it has inspired the Dalit youth to take education and the first case it has inspired the Dalit youth to take education and
develop, and in the second case the theyyam stories have become develop, and in the second case the theyyam stories have become
the media to criticize the unjust treatment of the Dalits at the hands the media to criticize the unjust treatment of the Dalits at the hands
of the so called upper classes and to put forward their right to be of the so called upper classes and to put forward their right to be
treated equally. William has picked up the stories of ‘Pottam treated equally. William has picked up the stories of ‘Pottam
Theyyam’; ‘Lord Shiva’s taking disguise of a poor landless Pullaya Theyyam’; ‘Lord Shiva’s taking disguise of a poor landless Pullaya
[Dalit] in order to teach a lesson of treating each human being [Dalit] in order to teach a lesson of treating each human being
equally to the Bhrahmin of the highest order, Adi Shankaracharya equally to the Bhrahmin of the highest order, Adi Shankaracharya
and the story of the Dalit Boy Tityya, to illustrate the case. Through and the story of the Dalit Boy Tityya, to illustrate the case. Through
providing the personal life details of Hari Das, as how and in what providing the personal life details of Hari Das, as how and in what
sort of lower middleclass environments and through the personal sort of lower middleclass environments and through the personal
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tragedy of losing his mother at the very early stage of life, has come tragedy of losing his mother at the very early stage of life, has come
to earn a recognition as a Theyyam dancer, William tries to represent to earn a recognition as a Theyyam dancer, William tries to represent
the picture of the utopia and dreams, personal and social climate the picture of the utopia and dreams, personal and social climate
through which the entire Dalit class hails life in the region. It also through which the entire Dalit class hails life in the region. It also
helps to build the social structure of the area through the case. In the helps to build the social structure of the area through the case. In the
conversations with William Hari Das also points out the modern conversations with William Hari Das also points out the modern
scenario of class discrimination. Hari Das narrating his recent scenario of class discrimination. Hari Das narrating his recent
experience, relates to William, that the Brahmin who touched his feet experience, relates to William, that the Brahmin who touched his feet
in the past theyyam season, would find it difficult to allow Hari Das in in the past theyyam season, would find it difficult to allow Hari Das in
his house. He and his team of well digging would be served food in his house. He and his team of well digging would be served food in
the leaf dishes in the verandah. Thus, these sorts of incidents the leaf dishes in the verandah. Thus, these sorts of incidents
indicate the fact that the problem still persists. And through the indicate the fact that the problem still persists. And through the
petitions presented to the theyyam deities, it gives a clear picture of petitions presented to the theyyam deities, it gives a clear picture of
the problems of the village folks that they struggle with and thus the problems of the village folks that they struggle with and thus
serves as the indicator of their life standard. William enlists them as serves as the indicator of their life standard. William enlists them as
the villagers asked for 209 grandchildren, for jobs, for husbands, for the villagers asked for 209 grandchildren, for jobs, for husbands, for
good harvest, for peace and calm in life, for the health of kids and for good harvest, for peace and calm in life, for the health of kids and for
good education. Hari Das, in the conversation with William, also pin good education. Hari Das, in the conversation with William, also pin
points the renewed interest of the people as well as the political points the renewed interest of the people as well as the political
parties in the Theyyam dances. The rival political groups like RSS parties in the Theyyam dances. The rival political groups like RSS
and CPM, despite the theyyam fall away from their ethical principles, and CPM, despite the theyyam fall away from their ethical principles,
(RSS is the party basically of the upper class, and the CPMs are (RSS is the party basically of the upper class, and the CPMs are
atheists), have started patronizing certain Theyyam performances. atheists), have started patronizing certain Theyyam performances.
And this seems a promising sign to Hari Das as for the brighter And this seems a promising sign to Hari Das as for the brighter
future of the tradition. On his second visit to Kerala, William finds one future of the tradition. On his second visit to Kerala, William finds one
of the Theyyam performances being sponsored by Prashant, a of the Theyyam performances being sponsored by Prashant, a
recent Gulf return, and the case of Shijju, Prashant’s childhood recent Gulf return, and the case of Shijju, Prashant’s childhood
friend, and these details fairly connect to the fact why the political friend, and these details fairly connect to the fact why the political
parties have found love for the tradition. With the developing world parties have found love for the tradition. With the developing world
and environment of competition and complexities of life the emerging and environment of competition and complexities of life the emerging
middle class, which forms fairly a large part of society, has turned to middle class, which forms fairly a large part of society, has turned to
religious faith for the appeasement of their social, professional or religious faith for the appeasement of their social, professional or
health problems, and the political groups would pick up the chance to health problems, and the political groups would pick up the chance to
win confidence of them by supporting their faith. Hari Das also win confidence of them by supporting their faith. Hari Das also
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presents his worries about the future of the tradition. He tells William presents his worries about the future of the tradition. He tells William
that right at present it is a good rewarding occupation, though it is that right at present it is a good rewarding occupation, though it is
highly demanding and strict codes of conducts, and hopes his sons highly demanding and strict codes of conducts, and hopes his sons
too take up the same Theyyam occupation but his chief concern lies too take up the same Theyyam occupation but his chief concern lies
in the facts that when they get educated and take up other in the facts that when they get educated and take up other
professional occupations which might not allow them to spare the professional occupations which might not allow them to spare the
time of three long months as it happens in the case of many of the time of three long months as it happens in the case of many of the
children of his fellow theyyam dancers. Along with the traces of children of his fellow theyyam dancers. Along with the traces of
theyyan tradition, William also presents the traces of the land of theyyan tradition, William also presents the traces of the land of
Kerala and her biblical connections, the arrival of the first fleet of the Kerala and her biblical connections, the arrival of the first fleet of the
Europeans to the shores of the same lands and refers to the tombs Europeans to the shores of the same lands and refers to the tombs
of many of the Britishers who arrived here earlier and pioneered the of many of the Britishers who arrived here earlier and pioneered the
coming centuries long reign of the entire sub continent. Daughters of coming centuries long reign of the entire sub continent. Daughters of
Yellamma Yellamma
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this account, William discusses the case of the ancient Indian In this account, William discusses the case of the ancient Indian
tradition of Devadasi, the tradition that has remained in continuity tradition of Devadasi, the tradition that has remained in continuity
from the time ancient till day in the South Indian region. The tradition from the time ancient till day in the South Indian region. The tradition
of devoting the girl child to the goddess 210 Yellamma has its roots of devoting the girl child to the goddess 210 Yellamma has its roots
in the ancient scriptures. As William presents his investigation, till in the ancient scriptures. As William presents his investigation, till
date though government has banned the tradition (1982 Karnataka date though government has banned the tradition (1982 Karnataka
Devadasi (prohibition of Dedication) Act) and a number of Non Devadasi (prohibition of Dedication) Act) and a number of Non
Government Organizations at work voluntarily trying to bring a social Government Organizations at work voluntarily trying to bring a social
awakening among the social groups, a large number of girls are awakening among the social groups, a large number of girls are
devoted to the goddess Yellamma who in the course of time end up devoted to the goddess Yellamma who in the course of time end up
as the mere sex workers and lead a miserable life. Like his previous as the mere sex workers and lead a miserable life. Like his previous
accounts, William here too presents the case of Rani --- a Devadasi, accounts, William here too presents the case of Rani --- a Devadasi,
and through her painful story tries to cast rays on the entire class of and through her painful story tries to cast rays on the entire class of
Devadasis. In society this is the class who are looked at with a sort Devadasis. In society this is the class who are looked at with a sort
of lust and though the Devadasies like Rani and Kaveri console of lust and though the Devadasies like Rani and Kaveri console
themselves to be the auspicious symbols and for a unique status in themselves to be the auspicious symbols and for a unique status in
society, people think of them and use them just the tools of society, people think of them and use them just the tools of
quenching their sexual thirst and nothing more. In her conversation quenching their sexual thirst and nothing more. In her conversation
with William, Rani aptly quotes the lines of one of the songs being with William, Rani aptly quotes the lines of one of the songs being
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sung among the Devadasis, which is nothing but the illustration of sung among the Devadasis, which is nothing but the illustration of
expression of the pain of the Devadasies. “Everyone sleeps with us, expression of the pain of the Devadasies. “Everyone sleeps with us,
but no one marries us. Many embrace us, but no one protects” (57). but no one marries us. Many embrace us, but no one protects” (57).
The grave problem the class of Devadasis facing is the problem of The grave problem the class of Devadasis facing is the problem of
diseases, especially the AIDS, the incurable one. They are all from diseases, especially the AIDS, the incurable one. They are all from
the lower strata of society and are all illiterates. And through the the lower strata of society and are all illiterates. And through the
unsafe sexual contacts it is likely that they get infected of these unsafe sexual contacts it is likely that they get infected of these
diseases. Kaveri, a just 45 year old lady but as William says who diseases. Kaveri, a just 45 year old lady but as William says who
looked much older, expressing her agony says: “When we are not looked much older, expressing her agony says: “When we are not
beautiful, when our bodies become ugly, then we will be qll alone.” beautiful, when our bodies become ugly, then we will be qll alone.”
But much pain peeps in the next statement: “If we live long enough But much pain peeps in the next statement: “If we live long enough
to be old and to be ugly. So many are dying” (57). [Emphasis mine] to be old and to be ugly. So many are dying” (57). [Emphasis mine]
Kaveri also presents the case of her truck driver brother who has Kaveri also presents the case of her truck driver brother who has
been infected by AIDS, and waiting his death. Her pain, agonies and been infected by AIDS, and waiting his death. Her pain, agonies and
anxieties find apt reflection in her inventing the image that if she anxieties find apt reflection in her inventing the image that if she
were to narrate her story under a tree, and tell the sadness they had were to narrate her story under a tree, and tell the sadness they had
to suffer; the leaves of that tree would fall like tears” (57). William to suffer; the leaves of that tree would fall like tears” (57). William
takes Rani and Kaveri to the temple of Yellamma at Saundatti from takes Rani and Kaveri to the temple of Yellamma at Saundatti from
Belgaum in Northern Karnataka. Goddess Yellamma is the divine Belgaum in Northern Karnataka. Goddess Yellamma is the divine
entity whom the Devadasis consider their sole protector and towards entity whom the Devadasis consider their sole protector and towards
her their faith flows unfailingly. In the conversation with William both her their faith flows unfailingly. In the conversation with William both
Rani and Kaveri express their devotion and trust in the Goddess. Rani and Kaveri express their devotion and trust in the Goddess.
Even in their pains and sufferings, they console themselves that is is Even in their pains and sufferings, they console themselves that is is
the Goddess who protects them. “The goddess dries our tears”, said the Goddess who protects them. “The goddess dries our tears”, said
Rani, “if you come to her with pure heart, she will take away your Rani, “if you come to her with pure heart, she will take away your
sadness and your sorrows. What more can she do?” (57) 211 sadness and your sorrows. What more can she do?” (57) 211
William presents the mythical context of Yellamma in the Indian William presents the mythical context of Yellamma in the Indian
scriptures and narrates the entire version of the story of Yellamma. scriptures and narrates the entire version of the story of Yellamma.
As per it Yellamma was the wife of the famous rishi Jamadagni, an As per it Yellamma was the wife of the famous rishi Jamadagni, an
incarnation of Lord Shiva himself. Once the lady failed to perform her incarnation of Lord Shiva himself. Once the lady failed to perform her
task and duty which incurred her a curse from her husband and was task and duty which incurred her a curse from her husband and was
turned into a sickly and ugly figure and was thrown out of the turned into a sickly and ugly figure and was thrown out of the
household to beg on the roads. When she returned home tired of her household to beg on the roads. When she returned home tired of her
sufferings and seeking pardon from her husband, the Rishi still sufferings and seeking pardon from her husband, the Rishi still
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enraged ordered his sons to behed her. To his command, enraged ordered his sons to behed her. To his command,
Parshuram, the youngest one, beheaded her. The Rishi, pleased at Parshuram, the youngest one, beheaded her. The Rishi, pleased at
Parshuram’s obedience, asked him to seek a boon, for which Parshuram’s obedience, asked him to seek a boon, for which
Parshuram sought the revival of his mother. Thus, the rishi revived Parshuram sought the revival of his mother. Thus, the rishi revived
Yellamma but left her forever to continue his feats of asceticism in a Yellamma but left her forever to continue his feats of asceticism in a
cave high in the Himalayas. William commenting on this context cave high in the Himalayas. William commenting on this context
draws a parallel between the lives of both the goddess as well as her draws a parallel between the lives of both the goddess as well as her
devotees Devadasis: Though the story is full of sadness and devotees Devadasis: Though the story is full of sadness and
injustice, Devadasis—as those who have been dedicated, or injustice, Devadasis—as those who have been dedicated, or
‘married’, to a god or goddess are known- like Rani Bai, tell the tale ‘married’, to a god or goddess are known- like Rani Bai, tell the tale
as they believe that it shows how their goddess is uniquely as they believe that it shows how their goddess is uniquely
sympathetic to their fate. After all, their lives are little better than sympathetic to their fate. After all, their lives are little better than
hers: cursed for crimes of love outside the bonds of marriage, hers: cursed for crimes of love outside the bonds of marriage,
rejected by their children, condemned like Yellamma to live on roads, rejected by their children, condemned like Yellamma to live on roads,
begging for favours, disfigured by sadness and without the protection begging for favours, disfigured by sadness and without the protection
of a husband. (60) The real life of Rani Bai too presents the same of a husband. (60) The real life of Rani Bai too presents the same
sort of terrible plight. She was, as she narrates to William, dedicated sort of terrible plight. She was, as she narrates to William, dedicated
without her knowledge at the adolescent age of six. And when, at the without her knowledge at the adolescent age of six. And when, at the
age of fourteen, she got her first period, she was sold to a shepherd. age of fourteen, she got her first period, she was sold to a shepherd.
She resisted a lot. She tells she scolded both her mother and her She resisted a lot. She tells she scolded both her mother and her
aunt to spoil her life. Later she realized all was done with a hope to aunt to spoil her life. Later she realized all was done with a hope to
secure the divine favours and to secure a monetary source for the secure the divine favours and to secure a monetary source for the
family income. Her father was a total failure and a drunkard who family income. Her father was a total failure and a drunkard who
gambled and was desperate to have money. It was her father who gambled and was desperate to have money. It was her father who
sold her for the amount of five hundred rupees. As she was adamant sold her for the amount of five hundred rupees. As she was adamant
not to adopt the ‘business’ (‘dhandha’), as a calculated step, her aunt not to adopt the ‘business’ (‘dhandha’), as a calculated step, her aunt
took her to Bombay where she was planted into a brothel house. The took her to Bombay where she was planted into a brothel house. The
lady at that brothel house showed her professional guts and did not lady at that brothel house showed her professional guts and did not
force her to go for sex work against her will. But the gharwali, as force her to go for sex work against her will. But the gharwali, as
Rani narrates, allowed her some time and ultimately Rani ended up Rani narrates, allowed her some time and ultimately Rani ended up
as a sex worker. She had first two children over there in Bombay as as a sex worker. She had first two children over there in Bombay as
much of the sexual work was done without condoms or any other much of the sexual work was done without condoms or any other
contraceptives. Rani then shifted to her village and continued her life contraceptives. Rani then shifted to her village and continued her life
of a Devadasi, as she says for eighteen years. In the course of time, of a Devadasi, as she says for eighteen years. In the course of time,
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she had a lover in the village with whom she enjoyed an affectionate she had a lover in the village with whom she enjoyed an affectionate
212 bonding. She had a daughter out of this relation. But this bond 212 bonding. She had a daughter out of this relation. But this bond
also got an ending on the issue of more children. The man wanted also got an ending on the issue of more children. The man wanted
Rani to bear more children out of their relation whereas Rani did not. Rani to bear more children out of their relation whereas Rani did not.
Rani appears to be much out spoken and during her conversations Rani appears to be much out spoken and during her conversations
with William reiterates her planning to retire to her farms and buying with William reiterates her planning to retire to her farms and buying
some buffalos and leading her rest of life respectably on the milk some buffalos and leading her rest of life respectably on the milk
business leaving all these dirty work. When William sees no business leaving all these dirty work. When William sees no
daughters in her household as she referred in her talks, he inquires daughters in her household as she referred in her talks, he inquires
about them. To this, Rani pauses from her talks and in a weak voice about them. To this, Rani pauses from her talks and in a weak voice
tells William that she has lost both of her daughters. The story of tells William that she has lost both of her daughters. The story of
both of Rani’s daughters is also heart rendering. Rani tells William both of Rani’s daughters is also heart rendering. Rani tells William
that both of them died of some disease at some interval. Narrating that both of them died of some disease at some interval. Narrating
their story she tells William that they both lived the lives of Devdasis. their story she tells William that they both lived the lives of Devdasis.
When William questions her why she herself sent them to this When William questions her why she herself sent them to this
profession as a mother, though she herself cursed her own mother to profession as a mother, though she herself cursed her own mother to
have sent her to this hellish life, Rani relates the painful events of her have sent her to this hellish life, Rani relates the painful events of her
daughters’ lives. She said the first was a singer and at early age of daughters’ lives. She said the first was a singer and at early age of
fourteen she eloped, and a year later when she came back no one fourteen she eloped, and a year later when she came back no one
would marry her. The second one had some white patches of thighs. would marry her. The second one had some white patches of thighs.
They consulted many doctors but they found no cure. Thus, there They consulted many doctors but they found no cure. Thus, there
was no possibility to find any man willing to Marry her too. Thus, was no possibility to find any man willing to Marry her too. Thus,
there was no alternative left for both of them but to be the Devadasis. there was no alternative left for both of them but to be the Devadasis.
Having entered this profession, they met with their premature end, Having entered this profession, they met with their premature end,
one died at the age of seventeen and the other at fifteen. Rani said one died at the age of seventeen and the other at fifteen. Rani said
to William that one died of some stomach pain and the other died of to William that one died of some stomach pain and the other died of
fever, but later William learnt that both died of AIDS at the very early fever, but later William learnt that both died of AIDS at the very early
stage recently within last one year. William talks about the ancient stage recently within last one year. William talks about the ancient
literary texts which hail the Devadasis in the high spirits. Such texts literary texts which hail the Devadasis in the high spirits. Such texts
exist as a fully developed tradition in the southern Indian languages exist as a fully developed tradition in the southern Indian languages
especially in Telugu. William notes that such texts (carved on Copper especially in Telugu. William notes that such texts (carved on Copper
plates) are deposited in the temple of Tirupathi, and were translated plates) are deposited in the temple of Tirupathi, and were translated
into English by the poet A. K. Ramanujam. William notes the whole into English by the poet A. K. Ramanujam. William notes the whole
apparatus of poetry displays love making of a temple dancing girl apparatus of poetry displays love making of a temple dancing girl
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(Devadasi) for her client or the love longings of the temple girl for the (Devadasi) for her client or the love longings of the temple girl for the
handsome Lord Krishna. William notes, These poems of union and handsome Lord Krishna. William notes, These poems of union and
separation have sometimes been read as metaphors for the longings separation have sometimes been read as metaphors for the longings
of the soul for divine, and of the devotee for god. Yet they are also of the soul for divine, and of the devotee for god. Yet they are also
clearly an expression of unembarrassed joy at sexuality, part of a clearly an expression of unembarrassed joy at sexuality, part of a
complex cultural tradition in pre-colonial India where the devotional, complex cultural tradition in pre-colonial India where the devotional,
metaphysical and the sexual are not regarded as being in any way metaphysical and the sexual are not regarded as being in any way
opposed; on the contrary, they 213 were seen to be closely linked. opposed; on the contrary, they 213 were seen to be closely linked.
Because of their fertility, the temple girls were auspicious. (70) What Because of their fertility, the temple girls were auspicious. (70) What
William brings out as his research on the Devadasis is that though in William brings out as his research on the Devadasis is that though in
Karnataka the Devadasis enjoy the status of auspiciousness and are Karnataka the Devadasis enjoy the status of auspiciousness and are
considered as the symbol of fertility, the main difference in the considered as the symbol of fertility, the main difference in the
ancient Devadasi tradition and today’s Devadasis, is that in the ancient Devadasi tradition and today’s Devadasis, is that in the
ancient the Devadasis came from the grandest families, and were ancient the Devadasis came from the grandest families, and were
the only learned women in society who sometimes counseled the the only learned women in society who sometimes counseled the
lords, but in modern times only they come from the lowest Dalit- lords, but in modern times only they come from the lowest Dalit-
Madar caste and are almost entirely illiterate. While in the medieval Madar caste and are almost entirely illiterate. While in the medieval
temples the Devadasis enjoyed prominent positions, today they have temples the Devadasis enjoyed prominent positions, today they have
just ended up as the sex workers only. William collects the details just ended up as the sex workers only. William collects the details
about the continuity of this tradition and finds the fact that still there about the continuity of this tradition and finds the fact that still there
are certain castes and families there is a tradition that one girl in are certain castes and families there is a tradition that one girl in
every generation should be dedicated to the goddess and as a result every generation should be dedicated to the goddess and as a result
in spite of the government’s official ban, every year several thousand in spite of the government’s official ban, every year several thousand
Devadasis are added in the existing numbers. William also visits the Devadasis are added in the existing numbers. William also visits the
place of Rani, at Mudhol, a settlement of many of the Devadasis. place of Rani, at Mudhol, a settlement of many of the Devadasis.
William describes the area as the shabbiest one: It was a dark lane, William describes the area as the shabbiest one: It was a dark lane,
lit by a single, dim street light. Dogs sat next to open gutters, while lit by a single, dim street light. Dogs sat next to open gutters, while
half naked children played in the side alleys. It was perhaps the half naked children played in the side alleys. It was perhaps the
depressing nature of her surroundings that led Rani – always the depressing nature of her surroundings that led Rani – always the
optimist, always the survivor – to talk up the positive side of her optimist, always the survivor – to talk up the positive side of her
career. (73) Later when William asked one of the project managers career. (73) Later when William asked one of the project managers
of the NGO which worked for the welfare of the Devadasis, he found of the NGO which worked for the welfare of the Devadasis, he found
alarming details about the HIV infected cases. There prevailed least alarming details about the HIV infected cases. There prevailed least
consciousness about the dangerous results of the disease and the consciousness about the dangerous results of the disease and the
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infected were also treated cruelly by the family members. Referring infected were also treated cruelly by the family members. Referring
to the case of a girl, the manager said that the infected girl was to the case of a girl, the manager said that the infected girl was
literally left dying in the corner of the house uncared without food or literally left dying in the corner of the house uncared without food or
water. When they got the information they rescued the girl in a semi- water. When they got the information they rescued the girl in a semi-
comatose state. Here, from this lady William gets the information that comatose state. Here, from this lady William gets the information that
Rani, who talked of retiring to a farm and lead a peaceful life by Rani, who talked of retiring to a farm and lead a peaceful life by
doing the business of buffalo milk, was also infected from last doing the business of buffalo milk, was also infected from last
eighteen months. William now realized all the optimistic talks of Rani eighteen months. William now realized all the optimistic talks of Rani
were just a form of utopia which she was never to realize in her life were just a form of utopia which she was never to realize in her life
span. As the scheme William has adopted for the book, here in this span. As the scheme William has adopted for the book, here in this
essay too, William serves the purpose of driving the conversations essay too, William serves the purpose of driving the conversations
and extracting information from the characters under study, but the and extracting information from the characters under study, but the
much of the narration voices the account of the character from their much of the narration voices the account of the character from their
own mouth. 214 The Singer of Epics ------------------ ------------------ own mouth. 214 The Singer of Epics ------------------ ------------------
----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- The Singer of ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------- The Singer of
Epics narrates the tradition of the oral recitation of the folk epics --- Epics narrates the tradition of the oral recitation of the folk epics ---
the tradition that is still in exis tence with all its live colours in the tradition that is still in exis tence with all its live colours in
Rajasthan— the northern state of India. Here in this essay too, Rajasthan— the northern state of India. Here in this essay too,
William picks up the life story of one such Epic Singer, follows him, William picks up the life story of one such Epic Singer, follows him,
witnesses him perform, visits his village, collects his personal family witnesses him perform, visits his village, collects his personal family
details and presents his story along with excavating the history and details and presents his story along with excavating the history and
other details of the tradition at large. Thus, through the individual other details of the tradition at large. Thus, through the individual
case tries to present the condition of the entire class, culture and case tries to present the condition of the entire class, culture and
ethical and ethnographical practices. He, here, also tries to figure out ethical and ethnographical practices. He, here, also tries to figure out
the elements that have kept the oral tradition alive in Rajasthan while the elements that have kept the oral tradition alive in Rajasthan while
in the Western world the grand epics like The Iliad, The Odyssey, in the Western world the grand epics like The Iliad, The Odyssey,
Beowulf, and the Songs of Roland have just remained the legacy Beowulf, and the Songs of Roland have just remained the legacy
only of academics and literature classes. He presents the account only of academics and literature classes. He presents the account
how he got interested in the tradition as when he went to the Rohet how he got interested in the tradition as when he went to the Rohet
Garh Palace near Jodhpur, located in the patch of Dessert seclusion, Garh Palace near Jodhpur, located in the patch of Dessert seclusion,
the palace in which his travel writer Role Model Bruce Chatwin the palace in which his travel writer Role Model Bruce Chatwin
penned his famous The Songlines. To write his own book City of penned his famous The Songlines. To write his own book City of
Djinns, William too stayed in this palace and during his stay one of Djinns, William too stayed in this palace and during his stay one of
the elderly ladies talked of the oral tradition in the region. William, the elderly ladies talked of the oral tradition in the region. William,
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having felt curious about the tradition, looks for the ‘Bhopas’—the having felt curious about the tradition, looks for the ‘Bhopas’—the
village shamans and bards who kept the tradition alive for centuries village shamans and bards who kept the tradition alive for centuries
and tries to drive his research in the direction, as to how and why the and tries to drive his research in the direction, as to how and why the
oral tradition has still survived in the regions of Rajasthan whereas oral tradition has still survived in the regions of Rajasthan whereas
the same traditions are on the verge of extinction in the other parts of the same traditions are on the verge of extinction in the other parts of
the world. On the primary inquiries and collection of the details the world. On the primary inquiries and collection of the details
regarding the oral performances, William comes to know the fact that regarding the oral performances, William comes to know the fact that
these epics narrated basically the stories of the local Heroes who these epics narrated basically the stories of the local Heroes who
either died heroic death or showed unprecedented chivalrous either died heroic death or showed unprecedented chivalrous
adventures in the course of lives, and more particularly they hailed adventures in the course of lives, and more particularly they hailed
from the regal or nomadic lineages who died while rescuing a from the regal or nomadic lineages who died while rescuing a
community’s cattle from rustlers. “Every prominent family of the land community’s cattle from rustlers. “Every prominent family of the land
holding Rajput caste inherited a family of oral genealogists, holding Rajput caste inherited a family of oral genealogists,
musicians and praise singers, who celebrated the family’s lineage musicians and praise singers, who celebrated the family’s lineage
and deeds” (87). The possible evolution of these long poetic epics and deeds” (87). The possible evolution of these long poetic epics
might have been the generation to generation business and the main might have been the generation to generation business and the main
point of their survival is the spiritual powers attributed to the point of their survival is the spiritual powers attributed to the
recitations as well as the protagonists of the poems. Considering the recitations as well as the protagonists of the poems. Considering the
point, William notes, 215 A long accumulation of hagiography had point, William notes, 215 A long accumulation of hagiography had
transformed the historical characters into gods: the story of transformed the historical characters into gods: the story of
Bhomaya, or martyr-hero, was kept alive, memorial stones were Bhomaya, or martyr-hero, was kept alive, memorial stones were
erected and in due course miracle stories began to spread, telling of erected and in due course miracle stories began to spread, telling of
how the hero had manifested himself to save his people after his how the hero had manifested himself to save his people after his
death. Memorial stones became shrines, and over the centuries the death. Memorial stones became shrines, and over the centuries the
legends grew into epics, and the heroes into gods, so that the legends grew into epics, and the heroes into gods, so that the
different warriors at the centre of each epic became the particular different warriors at the centre of each epic became the particular
deity of a different caste community. (87-88) The aunt at the Rohet deity of a different caste community. (87-88) The aunt at the Rohet
Gharh palace informs William about the interest and research of one Gharh palace informs William about the interest and research of one
of their distant neighbors and friend Rani Laxmi Kumari Chundawat of their distant neighbors and friend Rani Laxmi Kumari Chundawat
and arranges the meeting with her in Jaipur. Rani Laxmi Kumari and arranges the meeting with her in Jaipur. Rani Laxmi Kumari
Chundawat narrates to William her efforts to save the oral epic of Chundawat narrates to William her efforts to save the oral epic of
Dev Narayan by getting it scripted at her own place while the Bhopa Dev Narayan by getting it scripted at her own place while the Bhopa
sang it and she herself taking the dictation of it as she sensed the sang it and she herself taking the dictation of it as she sensed the
point that against the threats and increasing popularity of television point that against the threats and increasing popularity of television
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and films among the new generations the oral epic was on the verge and films among the new generations the oral epic was on the verge
of extinction. Here at her place, William happens to meet Mohan of extinction. Here at her place, William happens to meet Mohan
Bhopa, with whom he was to make performances at many Bhopa, with whom he was to make performances at many
conferences and literary festivals. William describes the life of Mohan conferences and literary festivals. William describes the life of Mohan
Bhopa and his wife Batasi very closely. Describing their persona Bhopa and his wife Batasi very closely. Describing their persona
William goes: Mohan Bhopa was a tall wiry dark-skinned man of William goes: Mohan Bhopa was a tall wiry dark-skinned man of
about sixty, with a bristling grey handlebar moustache and a about sixty, with a bristling grey handlebar moustache and a
mischievous, skull-like grin. He wore a long red robe and a tightly mischievous, skull-like grin. He wore a long red robe and a tightly
tied red turban. Batasi was somewhat younger than him, a silent, tied red turban. Batasi was somewhat younger than him, a silent,
rugged dessert woman of fifty who had lived all her life in wilderness. rugged dessert woman of fifty who had lived all her life in wilderness.
As we drove, she kept almost all her face shrouded in a high-peaked As we drove, she kept almost all her face shrouded in a high-peaked
red veil. (78-79) Mohan was a bard and shaman of the village, a red veil. (78-79) Mohan was a bard and shaman of the village, a
complete illiterate and represented the last line of the hereditary complete illiterate and represented the last line of the hereditary
singers of a great Rajasthani medieval poem, ‘The Epic of Pabuji’. singers of a great Rajasthani medieval poem, ‘The Epic of Pabuji’.
The poem is six century old and narrates the adventures of a semi- The poem is six century old and narrates the adventures of a semi-
divine warrior and incarnate god, Pabuji. Pabuji fought bravely divine warrior and incarnate god, Pabuji. Pabuji fought bravely
against the rustlers who intended to drive away and kidnap the against the rustlers who intended to drive away and kidnap the
goddess’s cow herds. Pabu killed the chief of the kidnappers, Jindrav goddess’s cow herds. Pabu killed the chief of the kidnappers, Jindrav
Khinchi. He also saved the honour of his women from another villain, Khinchi. He also saved the honour of his women from another villain,
a barbaric, cow-murdering Muslim plunderer named Mirza Khan a barbaric, cow-murdering Muslim plunderer named Mirza Khan
Patan. Pabuji is also claimed to have defeated the Ramayana fame Patan. Pabuji is also claimed to have defeated the Ramayana fame
demon King Ravana and brought the herds of camels to the region demon King Ravana and brought the herds of camels to the region
from the land of Ravana, just in order to gift them to one of his nieces from the land of Ravana, just in order to gift them to one of his nieces
as marriage offering. 216 Willing to witness the oral epic being as marriage offering. 216 Willing to witness the oral epic being
performed in its real and natural environment, William visits Mohan’s performed in its real and natural environment, William visits Mohan’s
village Pabusar, named after the great martyr hero, Pabu. William village Pabusar, named after the great martyr hero, Pabu. William
notes that the epic comprised of 4000 lines and: it takes a full five notes that the epic comprised of 4000 lines and: it takes a full five
nights of eight hour, dusk-till-dawn performances to unfold. … it can nights of eight hour, dusk-till-dawn performances to unfold. … it can
on occasion take much longer. But the performance is not looked on occasion take much longer. But the performance is not looked
upon as just a form of entertainment. It is also a religious ritual upon as just a form of entertainment. It is also a religious ritual
invoking Pabuji as a living deity and asking for his protection against invoking Pabuji as a living deity and asking for his protection against
ill-fortune. (79) Apart from the requirement of a couple (desirably, ill-fortune. (79) Apart from the requirement of a couple (desirably,
husband-wife) in enacting the story in the accompaniment of music, husband-wife) in enacting the story in the accompaniment of music,
another important property in the performance is the PHAD. Mohan another important property in the performance is the PHAD. Mohan
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informed William the importance of the Phad in the epic informed William the importance of the Phad in the epic
performance. Mohan explained to me that once the phad was performance. Mohan explained to me that once the phad was
complete and the eyes of the hero were painted in, neither the artist complete and the eyes of the hero were painted in, neither the artist
nor the bhopa regarded it as a piece of art. Instead, it instantly nor the bhopa regarded it as a piece of art. Instead, it instantly
became a mobile temple: as Pabuji’s devotees were semi nomadic became a mobile temple: as Pabuji’s devotees were semi nomadic
herders, his temple – the phad – visited the worshipers rather than herders, his temple – the phad – visited the worshipers rather than
the other way around. It was believed that the spirit of the god was the other way around. It was believed that the spirit of the god was
now in residence, and that henceforth the phad was a ford linking now in residence, and that henceforth the phad was a ford linking
one world with the next, crossing place from the human to the divine. one world with the next, crossing place from the human to the divine.
(84) Mohan Bhopa further informs William that the spirit of the deity (84) Mohan Bhopa further informs William that the spirit of the deity
resided in the Phad and remained asleep till the Bhopa (epic singer) resided in the Phad and remained asleep till the Bhopa (epic singer)
invokes Him through the typical dance. He also tells William about invokes Him through the typical dance. He also tells William about
their faith that the deity’s visiting the site of invocation and giving the their faith that the deity’s visiting the site of invocation and giving the
signs of His presence: Sometimes when we recite the epic, towards signs of His presence: Sometimes when we recite the epic, towards
dawn the lamp glows white. It happens when we reach the crux of dawn the lamp glows white. It happens when we reach the crux of
the story – when Pabuji gives water to the stolen cattle that he has the story – when Pabuji gives water to the stolen cattle that he has
saved. At that point we know that Pabuji is pleased, that things are saved. At that point we know that Pabuji is pleased, that things are
starting to happen, and I am empowered. It’s usually around 4 a. m. starting to happen, and I am empowered. It’s usually around 4 a. m.
then I get the glimpse of future . . . but it’s very rare, and happens then I get the glimpse of future . . . but it’s very rare, and happens
only when we complete performance. (99) William notes here the link only when we complete performance. (99) William notes here the link
that this is the element and belief in the magic power of healing of that this is the element and belief in the magic power of healing of
the teller of tales has kept the tradition intact even in the twenty first the teller of tales has kept the tradition intact even in the twenty first
century in Rajasthan. The performance remains full of people century in Rajasthan. The performance remains full of people
seeking graces of Pabuji for the cure of ailing castles or family seeking graces of Pabuji for the cure of ailing castles or family
members. However, there are people who now have begun to take members. However, there are people who now have begun to take
advice of vet. Still, Mohan expressed his clear views that there is no advice of vet. Still, Mohan expressed his clear views that there is no
doctor or vet who could match the healing powers of Pabuji. William doctor or vet who could match the healing powers of Pabuji. William
also presents the research work of other scholars on the oral also presents the research work of other scholars on the oral
traditions. Milman Parry’s research on the oral traditions in traditions. Milman Parry’s research on the oral traditions in
Yugoslavia also refers the 217 identical causes of survival and dying Yugoslavia also refers the 217 identical causes of survival and dying
out of the oral traditions in European continent. He also mentions the out of the oral traditions in European continent. He also mentions the
case of the popular Muslim epic the Dastan-i-Amir Hamza. As case of the popular Muslim epic the Dastan-i-Amir Hamza. As
compared to the Mahabharata, the western epics and once famous compared to the Mahabharata, the western epics and once famous
epic of Dastan-i- Amir Hamza have not succeeded in keeping their epic of Dastan-i- Amir Hamza have not succeeded in keeping their
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appeal alive to the newer generations. The interesting fact that both appeal alive to the newer generations. The interesting fact that both
Millman Parry’s and Komal Kothari’s research have brought out is Millman Parry’s and Komal Kothari’s research have brought out is
the level of literacy of the bards practicing the oral traditions as the level of literacy of the bards practicing the oral traditions as
Millman has pointed out, “illiteracy was one of the essential Millman has pointed out, “illiteracy was one of the essential
conditions for oral tradition;” Komal Kothari too found in his research conditions for oral tradition;” Komal Kothari too found in his research
that the Bhopa whom he sent to the Adult education programme with that the Bhopa whom he sent to the Adult education programme with
a view to helping him out in his art had to refer to his diary whereas a view to helping him out in his art had to refer to his diary whereas
his illiterate counterparts could recite thousands of verse orally his illiterate counterparts could recite thousands of verse orally
without any script. Thus, the conclusion which can be derived on the without any script. Thus, the conclusion which can be derived on the
study is: “It’s not lack of interest, but literacy itself, that was killing the study is: “It’s not lack of interest, but literacy itself, that was killing the
oral epic.” [Pp. 95] William points out another factor that has affected oral epic.” [Pp. 95] William points out another factor that has affected
the popularity of the oral performances is the telecast of the Sanskrit the popularity of the oral performances is the telecast of the Sanskrit
epics Ramayana and Mahabharata on the national television. This epics Ramayana and Mahabharata on the national television. This
gave a standardizing effect which affected adversely to the local gave a standardizing effect which affected adversely to the local
variations of the epics like Pabuji. Amid all the unfavorable forces, variations of the epics like Pabuji. Amid all the unfavorable forces,
the family of Mohan is trying hard to keep the tradition flowing from the family of Mohan is trying hard to keep the tradition flowing from
older generation to the next generation. Mohan’s sons both Mahavir older generation to the next generation. Mohan’s sons both Mahavir
and Sravan are trained for the performances. The problem for and Sravan are trained for the performances. The problem for
Mahavir, the elder son of Mohan, is that his wife is not a good singer Mahavir, the elder son of Mohan, is that his wife is not a good singer
and this does not fulfill the condition of being a full-fledged Bhopaji, and this does not fulfill the condition of being a full-fledged Bhopaji,
as the phad must be sung with the Male- female partnership. The as the phad must be sung with the Male- female partnership. The
younger son Sravan is not married yet, and Mohan is hopeful that younger son Sravan is not married yet, and Mohan is hopeful that
since he (Sravan) has great trust on Pabuji, he would get a wife with since he (Sravan) has great trust on Pabuji, he would get a wife with
sweet voice and in the course of time he would succeed in teaching sweet voice and in the course of time he would succeed in teaching
her their family heritage of Pabuji ki Phad. Even, Mohan’s grandson her their family heritage of Pabuji ki Phad. Even, Mohan’s grandson
i.e. Mahavir’s son Onkar too appears to be possessing the guts for i.e. Mahavir’s son Onkar too appears to be possessing the guts for
the at this early stage. William, like his previous essays, here too the at this early stage. William, like his previous essays, here too
touches the caste issue and tries to locate Mohan Bhupaji’s position touches the caste issue and tries to locate Mohan Bhupaji’s position
on the social caste system. He presents Mohan Bhopaji’s words on on the social caste system. He presents Mohan Bhopaji’s words on
the issue: We Nayaks are from a very low caste. At some point in our the issue: We Nayaks are from a very low caste. At some point in our
history we became nomads, and so fell from the high position we history we became nomads, and so fell from the high position we
once had: people never trust nomads. Still to this day we cannot eat once had: people never trust nomads. Still to this day we cannot eat
or drink in the house of many of the people in this village. But when or drink in the house of many of the people in this village. But when
we recite or perform as bhopas, this brings us respect. I may not sit we recite or perform as bhopas, this brings us respect. I may not sit
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at the same level as Rajputs or the Brahmins, but they come to see at the same level as Rajputs or the Brahmins, but they come to see
me here, they commission me to read the phad for them and they me here, they commission me to read the phad for them and they
218 are happy and proud about my success and my fame in the 218 are happy and proud about my success and my fame in the
villages nearby. (103) In the postscript, William narrates how just on villages nearby. (103) In the postscript, William narrates how just on
some bureaucratic grounds such a grand performer and preserver of some bureaucratic grounds such a grand performer and preserver of
ancient tradition was left without any medical treatment and died of ancient tradition was left without any medical treatment and died of
leukemia within the ten days of first diagnosis. The Red Fairy leukemia within the ten days of first diagnosis. The Red Fairy
------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ -----------------
--------------- In The Red Fairy William presents the case of a lady --------------- In The Red Fairy William presents the case of a lady
Qalander about whom William happens to hear at Bhit Shah, in Qalander about whom William happens to hear at Bhit Shah, in
Sindh region of Pakistan and meets her at the shrine of Shahbaz Sindh region of Pakistan and meets her at the shrine of Shahbaz
Qalander. The essay along with presenting the life story of Red Fairy, Qalander. The essay along with presenting the life story of Red Fairy,
i.e. Lal Peri also throws light on the Sufism a curious blend of i.e. Lal Peri also throws light on the Sufism a curious blend of
Hinduism and Islam and the wake of Talibanism which has marked Hinduism and Islam and the wake of Talibanism which has marked
some threats to the cult in the region. William digs deep into the some threats to the cult in the region. William digs deep into the
history as to how the curious blend of Hinduism and Islam would history as to how the curious blend of Hinduism and Islam would
have originated. To the painful and life stuffed with enormous have originated. To the painful and life stuffed with enormous
struggle of Lal Peri, William comments: The more I heard the details struggle of Lal Peri, William comments: The more I heard the details
of her story, the more her life seemed to encapsulate the complex of her story, the more her life seemed to encapsulate the complex
relationship of Hinduism with the different forms of South Asian relationship of Hinduism with the different forms of South Asian
Islam, swerving between hatred and terrible violence, on one hand, Islam, swerving between hatred and terrible violence, on one hand,
and love and extraordinary syncretism on the other. (121) At the very and love and extraordinary syncretism on the other. (121) At the very
outset trying to locate the possibilities of such syncretism, William outset trying to locate the possibilities of such syncretism, William
considers the geography of the Sindh region as a mighty factor considers the geography of the Sindh region as a mighty factor
which served as a safe and secure abode of those who fled from the which served as a safe and secure abode of those who fled from the
terrible clutches of orthodoxy. The basis of the Sufism is laid on the terrible clutches of orthodoxy. The basis of the Sufism is laid on the
faith and trust on Humanity and not on the cobweb of rituals. All the faith and trust on Humanity and not on the cobweb of rituals. All the
religions were one, maintained the Sufi saints, merely different religions were one, maintained the Sufi saints, merely different
manifestations of the same divine reality. What was important was manifestations of the same divine reality. What was important was
not the empty ritual of the mosque or temple, but to understand that not the empty ritual of the mosque or temple, but to understand that
divinity can best be reached through the gateway of the human heart divinity can best be reached through the gateway of the human heart
– that we all have Paradise within us, if we know where to look. (113) – that we all have Paradise within us, if we know where to look. (113)
William notes that the Sufism has worked in both the directions. On William notes that the Sufism has worked in both the directions. On
one hand, it has attracted many Hindus towards the Islamic faith, one hand, it has attracted many Hindus towards the Islamic faith,
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whereas on the other it has also created a sort of awareness about whereas on the other it has also created a sort of awareness about
Hinduism especially the mystic ways of Hinduism among the Indian Hinduism especially the mystic ways of Hinduism among the Indian
Muslims. He cites the case of Latif and his songs who sings the glory Muslims. He cites the case of Latif and his songs who sings the glory
of Hinduism in his famous text collection, Risalo ‘Sur Ramkali’. 219 of Hinduism in his famous text collection, Risalo ‘Sur Ramkali’. 219
William brings to the light that the Sehwan Sherif where stands the William brings to the light that the Sehwan Sherif where stands the
dargah of the sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalander (The Red Royal dargah of the sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalander (The Red Royal
Falcon) was once the major centre of the great Hindu God Lord Falcon) was once the major centre of the great Hindu God Lord
Shiva, “indeed the town’s original name was Sivistan, the city of Shiva, “indeed the town’s original name was Sivistan, the city of
Shiva” (116); William notes that though the place has lost all its traits Shiva” (116); William notes that though the place has lost all its traits
of being a Hindu shrine, still the one of the Shajjad Nasheen or the of being a Hindu shrine, still the one of the Shajjad Nasheen or the
hereditary tomb guardians is Hindu and the opening ceremony of the hereditary tomb guardians is Hindu and the opening ceremony of the
annual ‘Urs is still performed by the Hindu. He also notes that the annual ‘Urs is still performed by the Hindu. He also notes that the
Shiva Lingam has recently been removed to a locked annexe in Shiva Lingam has recently been removed to a locked annexe in
1970s. The Sufism flourished out of the syncretism of the Hindu and 1970s. The Sufism flourished out of the syncretism of the Hindu and
the Islam faiths, still in the Sindh it retained the outer coloring of the Islam faiths, still in the Sindh it retained the outer coloring of
Islam with very little traits of Hinduism within it, still it is the cult that Islam with very little traits of Hinduism within it, still it is the cult that
has been hated and attacked by the most rigid Islamic groups. has been hated and attacked by the most rigid Islamic groups.
William sorts out the reason for the growing hatred towards this cult: William sorts out the reason for the growing hatred towards this cult:
“The wild and ecstatic night-long celebrations marking the “The wild and ecstatic night-long celebrations marking the
anniversary of the saint’s death were almost compendium of anniversary of the saint’s death were almost compendium of
everything of which Islamic puritans most disapprove…” (115) The everything of which Islamic puritans most disapprove…” (115) The
followers and worshippers take resorts to love poetry, dancing with followers and worshippers take resorts to love poetry, dancing with
women, smoking Hashish and worship the dead saints rather than women, smoking Hashish and worship the dead saints rather than
adoring the God Almighty directly; the Islamic extremists consider adoring the God Almighty directly; the Islamic extremists consider
this kind of activities as anti Islamic. In his conversation with the this kind of activities as anti Islamic. In his conversation with the
Wahhabi Saleemullah, the person who operated the Wahhabi Saudi Wahhabi Saleemullah, the person who operated the Wahhabi Saudi
Arab aided Madresse in Sehwan put it clearly: “Sufism is not Islamic. Arab aided Madresse in Sehwan put it clearly: “Sufism is not Islamic.
It is jadoo: magic tricks only. It has nothing to do with Islam. It is just It is jadoo: magic tricks only. It has nothing to do with Islam. It is just
superstition, ignorance, perversion, illiteracy and stupidity” (138). The superstition, ignorance, perversion, illiteracy and stupidity” (138). The
most attractive and unique ritual in the Sufism is the daily Dhammal: most attractive and unique ritual in the Sufism is the daily Dhammal:
the devotional dance to the saint, which is performed every day the devotional dance to the saint, which is performed every day
evening at sunset, after the Magrib prayer. The person who directed evening at sunset, after the Magrib prayer. The person who directed
William to Sehwan Sherif at Bhit Shah, had told him not to miss two William to Sehwan Sherif at Bhit Shah, had told him not to miss two
things at the shrine of Sehwan Sherif; the first the daily Dhammal things at the shrine of Sehwan Sherif; the first the daily Dhammal
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and Lal Peri, the Red Fairy. William reaches the shrine of Sehwan and Lal Peri, the Red Fairy. William reaches the shrine of Sehwan
Sherif at the time of Dhammal. He observes the dance of the men Sherif at the time of Dhammal. He observes the dance of the men
and women who danced tuned with the pounding music. “The and women who danced tuned with the pounding music. “The
dancing gradually turned from a meditative and prayerful swaying to dancing gradually turned from a meditative and prayerful swaying to
something much more wild and frenzied and ecstatic” (118). The something much more wild and frenzied and ecstatic” (118). The
secrets of this sorts of dance and attribution of its healing powers are secrets of this sorts of dance and attribution of its healing powers are
actually lie in the facts that through such ecstasy., notes William, actually lie in the facts that through such ecstasy., notes William,
people find a safety valve for the tensions that keep creeping up in people find a safety valve for the tensions that keep creeping up in
their minds and which under the loads of social honors and statuses their minds and which under the loads of social honors and statuses
could not be expressed or vented in other ways. Through such could not be expressed or vented in other ways. Through such
exposure to music and dancing people get transported to a state of exposure to music and dancing people get transported to a state of
trance which eventually repairs the tormenting elements within their trance which eventually repairs the tormenting elements within their
psyche. William states the fact that not all the 220 physical ailments psyche. William states the fact that not all the 220 physical ailments
are the results of physical problems but the roots of most of them lie are the results of physical problems but the roots of most of them lie
in some psychological distresses which get in the process of ecstatic in some psychological distresses which get in the process of ecstatic
purgation. William’s historian’s sprits are at work here too. Digging purgation. William’s historian’s sprits are at work here too. Digging
deep into the possible genesis of the ‘Dhammal’, he brings out the deep into the possible genesis of the ‘Dhammal’, he brings out the
statements and observations made by the Chinese traveler Huien statements and observations made by the Chinese traveler Huien
Tsang in sixth-century: Sehwan was the cult centre of a Shaivite sect Tsang in sixth-century: Sehwan was the cult centre of a Shaivite sect
called Pashupats who believed in emulating the dance of Shiva as a called Pashupats who believed in emulating the dance of Shiva as a
part of their rituals, using this shamanistic dancing as a way of part of their rituals, using this shamanistic dancing as a way of
reaching union with God. Remarkably, Sehwan Sharif seems to have reaching union with God. Remarkably, Sehwan Sharif seems to have
maintained the ancient Shaivite dance of the Pashupats in a thinly maintained the ancient Shaivite dance of the Pashupats in a thinly
Islamicised Sufi form. (118) William also mentions the opinions of Islamicised Sufi form. (118) William also mentions the opinions of
other scholars that the Sufi Fakirs’ dreadlocks, red robes and dust- other scholars that the Sufi Fakirs’ dreadlocks, red robes and dust-
smearing on bodies is nothing but modeling on those of Shaivite smearing on bodies is nothing but modeling on those of Shaivite
Sadhus. At the Dhammal dance at Sehwan Sherif, as he had been Sadhus. At the Dhammal dance at Sehwan Sherif, as he had been
informed about the Red Fairy at Bhit Shah, he notices Lal Peri, i.e. informed about the Red Fairy at Bhit Shah, he notices Lal Peri, i.e.
Red Fairy dancing impressively at one corner holding her signature Red Fairy dancing impressively at one corner holding her signature
club in one hand. William approaches her and collects information club in one hand. William approaches her and collects information
from her not only about the Sufi Cult but also about her personal life from her not only about the Sufi Cult but also about her personal life
as how she has happened to arrive here and managed to make her as how she has happened to arrive here and managed to make her
room in the considerably male-dominated cult. The life-story of Lal room in the considerably male-dominated cult. The life-story of Lal
Peri is a heart rendering one. From her comparative dark complexion Peri is a heart rendering one. From her comparative dark complexion
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William guessed her to be a Siddi I,. e. the one of African origin, but William guessed her to be a Siddi I,. e. the one of African origin, but
she denied it and to William’s shock revealed that she came from she denied it and to William’s shock revealed that she came from
Bihar. William got here wonderstruck thow a lady from Bihar in India Bihar. William got here wonderstruck thow a lady from Bihar in India
would have come to thr Sindh region of Pakistan. Lal Peri relates her would have come to thr Sindh region of Pakistan. Lal Peri relates her
story in detail how she lost her father in TB and her uncle confiscated story in detail how she lost her father in TB and her uncle confiscated
all their land. Her mother, however, remarried to a person who all their land. Her mother, however, remarried to a person who
displayed great dislike for her. Still, she says, she was happy in her displayed great dislike for her. Still, she says, she was happy in her
village. But all of a sudden there grew communal agitations in her village. But all of a sudden there grew communal agitations in her
Village Sonepur, a village on the Border of Bangladesh. Before those Village Sonepur, a village on the Border of Bangladesh. Before those
developments the village was a perfect place of harmony even they developments the village was a perfect place of harmony even they
were not even conscious about the religious differences. She says were not even conscious about the religious differences. She says
her best friend was a Hindu girl, and her father’s best friend was also her best friend was a Hindu girl, and her father’s best friend was also
Hindu. As the village had Muslim majority, they felt safe. But one day Hindu. As the village had Muslim majority, they felt safe. But one day
the entire village was attacked by the outsiders and they killed many the entire village was attacked by the outsiders and they killed many
of the males which included her step father and her uncle too. of the males which included her step father and her uncle too.
Somehow, her maternal uncle was not present in the mosque that Somehow, her maternal uncle was not present in the mosque that
day and was saved. With the help of him, she with her mother and day and was saved. With the help of him, she with her mother and
brother managed to cross the border and reached Bangladesh. The brother managed to cross the border and reached Bangladesh. The
things started to get settled over there when there was a spread of things started to get settled over there when there was a spread of
hatred for the Bihari people. They were hunted 221 and killed. When hatred for the Bihari people. They were hunted 221 and killed. When
they heard of Pakistan government’s scheme of offering land, work they heard of Pakistan government’s scheme of offering land, work
and Shelter to the Bihari, she left for Pakistan with her brother. She and Shelter to the Bihari, she left for Pakistan with her brother. She
says, her mother preferred to stay back with her cousins in says, her mother preferred to stay back with her cousins in
Bangladesh. Reaching Pakistan, they were planted at the Sindh Bangladesh. Reaching Pakistan, they were planted at the Sindh
where they were made to work for ginning factories at poor wages. where they were made to work for ginning factories at poor wages.
Initially the things were very tough but, says she, they managed to Initially the things were very tough but, says she, they managed to
survive and things went to a normal rut. At such juncture she lost her survive and things went to a normal rut. At such juncture she lost her
brother in a factory accident. Her sister in law, her brother’s wife ill- brother in a factory accident. Her sister in law, her brother’s wife ill-
treated her so she left the house and since then she has been taking treated her so she left the house and since then she has been taking
shelter here in the house of Qalander, her only and sole protector. shelter here in the house of Qalander, her only and sole protector.
Thus, as William puts it, She was in fact a triple refugee: first as a Thus, as William puts it, She was in fact a triple refugee: first as a
Muslim driven out of India into East Pakistan after Hindu-Muslim riots Muslim driven out of India into East Pakistan after Hindu-Muslim riots
in the late 1960s; then as a Bihari driven out of East Pakistan at the in the late 1960s; then as a Bihari driven out of East Pakistan at the
creation f Bangladesh in 1971; and finally as a single woman taking creation f Bangladesh in 1971; and finally as a single woman taking
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refuge in the shrines of Sindh while struggling to live the of a Sufi in refuge in the shrines of Sindh while struggling to live the of a Sufi in
the male-dominated and increasingly Talibanised society of Pakistan. the male-dominated and increasingly Talibanised society of Pakistan.
(121) Along with her painful life story, William also inspects the (121) Along with her painful life story, William also inspects the
factors that contributed to the flourishing of the Sufism in the sub- factors that contributed to the flourishing of the Sufism in the sub-
continent. William mentions Dara Sukhoi, the prince of Shah Jehan, continent. William mentions Dara Sukhoi, the prince of Shah Jehan,
the great Mughal emperor of India, was taught by a sufi scholar and the great Mughal emperor of India, was taught by a sufi scholar and
so Dara’s attempts to bring a sort of communion between the two so Dara’s attempts to bring a sort of communion between the two
faiths are the results of such training. Dara under the strong faiths are the results of such training. Dara under the strong
influence of his tutor, Mian Meer, wrote a treatise on Sufiesm ‘The influence of his tutor, Mian Meer, wrote a treatise on Sufiesm ‘The
Compass of truth’, he also translated the Hindu religious texts into Compass of truth’, he also translated the Hindu religious texts into
Persian. He also wrote “a comparative study of Hinduism and Islam, Persian. He also wrote “a comparative study of Hinduism and Islam,
The Mingling of Two Oceans, which emphasized the compatibility of
The Mingling of Two Oceans, which emphasized the compatibility of the two faiths and common source of their divine revelations” (116).
the two faiths and common source of their divine revelations” (116). However, William points out that the attempts of Dara though casted
and created radical influences on the elite Muslim classes of India at
However, William points out that the attempts of Dara though casted his time, still, it could not satiate the ulemas at operations who
and created radical influences on the elite Muslim classes of India at sternly held all the traits of Sufism against the Quarnic scriptures.
his time, still, it could not satiate the ulemas at operations who And therefore, William comments in the context of the clashes
sternly held all the traits of Sufism against the Quarnic scriptures. between the extremist orthodoxy of Islam and Sufism: “What is
And therefore, William comments in the context of the clashes happening today is only the latest round of a much more ancient and
between the extremist orthodoxy of Islam and Sufism: “What is intractable theological conflict within the Islamic world” (136). 222
happening today is only the latest round of a much more ancient and The Monk’s Tale ------------------ ------------------ -----------------
intractable theological conflict within the Islamic world” (136). 222 ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In The Monk’s Tale, William
The Monk’s Tale ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- narrates the case of a Buddhist Monk, Passang who dropped his
------------------ ----------------- --------------- In The Monk’s Tale, William Monk’s vow just in order to fight against the Chinese invasion in Tibet
narrates the case of a Buddhist Monk, Passang who dropped his as it appeared a direct threat to the very existence of his ‘Dharma’.
Monk’s vow just in order to fight against the Chinese invasion in Tibet Passang defends his stand of dropping the vow and take the
as it appeared a direct threat to the very existence of his ‘Dharma’. weapons in hand in the following terms: ‘I knew that if I stayed in a
Passang defends his stand of dropping the vow and take the monastery under the Chinese there was no point in being a monk.
weapons in hand in the following terms: ‘I knew that if I stayed in a They wouldn’t let me practice my religion. So, to protect the ways of
monastery under the Chinese there was no point in being a monk. the Lord Buddha, the Buddhist dharma, I decided to fight. (146)
They wouldn’t let me practice my religion. So, to protect the ways of William meets him at Dharamshala, the Dalai Lama’s residence-in-
the Lord Buddha, the Buddhist dharma, I decided to fight. (146) exile, a city on the Himalayan Range. The point that attracts
William meets him at Dharamshala, the Dalai Lama’s residence-in- William’s interest in him is his giving up the monastic vows and
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exile, a city on the Himalayan Range. The point that attracts taking up arms to resist. Basically, the Buddhism is the religion
William’s interest in him is his giving up the monastic vows and whose basis is founded on the principles of non-violence and love to
taking up arms to resist. Basically, the Buddhism is the religion any living creature. And in that, it is natural that it would surprise any
whose basis is founded on the principles of non-violence and love to observer when a Monk, the preacher of the principles, resorts to
any living creature. And in that, it is natural that it would surprise any violence and takes the weapons in hands. When William meets the
observer when a Monk, the preacher of the principles, resorts to Monk, Passang, he has got retired from the Army, a special Tibetan
violence and takes the weapons in hands. When William meets the unit of the Indian Army, and lives in the old people’s house at
Monk, Passang, he has got retired from the Army, a special Tibetan Dharamshala. In the conversations with William Passang shares his
unit of the Indian Army, and lives in the old people’s house at feelings after incurring the violence and his attempts to atone his bad
Dharamshala. In the conversations with William Passang shares his deeds through daily rituals of regrets. He tells William that he has
feelings after incurring the violence and his attempts to atone his bad met many Lamas and visited many holy places. Citing the example
deeds through daily rituals of regrets. He tells William that he has of the great robber Angulimal, he tres to derive a kind of self satiation
met many Lamas and visited many holy places. Citing the example that he would also be forgiven since he has also been remorseful
of the great robber Angulimal, he tres to derive a kind of self satiation true heartedly for what he has done. Still, his agonies are not calmed
that he would also be forgiven since he has also been remorseful down through all these means. He confesses: The lamas told me
true heartedly for what he has done. Still, his agonies are not calmed that if my motivation was pure, and I had done violent acts to help
down through all these means. He confesses: The lamas told me others at the expense of my own karma, then I can still be saved. But
that if my motivation was pure, and I had done violent acts to help every sentient being has life and even the thought of killing makes
others at the expense of my own karma, then I can still be saved. But me unhappy. In truth I don’t know how much forgiveness I have
every sentient being has life and even the thought of killing makes gathered. I don’t know yet whether on my deathbed I will feel calm
me unhappy. In truth I don’t know how much forgiveness I have and satisfied. May be I will never know… (149) In his talks peeps a
gathered. I don’t know yet whether on my deathbed I will feel calm clear remorse for the violence he has committed though it was never
and satisfied. May be I will never know… (149) In his talks peeps a driven out of any personal lust or greed, but it was for the good of his
clear remorse for the violence he has committed though it was never entire community and dharma. 223 William visits him at the McLeod
driven out of any personal lust or greed, but it was for the good of his Ganj, the Tibetan settlement in Dharamshala which he calls ‘a
entire community and dharma. 223 William visits him at the McLeod miniature Tibet-outside-Tibet’, where in an old people’s house
Ganj, the Tibetan settlement in Dharamshala which he calls ‘a Passang has settled after retirement and has taken the vow of monk
miniature Tibet-outside-Tibet’, where in an old people’s house after thirty years from once he renounced them. Passang devotes his
Passang has settled after retirement and has taken the vow of monk spare time after his three time ritual prayers in making wooden
after thirty years from once he renounced them. Passang devotes his blocks and painting flags. Life of Tashi Passang is no less than a
spare time after his three time ritual prayers in making wooden thriller. Passang narrates the entire chronicler of his life to William bit
blocks and painting flags. Life of Tashi Passang is no less than a by bit in several sittings. Passang was born, he says to William, in
thriller. Passang narrates the entire chronicler of his life to William bit 1936 in an upper middle class family in Dapka of Kham province of
by bit in several sittings. Passang was born, he says to William, in Eastern Tibet. The family led a semi-nomadic life just to cope with
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1936 in an upper middle class family in Dapka of Kham province of the weather of the region. It was a sort of joint family leading life on
Eastern Tibet. The family led a semi-nomadic life just to cope with the cattle rearing and farming suited to the seasons. He started
the weather of the region. It was a sort of joint family leading life on going with his Yak-herds from the early age. One of his uncles was a
the cattle rearing and farming suited to the seasons. He started Monk, and fascinated to his preaching and personality, Passang also
going with his Yak-herds from the early age. One of his uncles was a dreamt of being a Monk. He graced the Buddhism as a Monk with
Monk, and fascinated to his preaching and personality, Passang also the help of his uncle and was happy leading life of a Monk. But his
dreamt of being a Monk. He graced the Buddhism as a Monk with happiness was not going to last long. During that time, even before
the help of his uncle and was happy leading life of a Monk. But his he became Monk, they noticed the presence of Chinese troops in
happiness was not going to last long. During that time, even before their provinces. Initially, Passang says, the Chinese troops behaved
he became Monk, they noticed the presence of Chinese troops in very frankly, they had easily overpowered and out umbered the
their provinces. Initially, Passang says, the Chinese troops behaved primitive under developed Tibetan Army. The Chinese announced
very frankly, they had easily overpowered and out umbered the that they were just like the elder brother of Tibet and all they wanted
primitive under developed Tibetan Army. The Chinese announced was to help Tibet develop which they thought was not possible for
that they were just like the elder brother of Tibet and all they wanted the Tibet to achieve single handedly. Soon, the Tibetans and the
was to help Tibet develop which they thought was not possible for Buddhist Monks sensed the malignant ideals of the Chinese troops
the Tibet to achieve single handedly. Soon, the Tibetans and the who had begun to appear in larger number than before. When
Buddhist Monks sensed the malignant ideals of the Chinese troops Tibetans started gathering and collecting weapons, the Chinese
who had begun to appear in larger number than before. When started suppression. Passang became the victim of their oppression.
Tibetans started gathering and collecting weapons, the Chinese When he was hiding in the mountains with rifle, the Chinese came
started suppression. Passang became the victim of their oppression. his honme and tieing his mother started beating her. This kept on
When he was hiding in the mountains with rifle, the Chinese came going everyday morning and evening for a month till Passang got the
his honme and tieing his mother started beating her. This kept on news and he surrendered his rifle. The severe beating had caused
going everyday morning and evening for a month till Passang got the several internal injuries to his mother who died soon afterwards. The
news and he surrendered his rifle. The severe beating had caused death of his mother filled Passang with great hatred for the Chinese
several internal injuries to his mother who died soon afterwards. The and though it was against his vows, he wanted to avenge the death
death of his mother filled Passang with great hatred for the Chinese of his mother. Meanwhile, all the monks and other Tibetans started
and though it was against his vows, he wanted to avenge the death gathering at Lhasa with the determination of agitating the Chinese,
of his mother. Meanwhile, all the monks and other Tibetans started but their protest could not resist the power and number of the
gathering at Lhasa with the determination of agitating the Chinese, Chinese army and all had to flee. The things grew so severe that
but their protest could not resist the power and number of the even the Dalai Lama had to flee secretly. Passang and some of his
Chinese army and all had to flee. The things grew so severe that fellows got commissioned to protect His Highness Dalai Lama. At
even the Dalai Lama had to flee secretly. Passang and some of his one point of conversation, William asks Passang if all these
fellows got commissioned to protect His Highness Dalai Lama. At sufferings, pains and tortures and even loss of own 224 land make
one point of conversation, William asks Passang if all these him weaken his faith. To this, Passang says instead it strengthened
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sufferings, pains and tortures and even loss of own 224 land make his faith and narrated the incidents in which he and his companions
him weaken his faith. To this, Passang says instead it strengthened were saved from death or injuries from the deadly ammunitions fired
his faith and narrated the incidents in which he and his companions at them by the Chinese PLA. And at the same time quotes the
were saved from death or injuries from the deadly ammunitions fired Buddhist principle of ‘Karma’: We Buddhists believe in Karma, and in
at them by the Chinese PLA. And at the same time quotes the cause and effect. An action has consequences; we are the
Buddhist principle of ‘Karma’: We Buddhists believe in Karma, and in consequences of our acts. Perhaps because there was a time in the
cause and effect. An action has consequences; we are the seventh century when we Tibetans invaded the Chinese, so we are
consequences of our acts. Perhaps because there was a time in the suffering this torture now. It is our turn to suffer for what we did in our
seventh century when we Tibetans invaded the Chinese, so we are previous lives. (168) Passang also talks about his getting recruited in
suffering this torture now. It is our turn to suffer for what we did in our the Indian Army in the Special Froentier Force or Sector 22 at the
previous lives. (168) Passang also talks about his getting recruited in wake of Indo-China war of 1962. He says he and many of his
the Indian Army in the Special Froentier Force or Sector 22 at the bretherns joined the army with a hope to get a chance to fight back
wake of Indo-China war of 1962. He says he and many of his to china for the freedom of Tibet. But he feels sorry that he never had
bretherns joined the army with a hope to get a chance to fight back such a chance instead he had to kill many Pakistanis in the Indo-Pak
to china for the freedom of Tibet. But he feels sorry that he never had war of 1971. He retired from the Army position in1986, and as he
such a chance instead he had to kill many Pakistanis in the Indo-Pak had promised himself, he took the first bus to Dharamshala and
war of 1971. He retired from the Army position in1986, and as he here, he has been trying to make up for what he had done as a
had promised himself, he took the first bus to Dharamshala and soldier. The effect of prayers have a considerable softening effects
here, he has been trying to make up for what he had done as a on him, and the fire of hatred that remained burning for the Chinese
soldier. The effect of prayers have a considerable softening effects for what they had done to his mother since her death has started
on him, and the fire of hatred that remained burning for the Chinese getting extinguished. Whenever I saw a Chinese restaurant in India, I
for what they had done to his mother since her death has started would want to throw stones at it. Even the colour red could make me
getting extinguished. Whenever I saw a Chinese restaurant in India, I boil with anger at what the Chinese have done. But after I heard His
would want to throw stones at it. Even the colour red could make me Holiness say we must defeat hatred, I determined that I would try to
boil with anger at what the Chinese have done. But after I heard His eat a Chinese meal in a Chinese restaurant to try to cure myself of
Holiness say we must defeat hatred, I determined that I would try to this rage. I wanted to wash my anger clean, as His Holiness puts it,
eat a Chinese meal in a Chinese restaurant to try to cure myself of to wash clean the blood. (173-174) At the time of William’s meeting
this rage. I wanted to wash my anger clean, as His Holiness puts it, him, Passang was in his 70s, and when William asks him about his
to wash clean the blood. (173-174) At the time of William’s meeting planning to go back to his Motherland and see his only surviving
him, Passang was in his 70s, and when William asks him about his brother, Passang confesses that he felt a great urge to go back and
planning to go back to his Motherland and see his only surviving die in the lap of his motherland. But somehow, conquering his
brother, Passang confesses that he felt a great urge to go back and personal feeling as if it were the sign of his personal weakness, he
die in the lap of his motherland. But somehow, conquering his expresses his desire: “But you know…I have always felt that all of us
personal feeling as if it were the sign of his personal weakness, he fled together, and I should wait until a time came when we could al
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expresses his desire: “But you know…I have always felt that all of us go back together. It wouldn’t be right to go back alone…” (175). 225
fled together, and I should wait until a time came when we could al The Maker of Idol ------------------ ------------------ -----------------
go back together. It wouldn’t be right to go back alone…” (175). 225 ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In The Maker of Idol, William
The Maker of Idol ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- presents the details of the Chola bronze idols of deities – ‘the
------------------ ----------------- --------------- In The Maker of Idol, William greatest works of art ever created in India’, and their creator artists.
presents the details of the Chola bronze idols of deities – ‘the Srikanda is a friend of his friend Krishnmurthy, from whom William
greatest works of art ever created in India’, and their creator artists. collects information about the art and its lineage. William also picks
Srikanda is a friend of his friend Krishnmurthy, from whom William up ground to comment on the Indian, especially South Indian
collects information about the art and its lineage. William also picks religious patterns, their temples, deities and the forms of festivals
up ground to comment on the Indian, especially South Indian woven around the deities throughout the year and in the lives of the
religious patterns, their temples, deities and the forms of festivals people too. William, unlike his other essays, is more eloquent in this
woven around the deities throughout the year and in the lives of the essay and presents his research on the iconography and the genesis
people too. William, unlike his other essays, is more eloquent in this of the tradition of the bronze idols in the south India, and also makes
essay and presents his research on the iconography and the genesis long commentary on the eroticism displayed in the South Indian fine
of the tradition of the bronze idols in the south India, and also makes arts; especially sculptures and literary traditions. What interests
long commentary on the eroticism displayed in the South Indian fine William more in this area is the fact he finds that the sexuality and
arts; especially sculptures and literary traditions. What interests erotic expressions have been closely connected with the spirituality.
William more in this area is the fact he finds that the sexuality and The idols of the deities, both Gods and Goddesses, are the epitome
erotic expressions have been closely connected with the spirituality. of attractiveness with beautiful curves and bearing all traits of
The idols of the deities, both Gods and Goddesses, are the epitome physical magnificence. William maintains that the expression of art
of attractiveness with beautiful curves and bearing all traits of erotica just through the implied gestures in the idols or in the literary
physical magnificence. William maintains that the expression of art texts as well as spiritual scriptures is the result of the existence of
erotica just through the implied gestures in the idols or in the literary many paths leading to the divinity in the Hinduism. He cites two
texts as well as spiritual scriptures is the result of the existence of examples of this; the famous idol of Nataraja and the other is that of
many paths leading to the divinity in the Hinduism. He cites two ‘Sringarshatakam’ of the poet prince Bhartruhari. The famous
examples of this; the famous idol of Nataraja and the other is that of Nataraja statue represents on one hand the defeat of the demons of
‘Sringarshatakam’ of the poet prince Bhartruhari. The famous ignorance and darkness and the pleasure of his consort; on the other
Nataraja statue represents on one hand the defeat of the demons of it also stands for the destruction of the universe just in order to give a
ignorance and darkness and the pleasure of his consort; on the other way to the brand new one. Whereas in the literary text,
it also stands for the destruction of the universe just in order to give a ‘Sringarshatakam’, the poet presenting his dilemma raises open
way to the brand new one. Whereas in the literary text, question as to which path one should advance to: “There are two
‘Sringarshatakam’, the poet presenting his dilemma raises open paths; the devotion of the sage, which is lovely because it overflows
question as to which path one should advance to: “There are two with the nectarous waters of the knowledge of truth, and the lusty
paths; the devotion of the sage, which is lovely because it overflows undertaking of touching with one’s palm that hidden part in the firm
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with the nectarous waters of the knowledge of truth, and the lusty lap of lovely limbed women, with great expanses of breasts and
undertaking of touching with one’s palm that hidden part in the firm thighs” (190). Even the full grown Chola poetic tradition is replete
lap of lovely limbed women, with great expanses of breasts and with the erotic concerns. For this, William puts his observation as:
thighs” (190). Even the full grown Chola poetic tradition is replete Sexuality in India has always been regarded as the subject of
with the erotic concerns. For this, William puts his observation as: legitimate and sophisticated inquiry. Traditionally it was looked upon
Sexuality in India has always been regarded as the subject of as an essential part of 226 the study of aesthetics: ‘sringar rasa’ –
legitimate and sophisticated inquiry. Traditionally it was looked upon the erotic rasa or flavour- being one of the nine rasa comprising the
as an essential part of 226 the study of aesthetics: ‘sringar rasa’ – classical Hindu aesthetic system. (187) And also notes that in the
the erotic rasa or flavour- being one of the nine rasa comprising the Hindu scheme of the things, Kama remains one of the three
classical Hindu aesthetic system. (187) And also notes that in the (actually, there should be four; the fourth being ‘Moksha’, the ultimate
Hindu scheme of the things, Kama remains one of the three liberation of the soul from the cycle of births and rebirths)
(actually, there should be four; the fourth being ‘Moksha’, the ultimate fundamental goals of human existence, along with dharma, duty or
liberation of the soul from the cycle of births and rebirths) religion, and arth, the creation of wealth” (187). From his
fundamental goals of human existence, along with dharma, duty or conversation with Srikanda, William comes to know that there is a full
religion, and arth, the creation of wealth” (187). From his length guidance book on the art of sculptures in Sanskrit language;
conversation with Srikanda, William comes to know that there is a full ‘The Shilp Shastras’. On William’s curiocity about the beauty and
length guidance book on the art of sculptures in Sanskrit language; magnificence of the idols, he points out clearly: What is so strange
‘The Shilp Shastras’. On William’s curiocity about the beauty and about the statues being beautiful and attractive? The erotic is part of
magnificence of the idols, he points out clearly: What is so strange human life – the secret part – and the idol is the human form of God,
about the statues being beautiful and attractive? The erotic is part of God in the form of man. If it was unattractive and ugly, would any
human life – the secret part – and the idol is the human form of God, one pray to it? The Shilp Shasrtas that guide us sculptors lay down
God in the form of man. If it was unattractive and ugly, would any certain norms about the correct proportion for each God. We believe
one pray to it? The Shilp Shasrtas that guide us sculptors lay down that unless these proportions are exactly perfect, the god cannot live
certain norms about the correct proportion for each God. We believe in the idol. As sculptors, we struggle to become the master craftsmen
that unless these proportions are exactly perfect, the god cannot live just so that we can convey the beauty of the deity. (191) William also
in the idol. As sculptors, we struggle to become the master craftsmen brings under the focus of the significance of the idols in the
just so that we can convey the beauty of the deity. (191) William also Hinduism. Actually, he notes, the ancient Vedic texts prescribe the
brings under the focus of the significance of the idols in the devotional rituals through ‘Yagna’ traditions i.e. fire ceremonies,
Hinduism. Actually, he notes, the ancient Vedic texts prescribe the somewhere it also prescribes to go for animals sacrifice, and at
devotional rituals through ‘Yagna’ traditions i.e. fire ceremonies, some extreme levels it also suggest the total renouncement of
somewhere it also prescribes to go for animals sacrifice, and at worldly life and leading the existence as the ascetics. In all these, the
some extreme levels it also suggest the total renouncement of worshipping of the temple idols gave the followers a privilege to
worldly life and leading the existence as the ascetics. In all these, the extend their devotions through the deities via media of the idols and
worshipping of the temple idols gave the followers a privilege to it secured the salvation as forcefully as the other forms of devotions.
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extend their devotions through the deities via media of the idols and Here the final climax of worship is still to have darshan: to actually
it secured the salvation as forcefully as the other forms of devotions. see the beauty of the divine image, and to meet the eyes of the god.
Here the final climax of worship is still to have darshan: to actually The gaze of the bronze deity meets the eye of the worshiper, and it
see the beauty of the divine image, and to meet the eyes of the god. this exchange of vision – the seeing and the seen – that acts as a
The gaze of the bronze deity meets the eye of the worshiper, and it focus for bhakti, the passionate devotion of the devotee. (191)
this exchange of vision – the seeing and the seen – that acts as a William visits the south Indian city of temples Swamimalai to witness
focus for bhakti, the passionate devotion of the devotee. (191) the festival procession and there he comes to know that it is the
William visits the south Indian city of temples Swamimalai to witness place where the Chola tradition of Idol making has survived. He visits
the festival procession and there he comes to know that it is the the place a couple of times. On his first visit, he wanted to see the
place where the Chola tradition of Idol making has survived. He visits religious procession that was held every year in the 227 village. It
the place a couple of times. On his first visit, he wanted to see the was the event in which the villagers were taking the deities for their
religious procession that was held every year in the 227 village. It marriage. He presents the story of the marriage of the divine couple;
was the event in which the villagers were taking the deities for their Murugan, the son of lord Shiva and Valii, a daughter of sage
marriage. He presents the story of the marriage of the divine couple; Sivamurti and most beautiful girl, from which the girl belonged to this
Murugan, the son of lord Shiva and Valii, a daughter of sage village. The villagers proudly assert that it was in the fields of this
Sivamurti and most beautiful girl, from which the girl belonged to this very village in which the divine couple made love. Every year to
village. The villagers proudly assert that it was in the fields of this commemorate the marriage, the procession is taken out, in which the
very village in which the divine couple made love. Every year to divine idols are mounted on the rath (chariot) and are taken out to
commemorate the marriage, the procession is taken out, in which the the marriage site. The event holds great importance as the local
divine idols are mounted on the rath (chariot) and are taken out to people believe that since the deities themselves come to their
the marriage site. The event holds great importance as the local doorsteps, any prayer or petition made with pure heart would be
people believe that since the deities themselves come to their granted on this special occasion. William also presents the details of
doorsteps, any prayer or petition made with pure heart would be the historical grounds which might have stared and inspired the craft
granted on this special occasion. William also presents the details of of bronze idol making. He notes that the temples of Tamil Nadu are
the historical grounds which might have stared and inspired the craft thought of as the palaces of the deities and it is understood that the
of bronze idol making. He notes that the temples of Tamil Nadu are deities were the kings and they liked to observe their territories and
thought of as the palaces of the deities and it is understood that the domains instead of sitting in the palaces. So the tradition of taking
deities were the kings and they liked to observe their territories and the deities out in the procession on the days of special festivals
domains instead of sitting in the palaces. So the tradition of taking came into existence. When these temples were first built, the large
the deities out in the procession on the days of special festivals stone idols of the temple sanctuaries were often found to be too
came into existence. When these temples were first built, the large large to move around. It was for this reason that in the tenth century
stone idols of the temple sanctuaries were often found to be too the first portable bronze deities began to be cast in Southern India.
large to move around. It was for this reason that in the tenth century The art seems to have begun in the court of the Pallava monarchs of
the first portable bronze deities began to be cast in Southern India. Kanchipuram, but it was under the patronage of their nemesis, the
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The art seems to have begun in the court of the Pallava monarchs of Chola kings of Tanjore, that the sculptors of this region brought the
Kanchipuram, but it was under the patronage of their nemesis, the art to perfection. (184) Srikanda informs William that he belongs to
Chola kings of Tanjore, that the sculptors of this region brought the the linage of those famous Chola sculptors. Srikanda Stapathy, a
art to perfection. (184) Srikanda informs William that he belongs to Brahmin, along with his two brothers has been creating the bronze
the linage of those famous Chola sculptors. Srikanda Stapathy, a idols through the same process and spiritual rituals as the entire
Brahmin, along with his two brothers has been creating the bronze Chola idols have been prepared in the course of time. William visits
idols through the same process and spiritual rituals as the entire Srikanda stpathy’s workshop and witnesses himself how with great
Chola idols have been prepared in the course of time. William visits devotions the god deities found their shapes. The entire process,
Srikanda stpathy’s workshop and witnesses himself how with great says Srikanda, has to be done as it has been prescribed in the
devotions the god deities found their shapes. The entire process, shastras. Sikanda presents his own views that he does never look at
says Srikanda, has to be done as it has been prescribed in the the idols as the pieces of art but for him they are like real deities, and
shastras. Sikanda presents his own views that he does never look at he considers himself just medium through whom the deities took
the idols as the pieces of art but for him they are like real deities, and their human forms. It clearly appears from his talks that he regards
he considers himself just medium through whom the deities took his work with great reverence. “Our workshop should be like a
their human forms. It clearly appears from his talks that he regards temple. Every second is holy. Some people think that what we do is
his work with great reverence. “Our workshop should be like a an art, but we think of it mainly as an act of devotion. For us art and
temple. Every second is holy. Some people think that what we do is religion are one: only when there is prayer can the artist make a
an art, but we think of it mainly as an act of devotion. For us art and perfect sculpture” (197). 228 Srikanda informs William with a tinge of
religion are one: only when there is prayer can the artist make a proud as how he himself inherited the art of bronze casting, the
perfect sculpture” (197). 228 Srikanda informs William with a tinge of unbroken tradition of 700 years, and the perfection they have
proud as how he himself inherited the art of bronze casting, the achieved in it. He also talks of his training under his father’s
unbroken tradition of 700 years, and the perfection they have observations. But, at William’s inquiry, whether his son would
achieved in it. He also talks of his training under his father’s continue the lineage, he expresses concern that his son was
observations. But, at William’s inquiry, whether his son would showing much interest in computers and if he did well in the exam,
continue the lineage, he expresses concern that his son was he was much keen to adopt that career than to work as the sculptor.
showing much interest in computers and if he did well in the exam, The Lady Twilight ------------------ ------------------ -----------------
he was much keen to adopt that career than to work as the sculptor. ------------------ ----------------- --------------- In The Lady Twilight William
The Lady Twilight ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- narrates the case of Manisha Bhairavi Ma and her companion
------------------ ----------------- --------------- In The Lady Twilight William protector Tapan Sadhu, who live in the cremation land of Tara Pith,
narrates the case of Manisha Bhairavi Ma and her companion near Kolkatta, West Bengal. William tracks these rather sinister
protector Tapan Sadhu, who live in the cremation land of Tara Pith, looking place, gathers the confidence of both Manisha and Tapan,
near Kolkatta, West Bengal. William tracks these rather sinister the dwellers of this cremation ground and the ardent devotees of the
looking place, gathers the confidence of both Manisha and Tapan, Goddess Tara, and makes them narrate their life stories along with
the dwellers of this cremation ground and the ardent devotees of the the rituals and tactics of worship of the ‘Tantric’ cult. The place is, on
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Goddess Tara, and makes them narrate their life stories along with the one hand, the cremation ground where the dead people are
the rituals and tactics of worship of the ‘Tantric’ cult. The place is, on brought for their last funeral pyre, and on the other the sadhus, here,
the one hand, the cremation ground where the dead people are are notoriously known for their mysterious worshipping and
brought for their last funeral pyre, and on the other the sadhus, here, exercising the ‘Tantric’(black-magic) rituals. And this is enough to
are notoriously known for their mysterious worshipping and keep the ordinary people to keep away from the place. Only those
exercising the ‘Tantric’(black-magic) rituals. And this is enough to would come who want to secure the unprecedented graces and
keep the ordinary people to keep away from the place. Only those blessings of Goddess Tara through the medium of the tantric like
would come who want to secure the unprecedented graces and Manisha Ma or Tapan Sadhu or many like them who have made the
blessings of Goddess Tara through the medium of the tantric like place their home and devoted their entire existence in the worshiping
Manisha Ma or Tapan Sadhu or many like them who have made the of the Mother Goddess Tara. William only points out in this essay
place their home and devoted their entire existence in the worshiping that Tara Pith is the Shakt Pith, “One of the most holy places in India,
of the Mother Goddess Tara. William only points out in this essay and said to be the abode of the Devi’s Third Eye.” (205) but he drops
that Tara Pith is the Shakt Pith, “One of the most holy places in India, going in to the details of the concept of the Shakt Pith in the Indian
and said to be the abode of the Devi’s Third Eye.” (205) but he drops Mythology. Actually, the concept is built upon the mythological story
going in to the details of the concept of the Shakt Pith in the Indian of Lord Shiva’s deadly dance of “Tandav” which he performed at the
Mythology. Actually, the concept is built upon the mythological story suicidal death of his consort ‘Sati’ in the Ritual Pyre of Yagna at
of Lord Shiva’s deadly dance of “Tandav” which he performed at the Daksha Prajapati’s, her father’s, place on seeing that her husband
suicidal death of his consort ‘Sati’ in the Ritual Pyre of Yagna at Lord Shiva was not assigned his honoured Seat and thus insulted.
Daksha Prajapati’s, her father’s, place on seeing that her husband When Lord Shiva came to know about the death of his beloved wife
Lord Shiva was not assigned his honoured Seat and thus insulted. he rushed to the spot and lifted her burning body on his shoulders
When Lord Shiva came to know about the death of his beloved wife and started the deadly dance of ‘Tandav’ in the rage. The dance was
he rushed to the spot and lifted her burning body on his shoulders so destructive and severe to bear for any living being that it created a
and started the deadly dance of ‘Tandav’ in the rage. The dance was threat to the very existence of the universe. Sensing the threat 229
so destructive and severe to bear for any living being that it created a and in order to calm Lord Shiva down, Lord Narayan released his
threat to the very existence of the universe. Sensing the threat 229 ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ which stated piercing the body of dead ‘Sati’ and
and in order to calm Lord Shiva down, Lord Narayan released his cut it into pieces and those pieces fell to various fifty-one places;
‘Sudarshan Chakra’ which stated piercing the body of dead ‘Sati’ and these places eventually came to be regarded the sacred and the
cut it into pieces and those pieces fell to various fifty-one places; most holy places for ‘Shakti’ upasana i.e. ‘shakt pith’. It is this place
these places eventually came to be regarded the sacred and the of Tara Pith that her third eye is said to have fallen. William notes
most holy places for ‘Shakti’ upasana i.e. ‘shakt pith’. It is this place that the best place where Goddess Tara is worshipped is not the well
of Tara Pith that her third eye is said to have fallen. William notes built temple altars but she the place where she can best be evoked is
that the best place where Goddess Tara is worshipped is not the well the grounds of cremation. Tara is, after all, one of the most wild and
built temple altars but she the place where she can best be evoked is wayward of Hindu goddesses, and cannot be tamed and contained
the grounds of cremation. Tara is, after all, one of the most wild and within a venerated temple image. She is not only the goddess of
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wayward of Hindu goddesses, and cannot be tamed and contained supreme knowledge who grants her devotees the ability to know and
within a venerated temple image. She is not only the goddess of realize the Absolute, she is also the Lady Twilight, the Cheater of
supreme knowledge who grants her devotees the ability to know and Death, a figure of horror and terror, a stalker of funeral pyres, who
realize the Absolute, she is also the Lady Twilight, the Cheater of slaughters demons and evil ‘yakshis’ without hesitation, becoming as
Death, a figure of horror and terror, a stalker of funeral pyres, who terrible as them in order to defeat them: in the tenth-century hymn of
slaughters demons and evil ‘yakshis’ without hesitation, becoming as a hundred names from ‘Mundamala Tantra’, Tara is called ‘She Who
terrible as them in order to defeat them: in the tenth-century hymn of likes Blood, She Who Is Smeared with Blood and She Who Enjoys
a hundred names from ‘Mundamala Tantra’, Tara is called ‘She Who Blood Sacrifice. (211) William goes into the deep in the direction of
likes Blood, She Who Is Smeared with Blood and She Who Enjoys the genesis of the whole tantric sect, which he senses is present in
Blood Sacrifice. (211) William goes into the deep in the direction of similar forms in the East and the West, both cultures. He asserts that
the genesis of the whole tantric sect, which he senses is present in the terms ‘star’ (English), ‘Tara’ (Sanskrit), ‘Stella’ (Latin), ‘Aster’
similar forms in the East and the West, both cultures. He asserts that (Greek), ‘Sitara’ (Persian) bear conspicuous sameness which occur
the terms ‘star’ (English), ‘Tara’ (Sanskrit), ‘Stella’ (Latin), ‘Aster’ in the different languages of Indo-European Family of Languages
(Greek), ‘Sitara’ (Persian) bear conspicuous sameness which occur and sees the possibilities of the Catholic cult of Our Lady Stella
in the different languages of Indo-European Family of Languages Mariis, and the tradition of worshipping the goddess as the consort of
and sees the possibilities of the Catholic cult of Our Lady Stella the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and as the source of female energy
Mariis, and the tradition of worshipping the goddess as the consort of in Mahayan Buddhism being the parts of the same tradition. Further,
the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and as the source of female energy what surprises William is the continuity and survival of the cult as
in Mahayan Buddhism being the parts of the same tradition. Further, well as its ardent followers and people devoting their entire lives for
what surprises William is the continuity and survival of the cult as worship of the Goddess Tara, and daily sacrifice of no less than
well as its ardent followers and people devoting their entire lives for twenty goats till the day even in the nation whose people and
worship of the Goddess Tara, and daily sacrifice of no less than majority of faiths advocate ‘Ahimsa’ (Non-Violence). During his stay
twenty goats till the day even in the nation whose people and with Manish Ma William notices that the devotees included people
majority of faiths advocate ‘Ahimsa’ (Non-Violence). During his stay from all strata of society. There were range of people either seeking
with Manish Ma William notices that the devotees included people success at the political fronts or desirous to pacify the goddess in
from all strata of society. There were range of people either seeking order to secure peace in the family as well as success in business.
success at the political fronts or desirous to pacify the goddess in The Sadhus also came from different social sets. While Manish Ma
order to secure peace in the family as well as success in business. came from the strata of lower middle working class, Tapan was a
The Sadhus also came from different social sets. While Manish Ma Brahmin, and his family was the educated one and his family
came from the strata of lower middle working class, Tapan was a members never approved of nor trusted or showed any reverence
Brahmin, and his family was the educated one and his family and faith for the mysterious ‘dirty’ 230 path he had adopted. William
members never approved of nor trusted or showed any reverence also mentions the threat posed to the cult by the existent Communist
and faith for the mysterious ‘dirty’ 230 path he had adopted. William Gove4rnment by their campaign against the futility and
also mentions the threat posed to the cult by the existent Communist meaninglessness of the supernatural sorcery. But, in the corrupt and
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Gove4rnment by their campaign against the futility and God fearing social set ups, such threats did not hold any serious
meaninglessness of the supernatural sorcery. But, in the corrupt and alarm. Next thing that interests William is the role of ‘Skulls’ in this
God fearing social set ups, such threats did not hold any serious cult, for there were a lot many skulls spread all over the place. The
alarm. Next thing that interests William is the role of ‘Skulls’ in this essay itself opens with his questioning about the skulls to Manisha
cult, for there were a lot many skulls spread all over the place. The Ma. Manisha Ma, though mentions at some place that everything
essay itself opens with his questioning about the skulls to Manisha cannot be revealed, tells William that there is a special ritual of
Ma. Manisha Ma, though mentions at some place that everything curing the skulls. In the tantric cult there is different significance of
cannot be revealed, tells William that there is a special ritual of different skulls. She tells him that the skulls of suicidal death, of
curing the skulls. In the tantric cult there is different significance of virgin girls given much significance. The night of the ‘No Moon Day’
different skulls. She tells him that the skulls of suicidal death, of is considered the favourite time of the goddess, and the prayers and
virgin girls given much significance. The night of the ‘No Moon Day’ petitions lodged at that time get easily granted. William asks her if
is considered the favourite time of the goddess, and the prayers and she had ‘seen’ the goddess. To this she confesses though she has
petitions lodged at that time get easily granted. William asks her if come across certain apparitions and the goddesses favourite
she had ‘seen’ the goddess. To this she confesses though she has animals like jackals etc., the goddess ahs never appeared to her in
come across certain apparitions and the goddesses favourite her real form. This she considers as the lack in her own devotion for
animals like jackals etc., the goddess ahs never appeared to her in her, but she is sure some day, she will sure get the ‘Darshan’ of the
her real form. This she considers as the lack in her own devotion for goddess. William here notes that the cult is by and large the product
her, but she is sure some day, she will sure get the ‘Darshan’ of the of the much obsessive orthodoxy Brahminical Hinduism. The things,
goddess. William here notes that the cult is by and large the product the material, the place, the time which are considered inauspicious
of the much obsessive orthodoxy Brahminical Hinduism. The things, and avoided with strict rigidity are fairly welcome in this worshiping.
the material, the place, the time which are considered inauspicious Still, on the night of No Moon Day, when there was a great pooja and
and avoided with strict rigidity are fairly welcome in this worshiping. sacrificial offerings presented to the Goddess, William sees the
Still, on the night of No Moon Day, when there was a great pooja and tantric could not find any alternative to the yagna-fire. It is on this
sacrificial offerings presented to the Goddess, William sees the night that Manisha Ma and Tapan Sadhu talk to William about their
tantric could not find any alternative to the yagna-fire. It is on this personal lives before they ended up here in the cremation land as
night that Manisha Ma and Tapan Sadhu talk to William about their tantrics. Both Manisha Ma and Tapan Sadhu are a kind of outcaste
personal lives before they ended up here in the cremation land as from their family set ups. Before getting settled here, both had their
tantrics. Both Manisha Ma and Tapan Sadhu are a kind of outcaste own families. Manisha Ma was married in a middleclass family and
from their family set ups. Before getting settled here, both had their had three daughters from it, and her husband ran a shop. But
own families. Manisha Ma was married in a middleclass family and somehow owing to her troubled childhood or feelings of unfit
had three daughters from it, and her husband ran a shop. But marriage locks, she got a sort of fit, which the local people took to be
somehow owing to her troubled childhood or feelings of unfit ‘Possession’. Right from childhood, she says, she enjoyed the
marriage locks, she got a sort of fit, which the local people took to be bhajans and devotional songs. Even after marriage she kept
‘Possession’. Right from childhood, she says, she enjoyed the spending much time at the local temple, for which her mother-in-law
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bhajans and devotional songs. Even after marriage she kept objected. And, at the temple, her fit, that frequented more, was
spending much time at the local temple, for which her mother-in-law started to be considered as ‘Possession’ of divine spirit and people
objected. And, at the temple, her fit, that frequented more, was started worshiping her and and tried to interprete whatever she
started to be considered as ‘Possession’ of divine spirit and people spoke during her fit. This increased interest of the local people in her
started worshiping her and and tried to interprete whatever she and they stared visiting her at her home too. With the fear that this
spoke during her fit. This increased interest of the local people in her kind of 231 display of fit and people crowding around his wife would
and they stared visiting her at her home too. With the fear that this adversely affect his business, her husband picked up a quarrel with
kind of 231 display of fit and people crowding around his wife would her and beat her severely. On that day, Manisha left her house
adversely affect his business, her husband picked up a quarrel with forever. Initially she spent some weeks at temples and other places
her and beat her severely. On that day, Manisha left her house and at last came and settled at a place near Tapan Sadhu’s hut in
forever. Initially she spent some weeks at temples and other places the cremation ground. She confesses that she was interested in
and at last came and settled at a place near Tapan Sadhu’s hut in Tapan Sadhu, but initially could not collect courage to talk to him.
the cremation ground. She confesses that she was interested in Tapan Sadhu was a Brahmin. He was married and had two children.
Tapan Sadhu, but initially could not collect courage to talk to him. But after twenty years of married life, he says, he got the call of
Tapan Sadhu was a Brahmin. He was married and had two children. Goddess Tara and left everything and came to reside here in Tara
But after twenty years of married life, he says, he got the call of Pith. As Manisha was residing near his hut, people in the cremation
Goddess Tara and left everything and came to reside here in Tara ground started gossiping about their relationship, so one day
Pith. As Manisha was residing near his hut, people in the cremation Manisha went up to him and asked him to let her live with him and to
ground started gossiping about their relationship, so one day end all the business of the gossip about their relationship. To this,
Manisha went up to him and asked him to let her live with him and to Tapan agreed and promised her to protect her and since then they
end all the business of the gossip about their relationship. To this, are living together. Tapan, who appears strong and sturdy, is a
Tapan agreed and promised her to protect her and since then they person in his sixties. He also confesses that he was greatly pained
are living together. Tapan, who appears strong and sturdy, is a when he was not allowed to meet and talk to his son on the event of
person in his sixties. He also confesses that he was greatly pained his wife’s death. He says his family consists of the people who would
when he was not allowed to meet and talk to his son on the event of never trust or show any faith for whatever he is doing. Manisha also
his wife’s death. He says his family consists of the people who would has lost her husband, and now is pleased that she could lately
never trust or show any faith for whatever he is doing. Manisha also maintain contacts with her daughters who came searching her to the
has lost her husband, and now is pleased that she could lately cremation ground of Tara Pith after her husband’s death. In all this,
maintain contacts with her daughters who came searching her to the Manisha clearly mentions to William that though the people like them
cremation ground of Tara Pith after her husband’s death. In all this, who are living in such sinister looking place are considered as
Manisha clearly mentions to William that though the people like them outlaws and with a sort of contempt, they all live here in the spirit of
who are living in such sinister looking place are considered as social unity. They all care for each other and stand strongly in the
outlaws and with a sort of contempt, they all live here in the spirit of time of need when one needs support and soothing. For such place
social unity. They all care for each other and stand strongly in the of Tara Pith, William sums up that it is the result of social process of
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time of need when one needs support and soothing. For such place reaction. Tara Pith, in other words, is a place where the ordinary
of Tara Pith, William sums up that it is the result of social process of world is comprehensively turned upside down. Today, the rites that
reaction. Tara Pith, in other words, is a place where the ordinary take place in the burning ground involve forbidden substances and
world is comprehensively turned upside down. Today, the rites that practices - alcohol, ganja and ritualised sex, sometimes with
take place in the burning ground involve forbidden substances and menstruating women – for Tara’s devotees believe that the goddess
practices - alcohol, ganja and ritualised sex, sometimes with transmutes all that is forbidden and taboo, and turns these banned
menstruating women – for Tara’s devotees believe that the goddess acts and forbidden objects into pathways of power. On to this base of
transmutes all that is forbidden and taboo, and turns these banned transgressive sacrality has grown a whole body of esoteric practice
acts and forbidden objects into pathways of power. On to this base of involving secret knowledge, rituals, mantras and mandalas. (216)
transgressive sacrality has grown a whole body of esoteric practice 232 The Songs of the Blind Minstrels
involving secret knowledge, rituals, mantras and mandalas. (216) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
232 The Songs of the Blind Minstrels In this last monograph of the book, William presents the case of the
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘Bauls of Bengal’; a school of ascetics, itinerant mystic minstrels who
In this last monograph of the book, William presents the case of the lead their lives throwing away all the conventions and systems of the
‘Bauls of Bengal’; a school of ascetics, itinerant mystic minstrels who main stream society. William visits the annual festival of the Bauls on
lead their lives throwing away all the conventions and systems of the which they leave their wandering and converge on Kenduli, a place
main stream society. William visits the annual festival of the Bauls on north to Shantiniketan in West Bengal. He traces the life of Kanai,
which they leave their wandering and converge on Kenduli, a place the blind minstrel and his fellow Bauls; and through their life details
north to Shantiniketan in West Bengal. He traces the life of Kanai, and their songs, seems to indicate that whole Bual school has its
the blind minstrel and his fellow Bauls; and through their life details foundations on a sort of revolt against the existing social orders and
and their songs, seems to indicate that whole Bual school has its practises of inequalities and discriminations. William notes,
foundations on a sort of revolt against the existing social orders and Throughout their 500-year history, the Bauls of Bengal have refused
practises of inequalities and discriminations. William notes, to conform to the conventions of caste-conscious Bengali society.
Throughout their 500-year history, the Bauls of Bengal have refused Subversive and seductive, wild and abandoned, they have preserved
to conform to the conventions of caste-conscious Bengali society. a series of esoteric spiritual teachings on breathing techniques, sex,
Subversive and seductive, wild and abandoned, they have preserved asceticism, philosophy and mystical devotion. They have also
a series of esoteric spiritual teachings on breathing techniques, sex, amassed a treasury of beautifully melancholic and often enigmatic
asceticism, philosophy and mystical devotion. They have also teaching songs which help map out their path to inner vision. (235)
amassed a treasury of beautifully melancholic and often enigmatic The Bauls have altogether rejected the need of the idols and temples
teaching songs which help map out their path to inner vision. (235) in order to grace and secure the divine favours as these set of
The Bauls have altogether rejected the need of the idols and temples systems have become the abode of entire exercise of inequalities.
in order to grace and secure the divine favours as these set of They have also denied in the philosophies of securing a place in the
systems have become the abode of entire exercise of inequalities. heavens by adopting a certain conventionally guided paths, rather
They have also denied in the philosophies of securing a place in the they believe and preach the village folks “that God is found not in a
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heavens by adopting a certain conventionally guided paths, rather stone or bronze idol, or in heavens, or even in the afterlife, but in the
they believe and preach the village folks “that God is found not in a present moment, in the body of a man or woman who seeks the
stone or bronze idol, or in heavens, or even in the afterlife, but in the truth; all that is required is that you give up your possessions, take
present moment, in the body of a man or woman who seeks the up the life of road, find a guru and adhere to the path of love” (235).
truth; all that is required is that you give up your possessions, take William notes that the Bauls have drawn the elements of their
up the life of road, find a guru and adhere to the path of love” (235). philosophy from many different cults and religions such as Sufism,
William notes that the Bauls have drawn the elements of their Tantra, Shakta, Sahajiya, Vaishavism and Buddhism, and they adore
philosophy from many different cults and religions such as Sufism, the deities like Krishna or Kali. They sometimes visit the temple sites
Tantra, Shakta, Sahajiya, Vaishavism and Buddhism, and they adore and wayside shrines - “but only as helpful symbols and signposts
the deities like Krishna or Kali. They sometimes visit the temple sites along a road to Enlightenment, never as an end in themselves” (235)
and wayside shrines - “but only as helpful symbols and signposts The Bauls, William notes, travel form place to place, attracting public
along a road to Enlightenment, never as an end in themselves” (235) attention with their distinctive patchwork robe known as ‘alkhalla’,
The Bauls, William notes, travel form place to place, attracting public and their songs which they sing in the accompaniment of ektara or
attention with their distinctive patchwork robe known as ‘alkhalla’, dotara (musical instrument). 233 William brings in the historic and
and their songs which they sing in the accompaniment of ektara or ancient Indian practices to justify the near atheist ways adopted by
dotara (musical instrument). 233 William brings in the historic and the school of Bauls. William cites the philosophy of Charvak and the
ancient Indian practices to justify the near atheist ways adopted by Rig Vedik questioning of the real spiritual authority and asserts that
the school of Bauls. William cites the philosophy of Charvak and the such atheist practices are not new in the spiritual domain of Indian
Rig Vedik questioning of the real spiritual authority and asserts that philosophy. The songs of the Bauls embody the real concerns that
such atheist practices are not new in the spiritual domain of Indian perturb the rustic life. They sing of desire and devotion, esctacy and
philosophy. The songs of the Bauls embody the real concerns that madness; of life as a river and the body as a boast. They sing of
perturb the rustic life. They sing of desire and devotion, esctacy and Radha’s mad love for the elusive Krishna, of the individual as the
madness; of life as a river and the body as a boast. They sing of crazed Lover, and the Divine as the unattainable Beloved. They
Radha’s mad love for the elusive Krishna, of the individual as the remind their listeners of the transitory nature of this life, and
crazed Lover, and the Divine as the unattainable Beloved. They encourage them to renounce the divisions and hatreds of the world,
remind their listeners of the transitory nature of this life, and so provoking them into facing themselves. Inner knowledge, they
encourage them to renounce the divisions and hatreds of the world, teach, is acquired not through power to others, but over the self.
so provoking them into facing themselves. Inner knowledge, they (237) William came across and got interested in the Bauls of Bengal
teach, is acquired not through power to others, but over the self. right at the time when he was interviewing Manisha Bhairavi Ma at
(237) William came across and got interested in the Bauls of Bengal the Tarapith while pursuing the details about the Lady Twilight of
right at the time when he was interviewing Manisha Bhairavi Ma at Bengal. There at the cremation ground of Tarapith he was introduced
the Tarapith while pursuing the details about the Lady Twilight of to Kannai, the Blind minstrel. The story of Kannai asserts how a boy
Bengal. There at the cremation ground of Tarapith he was introduced of lower middle class family ends up as a blind Baul. Kannai was not
to Kannai, the Blind minstrel. The story of Kannai asserts how a boy blind by birth, but while a small boy he caught small pox and went
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of lower middle class family ends up as a blind Baul. Kannai was not blind. When he was only ten, he lost his brother in an accident and at
blind by birth, but while a small boy he caught small pox and went eleven, exactly after a year of his brother’s death, his father died of
blind. When he was only ten, he lost his brother in an accident and at asthama attack. Two successive deaths came as unbearable shock
eleven, exactly after a year of his brother’s death, his father died of to the family and for Kannai things grew worse as now he remained
asthama attack. Two successive deaths came as unbearable shock the only male to support the family. Initially, as he tells William, the
to the family and for Kannai things grew worse as now he remained things were simple as the villagers knew the family tragedy, so freely
the only male to support the family. Initially, as he tells William, the donated to them food, rice and fuel in the form of cow dung cakes.
things were simple as the villagers knew the family tragedy, so freely Kannai says to William, “I only had to say, I was hungry and I was
donated to them food, rice and fuel in the form of cow dung cakes. fed.” Kannai also narrates the incident of his sister’s suicide thinking
Kannai says to William, “I only had to say, I was hungry and I was that she was a burden to her blind brother who would never be able
fed.” Kannai also narrates the incident of his sister’s suicide thinking to collect the dowry to married her off. Kannai confessed to William
that she was a burden to her blind brother who would never be able that the suicidle death of his sister left him shattered; at that point of
to collect the dowry to married her off. Kannai confessed to William time he determined to do something for family instead of wasting life
that the suicidle death of his sister left him shattered; at that point of in the village. He remembered the words of Ghanshyamdas Sadhu
time he determined to do something for family instead of wasting life who, when he listened to his singing as a child in the village pukur,
in the village. He remembered the words of Ghanshyamdas Sadhu once invited him to join him and that he would take him as his chela
who, when he listened to his singing as a child in the village pukur, (disciple). Kannai even against the will of his mother and the other
once invited him to join him and that he would take him as his chela surviving sister, left home to join Ghanshyamdas Sadhu, who
(disciple). Kannai even against the will of his mother and the other welcomed him, supported him and provided not only a place to him,
surviving sister, left home to join Ghanshyamdas Sadhu, who taught him the ways of Bauls; and also provided him with money in
welcomed him, supported him and provided not only a place to him, order to be sent to support his mother and sister at home. Kannai
taught him the ways of Bauls; and also provided him with money in also tells William that after the death of his guru, he went to stay at
order to be sent to support his mother and sister at home. Kannai Tarapith where Manish Ma and 234 other fellows helped him getting
also tells William that after the death of his guru, he went to stay at married to a widow who was alone and did the duty of shoe keeping.
Tarapith where Manish Ma and 234 other fellows helped him getting Kannai narrates to William, “Wherever we go, the people stop what
married to a widow who was alone and did the duty of shoe keeping. they are doing and come and listen to us. They bring fish from the
Kannai narrates to William, “Wherever we go, the people stop what fish ponds and cook some rice and dal for us, and while they do that
they are doing and come and listen to us. They bring fish from the we sing and teach them. We try to give back some of the love we
fish ponds and cook some rice and dal for us, and while they do that receive, to reconcile people and offer them peace and solace. We try
we sing and teach them. We try to give back some of the love we to help them with their difficulties and to show them the path to
receive, to reconcile people and offer them peace and solace. We try discover the man of the heart” (245). In the conversation with William
to help them with their difficulties and to show them the path to Kannai nicely glimpses the philosophy of the Bauls. He points out
discover the man of the heart” (245). In the conversation with William that movement of their spiritual journey highly depends upon the
Kannai nicely glimpses the philosophy of the Bauls. He points out songs. “For us Bauls, our songs are a source of both love and
260
that movement of their spiritual journey highly depends upon the knowledge. We tease the rich and the arrogant, and make digs at the
songs. “For us Bauls, our songs are a source of both love and hypocrisy of the Brahmins. We sing against caste, and against
knowledge. We tease the rich and the arrogant, and make digs at the injustice. We tell the people that God is not in the temple, or in the
hypocrisy of the Brahmins. We sing against caste, and against Himalayas, nor in the skies or the earth or in the air. We teach that
injustice. We tell the people that God is not in the temple, or in the Krishna was just a man. What is special about him in essence is in
Himalayas, nor in the skies or the earth or in the air. We teach that me now. Whatever is in the cosmos is in our bodies; what is not in
Krishna was just a man. What is special about him in essence is in the body is not in the cosmos. It is all inside – truth lies within. If this
me now. Whatever is in the cosmos is in our bodies; what is not in is so, then, why bother going to the mosque or the temple? So to the
the body is not in the cosmos. It is all inside – truth lies within. If this Bauls a temple or a shrine has little value: it is just a way for the
is so, then, why bother going to the mosque or the temple? So to the priests to make money and to mislead people. The body is the true
Bauls a temple or a shrine has little value: it is just a way for the temple, the true mosque, the true church.” (245-246) Though Kannai
priests to make money and to mislead people. The body is the true is blind, he has no complaint for it. He accepts it to be as a fruit of his
temple, the true mosque, the true church.” (245-246) Though Kannai bad ‘Karma’ of any previous life. Rather for him it is a blessing that
is blind, he has no complaint for it. He accepts it to be as a fruit of his has sharpened his memory which enables him to remember
bad ‘Karma’ of any previous life. Rather for him it is a blessing that devotional songs. Married to Aarati, he enjoys a life of bliss with her
has sharpened his memory which enables him to remember and has got four children from the marriage. Life of Deb Das is the
devotional songs. Married to Aarati, he enjoys a life of bliss with her instance of how social orthodoxy can go to the extent of throwing
and has got four children from the marriage. Life of Deb Das is the away one’s own child out of the family. Actually Deb was the son of a
instance of how social orthodoxy can go to the extent of throwing purohit, a Brahmin. As a small child, Deb says to William, he did not
away one’s own child out of the family. Actually Deb was the son of a find any great fascination for his father’s rounds of prayers and
purohit, a Brahmin. As a small child, Deb says to William, he did not service to the idols. A continuous tiff kept on going between him and
find any great fascination for his father’s rounds of prayers and his father on the grounds of his mixing with the Muslim friends or the
service to the idols. A continuous tiff kept on going between him and Doms (The untouchables) who looked after the cremation ground in
his father on the grounds of his mixing with the Muslim friends or the his village. His father also objected his visiting the place of the
Doms (The untouchables) who looked after the cremation ground in Birangi Sadhus in the village. The things went extreme when Deb
his village. His father also objected his visiting the place of the went to Kenduli mela with Sudhir Das Baul at the age of thirteen or
Birangi Sadhus in the village. The things went extreme when Deb fourteen without informing any one at home in the runaway style.
went to Kenduli mela with Sudhir Das Baul at the age of thirteen or When he came back home after five or six days, he was cruelly
fourteen without informing any one at home in the runaway style. beaten by his elder brother and his father on the grounds that he
When he came back home after five or six days, he was cruelly disgraced his family by mixing with the Muslims and the vagrants.
beaten by his elder brother and his father on the grounds that he Still, in teens, without knowing where to go even without a single
disgraced his family by mixing with the Muslims and the vagrants. rupee in pocket, Deb reached the railway station and 235 boared the
Still, in teens, without knowing where to go even without a single first train and alighted at Birdhvan station. There an old Baul Sadhu
rupee in pocket, Deb reached the railway station and 235 boared the gave him food, blanket and his ektara and told him to go to
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first train and alighted at Birdhvan station. There an old Baul Sadhu Vrindavan, the home of Krishna. Deb reached Vrindavan in the
gave him food, blanket and his ektara and told him to go to Toofan Express. He ate at a Lunger and satiated his days’ long
Vrindavan, the home of Krishna. Deb reached Vrindavan in the hunger. Then, the first thing he did was he threw aeway his sacred
Toofan Express. He ate at a Lunger and satiated his days’ long thread which gave him the identity as a Brahmin and changed his
hunger. Then, the first thing he did was he threw aeway his sacred name from Dev Kumar Bhattacharyya to Deb Das Baul. After two
thread which gave him the identity as a Brahmin and changed his years of wnderings, Deb says, he went back to his family tomake
name from Dev Kumar Bhattacharyya to Deb Das Baul. After two peace but all that he received was a dire insult from his father and
years of wnderings, Deb says, he went back to his family tomake brother. Deb confesses to William that it was the lowest time of his
peace but all that he received was a dire insult from his father and life, on the train he contemplated suicide by throwing himself awy in
brother. Deb confesses to William that it was the lowest time of his the river outside. But all of a sudden he happened to listen some
life, on the train he contemplated suicide by throwing himself awy in other Bauls sing, they turned out to be Paban, Kannai and Sudhir
the river outside. But all of a sudden he happened to listen some Das Baul who had taken him to Kenduli. Since then, hwe says, he
other Bauls sing, they turned out to be Paban, Kannai and Sudhir has been enjoying his blissful; life of Baul. He also narrates his
Das Baul who had taken him to Kenduli. Since then, hwe says, he experience of great renouncement and how Kannai, a blind man,
has been enjoying his blissful; life of Baul. He also narrates his saved him with help of villagers. William tries to bring out the secrets
experience of great renouncement and how Kannai, a blind man, of the Bauls’ practice of the Sexual Yoga or sadhana as they call it,
saved him with help of villagers. William tries to bring out the secrets but no Baul would go farther in the subject. “The Bauls were always
of the Bauls’ practice of the Sexual Yoga or sadhana as they call it, happy to to talk about their life and songs and beliefs but were not
but no Baul would go farther in the subject. “The Bauls were always prepared to discuss in public the esoteric sexual practices which
happy to to talk about their life and songs and beliefs but were not each guru teaches to his pupils when he considers they are ready”
prepared to discuss in public the esoteric sexual practices which (255) William notes that the Bauls have their specific tactics of love
each guru teaches to his pupils when he considers they are ready” making and ritualized sex which they use as an instrument to obtain
(255) William notes that the Bauls have their specific tactics of love spiritual loftiness. Kannai just touching the subject informed William
making and ritualized sex which they use as an instrument to obtain that it was something like “a way of awakening and controlling the
spiritual loftiness. Kannai just touching the subject informed William latent erotic energies from the base of your body and bringing them
that it was something like “a way of awakening and controlling the to the fore.” In the last part, William cites the case of an old Baul
latent erotic energies from the base of your body and bringing them couple Laltha and Subhol, whom he happens to meet near a temple
to the fore.” In the last part, William cites the case of an old Baul at the Kenduli mela site, and cites their words that it was music that
couple Laltha and Subhol, whom he happens to meet near a temple provided them with the force of life full of solace and peace. To this
at the Kenduli mela site, and cites their words that it was music that Kannai says, “It (music) makes us so happy that we don’t remember
provided them with the force of life full of solace and peace. To this what sadness is” (260).
Kannai says, “It (music) makes us so happy that we don’t remember
what sadness is” (260). In many of his interviews, news paper articles and in public meetings
as a part of
262
In many of his interviews, news paper articles and in public meetings the promotion of his ‘Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern
as a part of India’, William Dalrymple
the promotion of his ‘Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern clearly mentions that he has adopted a new scheme in this book.
India’, William Dalrymple And he has been favourably received on this plain too. In his column
in the Guardian, in connection to his scheme of narratives in Nine
clearly mentions that he has adopted a new scheme in this book. Lives, he asserts, I decided to adopt a quite different form. When In
And he has been favourably received on this plain too. In his column Xanadu was published at the end of the 80s, travel writing tended to
in the Guardian, in connection to his scheme of narratives in Nine highlight the narrator: his adventures were the subject; the people he
Lives, he asserts, I decided to adopt a quite different form. When In met were often reduced to objects 236 in the background. I have
Xanadu was published at the end of the 80s, travel writing tended to tried to invert this, and keep the narrator in the shadows, so bringing
highlight the narrator: his adventures were the subject; the people he the lives of the people I have met to the fore and placing their stories
met were often reduced to objects 236 in the background. I have centre stage. (
tried to invert this, and keep the narrator in the shadows, so bringing
the lives of the people I have met to the fore and placing their stories Guardian) Explaining his own stance as a travel writer, William
centre stage. ( makes it clear that he has tried to bring forth what was important and
what would attract the major interest of the readers, and deliberately
Guardian) Explaining his own stance as a travel writer, William refrained from pouring out his own ‘View points’ and ‘Analysis’ of the
makes it clear that he has tried to bring forth what was important and stories being narrated. Each of these characters live in the self
what would attract the major interest of the readers, and deliberately contained moral universe of their own religious and ethical systems, I
refrained from pouring out his own ‘View points’ and ‘Analysis’ of the have tried not to judge, though my choices and arrangement no
stories being narrated. Each of these characters live in the self doubt reveal something of my views and preferences, I have tried to
contained moral universe of their own religious and ethical systems, I show rather than tell, and to let the characters speak fro themselves.
have tried not to judge, though my choices and arrangement no This may leave the book less analytical than some would wish, but
doubt reveal something of my views and preferences, I have tried to by rooting many of the stories in the darker sides of modern Indian
show rather than tell, and to let the characters speak fro themselves. life, with each of the characters telling his or her own story, and only
This may leave the book less analytical than some would wish, but the frame created by the narrator, I have made a conscious effort to
by rooting many of the stories in the darker sides of modern Indian try to avoid imposing myself on the stories told by my nine
life, with each of the characters telling his or her own story, and only characters, and so hope to have escaped many of the clichés about
the frame created by the narrator, I have made a conscious effort to ‘Mystic India’ that blight so much Western writing on Indian religion.
try to avoid imposing myself on the stories told by my nine (Nine Lives Xv) Back in the 1940s, Evelyn Waugh predicted the
characters, and so hope to have escaped many of the clichés about death of travel writing. "Never again, I suppose, shall we land on
‘Mystic India’ that blight so much Western writing on Indian religion. foreign soil with a letter of credit and passport and feel the world
(Nine Lives Xv) Back in the 1940s, Evelyn Waugh predicted the wide open before us," he despaired. Then along came Patrick Leigh
death of travel writing. "Never again, I suppose, shall we land on
263
foreign soil with a letter of credit and passport and feel the world Fermor, Jan Morris, Bruce Chatwin, Colin Thubron and a shipload of
wide open before us," he despaired. Then along came Patrick Leigh fellow travellers. The world, even after the devastation of the second
Fermor, Jan Morris, Bruce Chatwin, Colin Thubron and a shipload of world war and the invention of the jet plane, still offered a vastness
fellow travellers. The world, even after the devastation of the second and magic that stirred the soul and – through the pen of literary
world war and the invention of the jet plane, still offered a vastness adventurers – set us all on voyages of discovery. And many of the
and magic that stirred the soul and – through the pen of literary critics hailed this book as a revival of the genre. (Rory MacLean
adventurers – set us all on voyages of discovery. And many of the theguardian.com) As compared to his previous books, ‘Nine Lives’
critics hailed this book as a revival of the genre. (Rory MacLean sets in tune with his ‘The Age of Kali’, with the difference of the focus
theguardian.com) As compared to his previous books, ‘Nine Lives’ only. In The Age of Kali, his gaze had been fixed on the political and
sets in tune with his ‘The Age of Kali’, with the difference of the focus social unrest and the hypocritical practices in the Indian society, here
only. In The Age of Kali, his gaze had been fixed on the political and in ‘Nine Lives he presents ethnographic study of religion in India.
social unrest and the hypocritical practices in the Indian society, here William taking advantage of his growing authority over the Indian
in ‘Nine Lives he presents ethnographic study of religion in India. ethnographical phenomenon, Historical studies and much wider
William taking advantage of his growing authority over the Indian social acceptance succeeded in attracting the audience for his
ethnographical phenomenon, Historical studies and much wider books, through his stage shows, public performances accompanying
social acceptance succeeded in attracting the audience for his the real life characters from his book ‘Nine Lives’ at several Literary
books, through his stage shows, public performances accompanying Festivals and Theatres. 237 The events surrounding the publication
the real life characters from his book ‘Nine Lives’ at several Literary of Nine Lives serve as further examples of the ways in which
Festivals and Theatres. 237 The events surrounding the publication Dalrymple transcends textual boundaries and negotiates his celebrity
of Nine Lives serve as further examples of the ways in which status. To celebrate the publication of Nine Lives, Dalrymple went on
Dalrymple transcends textual boundaries and negotiates his celebrity the sort of publicity tour that he has undertaken for his later books,
status. To celebrate the publication of Nine Lives, Dalrymple went on encompassing a global itinerary of lectures and writers’ festival
the sort of publicity tour that he has undertaken for his later books, events. Dalrymple also engineered a touring stage-show, featuring
encompassing a global itinerary of lectures and writers’ festival two of the more musical / theatrical figures in Nine Lives and other
events. Dalrymple also engineered a touring stage-show, featuring artists collected for the occasion. The program for the 2010 Sydney
two of the more musical / theatrical figures in Nine Lives and other Writers’ Festival claims: Dalrymple weaves the story of his latest
artists collected for the occasion. The program for the 2010 Sydney book Nine Lives through a rich variety of South Asian devotional
Writers’ Festival claims: Dalrymple weaves the story of his latest music and spiritual transformation. … Curated and narrated by
book Nine Lives through a rich variety of South Asian devotional Dalrymple, each element of this concert represents a spiritual
music and spiritual transformation. … Curated and narrated by tradition from his book.” This depicts the event as a direct
Dalrymple, each element of this concert represents a spiritual transposition from book to performance, reinforcing the experiential
tradition from his book.” This depicts the event as a direct version of authority on which travel writing relies. The show purports
transposition from book to performance, reinforcing the experiential to engage the audience with the characters within the text, although
version of authority on which travel writing relies. The show purports without removing the figure of William the “narrator”. (Dorgello 258)
264
to engage the audience with the characters within the text, although William is also aware of the social acceptance within or outside India,
without removing the figure of William the “narrator”. (Dorgello 258) his own process of acquiring maturity and mastery over the Travel
William is also aware of the social acceptance within or outside India, Writing genre, and the shift of focus and style of narrations with an
his own process of acquiring maturity and mastery over the Travel eye on the audience of his books. In an interview, William clearly
Writing genre, and the shift of focus and style of narrations with an asserts that in his first book, In Xanadu, he wrote for the British
eye on the audience of his books. In an interview, William clearly audience, and was much welcome in Britain only rather than in any
asserts that in his first book, In Xanadu, he wrote for the British other part of the globe though it was translated in many other
audience, and was much welcome in Britain only rather than in any languages. His The Age of Kali received much severe criticism in
other part of the globe though it was translated in many other India on the grounds that a foreigner commented on the Indian
languages. His The Age of Kali received much severe criticism in legacy of culture and political main streams. So, he asserts, he took
India on the grounds that a foreigner commented on the Indian up a different approach in the Nine Lives, and took the stance as he
legacy of culture and political main streams. So, he asserts, he took was writing for none another but his next door neighbours of India,
up a different approach in the Nine Lives, and took the stance as he and the subject too was a day to day concern of Indian life seeking
was writing for none another but his next door neighbours of India, divine favours for ordinary rut of life just as the Family of Mr Basu, at
and the subject too was a day to day concern of Indian life seeking Tapan Sadhu’s place, on the night of no moon day at Tarapith
divine favours for ordinary rut of life just as the Family of Mr Basu, at cremation ground, who wanted to offer the goat to the Goddess in
Tapan Sadhu’s place, on the night of no moon day at Tarapith order to secure peace in the family and for the good luck of their
cremation ground, who wanted to offer the goat to the Goddess in children at their studies or the different village families remaining
order to secure peace in the family and for the good luck of their ready with the thali of offering to the Divine Couple who have come
children at their studies or the different village families remaining to their doorstep in the procession on the annual festival of divine
ready with the thali of offering to the Divine Couple who have come couple’s marriage. In the introduction of the book, William notes his
to their doorstep in the procession on the annual festival of divine encounter with the educated and cosmopolitan Ajay Kumar Jha as a
couple’s marriage. In the introduction of the book, William notes his wanderer sadhu, wandering holy man, made him look into the
encounter with the educated and cosmopolitan Ajay Kumar Jha as a subject of the book more keenly. Then, he himself was on his way
wanderer sadhu, wandering holy man, made him look into the 238 to the shrine of Kedarnath, one of the holiest places of
subject of the book more keenly. Then, he himself was on his way Hinduism. Here when he finds people on their way to the holy shrine
238 to the shrine of Kedarnath, one of the holiest places of displaying their utmost devotion despite the adverse climatic
Hinduism. Here when he finds people on their way to the holy shrine environment and the ways full of hardships’ he feels the sheer
displaying their utmost devotion despite the adverse climatic contrast that on one hand India is developing on the all the fronts of
environment and the ways full of hardships’ he feels the sheer trade and commerce, in the percentage of literacy rates, and the
contrast that on one hand India is developing on the all the fronts of eye-catching infrastructural development and the westernized trends
trade and commerce, in the percentage of literacy rates, and the treading in the urban upper middle class, still, the spirituality and
eye-catching infrastructural development and the westernized trends divinity has remained intact with the Indian social life. In India,
treading in the urban upper middle class, still, the spirituality and William notices that the speed with which India has been growing
265
divinity has remained intact with the Indian social life. In India, from simple rustic clusters of habitations and the simple rural lore of
William notices that the speed with which India has been growing life to the complex cosmopolitan urbanization and in such transition
from simple rustic clusters of habitations and the simple rural lore of and transformation, certain questions pop up in his mind:
life to the complex cosmopolitan urbanization and in such transition
and transformation, certain questions pop up in his mind: What does it actually mean to be a holy man or a Jain nun, a mystic
or a tantric seeking salvation on the roads of modern India, as the
What does it actually mean to be a holy man or a Jain nun, a mystic Tata trucks thunder past? Why does one individual embrace armed
or a tantric seeking salvation on the roads of modern India, as the resistance as a sacred calling, while another devoutly practices
Tata trucks thunder past? Why does one individual embrace armed ahimsa, or non-violence? Why does one think he can create a god,
resistance as a sacred calling, while another devoutly practices while another thinks that god can inhabit him? How is each specific
ahimsa, or non-violence? Why does one think he can create a god, religious path surviving the changes India is currently undergoing?
while another thinks that god can inhabit him? How is each specific What changes and what remains the same? Does India still offer any
religious path surviving the changes India is currently undergoing? sort of real spiritual alternative to materialism, or is it now just
What changes and what remains the same? Does India still offer any another fast developing satrap of the wider capitalist world?
sort of real spiritual alternative to materialism, or is it now just (Dalrymple Nine Lives Xiii)
another fast developing satrap of the wider capitalist world?
(Dalrymple Nine Lives Xiii) In his talks with Anand Raj William clearly brings to the fore his idea
of India as a Nation of variety and the inexhaustible resource for
In his talks with Anand Raj William clearly brings to the fore his idea writing stuff: India is so huge that after 30 years there is still stuff that
of India as a Nation of variety and the inexhaustible resource for I experience for the first time,’’ he says, alluding to the time he spent
writing stuff: India is so huge that after 30 years there is still stuff that working on one of his most popular works,
I experience for the first time,’’ he says, alluding to the time he spent
working on one of his most popular works, Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India,
Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, a collection of stories about nine people from across the
subcontinent, each of whom follows a different religious belief. I
a collection of stories about nine people from across the enjoyed working on that one because I experienced so much during
subcontinent, each of whom follows a different religious belief. I the time I was researching the book,’’ he says. He met hundreds of
enjoyed working on that one because I experienced so much during people and interviewed scores of potential subjects before choosing
the time I was researching the book,’’ he says. He met hundreds of nine. “Why nine? Because that was the number of people I felt would
people and interviewed scores of potential subjects before choosing work well in the book,’’ he laughs… (Dalrymple Interview with Anand
nine. “Why nine? Because that was the number of people I felt would Raj) 239 The new saga that William has opened up with his
work well in the book,’’ he laughs… (Dalrymple Interview with Anand publication of Nine Lives is the adoption of new ways of attracting the
Raj) 239 The new saga that William has opened up with his audience to his book. For this, he innovated the concept of tour and
publication of Nine Lives is the adoption of new ways of attracting the public discourses and discussions not just in the monotonus way in
266
audience to his book. For this, he innovated the concept of tour and which the author talks about his book only. But he presented on the
public discourses and discussions not just in the monotonus way in stage the very live characters about whose lives he is talking in the
which the author talks about his book only. But he presented on the book. Rory Maclean acknowledges Dalrymple’s this motive behind
stage the very live characters about whose lives he is talking in the aggressive marketing of his book in his review of Nine Lives: “But
book. Rory Maclean acknowledges Dalrymple’s this motive behind people are increasingly unwilling to be passive consumers. They
aggressive marketing of his book in his review of Nine Lives: “But want to "experience" narratives and to interact with the world – which
people are increasingly unwilling to be passive consumers. They is precisely what travel writers have been doing since Herodotus first
want to "experience" narratives and to interact with the world – which let go of his mother's apron strings”. (MacLean Rev
is precisely what travel writers have been doing since Herodotus first theguardian.com) 240 Works Cited Dalrymple, William. Nine Lives:
let go of his mother's apron strings”. (MacLean Rev In Search of Sacred in Modern India. London. Bloomsbury. 2009.
theguardian.com) 240 Works Cited Dalrymple, William. Nine Lives: Print. ---. Interview with Anand Raj OK, Features Editor, Friday
In Search of Sacred in Modern India. London. Bloomsbury. 2009. MagazinePublished: 00:00 March 1, 2013 Friday. Web. 10 Nov 2014.
Print. ---. Interview with Anand Raj OK, Features Editor, Friday ---. “
MagazinePublished: 00:00 March 1, 2013 Friday. Web. 10 Nov 2014.
---. “ Home Truths on Abroad.” The Guardian 19 Sept. 2009. n. pag. Web.
10 Nov 2014
Home Truths on Abroad.” The Guardian 19 Sept. 2009. n. pag. Web.
10 Nov 2014 Dorgelo, Rebecca. “Travelling into History: The Travel Writing and
Narrative History of William Dalrymple.” Diss. U of Tasmania 2011.
Dorgelo, Rebecca. “Travelling into History: The Travel Writing and Web. 24 Dec 2014.
Web. 24 Dec 2014. MacLean, Rory. Rev. of Nine Lives by William Dalrymple.
theguardian.com. 16 Dec. 2009. Web. 10 Nov 2014.
MacLean, Rory. Rev. of Nine Lives by William Dalrymple.
theguardian.com. 16 Dec. 2009. Web. 10 Nov 2014. 241 242
267
City of Djinns ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- City of Djinns ------------------ ------------------ -----------------
------------------ ----------------- --------------- “...for me Delhi always ------------------ ----------------- --------------- “...for me Delhi always
extended a stronger spell.” -William Dalrymple. The extended a stronger spell.” -
City of Djinns is a unique sort of travel book. Generally travel books William Dalrymple. The City of Djinns is a unique sort of travel book.
narrate the routes and travelling places and the writer’s own Generally travel books narrate the routes and travelling places and
reflections on such travels. But, the City of Djinns stands apart in the the writer’s own reflections on such travels. But, the City of Djinns
sense that it records Dalrymple’s year long stay at this Historic city – stands apart in the sense that it records Dalrymple’s year long stay
which stomachs within it, like the layers of onion, layers of historic at this Historic city – which stomachs within it, like the layers of
developments and destructions, adding tastes to the Indian History onion, layers of historic developments and destructions, adding
but at the same time bringing gush of tears in one’s eyes too. William tastes to the Indian History but at the same time bringing gush of
Dalrymple claims it to be the story of one year in Delhi. He describes tears in one’s eyes too. William Dalrymple claims it to be the story of
the city as the 'most complicated city he knows'. Dalrymple had one year in Delhi. He describes the city as the 'most complicated city
visited Delhi when he was all of seventeen and was instantly under he knows'. Dalrymple had visited Delhi when he was all of seventeen
its spell. His initial attraction and wonder stricken reactions gradually and was instantly under its spell. His initial attraction and wonder
mature into serious research stuff. He says in stricken reactions gradually mature into serious research stuff. He
says in his introduction: Moreover - I soon discovered – (Delhi)
his introduction: possessed a bottomless seam of stories, tales receding far beyond
history, deep into the cavernous chambers of myth and legend.
Moreover - I soon discovered – (Delhi) (Dalrymple City of Djinns Prologue) William Dalrymple records his
quest of the Historic Developments of this city and in the course of it
possessed a bottomless seam of stories, tales receding far beyond he nicely captures his encounters with a variety of people which
history, deep into the cavernous chambers of myth and legend. ( range from a Sufi, a Taxi-Driver, Government officials, a clan of
Anglo-Indians who have made India their home with their
Dalrymple City of Djinns Prologue) William Dalrymple records his numberless grudges for ‘new civilization’ emerging in Delhi, and
quest of the Historic Developments of this city and in the course of it India at large’.
he nicely captures his encounters with a variety of people which
range from a Sufi, a Taxi-Driver, Government officials, a clan of William Dalrymple finds himself fascinated by this city on his very
Anglo-Indians who have made India their home with their first visit as he admits: From the very beginning I was mesmerised by
numberless grudges for ‘new civilization’ emerging in Delhi, and the great capital, so totally unlike anything I had ever seen before.
India at large’. Delhi, it seemed at first, was full of riches and horrors: it was a
268
William Dalrymple finds himself fascinated by this city on his very labyrinth, a city of palaces, an open gutter, filtered light through a
first visit as he admits: filigree lattice, a landscape of Domes, an anarchy, a press of people,
a choice of flames a whiff of spices. (Dalrymple City of Djinns
From the very beginning I was mesmerised by the great capital, so Prologue) The swap of his observations captures from ‘tales
totally unlike anything I had ever seen before. Delhi, it seemed at receding far beyond history, deep into the cavernous chambers of
first, was full of riches and horrors: it was a labyrinth, a city of myth and legends’ to the dump of the rubbish he observes from over
palaces, an open gutter, filtered light through a filigree lattice, a his window: In the morning I would look out to see the sad regiments
landscape of Domes, an anarchy, a press of people, a choice of of rag-pickers trawling the stinking berms of refuse; overhead, under
flames a whiff of spices. (Dalrymple City of Djinns Prologue) The a copper sky, vultures 97 circled the thermals forming patterns like
swap of his observations captures from ‘ fragments of glass in a kaleidoscope. (8) His sensibilities
simultaneously imbibe the modern developments as well as the
tales receding far beyond history, deep into the cavernous chambers ancient alleys of this city, i.e. he excavates the known and unknown
of myth and stories of it which time stands hiding within it. He undertakes ample
efforts to bring to its life the mythical city of INDRAPRAST of
legends’ to the dump of the rubbish he observes from over his Mahabharata, and all other historic incarnations of Delhi, at the same
window: time exhibits superb liveliness to snapshoot the modern
temperament of the city. What fascinates him about Delhi is its
In the morning I would look out to see the sad regiments of rag- capacity of nourishing a healthy co-existence of traditionalism and
pickers trawling the stinking berms of refuse; overhead, under a modernity, old conventions and new ways of life, traditional games
copper sky, vultures 97 circled the thermals forming patterns like and new sports, real inhabitants and new arrivals. As William
fragments of glass in a kaleidoscope. (8) Dalrymple puts it in his own style: All the different ages of man were
represented in the people of the city. Different millennia co-existed
His sensibilities simultaneously imbibe the modern developments as
side by side. Minds set in different ages walked the same
well as the ancient alleys of this city, i.e. he excavates the known and
pavements, drank the same water, returned to the same dust.
unknown stories of it which time stands hiding within it. He
(Dalrymple City of Djinns Prologue)
undertakes ample efforts to bring to its life the mythical city of
INDRAPRAST of Mahabharata, and all other historic incarnations of Delhi, perhaps, might be the only city in the world which witnessed
Delhi, at the same time exhibits superb liveliness to snapshoot the so many destructions and devastations either natural or manmade.
modern temperament of the city. What fascinates him about Delhi is After each of the devastations the city breathed its rebirth and
its capacity of nourishing a healthy co-existence of traditionalism and resurgence with new enthusiasm and vigour. William Dalrymple
modernity, old conventions and new ways of life, traditional games
and new sports, real inhabitants and new arrivals. As William seeks to solve this enigmatic temperament of the city:
Dalrymple puts it in his own style:
269
All the different ages of man were represented in the people of the When I met Pir Sadr-ud-Din, that I learned the secret that kept the
city. Different millennia co-existed side by side. Minds set in different city returning to new life. Delhi, said Pir Sadr-ud-Din, was a city of
ages walked the same pavements, drank the same water, returned djinns. Though it had been burned by invaders time and time again,
to the same dust. ( millennium after millennium, still the city was rebuilt; each time it rose
like a phoenix from the fire. Just as the Hindus believe that a body
Dalrymple City of Djinns Prologue) will be reincarnated over and over again until it becomes perfect, so
it seemed Delhi was destined to appear in a new incarnation century
Delhi, perhaps, might be the only city in the world which witnessed after century. The reason for this, said Sadr-ud-din, was that the
so many destructions and devastations either natural or manmade. djinns loved Delhi so much they could never bear to see it empty or
After each of the devastations the city breathed its rebirth and deserted. (9)
resurgence with new enthusiasm and vigour. William Dalrymple
Newly married, he has shifted to the city with his artist wife Olivia.
seeks to solve this enigmatic temperament of the city: She contributes to the book in her own way by drawing the
illustrations for the book, and he settled down in a ‘small top floor flat’
When I met Pir Sadr-ud-Din, that I learned the secret that kept the in the regime of the Punjabi landlady Mrs. Puri, near ‘the Sufi village’
city returning to new life. Delhi, said Pir Sadr-ud-Din, was a city of Nizzamuddin. Swept in the full swung of his historian curiosity, he
djinns. Though it had been burned by invaders time and time again, undertakes microscopic exploration of the city and tries to excavate
millennium after millennium, still the city was rebuilt; each time it rose all the Eight incarnations of the city of Delhi. His sturdy investigative
like a phoenix from the fire. Just as the Hindus believe that a body intentions become apparent from the very beginning. 98 He in the
will be reincarnated over and over again until it becomes perfect, so vein of introduction pin points the typicality of Mrs. Puri’s mercantile
it seemed Delhi was destined to appear in a new incarnation century mentality. She has acquired great financial success out of her
after century. The reason for this, said Sadr-ud-din, was that the calculative motto: “sleep is silver but money is gold.” Mrs. Puri had
djinns loved Delhi so much they could never bear to see it empty or achieved all this through a combination of hard work and good old-
deserted. (9) fashioned thrift. In the heat of summer she rarely put on the air
conditioning. In winter she allowed herself the electric fire only an
Newly married, he has shifted to the city with his artist wife Olivia. hour a day. She recycled the newspapers we threw out; and
She contributes to the book in her own way by drawing the returning from parties late at night we could see her still sitting up,
illustrations for the book, and he settled down in a ‘small top floor flat’ silhouetted against the window, knitting sweaters for export... (12)
in the regime of the Punjabi landlady Mrs. Puri, near ‘the Sufi village’ William Dalrymple hooks interest of the readers by his disciplined
Nizzamuddin. Swept in the full swung of his historian curiosity, he pursuit of the layers of the History of the city and his accounts bring
undertakes microscopic exploration of the city and tries to excavate the past back into life in an acute aroma of interest. His narration
all the Eight incarnations of the city of Delhi. His sturdy investigative successfully sways the readers in the lucid reconstruction of the old
intentions become apparent from the very beginning. 98 He in the scores of the city which springs naturally from the writer’s
vein of introduction pin points the typicality of Mrs. Puri’s mercantile microscopic observations. Balvinder Sing, the taxi-driver, is another
270
mentality. She has acquired great financial success out of her close relation who not only drives him to several of his destinations in
calculative motto: “sleep is silver but money is gold.” his Ambassador Taxi but also allows him to have real glimpses of
‘Sikh’ temperament. Balvinder, as Dalrymple introduces, is a
Mrs. Puri had achieved all this through a combination of hard work ‘kshatiya’- ‘a warrior clan of India’ and well nigh reflects this
and good old-fashioned thrift. In the heat of summer she rarely put temperament in his driving skills too. He disdains such cowardly acts
on the air conditioning. In winter she allowed herself the electric fire as looking in the wing mirrors or using his indicators. His
only an hour a day. She recycled the newspapers we threw out; and Ambassador is his chariot, his klaxon his sword. Weaving into the
returning from parties late at night we could see her still sitting up, oncoming traffic, playing ‘chicken’ with the other taxies, Balvinder
silhouetted against the window, knitting sweaters for export... (12) Singh is a ‘Raja of the Road.’ (16) Though the author hails Balvinder
in heroic measures, his wife Olivia develops a sort of dislike and
William Dalrymple hooks interest of the readers by his disciplined disgust for Balvinder for his rough, coarse and rather uncivilised
pursuit of the layers of the History of the city and his accounts bring code of conducts. Her feminine preferences and observations notice
the past back into life in an acute aroma of interest. His narration such awkward traits in his persona and reacts quite scornfully. The
successfully sways the readers in the lucid reconstruction of the old author notes her reactions in this way. Olivia is quick to point out that
scores of the city which springs naturally from the writer’s Mr. Singh is in many ways an unattractive character. A Punjabi Sikh,
microscopic observations. Balvinder Sing, the taxi-driver, is another he is the Essex man of the east. He chews paan and spits the betel
close relation who not only drives him to several of his destinations in juice out of the window, leaving a red “go-fast” stripe along the car’s
his Ambassador Taxi but also allows him to have real glimpses of right flank. He utters incoherent whoops of joy as he drives rickshaw
‘Sikh’ temperament. Balvinder, as Dalrymple introduces, is a on to the pavement or sends a herd of paper boys flying into ditch.
‘kshatiya’- ‘a warrior clan of India’ and well nigh reflects this He leaps out of taxi to urinate at traffic lights, and scratches his
temperament in his driving skills too. He disdains such cowardly acts groins as he talk. Like Essex Man, he is a lecher. His eyes follow the
as looking in the saris up and down the Delhi 99 avenues; plump Sikh girls riding side-
saddle on motorbikes are a particular distraction. (17) The music of
wing mirrors or using his indicators. His Ambassador is his chariot, the vendors’ selling-calls muses him and the cattle-herd without any
his klaxon his sword. Weaving into the oncoming traffic, playing herdsman around makes him wonder how? And the name of
‘chicken’ with the other taxies, Balvinder Singh is a ‘Raja of the ‘International backside Taxi Stand’ just it is behind the India
Road.’ (16) International Centre clutches his sense of humour. His experiences
with the Government machinery is not at all pleasant one and the
Though the author hails Balvinder in heroic measures, his wife Olivia responses Mr. Lal, who sits under the Gandhiji’s Message in his
develops a sort of dislike and disgust for Balvinder for his rough, office, emits for the visitors would never surprise any Indian but
coarse and rather uncivilised code of conducts. Her feminine William Dalrymple notes down them seriously and makes a serious
preferences and observations notice such awkward traits in his comment: Mr. Gupta’s world – the cosy world of Freedom struggle, of
persona and reacts quite scornfully. The author notes her reactions homespun Congress Socialism and the Non-aligned Movement- all
in this way. of it was going down; driving around New Delhi you could almost feel
271
Olivia is quick to point out that Mr. Singh is in many ways an the old order crumbling as you watched, disappearing under a
unattractive character. A Punjabi Sikh, he is the Essex man of the deluge of Japanese-designed Maruti cars, concrete shopping plazas
east. He chews paan and spits the betel juice out of the window, and high-rise buildings. Satellite dishes now outnumbering the
leaving a red “go-fast” stripe along the car’s right flank. He utters domes of the mosques and the spires of the temples. There was
incoherent whoops of joy as he drives rickshaw on to the pavement suddenly a lot of money about: no longer the rich go up to Simla for
or sends a herd of paper boys flying into ditch. He leaps out of taxi to the summer; they closed their apartments and headed off to London
urinate at traffic lights, and scratches his groins as he talk. Like or New York. (23) He also passes a sensible comment on the
Essex Man, he is a lecher. His eyes follow the saris up and down the thoughtless race of development which unreasonably averted its eye
Delhi 99 avenues; plump Sikh girls riding side-saddle on motorbikes from the splendid Historical Monumental Treasure: The Seventeenth
are a particular distraction. (17) century Salmon-pink observatory of Raja Man Singh- the Jantar
Mantar- lay dwarfed by the surrounding high-rise towers that seemed
The music of the vendors’ selling-calls muses him and the cattle- purpose built to obscure its view of heavens. (24) And, It was said
herd without any herdsman around makes him wonder how? And the that not one private Lutyens bungalow would survive undemolished
name of ‘International backside Taxi Stand’ just it is behind the India by the turn of the century. (24) The effects of ‘Globalisation’-
International Centre clutches his sense of humour. His experiences Financial Outburst were not only the materialistic reaction on the
with the Government machinery is not at all pleasant one and the Indian culture but it also reacted with the moral character of Indian
responses Mr. Lal, who sits under the Gandhiji’s Message in his society. Dalrymple’s keen eye captures this trait too and presents it
office, emits for the visitors would never surprise any Indian but in the most picturesque style:
William Dalrymple notes down them seriously and makes a serious
comment: Adulterous couple now filled the public gardens; condom
advertisements dominated the Delhi skyline. The Indian capital, once
Mr. Gupta’s world – the cosy world of Freedom struggle, of the last bastion of the chaperoned virgin, the double-locked bedroom
homespun Congress Socialism and the Non-aligned Movement- all and the arranged marriage, was slowly filling with lovers; whispering,
of it was going down; driving around New Delhi you could almost feel blushing, occasionally holding hands, they loitered beneath flowering
the old order crumbling as you watched, disappearing under a trees like figures from a miniature. Delhi was 100 starting to
deluge of Japanese-designed Maruti cars, concrete shopping plazas unbutton. After the long Victorian twilight, the sari was beginning to
and high-rise buildings. Satellite dishes now outnumbering the slip. (24)
domes of the mosques and the spires of the temples. There was
suddenly a lot of money about: no longer the rich go up to Simla for He also seriously notes that the development was taking place on
the summer; they closed their apartments and headed off to London both the extreme ends i.e. on the one hand the middle class grew
or New York. (23) richer and abounded in the luxurious lucrative status, and on the
other “every week Six thousand penniless migrants poured into Delhi
He also passes a sensible comment on the thoughtless race of looking for work,” and multiplying the number of Jhuggies.
development which unreasonably averted its eye from the splendid ‘Intolerance!’ yes, Dalrymple notes the emerging change in the
Historical Monumental Treasure:
272
The Seventeenth century Salmon-pink observatory of Raja Man ‘Attitudes’ of the people, as he comments: Attitudes were changing
Singh- the Jantar Mantar- lay dwarfed by the surrounding high-rise too. A subtle hardening seemed to have taken place. In the smart
towers that seemed purpose built to obscure its view of heavens. drawing-rooms of Delhi, from where the fate of India’s 880 million
(24) people was controlled, the middle class seemed to be growing
intolerant; the great Hindu qualities of assimilation and acceptance
And, were no longer highly prized. A mild form of fascism was in fashion:
educated people would tell you that it was about time those bloody
It was said that not one private Lutyens bungalow would survive Muslims were disciplined- that they had been pampered and
undemolished by the turn of the century. (24) appeased by the Congress party for too long, that they were filthy
and fanatical, that they bred like rabbits. They should all be put
The effects of ‘Globalisation’- Financial Outburst were not only the behind bars, hostesses would tell you as they poured you a glass of
materialistic reaction on the Indian culture but it also reacted with the imported whisky; expulsion was too good for them. (25) Dalrymple
moral character of Indian society. Dalrymple’s keen eye captures this presents a detailed account of the post ‘Indira Murder’ riots. He
trait too and presents it in the most picturesque style: minutely presents the whole panorama of convulsion that gripped
Delhi following the murder of contemporary Prime Minister Smt.
Adulterous couple now filled the public gardens; condom Indira Gandhi by her own Sikh Body- Guards. Since Indira Gandhi
advertisements dominated the Delhi skyline. The Indian capital, was murdered by the Sikh Guards in retaliation for her attack on the
holiest Sikh shrine of Harminder Sahib (aka Golden Temple) in
once the last bastion of the chaperoned virgin, the double-locked
Amritsar, in which 1000 people were estimated to have died, it
bedroom and the arranged marriage, was slowly filling with lovers;
created a great vortex of hatred for the whole Sikh community all
whispering, blushing, occasionally holding hands,
over India among the Indians. The Sikh families were attacked
they loitered beneath flowering trees like figures from a miniature. ruthlessly only in the vein ‘khoon ka badala khoon’ ‘Blood for Blood’.
Delhi was 100 starting to unbutton. He weaves the episodes of atrocities with the families of Mr. and
Mrs. Puri, Balavinder Singh and the most pathetic one that of
After the long Victorian twilight, the sari was beginning to slip. (24) Sohanlal Sandhu of Trilokpuri. The whole Sikh majority area of
Trilokpuri was systematically ransacked for looting and a wild play of
He also seriously notes that the development was taking place on massacre was let loose. The anti-Sikh riots were well engineered
both the extreme ends i.e. on the one hand the middle class grew under the mute confirmation of the government machineries in order
richer and abounded in the luxurious lucrative status, and on the to "teach the Sikhs a lesson: ...it was Block 32 that dominated the
other “ headlines. Dogs were found fighting over piles of purple human
entrails. Charred and roasted bodies lay in great heaps in the gullies;
every week Six thousand penniless migrants poured into Delhi kerosene fumes still hung heavy in the air. Piles of hair, cut 101 from
looking for work,” the Sikhs before they were burned alive, lay on the varandah.
Hacked-off limbs clogged the gutters. (31) Sohanlal Sandhu’s family
273
and multiplying the number of Jhuggies. ‘Intolerance!’ yes, Dalrymple had paid the gravest toll. However (un)fortunate he, his wife and
notes the emerging change in the ‘Attitudes’ of the people, as he Ranjit who was now mentally diseased due to the stone hit in one of
comments: the mob stone hurling proved to evade the attention of the blood-
thirsty demon mobs, his other two sons had fallen victim of the wild
Attitudes were changing too. A subtle hardening seemed to have volcano of massacre that was triggered in public psyche. Sohanlal
taken place. In the smart drawing-rooms of Delhi, from where the presents this tragic episode to William in the following words: But my
fate of India’s 880 million people was controlled, the middle class other two sons were less fortunate. On the second day they were
seemed to be growing intolerant; the great Hindu qualities of discovered hiding in the shop of some Hindu friends. The mob
assimilation and acceptance were no longer highly prized. A mild burned the shop. Then they put the rubber tyres around the necks of
form of fascism was in fashion: educated people would tell you that it my sons, doused them with petrol and burned them too. (34) William
was about time those bloody Muslims were disciplined- that they had Dalrymple also captures the sad glimpses of filial pains in the words
been pampered and appeased by the Congress party for too long, of Sohanlal Sandhu and also gets impressed by the way the parents’
that they were filthy and fanatical, that they bred like rabbits. They minds seek self derived upon philosophical solution: God is behind
should all be put behind bars, hostesses would tell you as they every act”, he said, “There must have been something wrong that we
poured you a glass of imported whisky; expulsion was too good for did in the past. (34) He highlights the spirit of reconciliation in the
them. (25) temperament of the persons who paid the severest toll in such
unreasonable politics inspired riots, and tries to draw attention to the
Dalrymple presents a detailed account of the post ‘Indira Murder’ common character of life of Delhi. No: now we are no longer worried.
riots. He minutely presents the whole panorama of convulsion that I (Sohanlal Sandhu) am still the Granthi of the gurudwara. I give
gripped Delhi following the murder of contemporary Prime Minister langar (food) to the poor Hindus; the rich Hindus give us offerings.
Smt. Indira Gandhi by her own Sikh Body- Guards. Since Indira These wounds are healed now. (35) He feels a bit confused and he
Gandhi was murdered by the Sikh Guards in retaliation for her attack confesses it too that on one hand the Delhi- wallahs are always
on the holiest Sikh shrine of Harminder Sahib (aka Golden Temple) ‘people of gentleness and elaborate courtesy’, and on the other they
in Amritsar, in which 1000 people were estimated to have died, it might become thirsty of blood of their own once beloved neighbours
created a great vortex of hatred for the whole Sikh community all or ‘avert their eyes’ from their cold blooded murders. ...when
over India among the Indians. The Sikh families were attacked provoked the inhabitants of this mild town could rise up and commit
ruthlessly only in the vein ‘khoon ka badala khoon’ ‘Blood for Blood’. acts of extreme brutality. Men would avert their eyes as next door
He weaves the episodes of atrocities with the families of Mr. and neighbours were burned alive or disembowelled. The same people
Mrs. Puri, Balavinder Singh and the most pathetic one that of who would invite you to share their last plate of food could, with
Sohanlal Sandhu of Trilokpuri. The whole Sikh majority area of equal spontaneity, lose control and run amok. Then with equal ease
Trilokpuri was systematically ransacked for looting and a wild play of they could return to their bazaars and shops, factories and offices
massacre was let loose. The anti-Sikh riots were well engineered and carry on as if nothing had happened. It was difficult to
under the mute confirmation of the government machineries in order understand. (36) 102 Nesting back to his historic sensibilities,
to "teach the Sikhs a lesson: ... William Dalrymple does not miss to note the Historic habit of Delhi to
274
it was Block 32 that dominated the headlines. Dogs were found the episodes of bloodshed. Clutching this Historic temperament of
fighting over piles of purple human entrails. Charred and roasted this unique city, he clearly notes: ...despite Delhi’s historic reputation
bodies lay in great heaps in the gullies; kerosene fumes still hung as the most cultured town in India, the city’s history was punctured
heavy in the air. Piles of hair, cut 101 from the Sikhs before they with many such flashes of terrible orgiastic violence. (36). He refers
were burned alive, lay on the varandah. Hacked-off limbs clogged to the post- partition riots as the most disturbing episode in the city’s
the gutters. (31) life span. He clearly demonstrates with his analytical gauge that
post- partition Delhi is another incarnation of the City of Djinns. Delhi
Sohanlal Sandhu’s family had paid the gravest toll. However (un) before partition was Mughal and British Delhi with her English
fortunate he, his wife and Ranjit who was now mentally diseased due ornamentation and Mughal customs, traditions and sports. The
to the stone hit in one of the mob stone hurling proved to evade the partition of India in 1947 was the most fateful incident in the history
attention of the blood-thirsty demon mobs, his other two sons had of Indian sub-continent. It made a very great impact on Indian
fallen victim of the wild volcano of massacre that was triggered in people, turning the Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims who for a
public psyche. Sohanlal presents this tragic episode to William in the considerably long period unitedly fought against the British into one
following words: another’s enemies. In the post-partition riots, thousands of men from
both sides were massacred, a great number of women raped and
But my other two sons were less fortunate. On the second day they abducted, and children mutilated and property destroyed. This is
were discovered hiding in the shop of some Hindu friends. The mob such a powerful and influential chapter in the Indian History that its
burned the shop. Then they put the rubber tyres around the necks of effects are seen more or less on each and every Indian, and it has
my sons, doused them with petrol and burned them too. (34) given birth to a bulk of literature which can be branded as Partition
Literature not only in Indian English but almost in all the Indian
William Dalrymple also captures the sad glimpses of filial pains in the Languages. Manohar Mangolakar in his Novel A Bend In Ganges
words of Sohanlal Sandhu and also gets impressed by the way the narrates these horrifying accounts of war- ridden humanity in
parents’ minds seek self derived upon philosophical solution: following terms: ...how the Sunrise of our freedom found millions
done to death, mutilated or shamed, and tens of millions disposed of
God is behind every act”, he said, “There must have been something all that they had owned and cherished and brutally tossed on the
wrong that we did in the past. (34) other side of the new artificial border between India and Pakistan.”(A
Bend In Ganges) William Dalrymple notes that Delhi of the modern
He highlights the spirit of reconciliation in the temperament of the
time is inhabited by a major class of people who once got
persons who paid the severest toll in such unreasonable politics
themselves fixed in the vortex of the partition tragedy. The traumatic
inspired riots, and tries to draw attention to the common character of
effects of the partition tragedy is so fresh and alive that even after 65
life of Delhi. No: now we are no longer worried. I (Sohanlal Sandhu)
years person like Punjab Singh does not like in the natural case to
am still the Granthi of the gurudwara. I give langar (food) to the poor refer to those episodic culminations. The story of Mr. And Mrs. Puri
Hindus; the rich Hindus give us offerings. These wounds are healed as well as that of Punjab Singh is the story of this partition migration.
now. (35) Punjab Singh’s narration of the violence in his village Samundra in
275
He feels a bit confused and he confesses it too that on one hand the the district Lyllapur confirms how the political factors change the
Delhi- wallahs are always ‘people of gentleness and elaborate whole social environment and put two groups in opposition and turn
courtesy’, and on the other they might become thirsty of blood of thirsty of each other’s blood- those who once lived in peace and
their own once beloved neighbours or ‘avert their eyes’ from their harmony with the spirit of brotherhood. 103 Same fate descended
cold blooded murders. ... upon Mr. And Mrs. Puri. They had to leave all their possessions
behind and flee to the safer place in order to be alive. Using the
when provoked the inhabitants of this mild town could rise up and international parallel, William Dalrymple aptly points out their case:
commit acts of extreme brutality. Men would avert their eyes as next Like the Palestinians a year later, they expected to come back within
door neighbours were burned alive or disembowelled. The same a few months when peace had been restored. Like the Palestinian,
people who would invite you to share their last plate of food could, they never returned. (42) Among other cases, the case of Mr. Seth
with equal spontaneity, lose control and run amok. Then with equal rivets our attention. He was posted at Sheikhpur near Lahore as an
ease they could return to their bazaars and shops, factories and Assistant Ticket Inspector, in 1946. Just after a year, as the partition
offices and carry on as if nothing had happened. It was difficult to bloodshed started, he was within the territory of Pakistan. In that
understand. (36) 102 commotion, as one train of refugees passed from the station, the
Gurakhas, all Hindus, opened precautionary firing which accidently
Nesting back to his historic sensibilities, William Dalrymple does not killed the wife of the Muslim station master. Out of grief, the station
miss to note the Historic habit of Delhi to the episodes of bloodshed. master wanted to kill Mr. Seth, the Assistant Ticket Inspector as he
Clutching this Historic temperament of this unique city, he clearly was the only Hindu available. Fortunately he missed and Mr. Seth,
notes: ... without wasting time headed towards Hindustan. Somehow, he
managed to save his life, escaped death four times as he claims,
despite Delhi’s historic reputation as the most cultured town in India, and reached Amritsar. Later he was transferred to Delhi where he
the city’s history was punctured with many such flashes of terrible was given a temporary house, and the irony is that it belonged to a
orgiastic violence. (36). Muslim who had been shot dead in varandah. In later part, the
scholar Dr. Jaffery who had also lost his parents and elder brothers
He refers to the post- partition riots as the most disturbing episode in in partition massacres notes: In this city culture and civilization have
the city’s life span. He clearly demonstrates with his analytical gauge always been very thin dresses. It does not take much for that dress
that post- partition Delhi is another incarnation of the City of Djinns. to be torn off and for what lies beneath to be revealed. (190) Through
Delhi before partition was Mughal and British Delhi with her English the partition tragedy, William Dalrymple drives his point home that
ornamentation and Mughal customs, traditions and sports. The Modern Delhi is inhabited and dominated by purely new arrivals,
partition of India in 1947 was the most fateful incident in the history especially the mercantile troops (the Sikhs) poured into Delhi out of
of Indian sub-continent. It made a very great impact on Indian Partition Episode pushing the two of the earlier rulers namely the
people, turning the Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims who for a Mughal and the Britishers of this ancient city into background. Of the
considerably long period unitedly fought against the British into one two people who had ruled Delhi during the previous years, the
another’s enemies. In the post-partition riots, thousands of men from Britishers disappeared completely while the Indian Muslims were
both sides were massacred, a great number of women raped and
276
abducted, and children mutilated and property destroyed. This is reduced to an impoverished minority. (36) And, Today, the two
such a powerful and influential chapter in the Indian History that its worlds, Mughal Old Delhi and Punjabi New Delhi, mix but rarely.
effects are seen more or less on each and every Indian, and it has Each keeps to itself, each absolutely certain of its superiority over
given birth to a bulk of literature which can be branded as Partition the other. (45) Dalrymple notes that post-partition developments
Literature not only in Indian English but almost in all the Indian gave Delhi a metropolitan facelift and the old historical city
Languages. Manohar Mangolakar in his Novel A Bend In Ganges underwent a slow but steady stagnation and 104 impoverishment.
narrates these horrifying accounts of war- ridden humanity in He visits the old city and makes all efforts to capture the traces of
following terms: ...how the Sunrise of our freedom found millions that fabulous city which used to hypnotise the world travellers of the
done to death, mutilated or shamed, and tens of millions disposed of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In such explorations, he finds
all that they had owned and cherished and brutally tossed on the out Shamin, the calligrapher, who has been keeping alive the art of
other side of the new artificial border between India and Pakistan.”(A Mughal Courts. Shamin informs him about the baleful state of his
Bend In Ganges) William Dalrymple notes that Delhi of the modern once prestigious art, and also indicates that the art would meet its
time is inhabited by a major class of people who once got sad doom as neither his brother Ali nor his son seem any bit curious
themselves fixed in the vortex of the partition tragedy. The traumatic about their forefather’s art. Shamin takes pride of it, and though
effects of the partition tragedy is so fresh and alive that even after 65 there is no much monetary return in it, intends to keep it alive so long
years person like Punjab Singh does not like in the natural case to as he is alive. Quoting the glory-songs of the city of Djinns by the
refer to those episodic culminations. The story of Mr. And Mrs. Puri poets of 17th and 18th centuries- “Its towers are resting place of the
as well as that of Punjab Singh is the story of this partition migration. sun” (Chandra Bhan) “It is the seat of Empire... the centre of the
Punjab Singh’s narration of the violence in his village Samundra in great circle of Islam.” Dalrymple holds a queer contrast to the
the district Lyllapur confirms how the political factors change the present day neglect to the valuable historical monuments and the
whole social environment and put two groups in opposition and turn regal temperament of the city. The seventeenth century Moonlight
thirsty of each other’s blood- those who once lived in peace and Bazaar (i.e. Chandani Chawk), once bearing the grandeur of elegant
harmony with the spirit of brotherhood. 103 Same fate descended caravanserais and fabulous Mughal gardens, has got transformed
upon Mr. And Mrs. Puri. They had to leave all their possessions into the press of vendors with all typicality of Indian Market place.
behind and flee to the safer place in order to be alive. Using the The ancient ‘Havelis’ and ‘Shish- Mahals’ of Shahjahanabad have
international parallel, William Dalrymple aptly points out their case: been converted into factories and workshops. The metal shutters
affixed to them seem extremely irrelevant. He notes with pain that
Like the Palestinians a year later, they expected to come back within even the ‘Haksers Haveli’ associated with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,
a few months when peace had been restored. Like the Palestinian, India’s first Prime Minister; his birth place stands in its utter ruins. His
they never returned. (42) keen observant eye doesn’t fail to pin point the fine carvings and
finish and makes us imagine the grand, glorious and gorgeous stone
Among other cases, the case of Mr. Seth rivets our attention. He was incarnation of the perfect building which might have stood upright in
posted at Sheikhpur near Lahore as an Assistant Ticket Inspector, in past. The gate house survives still as a witness to this grandeur: with
1946. Just after a year, as the partition bloodshed started, he was its Dholpur sandstone façade, its delicate Jharokha balconies and its
277
within the territory of Pakistan. In that commotion, as one train of fine fish-tail mouldings, it is still a magnificent sight. (56) Sheer
refugees passed from the station, the Gurakhas, all Hindus, opened negligence in the maintenance and degradation of the fine
precautionary firing which accidently killed the wife of the Muslim architectural glories pains his artistic sensibilities: (But) the interior is
station master. Out of grief, the station master wanted to kill Mr. Seth, a gutted ruin. Through the locked grill you can see the desolation;
the Assistant Ticket Inspector as he was the only Hindu available. collapsed rafters now act as a sort of walkway for the cook who
Fortunately he missed and Mr. Seth, without wasting time headed squats in the rubble frying his samosa; the cellars are gradually
towards Hindustan. Somehow, he managed to save his life, escaped overflowing with his kitchen refuse and old potato peelings. Cusped
death four times as he claims, and reached Amritsar. Later he was sandstone arches are buried up to their capitals in rubble; vaults
transferred to Delhi where he was given a temporary house, and the hand suspended in a litter of disintegrating brick work. No one seems
irony is that it belonged to a Muslim who had been shot dead in to care. It is as if the people of Delhi 105 had washed their hands off
varandah. In later part, the scholar Dr. Jaffery who had also lost his the fine old mansions of the old city in their enthusiasm to move into
parents and elder brothers in partition massacres notes: the concrete bunkers of the new. (56) Like the architectural
monuments, the regal tongue ‘Urdu’ is in her ruins as Begum
In this city culture and civilization have always been very thin Hamida Sultan registers her complaint: “I loved Delhi. But, now Delhi
dresses. It does not take much for that dress to be torn off and for is dead. Even our language is dead.” And the same contempt rise in
what lies beneath to be revealed. (190) the response of Ahmed Ali- the writer of ‘Twilight in Delhi’ (1940),
when William Dalrymple goes to interview him across the border
Through the partition tragedy, William Dalrymple drives his point Pakistan. Ahmed feels great disrespect for Pakistan which he calls
home that Modern Delhi is inhabited and dominated by purely new the nation of ‘thugs’ where he never dreamt to shift to. William
arrivals, especially the mercantile troops (the Sikhs) poured into Dalrymple gets him to out pour his heart on this sensitive issue. He
Delhi out of Partition Episode pushing the two of the earlier rulers persuades him to pour his feelings out which have been boiling
namely the Mughal and the Britishers of this ancient city into within the locked furnace of his heart. And what comes out is really
background. surprising and astonishing. Ahmed had never intended to shift to the
artificial land of Pakistan, but during the days of partition, he had
Of the two people who had ruled Delhi during the previous years, the been a visiting professor in Nanking in China, from where he was not
Britishers disappeared completely while the Indian Muslims were permitted enter India just on the grounds that he was a Muslim. After
reduced to an impoverished minority. (36) a long struggle with the cold blooded bureaucrats, the only place left
for him to head towards was Pakistan. This mishap filled him with
And, bitter feelings for India- the land he doesn’t prefer to set his foot on
even for a while, as he himself puts it: “How could I revisit that which
Today, the two worlds, Mughal Old Delhi and Punjabi New Delhi, mix
was once mine and which was now no longer mine?” (65) An
but rarely. Each keeps to itself, each absolutely certain of its
untransformed- original version of Delhi is still alive in the memories
superiority over the other. (45)
of all the Muslims who have shifted to the other side of the Border. In
Karanchi alone, as William Dalrymple states, there are 200000
278
Dalrymple notes that post-partition developments gave Delhi a refugees who had fled from Delhi to Pakistan during the partition
metropolitan facelift and the old historical city underwent a slow but upheavals. The streets of Karanchi are named after great Delhi-
steady stagnation and 104 impoverishment. He visits the old city and wallah of History. Unaware of Delhi’s modernistic facelift, they inquire
makes all efforts to capture the traces of that fabulous city which William Dalrymple about the glorious regions of Delhi. A judge
used to hypnotise the world travellers of the seventeenth and inquired William Dalrymple if he had ever been to the Gulli
eighteenth centuries. In such explorations, he finds out Shamin, the Churiwalla- the area of great Havellies…To this he ironically cites the
calligrapher, who has been keeping alive the art of Mughal Courts. plight that presently, the place has been transformed into nothing but
Shamin informs him about the baleful state of his once prestigious a dirty ghetto full of decaying warehouses in the city’s crush for
art, and also indicates that the art would meet its sad doom as modernisation and its make over as the commercial complex.
neither his brother Ali nor his son seem any bit curious about their William Dalrymple expresses his wonder as he sees how with
forefather’s art. Shamin takes pride of it, and though there is no accuracy and in the spirit of development, India has managed to
much monetary return in it, intends to keep it alive so long as he is come out of the shadows of the Raj- i.e. the British Imperial Rule. He
alive. Quoting the glory-songs of the city of Djinns by the poets of clearly observes that for new Indian generations the British Rule
17th and 18th centuries- “Its towers are resting place seemed a remote past, their main focus remains constant on the
upcoming bright allies of future. William Dalrymple mentions that in
of the sun” (Chandra Bhan) “It is the seat of Empire... the centre of Britain there are still traces of Imperial India and instances of it are
the great circle of Islam.” visible in the books short-listed for booker 106 prize in recent years
such as Midnight’s Children, (71) - all of these books in one form or
Dalrymple holds a queer contrast to the present day neglect to the another, context or cover, weave or voice within their subject the
valuable historical monuments and the regal temperament of the city. glimpses of Imperial India: ...I was intrigued by the degree to which
The seventeenth century Moonlight Bazaar (i.e. Chandani Chawk), India has managed to shed its colonial baggage. True, people spoke
once bearing the grandeur of elegant caravanserais and fabulous English, played cricket and voted in Westminster-style election.
Mughal gardens, has got transformed into the press of vendors with Nevertheless, far from encountering the familiar, I was astonished
all typicality of Indian Market place. The ancient ‘Havelis’ and ‘Shish- how little evidence remained of two centuries of Colonial Rule. (71)
Mahals’ of Shahjahanabad have been converted into factories and The same point, he finds embossed in the context of the statue of
workshops. The metal shutters affixed to them seem extremely George V, which has turned out only to be “...an unwanted reminder
irrelevant. He notes with pain that even the ‘Haksers Haveli’ of a period few Indians look back to with any nostalgia” (72). Though
associated with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister; after the departure of the Britishers, not only the Culture but the
his birth place stands in its utter ruins. His keen observant eye English language has also got Indianisation and has become
doesn’t fail to pin point the fine carvings and finish and makes us ‘Hinglish’ to some extent, and though much of the phrases in Hobson
imagine the grand, glorious and gorgeous stone incarnation of the Jobson’s Glossary have turned out to be stone dead, British India
perfect building which might have stood upright in past. The gate still remains alive at least in the memories of the Britishers who spent
house a considerably longer period of their lives in British India. One such
person William Dalrymple interviews is Iris Portal. Though, at present
279
survives still as a witness to this grandeur: with its Dholpur she lives in East Anglia, she presents a lively picture of the British
sandstone façade, its delicate Jharokha balconies and its fine fish- Regal Grandeurs in India. Her account presents the details how the
tail mouldings, it is still a magnificent sight. (56) Britishers in India pampered their lives busy riding, picnicking,
dancing, playing and hunting. It was time when Lutyens had started
Sheer negligence in the maintenance and degradation of the fine building the British version of New Delhi. Among the Britishers there
architectural glories pains his artistic sensibilities: ( were duel notions and some like her father’s generation were sternly
against the extravagance of bringing up costly buildings, and were of
But) the interior is a gutted ruin. Through the locked grill you can see the opinion that those funds could have been utilised for some far
the desolation; collapsed rafters now act as a sort of walkway for the better purposes. They were also driven by the secret enigmatic fear
cook who squats in the rubble frying his samosa; the cellars are that..... If ever anybody raised the subject of New Delhi my father
gradually overflowing with his kitchen refuse and old potato peelings. would always quote the Persian couplet in a most gloomy voice. And
Cusped sandstone arches are buried up to their capitals in rubble; of course it did come true. Whoever has built a new city in Delhi has
vaults hand suspended in a litter of disintegrating always lost it: The Pandava Brethren, Prithviraj Chauhan, Ferozshah
Tughluk, Shah Jehan...They all built new cities and they all lost them.
brick work. We were not exception. (80) William seems greatly impressed by the
architectural guts of Lutyens. He praises his architectural insights in
No one seems to care. It is as if the people of Delhi 105 had washed the buildings he witnesses especially; the Viceroy’s house-i.e.
their hands off the fine old mansions of the old city in their today’s Rastrapati Bhavan. He goes to the extent- “Lutyens, after all,
enthusiasm to move into the concrete bunkers of the new. (56) was a far greater architect than Albert Speer.” (82) 107 William
Dalrymple also comments that like other Imperial cities, the Lutyens’
Like the architectural monuments, the regal tongue ‘Urdu’ is in her
construction took shape to symbolise superiority of the ‘Rulers’ over
ruins as Begum Hamida Sultan registers her complaint: “I loved
the ‘Ruled’. Yet there can be no doubt that New Delhi was very
Delhi. But, now Delhi is dead. Even our language is dead.” And the
deliberately built as an expression of the unconquerable might of the
same contempt rise in the response of Ahmed Ali- the writer of
Raj. As Lord Stamfordham, Private Secretary to George V, wrote in a
‘Twilight in Delhi’ (1940), when William Dalrymple goes to interview
letter articulating the king emperor’s views on his new capital: ‘we
him across the border Pakistan. Ahmed feels great disrespect for
must let [the Indians] see for the first time the power of Western
Pakistan which he calls the nation of ‘thugs’ where he never dreamt
civilisation. (82-83) The personality of Lutyens as it emerges from his
to shift to. William Dalrymple gets him to out pour his heart on this
letter, which William Dalrymple puts before us, exhibits the Imperial
sensitive issue. He persuades him to pour his feelings out which
temperament considering Indian subjects as ‘blacks’,
have been boiling within the locked furnace of his heart. And what
‘blackamoores’, ‘natives’, or ‘niggers’, etc. and expressing it bluntly
comes out is really surprising and astonishing. Ahmed had never
like ‘sly slime of the Eastern mind’, ‘the very low intelligence of the
intended to shift to the artificial land of Pakistan, but during the days
natives’, even his ‘superior ego’ blinds him to the beauty of the Taj
of partition, he had been a visiting professor in Nanking in China,
Mahal. In response to Nehru’s comment on New Delhi calling it to be
from where he was not permitted enter India just on the grounds that
the visible symbol of British power, with all its ostentation and
he was a Muslim. After a long struggle with the cold blooded
280
bureaucrats, the only place left for him to head towards was extravagance, William Dalrymple seems to lose his neutral approach
Pakistan. This mishap filled him with bitter feelings for India- the land and favours New Delhi by bringing the instance of Le Corbusier’s
he doesn’t prefer to set his foot on even for a while, as he himself Chandigadh. He indicates the inferiority of the planning of
puts it: “ Chandigadh and calls it an urban disaster in compare to the
monumental grandeur of Lutyens’ New Delhi. In order to collect
How could I revisit that which was once mine and which was now no much first hand information about Imperial Delhi, William Dalrymple
longer mine?” (65) looks for the English stayers on, who remained in India even after
the wake of Independent India. He finds out two ladies in Simla-
An untransformed- original version of Delhi is still alive in the Phyllis and Edith Haxby. They have, as they relate to William
memories of all the Muslims who have shifted to the other side of the Dalrymple, very bad time in Simla and wish to go back to Britain. It
Border. In Karanchi alone, as William Dalrymple states, there are seems very tough for them to find the gorgeous Imperial past
200000 refugees who had fled from Delhi to Pakistan during the replaced with the Indian dominance reducing them to sheer minority
partition upheavals. The streets of Karanchi are named after great lot. William Dalrymple nicely wraps the historical research work with
Delhi-wallah of History. Unaware of Delhi’s modernistic facelift, they the lively description of seasonal changes and accordingly the
inquire William Dalrymple about the glorious regions of Delhi. A change of the temperament of Delhi under the spell of different
judge inquired William Dalrymple if he had ever been to the Gulli festivals. Diwali brings a new charm to Delhi. He observes different
Churiwalla- the area of great Havellies…To this he ironically cites the ways of celebration. In the chilling winter of Delhi which has crept
plight that presently, the place has been transformed into nothing but into Delhi ‘dark-clad, soft-footed, unannounced and unwelcome’, he
a dirty ghetto full of decaying warehouses in the city’s crush for reads about the ‘Twilight’ period of History of Delhi- i.e. the period
modernisation and its make over as the commercial complex. between the Mughal Fall and English Rise in the political domain of
William Dalrymple expresses his wonder as he sees how with Delhi, more precisely the period between the Persian massacre of
accuracy and in the spirit of development, India has managed to 1739 and the equally violent reactions after the mutiny of 1857. He
come out of the shadows of the Raj- i.e. the British Imperial Rule. He picks up a few outlining instances showing the loosening grip of
clearly observes that for new Indian generations the British Rule Mughal dynasty and losing the thrown against the Persian ruler Nadir
seemed a remote past, their main focus remains constant on the Shah. The gloom of the defeat and the destruction by the invaders
upcoming bright allies of future. William Dalrymple mentions that in enveloped the public temperament in the 108 moods of melancholy
Britain there are still traces of Imperial India and instances of it are and pensiveness. This public mood finds nice captioning in the
visible in the books short-listed for booker 106 prize in recent years expressions of the poets of that time: There is no house from where
such as Midnight’s Children, (71) - all of these books in one form or jackal’s cry cannot be heard. The mosques at evening are unlit and
another, context or cover, weave or voice within their subject the deserted In the once beautiful gardens, the grass grows waist-high
glimpses of Imperial India: ...I around fallen pillars and ruined arches. Not even a lamp of clay now
burns where once the chandelier blazed with light... (95) The Persian
was intrigued by the degree to which India has managed to shed its rule reached its nadir during the reign of the sightless emperor Shah
colonial baggage. True, people spoke English, played cricket and Alam. William Dalrymple goes through the evidences of the first
voted in Westminster-style election. Nevertheless, far from
281
encountering the familiar, I was astonished how little evidence British penetration in Delhi and its surrounding regions. His library
remained of two centuries of Colonial Rule. (71) The research presents the account of Franklin, Sir David Ochterlony and
William Fraser (The Scotsmen). Out of them, perhaps because
same point, he finds embossed in the context of the statue of George Fraser of Inverness happens to be the kinsman of Olivia, his wife,
V, which has turned out only to be “... William Dalrymple presents a detailed life story of him, his
adventures and his passion for hunting, fighting and marrying Indian
an unwanted reminder of a period few Indians look back to with any beautiful ladies. The account of Fraser runs so long that sometimes
nostalgia” (72). we feel that William Dalrymple has lost his interest from Delhi and
the whole focus got shifted to the chronicle of William Fraser. William
Though after the departure of the Britishers, not only the Culture but Fraser was one of the early Europeans who had been sent from
the English language has also got Indianisation and has become Calcutta to be the Resident’s Assistant. To some extent he
‘Hinglish’ to some extent, and though much of the phrases in Hobson resembled Kurtz of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, crazy to his own
Jobson’s Glossary have turned out to be stone dead, British India whims. He was a young Persian scholar from Inverness (Scotland).
still remains alive at least in the memories of the Britishers who spent He had moulded himself in Indian outfits, pruned long moustache in
a considerably longer period of their lives in British India. One such Rajput manner and kept many Indian beauties in his harem and had
person William Dalrymple interviews is Iris Portal. Though, at present a lot of children. He catered regal hobbies like hunting, marrying a
she lives in East Anglia, she presents a lively picture of the British number of ladies. William Dalrymple goes through his
Regal Grandeurs in India. Her account presents the details how the correspondence and paintings of Fraser Album and derives a
Britishers in India pampered their lives busy riding, picnicking, conclusion that ‘Fraser was hypnotised by the great capital and
dancing, playing and hunting. It was time when Lutyens had started refused all opportunities that would take him away from Delhi.’ After
building the British version of New Delhi. Among the Britishers there his professional responsibilities, his artistic interests kept him busy
were duel notions and some like her father’s generation were sternly learning oriental languages, collecting manuscripts and marrying
against the extravagance of bringing up costly buildings, and were of Indian beauties. Later when Mughal rule weakened and Delhi
the opinion that those funds could have been utilised for some far became unsafe owing to the attacks of brigands and Mahratta
better purposes. They were also driven by the secret enigmatic fear cavalry, he was engaged to drive them away. His danger loving
that..... nature excited his interests in such risky jobs that Aleck talked of him
to his parents in the letter as “proud, fiery and impetuous” and “too
If ever anybody raised the subject of New Delhi my father would fond of exposing himself to danger”. He was stationed in the Mewat
always quote the Persian couplet in a most gloomy voice. And of district to civilise the area, here he established his own small empire
course it did come true. Whoever has built a new city in Delhi has and lived like a nawab, ‘being [as] absolute in his Domain as
always lost it: The Pandava Brethren, Prithviraj Chauhan, Ferozshah Bonapart in France.’he had adopted the Indian life-style and customs
Tughluk, Shah Jehan...They all built new cities and they all lost them. that his brother Aleck asserts 109 Long residence so distant from the
We were not exception. (80) principal European stations has made William Fraser half a
Hindustanee. (107) William Dalrymple visits the existing building
282
William seems greatly impressed by the architectural guts of where once stood the British Residency and describes it in his own
Lutyens. He praises his architectural insights in the buildings he unique style: The Residency stands today in one of the most
witnesses especially; the Viceroy’s house-i.e. today’s Rastrapati depressing and impoverished parts of Delhi. (109) His investigative
Bhavan. He goes to the extent- “ eyes also find out that the British Residency was only restructured on
the Mughal building of Dara Shukoh’s library, just like the Resident
Lutyens, after all, was a far greater architect than Albert Speer.” (82) Octerlony, appearing British from outside but inside perfectly
107 fashioned in Mughal style. William Dalrymple presents the weird
story of Norah Nicholson, an Anglo- Indian whom he calls a living
William Dalrymple also comments that like other Imperial cities, the fossil of the Twilight period. She had very bad time in her old age,
Lutyens’ construction took shape to symbolise superiority of the ended up in an open plot with her household of dogs, cats, peahens,
‘Rulers’ over the ‘Ruled’. partridges and babbler birds and peacocks who sometimes shared
bed with her as they fell down from the shattered roof at night.
Yet there can be no doubt that New Delhi was very deliberately built William Dalrymple later discovers she died of a snake bite which
as an expression of the unconquerable might of the Raj. As Lord shared her own household and she tried to feed it with milk. The
Stamfordham, Private Secretary to George V, wrote in a letter neighbour informed him that she would not do anything to drive that
articulating the king emperor’s views on his new capital: ‘we must let virulent creature away instead. He also finds a wide and large colony
[the Indians] see for the first time the power of Western of the Anglo-Indians who are now adjusting themselves in the new
incarnation of India. He carefully traces Fraser’s bungalow which is
civilisation. (82-83) The personality of Lutyens as it emerges from his now the office of the Chief Engineer of Northern Railway Board
letter, which William Dalrymple puts before us, exhibits the Imperial [Construction Department] Govt. of India. Having described the
temperament considering Indian subjects as ‘blacks’, difficulties he faced before being allowed inside just because he is a
‘blackamoores’, ‘natives’, or ‘niggers’, etc. and expressing it bluntly foreigner, he maintains a good dialogue with Mr. Prasad, the Railway
like ‘ Officer, and brings to light the hidden tyhkhanna which is perhaps the
only one of its kind in existence and in the worst condition. He also
sly slime of the Eastern mind’, ‘the very low intelligence of the
infers that it must be with the help of this tyhkhanna facility the
natives’,
Fraser brothers might have defeated the terrible heat of Delhi
even his ‘superior ego’ blinds him to the beauty of the Taj Mahal. In summer and perhaps that is why it didn’t get mention in any of their
response to Nehru’s comment on New Delhi calling it to be correspondence. The plaster on the walls had long since flaked off,
and as we descended you could see that the brick work was
the visible symbol of British power, with all its ostentation and changing. The large and solid British bricks which indicated
extravagance, Residency-period work gave way to the smaller and more delicate
bricks favoured by Mughal builders. Within a few seconds of
William Dalrymple seems to lose his neutral approach and favours reaching the bottom the janitor’s flashlight fell on a moulding that
New Delhi by bringing the instance of Le Corbusier’s Chandigadh. was unmistakably of Shah Jehan’s period. (124) And for the secret
283
He indicates the inferiority of the planning of Chandigadh and calls it passages he writes: “Delhi is alive with the legends of secret
an urban disaster in compare to the monumental grandeur of passages-” And, 110 Today the passages are only blocked with a
Lutyens’ New Delhi. In order to collect much first hand information small plug of concrete; it should not be difficult to remove that plug
about Imperial Delhi, William Dalrymple looks for the English stayers and investigate what lies beyond. The problem would be to motivate
on, who remained in India even after the wake of Independent India. India’s impoverished and bureaucratic Archaeological Survey to take
He finds out two ladies in Simla- Phyllis and Edith Haxby. They have, interest in the matter. (126) Through the case of Skinner Sahib, and
as they relate to William Dalrymple, very bad time in Simla and wish the fate of his ‘half-caste’ family, Dalrymple presents the
to go back to Britain. It seems very tough for them to find the impoverished plight of Anglo-Indians. These Anglo-Indians’
gorgeous Imperial past replaced with the Indian dominance reducing condition, like that of Norah and Huxby sisters, was very miserable-
them to sheer minority lot. William Dalrymple nicely wraps the neither they got acceptance among the Britishers nor were they
historical research work with the lively description of seasonal welcome in the Indian societal circles. Dalrymple dissects the
changes and accordingly the change of the temperament of Delhi problem saying, “As Skinner’s career demonstrated, Hindu and
under the spell of different festivals. Diwali brings a new charm to British were both too proud of their blood for ‘Half-caste’ ever to be
Delhi. He observes different ways of celebration. In the chilling winter really successful.” Increasingly they came to suffer the worst racical
of Delhi which has crept into Delhi ‘dark-clad, soft-footed, prejudices of both Indians and British: the Indians refused to mix with
unannounced and unwelcome’, he reads about the ‘Twilight’ period them; and despite their fierce and unwavering loyalty to the Union
of History of Delhi- i.e. the period between the Mughal Fall and Jack, the English rigidly excluded them from their clubs and drawing
English Rise in the political domain of Delhi, more precisely the rooms. Behind their backs they were cruelly ridiculed as ‘chee-
period between the Persian massacre of 1739 and the equally chees, ‘Blakie-whitie’, or ‘Chutney Marys’. (131) William Dalrymple
violent reactions after the mutiny of 1857. He picks up a few outlining brings under focus the massacre that followed the uprising of 1857.
instances showing the loosening grip of Mughal dynasty and losing He confesses that the operations after the uprising brought on
the thrown against the Persian ruler Nadir Shah. The gloom of the surface ‘all the most horrible characteristics of English character-
defeat and the destruction by the invaders enveloped the public philistinism, narrow-mindedness, bigotry, vengefulness, etc.- “Three
temperament in the 108 moods of melancholy and pensiveness. This thousand Delhi-wallahs were tried and executed – either hanged,
public mood finds nice captioning in shot or blown from the mouth of cannon – on flimsiest evidence.”
(147) Ghalib, the great Urdu poet, was greatly pained at the
the expressions of the poets of that time: There is no house from helplessness of the Indian folks and his pain flowed like melting tears
where jackal’s cry cannot be heard. The mosques at evening are in his words: Helpless I watch the wives and children of aristocrats
unlit and deserted In the once beautiful gardens, the grass grows literally begging from door to door. One must have a heart of steel to
waist-high around fallen pillars and ruined arches. Not even a lamp witness the contemporary scene....the moon-faced Begums of the
of clay now burns where once the chandelier blazed with light... (95) Red fort wandering around the streets in filthy clothes, ragged
The pyjamas and broken shoes. (148) The Twilight period of the City of
Djinns was thus over with the Britishers seizing the total command of
284
Persian rule reached its nadir during the reign of the sightless the city after the blood sheding events that followed the uprising of
emperor Shah Alam. William Dalrymple goes through the evidences 1857. Modern Delhi has evolved a metropolitan culture and
of the first British penetration in Delhi and its surrounding regions. westernized night life. William Dalrymple being a man from West
His library research presents the account of Franklin, Sir David enjoys this superficial culture where the nouveau riche people as
Ochterlony and William Fraser (The Scotsmen). Out of them, well as persons holding powerful positions get pooled together in
perhaps because Fraser of Inverness happens to be the kinsman of night parties and make such places a platform to exhibit their riches
Olivia, his wife, William Dalrymple presents a detailed life story of and high profile contacts as the parameter of their success. William
him, his adventures and his passion for hunting, fighting and seems to present this 111 new cult of Delhi in contrast to the old
marrying Indian beautiful ladies. The account of Fraser runs so long regal gorgeousness of Delhi code of conducts, the traits which
that sometimes we feel that William Dalrymple has lost his interest impressed each and every one who came in their contact. Next, in
from Delhi and the whole focus got shifted to the chronicle of William his unique comic vein Dalrymple narrates the conjurations of Mrs.
Fraser. William Fraser was one of the early Europeans who had Puri to raise the rent of the flat. He nicely presents how initially in a
been sent from Calcutta to be the Resident’s Assistant. To some roundabout way and then becoming somewhat blunt Mrs. Puri
extent he resembled Kurtz of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, crazy to justifies her point of raising the rent. Here once again he embosses
his own whims. He was a young Persian scholar from Inverness the money mindedness of this Punjabi land lady and presents an
(Scotland). He had moulded himself in Indian outfits, pruned long another evidence of the financial success of the Punjabi people as
moustache in Rajput manner and kept many Indian beauties in his their capacity to maintain the profit and loss scales even in their daily
harem and had a lot of children. He catered regal hobbies like life and relations too. Paying visit to the tomb of Safdarjung,
hunting, marrying a number of ladies. William Dalrymple goes Dalrymple strikes open still another facet of Delhi’s fate. He presents
through his correspondence and paintings of Fraser Album and the details of Delhi under the reign of Muhammad Shah, popularly
derives a conclusion that ‘Fraser was hypnotised by the great capital known in the Indian History as Rangila (The Colourful). And as his
and refused all opportunities that would take him away from Delhi.’ name implied, William Dalrymple notes, he gave up any pretence of
After his professional responsibilities, his artistic interests kept him ruling, ‘in the morning he watched Partridge and Elephant fights; in
busy learning oriental languages, collecting manuscripts and the afternoon he was entertained by the jugglers, ventriloquists,
marrying Indian beauties. Later when Mughal rule weakened and mime artists and conjurers; Politics he wisely left to his scheming
Delhi became unsafe owing to the attacks of brigands and Mahratta advisors. William Dalrymple also asserts that it was because of this
cavalry, he was engaged to drive them away. His danger loving policy he could survive as the longest surviving sovereign. The
nature excited his interests in such risky jobs that Aleck talked of him empire had shrinked and lost almost all its far and wide territories,
to his parents in the letter as “ the patent arts of cavalry of gorgeous Delhi were defeated by the
arts of music, poetry and paintings. William Dalrymple rightly notes
proud, fiery and impetuous” and “too fond of exposing himself to that it was the time when the poets of Delhi (e.g. Mir Taqui Mir) were
danger”. closely followed: A new Gazal (love lyric) by one of the great Delhi
poet was considered the most desirable gift that any civilised host
285
He was stationed in the Mewat district to civilise the area, here he could wish for. (157) After the death of Muhammad Shah, Safdarjung
established picked up the opportunity to take the reins of power in his hands
reducing the ascender to the throne a mere filigree of show. But the
his own small empire and lived like a nawab, ‘being [as] absolute in extravagances and arrogance of Safdarjung enraged the British
his Domain as Bonapart in France.’ power who summoned other regional forces and got him thrown out
of the city. After his death, his son begged permission to build his
he had adopted the Indian life-style and customs that his brother father’s tomb in Delhi. Expert eyes of Dalrymple do not fail to notice
Aleck asserts 109 the derogatory architectural merits of this tomb. Opening pages of its
history, he notes, since the quarries of quality marble around Agra
Long residence so distant from the principal European stations has were no longer under the Mughal control and the road between Delhi
made William and Agra being under the control of Jat tribesmen, the builder of this
tomb had to stripe the necessary material from the other existing
Fraser half a Hindustanee. (107) William Dalrymple visits the existing tombs. The awkward patches of pink sandstones in the white dome
building where once stood the British Residency and describes it in announce the shortage of material. Still, as William Dalrymple notes,
his own unique style: the building stands signature of historic importance: 112 The building
tells a story of drunken laughter as the pillars of empire collapsed in
The Residency stands today in one of the most depressing and
a cloud of dust and masonry; and afterwards, of dancing in the ruins.
impoverished parts of Delhi. (109)
(159) Form the account of Rangila, Dalrymple’s interest gets riveted
His investigative eyes also find out that the British Residency was to the Mughal sports of Elephant and Partridge fights. He traces the
only restructured on the Mughal building of Dara Shukoh’s library, survival of these sports in modern Delhi. After the initial negative
just like the Resident Octerlony, appearing British from outside but responses, and slight details of the last Elephant fight which had
inside perfectly fashioned in Mughal style. William Dalrymple taken place at the turn of the century in the princely state of
presents the weird story of Norah Nicholson, an Anglo- Indian whom Rajputana, William Dalrymple accidently comes to know about the
he calls a living fossil of the Twilight period. She had very bad time in ‘Partridge Fight’ from Balvinder. Balvinder called it ‘Bird-Challenge’.
her old age, ended up in an open plot with her household of dogs, Dalrymple was eager to witness the sport. William Dalrymple
cats, peahens, partridges and babbler birds and peacocks who presents a live account of the surviving traces of once favorite
sometimes shared bed with her as they fell down from the shattered pastime ‘Mughal Sport’. The excitement of the sport has drawn a
roof at night. William Dalrymple later discovers she died of a snake large number of persons to the ‘Grave-Yard’ on the Sunday morning.
bite which shared her own household and she tried to feed it with William Dalrymple is welcomed and given all the details about the
milk. The neighbour informed him that she would not do anything to rules and regulations of the sport. Be it the façade of any ancient
drive that virulent creature away instead. He also finds a wide and building or the partridge fight, William Dalrymple’s clutching
large colony of the Anglo-Indians who are now adjusting themselves description pulses with acute liveliness: For a few seconds the two
in the new incarnation of India. He carefully traces Fraser’s birds stood facing each other, chests fully extended; then
bungalow which is Handlebar’s bird flew at its rival with a new and sudden violence. He
286
now the office of the Chief Engineer of Northern Railway Board dealt the Muslim’s bird a glancing blow with the hook of his beak,
[Construction Department] Govt. of India. then rose up, wings arched, and fell heavily on the lighter bird’s
head. As he hopped out of reach he again cut the darker bird with his
Having described the difficulties he faced before being allowed inside spurs. (164) Along with, William Dalrymple also captions the point
just because he is a foreigner, he maintains a good dialogue with Mr. that such sports are popular among the lower middle class males
Prasad, the Railway Officer, and brings to light the hidden tyhkhanna who have their own worries, struggles and tough tasks of life, as
which is perhaps the only one of its kind in existence and in the worst Punjabsingh puts it: People are coming here drunk, worried or tired
condition. He also infers that it must be with the help of this of the chores of the world, but always they leave this place
tyhkhanna facility the Fraser brothers might have defeated the refreshed. (165) Romantic character of Delhi public is another
terrible heat of Delhi summer and perhaps that is why it didn’t get striking point about Sufderjung’s Delhi. He cites pictorial descriptions
mention in any of their correspondence. of such unlicensed hedonism of Delhi public in Quli Khan’s
‘Murraqqa-e-Delhi’ (the book which he labels as his favourite one).
The plaster on the walls had long since flaked off, and as we Khan has described in detail how even the Mehfils at the religious
descended you could see that the places got the dying of romantic sheds where men and women
busied themselves in amorous activities. William Dalrymple aptly
brick work notes that these traces are also still alive in some parts of Delhi and
one can find them only if one knows where exactly to look for them:
was changing. The large and solid British bricks which indicated Yet as I discovered that December, the bawdiness of Sufdarjung’s
Residency-period work gave way to the smaller and more delicate Delhi does survive, kept alive by one particular group of Delhi-wallah.
bricks favoured by Mughal builders. Within a few seconds of 113 You can still find them in the dark gullies of the old city- if you
reaching the bottom the janitor’s flashlight fell on a moulding that know where to look. (168-169) From the bawdiness of Safderjung’s
was unmistakably of Shah Jehan’s period. (124) Delhi, William Dalrymple generates interest in the most secretive
society of Delhi ‘Eunuchs’- the harem guards of Mughal India. They
And for the secret passages he writes: “Delhi is alive with the
were clad in brightly coloured silks and muslins, flowing saris edged
legends of secret passages-” And, 110
in glittering gold brocade. They were heavily made mup, with painted
Today the passages are only blocked with a small plug of concrete; it cheeks and scarlet lipstick; each of their noses was pierced with a
should not be difficult to remove that plug and investigate what lies single diamond stud they were dressed for nautch, dressed as
beyond. The problem would be to motivate India’s impoverished and women, yet they were not women,. Even at a distance of twenty
bureaucratic Archaeological Survey to take interest in the matter. yards I could see that their physiognomy was very different from the
(126) delicate features of Indian girls. Their faces were too strong, their
arms were too thick, their shoulders were wrong they smoked.
Through the case of Skinner Sahib, and the fate of his ‘half-caste’ Physically, they resembled painted men, yet they were not men.
family, Dalrymple presents the impoverished plight of Anglo-Indians. (169) His ten days efforts led him to fruitless toil, as no eunuch was
These Anglo-Indians’ condition, like that of Norah and Huxby sisters, ready to open up any page of their personal life before him. When he
287
was very miserable- neither they got acceptance among the was exactly on the verge of giving up his mission, he accidently
Britishers nor were they welcome in the Indian societal circles. happened to meet Zakir, a young man, who created a bridge
Dalrymple dissects the problem saying, “ between him and the eunuchs and made a kind of dialogue possible.
Zakir took him to the Haveli of Chaman Guru. William Dalrymple
As Skinner’s career demonstrated, Hindu and British were both too closely follows the history of these mysterious ‘Eunuchs’, and derives
proud of their blood for ‘Half-caste’ ever to be really successful.” the conclusion that like the architectures and many other ways of life
of modern Delhi – the lives of these Eunuchs were also a fusion/
Increasingly they came to suffer the worst racical prejudices of both merger of both the Hindu and Muslim traditions. In the Eurasian
Indians and British: the Indians refused to mix with them; and despite history, they are referred to in ancient Assyrian and Babylonian
their fierce and unwavering loyalty to the Union Jack, the English stelae and became popular as servants- and as passive sexual play
rigidly excluded them from their clubs and drawing rooms. Behind things. In the Anglo-Saxon England and Italy until 19 th century they
their backs they were cruelly ridiculed as ‘chee-chees, ‘Blakie-whitie’, were given singing castrato roles in opera as well as in the Vatican
or ‘Chutney Marys’. (131) Sistine choir. The Muslim world held them perfect as the harem
guards owing to their impotence, and with their faithful services they
William Dalrymple brings under focus the massacre that followed the rose to power as Chamberlains, Governors and even Generals. And
uprising of 1857. He confesses that the operations after the uprising in the Hindu texts – The Vedas – the castration was seen as a
brought on surface ‘ degrading punishment. The persons ‘castrated’ as a part of
punishment was pushed to the lower of the lowest category of the
all the most horrible characteristics of English character- philistinism, society. In the time of Mahabharata, the condition had improved a
narrow-mindedness, bigotry, vengefulness, little. But on the whole, to be a eunuch was a ‘curse’. William
Dalrymple notes that in the course of History – both in the Hindu and
etc.- “
the Muslim traditions, the ‘Hizaras’ [Eunuchs] were subject to
Three thousand Delhi-wallahs were tried and executed – either derogatory positions. Moreover, the modern generations of such
hanged, shot or blown from the mouth of cannon – on flimsiest eunuchs exhibit unique fusion of both traditions, which he calls
evidence.” (147) ‘Indian Compromise’. On the personal level, they are ill- ominous, but
on general grounds ‘Wel-come’ as the agents of good fortunes; i.e. if
Ghalib, the great Urdu poet, was greatly pained at the helplessness a 114 couple gives birth to such a person , it is considered as a
of the Indian folks and his pain flowed like melting tears in his words: ‘curse’, but at the marriages or at other celebrations, Hizaras’
presence is considered ominous, hizaras’ blessings or curse are
Helpless I watch the wives and children of aristocrats literally considered to be instant effective. After two months of close follow-
begging from door to door. One must have a heart of steel to witness ups, William Dalrymple succeeds in winning the confidence and
the contemporary scene....the moon-faced Begums of the Red fort closeness of the household of Chaman Guru and his three Chelas-
wandering around the streets in filthy clothes, ragged pyjamas and namely- Panna, Vimala and Raziya. It is really astonishing, how they
broken shoes. (148) had got chained together in one household though they belonged to
288
The Twilight period of the City of Djinns was thus over with the exactly different households, cultures and backgrounds. Still they
Britishers seizing the total command of the city after the blood had their own personal utopia, dreams and ideology and their
sheding events that followed the uprising of 1857. Modern Delhi has different roles in the household and outside packed with harmonious
evolved a metropolitan culture and westernized night life. William rut. William goes with them on the ‘Tolly’ and personally witnesses
Dalrymple being a man from West enjoys this superficial culture their functioning the role of ‘Hizaras’ among social circles. He finally
where the nouveau riche people as well as persons holding powerful sums up their plight: [But] when society closes off all other
positions get pooled together in night parties and make such places opportunities there are only two choices for the Eunuchs: dancing
a platform to exhibit their riches and high profile contacts as the and prostitution. Of these, going on ‘Tolly’ is probably preferable- and
parameter of their success. William seems to present this 111 new possibly more lucrative. (183) And, Though no faults of their own,
cult of Delhi in contrast to the old regal gorgeousness of Delhi code through deformity or genetic accident, they found themselves
of conducts, the traits which impressed each and every one who marginalised by Indian society, turned into something half way
came in their contact. Next, in his unique comic vein Dalrymple between a talisman and an object of ridicule. Yet in their own terms
narrates the conjurations of Mrs. Puri to raise the rent of the flat. He they seem fairly content with their lives and they do not rail against
nicely presents how initially in a roundabout way and then becoming the fate that has left them with this role. (183) William Dalrymple
somewhat blunt Mrs. Puri justifies her point of raising the rent. Here focuses on the golden age of the City of Djinns i.e. the period of
once again he embosses the money mindedness of this Punjabi land reign of Shah Jehan. In the company of studious Dr. Jaffery, who has
lady and presents an another evidence of the financial success of been working for long on transcribing ‘Shah Jehan Nama’, with the
the Punjabi people as their capacity to maintain the profit and loss travel notes of Bernier in the ‘Mughul Empire’ and Manucci’s ‘Mogul
scales even in their daily life and relations too. Paying visit to the India’, he enacts the whole mess of Mughul Politics which is
tomb of Safdarjung, Dalrymple strikes open still another facet of complex, coarse and brute enough to murder a brother, poison a
Delhi’s fate. He presents the details of Delhi under the reign of sister or starve the father. He concludes that Shah Jehan’s downfall
Muhammad Shah, popularly known in the Indian History as Rangila and tragic end were due to some vulnerable flaws of his own
(The Colourful). And as his name implied, William Dalrymple notes, character, his pride, his sexual gluttony and the unjust way he
he gave handled his children. William Dalrymple emphasises the typical
Mughul politics of the day that teemed with exercise of dissimulation
up any pretence of ruling, ‘in the morning he watched Partridge and and hypocrisy, treachery and treasons behind the beautiful veil of
Elephant fights; in the afternoon he was entertained by Autocracy and refined manners and Religious relics. He presents the
bit-by-bit chronicle of Aurangzeb’s seizing of power. Actually, Shah
the Jehan did not pay enough attention, and did not give enough
significance to Aurangzeb. He saw an ideal emperor in his elder son
jugglers, ventriloquists, mime artists and conjurers; Politics he wisely Dara Sukhoh. He was treated like the heir and all the 115 attention
left to his scheming was concentrated on Dara’s refinements, whereas Aurangzeb was
deliberately kept away from this aristocratic business. Dara Sukhoh
advisors. William Dalrymple also asserts that it was because of this was studious and enjoyed the company of learned as well as strong
policy he could survive as the longest surviving sovereign. The
289
empire had shrinked and lost almost all its far and wide territories, soldiers. He took interest in the beliefs and principles of Hinduism
the patent arts of cavalry of gorgeous Delhi were defeated by the too. He translated the Hindu religious texts like Upanisads, the
arts of music, poetry and paintings. William Dalrymple rightly notes Bhagvad Gita and the Yoga- Vasista in Persian. Much to the dislike
that it was the time when the poets of Delhi (e.g. Mir Taqui Mir) were of the orthodox Muslim nobles [who produced their disagreements in
closely followed: only behind his back]; Dara produced the ‘Majma-ul-Baharain’ [The
Mingling of two oceans namely Muslim and Hinduism]. This pinched
A new Gazal (love lyric) by one of the great Delhi poet was the shoes of the Muslim nobles as their crown prince was talking of
considered the most desirable gift that any civilised host could wish ‘Infidelity and Islam to be twin brothers’. Dara’s political superiority
for. (157) was unsurpassable and his seat in the court was next only to the
Sultan himself. On the other hand, Aurangzeb was capable of great
After the death of Muhammad Shah, Safdarjung picked up the dissimulation and hypocrisy. He had a strong web of spies spread
opportunity to take the reins of power in his hands reducing the across the capital as William puts it, that ‘nothing could be said in
ascender to the throne a mere filigree of show. But the Delhi without Aurangzeb coming to hear of it.’(197). he led a strict
extravagances and arrogance of Safdarjung enraged the British ascetic life in the eye of public, but secretly nurtured greater
power who summoned other regional forces and got him thrown scheming, and waited for an appropriate chance to settle his account
with his father for his unreasonable affections for Dara, his elder
out of the city. After his death, his son begged permission to build his brother. Just like among the brothers, an acute hostility also
father’s tomb in prevailed between two daughters of Shah Jehan- Jahanara and
Roshanara. Sultan Shah Jehan, just like Dara Sukhoh, treated
Delhi. Expert eyes of Dalrymple do not fail to notice the derogatory Jahanara with amounts of greater affection. And after the death of
architectural merits of this tomb. Opening pages of its history, he his beloved wife Mumbai Mahal and after having shifted to Shah
notes, since the quarries of quality marble around Agra were no Jehanabad, this locks of relationship had strengthened to that
longer under the Mughal control and the road between Delhi and degree that William Dalrymple quotes Bernier, the French traveler
Agra being under the control of Jat tribesmen, the builder of this who had been in Delhi and in Shah Jehan’s court for a long time, “it
tomb had to stripe the necessary material from the other existing would have been unjust to deny the king the privilege of gathering
tombs. The awkward patches of pink sandstones in the white dome fruits from the tree he himself planted” (198). Even another quotation
announce the shortage of material. Still, as William Dalrymple notes, from Bernier’s account about the King’s unannounced appearance at
the building stands signature of historic importance: 112 Jahanara’s residence in the close perusal of the secret information of
Jahanara’s orgies, and giving suggestion to Jahanara to take bath
The building tells a story of drunken laughter as the pillars of empire
and in this way murdering the gallant hiding in the capacious
collapsed in a cloud of dust and masonry; and afterwards, of dancing
cauldron used for bath, also confirms of such intimate relations. Still
in the ruins. (159)
further confirmation is found in the facts that it was Jahanara who
Form the account of Rangila, Dalrymple’s interest gets riveted to the nursed the king in his critical illness and even at the time of his
Mughal sports of Elephant and Partridge fights. He traces the death, she was the only person with him nursing him in the
290
survival of these sports in modern Delhi. After the initial negative imprisonment in his own palace. Roshanara, on the other hand,
responses, and slight details of the last Elephant fight which had remained constantly discontented at the greater significance
taken place at the turn of the century in the princely state of attributed to Jahanara and consequently the neglect and the inferior
Rajputana, William Dalrymple accidently comes to know about the status she had to experience. Somehow, like her brother Aurangzeb,
‘Partridge Fight’ from Balvinder. Balvinder called it ‘Bird-Challenge’. she too had maintained a rich textured network of spies in the entire
Dalrymple was eager to witness the sport. William Dalrymple system. She joined her hands with 116 Aurangzeb and helped him to
presents a live account of the surviving traces of once favorite a greater extent in his conspiracies and ultimate war against their
pastime ‘Mughal Sport’. The excitement of the sport has drawn a own father and snatching away the reins of power from him, and his
large number of persons to the ‘Grave-Yard’ on the Sunday morning. ascending on the throne of this glorious city. During the reign of
William Dalrymple is welcomed and given all the details about the Aurangzeb, she enjoyed unfathomed power and all the lavishness of
rules and regulations of the sport. Be it the façade of any ancient royal grandeurs. However, later when Aurangzeb was ill, her lust for
building or the partridge fight, William Dalrymple’s clutching power made her scheme against Aurangzeb, which ultimately cost
description pulses with acute liveliness: her very dear. Thinking that Aurangzeb would not survive the illness,
she stole the royal-stamp and got a document prepared announcing
For a few seconds the two birds stood facing each other, chests fully not the elder but the younger adolescent son of Aurangzeb be the
extended; then Handlebar’s bird flew at its rival with a new and rightful to ascending to the throne. Her logic behind this was very
sudden violence. He dealt the Muslim’s bird a glancing blow with the simple. When the younger son were on the throne, she would enjoy
hook of his beak, then rose up, wings arched, and fell heavily on the and exercise some extra as being the guardian. Somehow, her plan
lighter bird’s head. As he hopped out of reach he again cut the got disposed as Aurangzeb miraculously recovered from the illness
darker bird with his spurs. (164) that seemed fatal, and when from the spies he came to know about
his beloved sister’s misadventure, he poisoned her. She met a
Along with, William Dalrymple also captions the point that such terrible end. She was buried under a pavilion in the Roshanara
sports are popular among the lower middle class males who have garden she herself had built. Shah Jehan’s vociferous appetite for
their own worries, struggles and tough tasks of life, as Punjabsingh sex led him to consume some substantial quantities of aphrodisiacs
puts it: ‘the stimulating drugs’, which had some fatal side effects, as Manucci
pointed out: These stimulating drugs brought on retention of
People are coming here drunk, worried or tired of the chores of the urine…for three days Shah Jehan was almost at death’s door. (231)
world, but always they leave this place refreshed. (165) The Emperor’s severe illness and the news of his palace locked
fanned the fire of upheaval until now was underground and gave
Romantic character of Delhi public is another striking point about start to the contest amongst the four princes as to who would ascend
Sufderjung’s Delhi. He cites pictorial descriptions of such unlicensed on the throne. The first to make the move was the viceroy of Bengal,
hedonism of Delhi public in Quli Khan’s ‘Murraqqa-e-Delhi’ (the book the second son of Shah Jehan, Shah Shuja. The armies of Dara
which he labels as his favourite one). Khan has described in detail subdued his attacks. When recovered the sultan himself took over
how even the Mehfils at the religious places got the dying of romantic Dara’s side. On the other hand, Aurangzeb joined his hands with his
sheds where men and women busied themselves in amorous
291
activities. William Dalrymple aptly notes that these traces are also brother Murad Baksh. Though he had a smaller army, he with his
still alive in some parts of Delhi and one can find them only if one cunningness bribed some of the officials of Dara’s army, and with
knows where exactly to look for them: their help shattered Dara’s army. When Dara saw the imminent
defeat, he fled from the spot. On the other hand, the old monarch’s
Yet as I discovered that December, the bawdiness of Sufdarjung’s i.e. Shah Jehan’s scheme of ambushing Aurangzeb converted into
Delhi does survive, kept alive by one particular group of Delhi-wallah. utter failure by Roshanara Begum. Ultimately, Aurangzeb,
113 You can still find them in the dark gullies of the old city- if you imprisoned his father, murdered his three brothers, and ascended to
know where to look. (168-169) the throne of Delhi. The height of hatred for one’s own kinsmen and
deriving sadistic pleasure from their miserable plight undergoing
From the bawdiness of Safderjung’s Delhi, William Dalrymple unbearable pains might be the unique quality of the apex family of
generates interest in the most secretive society of Delhi ‘Eunuchs’- Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb had already put Murad Baksh, (his
the harem guards of Mughal India. brother with whose help he had won the battle against Dara), into the
dungeon where he was force fed poppy-water that would ultimately
They were clad in brightly coloured silks and muslins, flowing saris led him to insanity. After the 117 arrest, as Bernier puts it, Dara was
edged in glittering gold brocade. They were heavily made mup, with also brought to Delhi, where in presence of Dara’s young son Dara
painted cheeks and scarlet lipstick; each of their noses was pierced was taken to the full length of Chandni-Chawk in the fashion of a
with a single diamond stud they were dressed for nautch, dressed as procession exercising the thud of humiliation. He was kept
women, yet they were not women,. Even at a distance of twenty imprisoned where after sometime, he was beheaded by Aurangzeb’s
yards I could see that their physiognomy was very different from the nobles in front of his son. The nobles as a gesture to please their
delicate features of Indian girls. Their faces were too strong, their master cleaned and wrapped the head in a turban and presented it
arms were too thick, their shoulders were wrong they smoked. to Aurangzeb in a golden dish. Having examined the face Aurangzeb
Physically, they resembled painted men, yet they were not thrust at it three times with a sword and uttered the words vile with
hatred. “Behold the face of a would be king and emperor of all the
men. (169) His ten days efforts led him to fruitless toil, as no eunuch Mughal realms. Take him out of my sight.” (237) Roshanara Begum
was ready to open up any page of their personal life before him. was overjoyed at the end of Dara and she threw a party in the
When he was exactly on the verge of giving up his mission, he Imperial Harem at which she persuaded Aurangzeb to send the
accidently happened to meet Zakir, a young man, who created a ‘head’ to Shah Jehan as a present thinking that it would be an
bridge between him and the eunuchs and made a kind of dialogue amusing joke. The whole event, with utter painful consequences, as
possible. Zakir took him to the Haveli of Chaman Guru. William Dalrymple quotes Manucci, goes this way: “I’tibar Khan [The Eunuch]
Dalrymple closely follows the history of these mysterious ‘Eunuchs’, waited until the hour Shah Jehan had sat down to dinner. When he
and derives the conclusion that like the architectures and many other had begun to eat, I’tibar Khan entered with the box and laid it before
ways of life of modern Delhi – the lives of these Eunuchs were also a the unhappy father, saying: ‘King Aurangzeb, your son sends this
fusion/merger of both the Hindu and Muslim traditions. In the plat to your majesty to let you see that he does not forget you.’ The
Eurasian history, old Emperor said: ‘Blessed be God that my son still remembers me.’
292
they are referred to in ancient Assyrian and Babylonian stelae and The box having been placed upon the table, he ordered it with great
became popular as servants- and as passive sexual play things. In eagerness to be opened. But on withdrawing the lid, he discovered
the the face of Prince Dara. Horrified, he uttered a cry and fell on his
hands and face upon the table, and, striking against the golden
Anglo-Saxon England and Italy until 19 th century they were given vessels, broke some of his teeth and lay there apparently lifeless.
Jahanara Begum and the other women present began to wail, beat
singing castrato roles in opera as well as in the Vatican Sistine choir. their breasts, tear their hair and rend their garments… But the
eunuch I’tibar Khan made a report to King Aurangzeb of what had
The Muslim world held them perfect as the harem guards owing to passed, with all the details, whereby he and Roshanara Begum
their impotence, and with their faithful services received great delight. (238) Aurangzeb’s reign brought a
considerable decline in the charms of Delhi. Firstly, Aurangzeb
they rose to power as Chamberlains, Governors and even Generals. remained busy with war-fields and in his destructive projects of the
other religious monuments. Secondly, he preferred his own founded
And in the Hindu texts – The Vedas – the castration was seen as a
city of ‘Aurangabad’ in Deccan. Thus, Delhi, the city of court, slowly
degrading punishment. The persons ‘castrated’ as a part of
withered and lost its charms. The Aurangzebian time was the golden
punishment was pushed to the lower of the lowest category of the
time of the Fakirs. Relating the magical charms being exercised and
society. In the time of Mahabharata, the condition had improved a
practiced by the fakirs, Dalrymple presents the account presented by
little. But on the whole, to be a eunuch was a ‘curse’. William
Bernier: 118 They tell any person his thoughts, cause the branch of a
Dalrymple notes that in the course of History – both in the Hindu and
tree to blossom and to bear fruit within an hour, hatch an egg in their
the Muslim traditions, the ‘Hizaras’ [Eunuchs] were subject to
bosom within fifteen minutes. Producing whatever bird may be
derogatory positions. Moreover, the modern generations of such
demanded, and make fly around the room. (239) Equally amusing
eunuchs exhibit unique fusion of both traditions, which he calls
and baffling it seems to Dalrymple [and to us also] when Pakeezah,
‘Indian Compromise’. On the personal level, they are ill- ominous, but
the librarian- the descendent line of Aurangzeb, informs Dalrymple
on general grounds ‘Wel-come’ as the agents of good fortunes; i.e. if
about her aunt’s living with the djinn. Pakeezah’s account presents
a 114 couple gives birth to such a person , it is considered as a
the merging of the aristocracy with the ordinary life. She, though
‘curse’, but at the marriages or at other celebrations, Hizaras’
exhibiting her royal pride, works as a librarian and takes care of her
presence is considered ominous, hizaras’ blessings or curse are
old mother [the Princess] single handedly. Delhi summer makes
considered to be instant effective. After two months of close follow-
William very much restless and has to remain confined within four
ups, William Dalrymple succeeds in winning the confidence and
walls during the whole afternoons as he calls them ‘white-midnights’,
closeness of the household of Chaman Guru and his three Chelas-
still the heat breeds some poetic sensibilities in him and he goes to
namely- Panna, Vimala and Raziya. It is really astonishing, how they
describe the summer scenario in poetic terms: The sun had just
had got chained together in one household though they belonged to
appeared over the tree line…, hinting at the furnace heat to come.
exactly different households, cultures and backgrounds. Still they
Soon the kites were circling the thermals, a great helix of wide-
had their own personal utopia, dreams and ideology and their
winged bird sailing the vectors in sweeping corkscrew spirals…Noon
different roles in the household and outside packed with harmonious
293
rut. William goes with them on the ‘Tolly’ and personally witnesses came like a white midnight: the streets were deserted, the windows
their functioning the role of ‘Hizaras’ among social circles. He finally closed, the doors locked. There was no noise but for the sullen and
sums up their plight: [ persistent whirr of the ceiling fan. (245) Dalrymple presents the
account of his witnessing the celebration of Ramadan Id, and
But] when society closes off all other opportunities there are only two offering the final prayer of Ramadan at Jamma Masjid of Chandani
choices for the Eunuchs: dancing and prostitution. Of these, going on Chawk. Here he puts forward his observation about the two major
‘Tolly’ is probably preferable- and possibly more lucrative. (183) And, Hindustani Religions- Hindu and Islam. He notes: I have always
Though no faults of their own, through deformity or genetic accident, thought that Hinduism is at its most sympathetic and comprehensible
they found themselves marginalised by Indian society, turned into in the countryside: a simple roadside shrine, a sacred river, a holy
something half way between a talisman and an object of ridicule. Yet spring- these things are the life-blood of that great religion, whereas,
in their own terms they seem fairly content with their lives and they Islam looks at its most impressive in a great urban cathedral
do not rail against the fate that has left them with this role. (183) mosque, especially on an occasion like Id. (251) The occasion of the
William Dalrymple focuses on the glorious celebration of Id brings forth the arrival of the caravan of Ibn
Battuta of Tangier in Delhi in 1333. Dalrymple notes this great
golden age of the City of Djinns i.e. the period of reign of Shah traveler arrived in Delhi around such celebration of Id, and his diary
Jehan. In the company of studious Dr. Jaffery, who has been working presents the details of the reign of Muhammad Bin Tughluk. Battuta
for long on transcribing ‘Shah Jehan Nama’, with the travel notes of earned the position of ‘Qazi’ and two villages in the exchange of his
Bernier in the ‘Mughul Empire’ and Manucci’s ‘Mogul India’, he gifts from Khorasan. Dalrymple goes in search of Behampur, the city
enacts the whole mess of Mughul Politics which is complex, coarse of Tughluk’s reign, yet another incarnation of Delhi. He finds out the
and brute enough to murder a brother, poison a sister or starve the Hazar Utsan - the thousand-pillared palace of Tughluk. Though in
father. He concludes that Shah Jehan’s downfall and tragic end were ruins at present, Dalrymple’s eyes try to search and 119 rebuild its
due to some vulnerable flaws of his magnificence through Ibn Battuta’s reporting. Ibn Battuta’s account
of Tughluk’s Delhi presents the ghastly traits of Tughluk’s reign.
own character, his pride, his sexual gluttony and the unjust way he Sultan Tughluk was so unscrupulous, ghastly and cruel towards his
handled his children. subjects that even though he enjoyed a favoured position of the
Sultan, Ibn Battuta remained under constant frisson of the Sultan’s
William Dalrymple emphasises the typical Mughul politics of the day frenzy and as he confesses “(and) every time he said any
that teemed with exercise of dissimulation and hypocrisy, treachery encouraging word to me I kissed his hand, until I had kissed it seven
and treasons behind the beautiful veil of Autocracy and refined times” (258). William Dalrymple notes down that Battuta seemed
manners and Religious relics. He presents the bit-by-bit chronicle of impressed by the city, which spread through the plains of around the
Aurangzeb’s seizing of power. Actually, Shah Jehan did not pay old Hindu fort of Lal Kot. Dalrymple quotes Battuta: “Delhi”, writes
enough attention, and did not give enough significance to Battuta “is a vast and magnificent city, uniting beauty with strength. It
Aurangzeb. He saw an ideal emperor in his elder son Dara Sukhoh. is surrounded by a wall that has no equal in the world, and is the
He was treated like the heir and all the 115 attention was largest city in India, nay in the entire Muslim Orient”. (258) The
concentrated on Dara’s refinements, whereas Aurangzeb was
294
deliberately kept away from this aristocratic business. Dara Sukhoh architectural monuments that stretch the glorious past to the time
was studious and enjoyed the company of learned as well as strong present are the structures of the ‘Hazzar Pillars’ and the ‘Qutub
soldiers. He took interest in the beliefs and principles of Hinduism Minar’. Though the magnificent structure of the ‘Hazzar Pillars’ is in
too. He translated the Hindu religious texts like Upanisads, the ruins as William Dalrymple locates it in the emerging new cement
Bhagvad Gita and the Yoga- Vasista in Persian. Much to the dislike concrete expansion of Delhi, Battuta’s account presents it in its
of the orthodox Muslim nobles [who produced their disagreements in original glories: “The third gate opens into the Thousand Pillars. It is
only behind his back]; Dara produced the ‘Majma-ul-Baharain’ [The here the sultan holds his audience... [He] sits cross-legged on a
Mingling of two oceans namely Muslim and Hinduism]. This pinched throne above the great dais while one hundred élite guards stand on
the shoes of the Muslim nobles as their crown prince was talking of either side carrying shields, swords and bows...” (257) The walled
‘Infidelity and Islam to be twin brothers’. Dara’s political superiority city of Tughlukabad, as Dalrymple states, must have been a
was unsurpassable and his seat in the court was next only to the magnificent place. His expert vision inspects its grand constructions
Sultan himself. On the other hand, Aurangzeb was capable of great and concludes asserting its superiority: Even today, seven hundred
dissimulation and hypocrisy. He had a strong web of spies spread years after it was built, the vast walled enclosure is still an
across the capital as William puts it, that ‘ impressive sight. But at the time of Tughluks when the gridded lines
of now-collapsed rubbles were bustling streets and bazaars,
nothing could be said in Delhi without Aurangzeb coming to hear of armouries and elephant stables, all rising up from the glittering
it.’(197). he waters of the lake, …(265) Dalrymple notes the magnificent structure
of the tomb of Ghiyasu-ud-din Tughluk, the father of Sultan
led a strict ascetic life in the eye of public, but secretly nurtured Muhammad and the creator of this impregnable complex. William
greater scheming, and waited for an appropriate chance to settle his notes that the whole architectural structure had its different value too
account with his father for his unreasonable affections for Dara, his and there remained a constant thinking about the war conditions and
elder brother. Just like among the brothers, an acute hostility also the utility of this structure at the time of war. For this William quotes
prevailed between two daughters of Shah Jehan- Jahanara and what Damascene geographer al- Umari has noted about Delhi: 120
Roshanara. Sultan Shah Jehan, just like Dara Sukhoh, treated “That Delhi, for all its bazaars and shrines and architectures, was
Jahanara with amounts of greater affection. And after the death of above all a barrack.” War and defense makes William think about the
his beloved wife Mumbai Mahal and after having shifted to Shah weapons and he opens the history of them: SWORD: William holds it
Jehanabad, this locks of relationship had strengthened to that to be the superior among all the weapons. It was invented by
degree that William Dalrymple quotes Bernier, the French traveler Jamshed, the first of Monarchs. Even the proverbial saying ‘taken by
who had been in Delhi and in Shah Jehan’s court for a long time, “ the sword’ when any kingdom is taken by force, he notes, denotes its
superiority over other weapons. There are many types of swords
it would have been unjust to deny the king the privilege of gathering such as Chini, Rusi, Firanghi, Shahi, Hindi and Kashmiri. He notes
fruits from the tree he himself planted” (198). that among all these variety of swords the Hindi sword known as
‘Mauj-e-Dariya’ [the waves of the sea] is the most lustrous. BOW:
Even another quotation from Bernier’s account about the King’s Relating about the bow, he notes, it was the gift of Jibrail to Adam in
unannounced appearance at Jahanara’s residence in the close
295
perusal of the secret information of Jahanara’s orgies, and giving Paradise. Since it is from the Paradise, it is powerful,and in Paradise
suggestion to Jahanara to take bath and in this way murdering the the blessed will practice archery. Among the varieties of bows,
gallant hiding in the capacious cauldron used for bath, also confirms William notes, the bow of Ghana is superior. It is made of horn and
of such intimate relations. Still further confirmation is found in the its aim is straight. The second one is the Indian bow- the Kaman-I-
facts that it was Jahanara who nursed the king in his critical illness Hindavi. This variety is made of cane. Though its arrow does not
and even at the time of his death, she was the only person with him travel longer distance, it inflicts a very bad wound. He also notes
nursing him in the imprisonment in his own palace. Roshanara, on about the different types of bow-string material used at different
the other hand, remained constantly discontented at the greater places. In central Asia horse hide is used. Hide of the ox, the horse
significance attributed to Jahanara and consequently the neglect and or even the flanks of a young Nilgai are also used to make the bow
the inferior status she had to experience. Somehow, like her brother strings. But he confidently states that the Rhinoceros hide would
Aurangzeb, she too had maintained a rich textured network of spies make the most superior bow-string. In the Tughluk Sultan’s time,
in the entire system. She joined her hands with 116 Aurangzeb and academic activities also acquired a considerable acceleration.
helped him to a greater extent in his conspiracies and ultimate war William notes that as Tughlukabad was to the military of the central
against their own father and snatching away the reins of power from Delhi, the suburb of Hauz Khas was to the Savants. It is here there
him, and his ascending on the throne of this glorious city. During the stood a medrese - [a college] - whose academic reputation reached
reign of Aurangzeb, she enjoyed unfathomed power and all the far and wide. Here the learned refugees from Samarkand and the
lavishness of royal grandeurs. However, later when Aurangzeb was Central Asian university towns who fled from the 121 Mongol
ill, her lust for power made her scheme against Aurangzeb, which Conquests made their abode. And in the magnificent infrastructures
ultimately cost her very dear. Thinking that Aurangzeb would not not only the Islamic and Quranic studies were undertaken, the
survive the illness, she stole the royal-stamp and got a document subjects like Astronomy and Medicine were also pursued with keen
prepared announcing not the elder but the younger adolescent son interests. The medical school pursued and practiced here was ‘Unani
of Aurangzeb be the rightful to ascending to the throne. Her logic Tibbia’- origin of which traced back to Greek Hippocrates or Galen.
behind this was very simple. When the younger son were on the Tracing the History of Channels through which this knowledge of
throne, she would enjoy and exercise some extra as being the unique medical practice passed, William notes: The secrets of Unani
guardian. Somehow, her plan got disposed as Aurangzeb medicine were originally passed from the Byzantine Empire to
miraculously recovered from the illness that seemed fatal, and when Sassanil Persia by heretic Nestorian Christians expanding the
from the spies he came to know about his beloved sister’s oppressive Orthdoxy of Constantinople. The exiles set up a medical
misadventure, he poisoned her. She met a terrible end. She was school at Jundishpur, south of modern Tehrran, where their arcane
buried under a pavilion in the Roshanara garden she herself had and esoteric formulae were stolen by the Arabs during the early
built. Shah Jehan’s vociferous appetite for sex led him to consume conquests of Islam. (269) The practice, thus, in course of time,
some substantial quantities of aphrodisiacs ‘the stimulating drugs’, passed through different races, and got ‘cross-fertilized’ with the
which had some fatal side effects, as Manucci pointed out: ancient medical practices of Pharaonic Egypt, Sumeria, Assyria, and
Babylon- and then the Arab Scholar Ibn Sina gave it its final coding
296
These stimulating drugs brought on retention of urine…for three days and made it a cohesive system. William Dalrymple also probes into
Shah Jehan was almost at death’s door. (231) its principles and compares it with the Western medical practice:
While Western medicine has always tended to concentrate on the
The Emperor’s severe illness and the news of his palace locked elimination of germs, …Unani medicine emphasized aiding the
fanned the fire of upheaval until now was underground and gave body’s inbuilt ability to heal itself and its ethics forbade any
start to the contest amongst the four princes as to who would ascend treatments which, while curing a specific ailment, harmed the
on the throne. The first to make the move was the viceroy of Bengal, soundness of the body as a whole. (269) Having got his attention
the second son of Shah Jehan, Shah Shuja. The armies of Dara drawn towards this unique medical practices, and having collected
subdued his attacks. When recovered the sultan himself took over the facts that such type of practices are no longer in existence where
Dara’s side. On the other hand, Aurangzeb joined his hands with his they actually originated, William feels sure that, like almost all other
brother Murad Baksh. Though he had a smaller army, he with his traditions which once visited Delhi, the city has kept them safe and
cunningness bribed some of the officials of Dara’s army, and with alive within its life, this tradition too must have survived here. And
their help shattered Dara’s army. When Dara saw the imminent William knows where to look for it. Yes, it is in the alleys of the old
defeat, he fled from the spot. On the other hand, the old monarch’s city, he notes, there are now some 1500 Hakims still practicing the
i.e. Shah Jehan’s scheme of ambushing Aurangzeb converted into century-long Byzantine medicine in Delhi, [and they appear to do
utter failure by Roshanara Begum. Ultimately, Aurangzeb, thriving business, William notes] describing one such medical
imprisoned his father, murdered his three brothers, and ascended to compartment, he writes: Their surgeries are wonderful. Inside dark,
the throne of Delhi. The height of hatred for one’s own kinsmen and vaulted rooms whose mahogany shelves are heavy with jars, bottles
deriving sadistic pleasure from their miserable plight undergoing and vials, elderly white-bearded men can be seen feeling the pulse
unbearable pains might be the unique quality of the apex family of of heavily-veiled women; behind, in the shadows their assistants are
Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb had already put Murad Baksh, (his busy decanting liquids like medieval alchemists: white powders are
brother with whose help he had won the battle against Dara), into the mixed with grey crystals then, slowly, crystal by crystal, dissolved in
dungeon where he was force fed poppy-water that would ultimately a vat of bubbling, frothing liquid. (270) 122 The ailment of his friend
led him to insanity. After the 117 arrest, as Bernier puts it, Dara was Navina offers him an opportunity to visit the Hakim Abdul Jamil
also brought to Delhi, where in presence of Dara’s young son Dara Khan. His power of minute description finds its way here too. He
was taken to the full length of Chandni-Chawk in the fashion of a describes the Hakim and his surgery in this vein: The hakim was a
procession exercising the thud of humiliation. He was kept plump, middle-aged Muslim gentleman. He wore a white kurta top
imprisoned where after sometime, he was beheaded by Aurangzeb’s over a checked lungi; he was barefoot and he kept his beard close-
nobles in front of his son. The nobles as a gesture to please their clipped. He was leaning back against a bolster; beneath him a frayed
master cleaned and wrapped the head red mat acted as makeshift carpeting. All around the hakim- in trays,
on top of cupboards, stretched out over long mahogany
in a turban and presented it to Aurangzeb in a golden dish. Having bookshelves- stood line upon line of cork-stoppered jars, phials and
examined the face Aurangzeb thrust at it three times with a sword bottles. All these jars contained ground and powdered herbs of
different colours and consistencies. In an enamel tray in front of the
and uttered the words vile with hatred. “
297
Behold the face of a would be king and emperor of all the Mughal hakim lay a collection of surgical instruments which looked as if they
realms. Take him out of my sight.” (237) might have escaped from the Roman atrefact room in the British
Museum. (271) In his conversations with the hakims, he brings out
Roshanara Begum was overjoyed at the end of Dara and the facts that this knowledge has persisted in practice through
generations; as he quotes the Hakim in this connection: “My father
she threw a party in the Imperial Harem at which she persuaded was telling me. His father told him.” (273) Scorching sun of Delhi had
Aurangzeb to send the ‘head’ to its severe effects on this Scottish couple. Whereas freckles had
appeared on Olivia’s face, William got balding effects with fast
Shah Jehan as a present thinking that it would be an amusing joke. receding hair-line. To this Mrs. Puri advised him to visit Nizzamuddin
The whole event, with utter painful consequences, as Dalrymple to pray for his disappearing hair-line. She firmly said: “The saint there
quotes Manucci, goes this way: “I’ is very god at solving all sorts of calamities. Mark my words. Your
baldness will be reversed in jiffy” (274). Nizzamuddin interests him
tibar Khan [The Eunuch] waited until the hour Shah Jehan had sat as his tomb is the centre of spiritual hegemony and people of all
down to dinner. When he had begun to eat, I’tibar Khan entered with sects, casts, creeds and religions visit this shrine of Shykh with their
the box and laid it before the unhappy father, saying: ‘King intimate dose of devotion, faith, trust and hope to be relieved from
Aurangzeb, your son sends this plat to your majesty to let you see their mundane worries with sure shot blessings and favours from the
that he does not forget you.’ The old Emperor said: ‘Blessed be God Shykh. William persuades Dr. Jaffery to accompany him to this
that my son still remembers me.’ The box having been placed upon centre of faith on one Thursday evening as it is on Thursday evening
the table, he ordered it with great eagerness to be opened. But on people arrive here to invoke the graces of the benevolent spirit of
withdrawing the lid, he discovered the face of Prince Dara. Horrified, Nizzamuddin. Shykh Nizzamuddin was, as he notes, a contemporary
he uttered a cry and fell on his hands and face upon the table, and, of Giyas- ud- Din Tughluk. He withdrew from the world and preached
striking against the golden vessels, broke some of his teeth and lay a simple message of prayer and renunciation. According to Shykh,
there apparently lifeless. Jahanara Begum and the other women the first step of Sufism was not related to the Friday prayers or empty
present began to wail, beat their breasts, tear their hair and rend rituals, but with thew mastery of the maxim: “Whatever you do not
their garments… But the eunuch I’tibar Khan made a report to King wish to be done to yourself, do not wish it to happen to others; wish
Aurangzeb of what had passed, with all the details, whereby he and for yourself what you wish for others also” ( 275). 123 The Saint
Roshanara Begum received great delight. (238) paved his own path by serving to each and every one wh came t his
door.and treating all human beings as the children of God Almighty
Aurangzeb’s reign brought a considerable decline in the charms of
whatever religion might they follow. Secondly, he also used the
Delhi. Firstly, Aurangzeb remained busy with war-fields and in his
power of music and poetry to move devotees towards spiritual
destructive projects of the other religious monuments. Secondly, he
ecstasy. This gentler doctrine of reconciliation and his message of
preferred his own founded city of ‘Aurangabad’ in Deccan. Thus,
brotherhood and musical rituals attracted towards him persons of all
Delhi, the city of court, slowly withered and lost its charms. The
religions but it enraged the orthodox Mullahs. The orthdox agencies
Aurangzebian time was the golden time of the Fakirs. Relating the
were not to let him go. They dragged him into the conflicts with the
298
magical charms being exercised and practiced by the fakirs, sultan Giyas-ud-Din.but the Saint had his own spiritual powers. And
Dalrymple presents the account presented by it is his spiritual powers that: “The Tughluks have gone; Tughlukabad
is a ruin; only Nizzmuddin remains” (276). Dr. Jaffery nicely explains
Bernier: 118 They tell any person his thoughts, cause the branch of a the existence of some spiritual powers about the Saint. Showing the
tree to blossom and to bear fruit within an hour, hatch an egg in their magnificent and architecturally rich tombs of the so called great
bosom within fifteen minutes. Producing whatever bird may be emperors, he asks William, “Who visits those tombs except some
demanded, and make fly around the room. (239) tourists? Whereas- It (Nizzamuddin’s Tomb) is the cenotaph of a
poor man who died penniless. Yet every day thousands come, and
Equally amusing and baffling it seems to Dalrymple [and to us also] they bring with them their innermost desires. There must be
when Pakeezah, the librarian- the descendent line of Aurangzeb, something which keeps them coming, six hundred years after Nizam-
informs Dalrymple about her aunt’s living with the djinn. Pakeezah’s ud-Din left his body. Everyone who comes here instinctively feels the
account presents the merging of the aristocracy with the ordinary life. presence of the saint. (285) William himself imbibes the spiritual whiff
She, though exhibiting her royal pride, works as a librarian and takes of the shrine and experiences its ‘velvety warmth’ inside: The tomb
care of her old mother [the Princess] single handedly. Delhi summer exuded the same thick, hushed, candlelit air of extreme sanctity that
makes William very much restless and has to remain confined within hangs over the world: the atmosphere reminded me immediately of
four walls during the whole afternoons as he calls them ‘white- the tomb of Saint James in Compostela or the Holy Sepulchre in
midnights’, still the heat breeds some poetic sensibilities in him and Jerusalem. (278) William meets the caretakers of this shrine, and the
he goes to describe the summer scenario in poetic terms: The sun direct descendents of Nizzamuddin, known as ‘Pirzadas’ and collects
had just appeared over the tree line…, the glimpses of their personal experiences of the holy saint. Their
narration of experiences which gave them instances of the saint’s
hinting at the furnace heat to come. Soon the kites were circling the spiritual presence reminds him Ibn Battuta’s narration of such
thermals, a great helix of wide-winged bird sailing the vectors in netherworld experiences in the company of the saintly Sufis of his
sweeping corkscrew spirals… days. One of the major reasons behind the brutal, embittered and
hostile attitudes of Sultan Muhammad Tughluk towards his subjects
Noon came like a white midnight: the streets were deserted, the was the failures of one by one reform he introduced in his realm. The
windows closed, the doors locked. There was no noise but for the double tax policy, the copper currency met with humiliating failures.
sullen and persistent whirr of the ceiling William quotes Zia-ud-Din Barni in this context: When the Sultan
found that his orders did not work so well as he desired, he became
fan. (245) Dalrymple presents the account of his witnessing the
still more embittered against his people and began to cut them down
celebration of Ramadan Id, and offering the final prayer of Ramadan
like weeds. (292) 124 Sultan’s anger against the public made him
at Jamma Masjid of Chandani Chawk. Here he puts forward his
increase the strength and number of spies i.e. secret police, which
observation about the two major Hindustani Religions- Hindu and
acted to add fuels in the burning fire. Public unrest touched its peaks
Islam. He notes: I
with the capricious decisions of the Sultan and it found its vent
through as William notes, the anonymous ‘reviling and insulting’
299
have always thought that Hinduism is at its most sympathetic and notes for the Sultan thrown in the Hazar Uttan [Hundred Pillars] And
comprehensible in the countryside: a simple roadside shrine, a this proved ‘the final straw’. In his frenzy the Sultan came to take
sacred river, a holy spring- these things are the life-blood of that most notorious decision of shifting the capital from Delhi to
great religion, Daultabad- seven hundred miles to the south and the city’s entire
population of half a million was given just three days to pack up and
whereas, leave. History witnessed a devastating episode as people faced
unprecedented hardships, a great number of tragedies occurred on
Islam looks at its most impressive in a great urban cathedral the way and only one tenth of the total number could reach the new
mosque, especially on an occasion like Id. (251) capital. Those who did not leave Delhi were dragged to Daultabad,
and the Whole Delhi was set on fire. William visits Daultabad and
The occasion of the glorious celebration of Id brings forth the arrival inspects the things himself. Here too, in the ruins, he finds the
of the caravan of Ibn Battuta of Tangier in Delhi in 1333. Dalrymple replicas of Delhi monuments which the Delhi Wallahs had prepared
notes this great traveler arrived in Delhi around such celebration of to keep their nostalgic memories alive. With new generations from
Id, and his diary presents the details of the reign of Muhammad Bin Delhi and other immigrants from the nearby regions, Daultabad, as
Tughluk. Battuta earned the position of ‘Qazi’ and two villages in the William notes, too once teemed with lively cultures and prospered in
exchange of his gifts from Khorasan. Dalrymple goes in search of the course of time William quotes Isami: Although only one tenth of
Behampur, the city of Tughluk’s reign, yet another incarnation of the population of Delhi reached Daultabad, they were still able to turn
Delhi. He finds out the Hazar Utsan - the thousand-pillared palace of it into a fertile and prosperous land. (296) But at present it is a
Tughluk. Though in ruins at present, Dalrymple’s eyes try to search deserted complex. In the fort William finds a small Chisti ‘Khanqah’ –
and 119 rebuild its magnificence through Ibn Battuta’s reporting. Ibn a dervish monastery. Here at this Durgah, he happens to come
Battuta’s account of Tughluk’s Delhi presents the ghastly traits of across the name of Khwaja Khizr ‘as the old Dervish, the Caretaker
Tughluk’s reign. Sultan Tughluk was so unscrupulous, ghastly and of the Durgah of Baha-Ud- din refers that the step well there was
cruel towards his subjects that even though he enjoyed a favoured originally built by the supernatural agency of Khawja Khizr. Now his
position of the Sultan, Ibn Battuta remained under constant frisson of research orients at finding the facts about this enigmatic ‘Khwaja
the Sultan’s frenzy and as he confesses “( Khizr’ who is associated with this city of Djinns. After working for
days in the Nehru library, he comes out with certain traits about
and) every time he said any encouraging word to me I kissed his Khwaja Khizr. ‘Khwaja khizr, referred to as ‘green one’, was once
hand, until I had kissed it seven times” (258). celebrated throughout Islam. There was no consensus about his life
period among Islamic Scholars as whether he was a contemporary
William Dalrymple notes down that Battuta seemed impressed by the
of Abraham who left Babel alongside the Patriarch. Some believe
city, which spread through the plains of around the old Hindu fort of
him to be a friend of Moses who helped guide the tribes of Israel
Lal Kot. Dalrymple quotes Battuta: “Delhi”, writes Battuta “
through the Red sea. Another belief held him to be the cousin and
contemporary of Alexander of Macedon. Still others claimed that
300
is a vast and magnificent city, uniting beauty with strength. It is Khizr was the great grandson of Shem son of Noah, that he was
surrounded by a wall that has no equal in the world, and is the immortal and that his body was miraculously renewed every five
largest city in India, nay in the entire Muslim Orient”. (258) hundred years. 125 He wore a long white beard and one of his
thumbs had not bone in it. He was always dressed in green and was
The architectural monuments that stretch the glorious past to the called ‘Khizr [Arabic for green] because wherever he knelt and
time present are the structures of the ‘Hazzar Pillars’ and the ‘Qutub prayed the soil instantly became covered with thick vegetation.
Minar’. Though the magnificent structure of the ‘Hazzar Pillars’ is in According to the mediaeval Islamic writers Khizr is immortal and his
ruins as William Dalrymple locates it in the emerging new cement spirit wanders on the earth and if a pious heart calls for this help and
concrete expansion of Delhi, Battuta’s account presents it in its recites his name three times with pure spirits, he would protect him
original glories: “ from any difficulty. He lived on an island or a green carpet in the
heart of the sea. ? The same ‘Khizr’ was claimed to be an
The third gate opens into the Thousand Pillars. It is here the sultan incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the Northern India, and came to be
holds his audience... [He] sits cross-legged on a throne above worshipped as the river god sailing on the back of a large fish. ? In
Sindh, he was worshipped in the form of ‘Raja Khidar’ – God of
the Boatmen. ? In Gujarat, he was believed to be the one who haunted
the market early morning and fixed the rates of several commodities.
great dais while one hundred élite guards stand on either side ? In Baroda, particular this green one was worshipped to propitiate
carrying shields, swords and bows...” (257) the headaches. ? Quranic commentators believed Khwaja Khizr to
be the unnamed teacher in Surah XVIII who acts a guide to Moses
The walled city of Tughlukabad, as Dalrymple states, must have
and attempts to teach him patience. ? The references to Khizr in the
been a magnificent place. His expert vision inspects its grand
Alexender Romances of the early centuries of the Christian era are
constructions and concludes asserting its superiority:
of the real origin of Khizr myth. They borrowed it from one of the
Even today, seven hundred years after it was built, the vast walled most ancient poems in the world: The Sumerian Epic of Gila mesh. ?
enclosure is still an impressive sight. But at the time of Tughluks What interests William Dalrymple is that the mythical character of
when the gridded lines of now-collapsed rubbles were bustling Khizr which originated some centuries back is still remembered and
streets and bazaars, armouries and elephant stables, all rising up kept alive through devotion, still in the modern world. With the help of
from the glittering waters of the lake, …(265) Dr. Jaffery he goes in search of the Makhan-i-Khizr [i.e. the
residence of Khizr], as its reference he finds in the book ‘Muraqqa’-e
Dalrymple notes the magnificent structure of Delhi’. He is wonder struck to find the place well-maintained in the
wilderness of Mehauroli in the suburbs of Delhi is still utilized to
the tomb of Ghiyasu-ud-din Tughluk, the father of Sultan Muhammad invoke the Great Spirit. It is another thing that due to some unknown
and the creator of this impregnable complex. reasons, now the dervishes could not invoke the great holy spirits
owing to their derogatory lifestyle, plunging in lust and their
tendencies of cheating the gullible village folks. Here, he makes
301
William notes that the whole architectural structure had its different reference to the Hindu notion of ‘Kaliyuga’ the saga of derogation,
value too and there remained a constant thinking about the war the age of spiritual decay, to it both the Caretaker and Dr.Jaffery
conditions and the utility of this structure at the time of war. For this consented saying might it be true as everything was displaying the
William quotes what Damascene geographer al- Umari has noted symptoms of decay and derogation. 126 Just as a perfect day
about Delhi: 120 “ Tughluk’s empire too witnessed diminishing traits and loosening of
reins. As Dalrymple notes, the failures of ambitious but somewhat
That Delhi, for all its bazaars and shrines and architectures, was impractical schemes made the governors of provincial regions unrest
above all a and they started rebellions and declared themselves independent.
Tughluk’s reaction to these rebellions was as to his nature ghastly
barrack.” War and defense makes William think about the weapons and cruel. He started a wild play of murders and massacres. And
and he opens the history of them: SWORD: William holds it to be the exactly among such chaotic social and political circumstances,
superior among all the weapons. It was invented by Jamshed, the Battuta notes, the Sultan decided to send a Royal convoy to the
first of Monarchs. Even the proverbial saying ‘taken by the sword’ Chinese Monarch of which Battuta was designated the chief
when any kingdom is taken by force, he notes, denotes its superiority ambassador. Actually, then he was leading a life of an ascetic
over other weapons. There are many types of swords such as Chini, retreat. Dalrymple gives the traces and the tragic fate of the convoy
Rusi, Firanghi, Shahi, Hindi and Kashmiri. He notes that among all of Battuta and asserts how Battuta finally returned to Morocco and
these variety of swords the Hindi sword settled down in Fez to write his memoirs. Dalrymple further notes
down the details of the final days of Tughluk - a Sultan who
known as ‘Mauj-e-Dariya’ [the waves of the sea] is the most lustrous. witnessed great unrest during his reign and so was his death. He
BOW: was on the war- field and severely threatened by the enemy. He died
on 21 st of Muhrram 1351. William notes another interesting fact
Relating about the bow, he notes, it was the gift of Jibrail to Adam in about the Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluk that he was not buried in
Paradise. Since it is from the Paradise, it is powerful,and in Paradise the Tomb he himself had got erected for his own burial. Instead, he
the blessed will practice archery. Among the varieties of bows, was buried within the Tughluk mausoleum opposite the fortress of
William notes, the bow of Ghana is superior. Tughlukabad. Whereas, his tomb the real monument is occupied by
a certain wondering Sufi – Kabir- Ud-Din Awliya – about whom
It is made of horn and its aim is straight. The
nothing is now known. What surprises William about Delhi and about
second one is the Indian bow- the Kaman-I-Hindavi. This variety is India in general is the greater reverence being attributed to the
made of cane. Though its arrow does not travel longer distance, it penniless Sufis than to the Sultans. His attention is magnetted
inflicts a very bad wound. He also notes about the different types of towards the caravans going to Ajmer. Eventually he collects
bow-string material used at different places. In central Asia horse information about the Urs of Moin-Ud-Din at Ajmer and boards one
hide is used. such bus going to Ajmer. The bus is full of many passengers like
Boob khan from Kashmir, who travel to visit the shrine of Moin-Ud-
Hide of the ox, the horse or even the flanks of a young Nilgai Din of Ajmer to find solution to their mundane problems. At Ajmer, he
302
are also used to make the bow strings. But he confidently states that finds many people talking about their experiences of magical powers
the Rhinoceros hide would make the most superior bow-string. In the of the Saintly spirits. His desire to watch ‘Wajd’ is also fulfilled.
Tughluk Sultan’s time, academic activities also acquired a William notes down the usual Indian anxiety for rain following every
considerable acceleration. William notes that as Tughlukabad was to summer. The heat in July is unbearable. He also mentions it is
the military of the central because of this scorching heat that the Mughal shifted their capitals
to the cool climate of Kashmir and the Britishers to their imperial
Delhi, the suburb of Hauz Khas was to the Savants. summer capital of Shimla. He, too along with Oliva, takes the train to
Kalka and then takes the toy train to Shimla for three days. 127 On
It is here there stood a medrese - [a college] - whose academic his return he finds the news of Mr.Puri’s demise. He gives a minute
reputation reached far and wide. Here the learned refugees from description of mourning sessions at Mrs. Puri’s household. This grief-
Samarkand and the Central Asian university towns who fled from the engulfed atmosphere makes both him and Olivia home sick too.
121 Mongol Conquests made their abode. And in the magnificent They have completed their eleven months here and now their senses
infrastructures not only the Islamic and Quranic studies were crave for much familiar homely atmosphere. Before leaving, William
undertaken, the subjects like Astronomy and Medicine were also feels pressures of completing his research. He finds it difficult to
pursued with keen interests. The medical school pursued and trace reliable records of the pre-Muslim Delhi. All the information now
practiced here was ‘Unani Tibbia’- origin of which traced back to on hand is available in a very late medieval epic, The Prithvi Raj
Greek Hippocrates or Galen. Tracing the History of Channels Raso written by the Rajasthani Bard Chand Bardai. The epic
through which this knowledge of unique medical practice passed, presents the famous story of the gallant king Prithviraj, his love story
William notes: with Sanujkta, the daughter of the neighbour King Jai Chand,
Prithviraj’s first encounter with the Muslim warlord Muhammad of
The secrets of Unani medicine were originally passed from the Ghor. In the First war in 1191 with Ghor, Prithviraj defeated the
Byzantine Empire to Sassanil Persia by heretic Nestorian Christians invading army but chivalrously released Muhammad whom he had
expanding the oppressive Orthdoxy of Constantinople. The exiles set captured. But the very following year, the Turk returned with greater
up a medical school at Jundishpur, south of modern Tehrran, where force and defeated Prithviraj at the battle of Taraori, thus it proved
their arcane and esoteric formulae were stolen by the Arabs during the first entry of Islam in the subcontinent. Dalrymple tries to open
the early conquests of Islam. (269) the pages of History of Delhi even before the Chauhans. He
succeeds in finding some very stray and insufficient details about the
The practice, thus, in course of time, passed through different races, Tommar Dynasty who ruled the city from Lalkot before the Chauhans
of which only one name survives that of Raja Anagpala Tomar. The
and got ‘cross-fertilized’ with the ancient medical practices of
credit of installing the enigmatic metal pillar which still stands,
Pharaonic Egypt, Sumeria, Assyria, and Babylon-
gleaming and unrusted beneath the Qutub Minar goes to this
and then the Arab Scholar Ibn Sina gave it its final coding and made Anagpala, surviving the name of Anagpals. He also finds out a pre-
it a cohesive system. William Dalrymple also probes into its Muslim dam of shining quartzite in a narrow valley in the village
principles and compares it with the Western medical practice: Anangpur which is situated six miles south to the Qutub Minar. He
303
While Western medicine has always tended to concentrate on the painfully notes that nothing is clear about it and only disputed
elimination of germs, … ambiguous references are found about it. What surprises Mr.
Dalrymple is on one hand no sound and clear historic evidences are
Unani available about the Tomars, but ample details available about Delhi
during the time of Mahabharata. He asserts that whereas the
medicine emphasized aiding the body’s inbuilt ability to heal itself Western epics like the Aneid and Odyssy have turned out to be mere
and its ethics forbade any treatments which, while curing a specific classics, Mahabharata of their time is still alive as a part and parcel
ailment, harmed the soundness of the body as a whole. (269) of Indian life. He gives the parameter of its popularity by citing the
case that when recently its TV adaptation was telecast on every
Having got his attention drawn towards this unique medical Sunday as a weekly soap – almost entire Indian society and even
practices, and having collected the facts that such type of practices the administrative system was affected by it. It gained highest TRP
are no longer in existence where they actually originated, William and even there were the cases the cabinet and corporate meetings
feels sure that, like almost all other traditions which once visited were to be rescheduled owing to its telecast timings. Indeed, William
Delhi, the city has kept them safe and alive within its life, this is impressed by this supreme piece of literature- the longest book on
tradition too must have survived here. And William knows where to the earth, still his sense of history makes him wonder whether such
look for it. Yes, it is plaintive descriptions could be true, and thus he states- 128 The
more I read of the Mahabharata especially these sections dealing
in the alleys of the old city, he notes, there are now some 1500 win Indraprashta – the more I longed to know how far the
Hakims still descriptions were factual, or if they were simply the product of
Vyasa’s imagination. (325) Such doubts lead him to professor
practicing the century-long
B.B.Lal, the distinguished Indian archaeologist, who had dug a site of
Byzantine medicine in Delhi, [and they appear to do thriving Indraprastha some twenty years ago. William finds that Professor Lal
business, is of the same opinion that nothing of the far – fetching descriptions
that the Mahabharatian texts describe could be of factual value, but
William notes] describing one such medical compartment, he writes: for its basic story-line of feudal-wars for dynastical throne. Professor
Lal clearly opines, when William questions him; William: ‘So are you
Their surgeries are wonderful. Inside dark, vaulted rooms whose saying you can’t believe anything that you read in the text of the
mahogany shelves are heavy with jars, bottles and vials, elderly epic?’ Prof. Lal: ‘No, I’m not saying that. But what is clear is that you
white-bearded men can be seen feeling the pulse of heavily-veiled can’t rely on the text alone. The only way to deal with the problem --
women; behind, in the shadows their assistants are busy decanting speaking as an archaeologist -- is to look at Mahabharata sites
liquids like medieval alchemists: white powders are mixed with grey themselves’. (327) Professor Lal’s study of ‘Hastinapur’ site confirms
crystals then, slowly, crystal by crystal, dissolved in a vat of bubbling, some historical facts, but what fascinates William is the wonderful
frothing liquid. (270) 122 The ailment of ‘Maya built palace of Indraprastha’ as the text describes many
wonderful things about it. To his query about its possibilities to be
304
his friend Navina offers him an opportunity to visit the Hakim Abdul real, Professor Lal presents his archaeological arguments and
Jamil Khan. His power of minute description finds its way here too. concludes: “The Indraprastha of Mahabharata was basically created
He describes the Hakim and his surgery in this vein: by the pen of the poet.” To this, William’s acute sense of humour
adds: “And destroyed by the travel of an archaeologist”. (331) He
The hakim was a plump, middle-aged Muslim gentleman. He wore a utilizes his last afternoon in Delhi to visit the ‘Dashashwamegh Ghat’
white kurta top over a checked lungi; he was barefoot and he kept which according to the ancient myth pertaining to Delhi was originally
his beard close- clipped. He was leaning back against a bolster; ‘Nigambodh Ghat’. It was here Brahma; the creator God retrieved his
beneath him a frayed red mat acted as makeshift carpeting. All forgotten knowledge of the Vedas. In the first monsoon down pour,
around the hakim- in trays, on top of cupboards, stretched out over he experiences spiritual bliss and feels as if he had awakened that
long mahogany bookshelves- stood line upon line of cork-stoppered pre-historic time on the stream of Yamuna and wonders:
jars, phials and bottles. All these jars contained ground and Indraprastha had fallen; six hundred years of Muslim domination had
powdered herbs of different colours and consistencies. In an enamel come and gone; a brief interruption by the British was almost
tray in front of the hakim lay a collection of surgical instruments forgotten. But Shiva, the oldest living God in the world, was still
which looked as if they might have escaped from the Roman atrefact worshipped; Sanskrit- a language which pre-dates any other living
room in the British Museum. (271) tongue by millennia- was still read, still spoken. Moreover, the
sadhus and rishes- familiar figures from Mahabharata- remained
In his conversations with the hakims, he brings out the facts that this today, still following the rigorous laws of India’s most ancient
knowledge has persisted in practice through generations; as he vocations: giving up everything to wander the face of the earth in
quotes the Hakim in this connection: “My father was telling me. His search of enlightenment; renouncing the profane in the hope of a
father told him.” (273) Scorching sun of Delhi had its severe effects brief glimpse of the sacred. In this wet and dishevelled figures sitting
on this Scottish couple. Whereas freckles had appeared on Olivia’s cross-legged under the neem 129 and bunyan trees of the river bank
face, William got balding effects with fast receding hair-line. To this lay what must certainly be the most remarkable Delhi survival of all.
Mrs. Puri advised him to visit Nizzamuddin to pray for his (338) The book has set its own class and stands as a paragon of
disappearing hair-line. She firmly said: “ serious research a traveler undertakes as to fill up the narration. The
city, that once attracts the author towards it, remains a close hunt for
The saint there is very god at solving all sorts of calamities. Mark my him. Along with his initial struggles both in settling down and to
words. Your baldness will be reversed in jiffy” (274). acclimatize in it, all the aspects and the historical phases that the city
witnessed in the course of the history have been closely studied by
Nizzamuddin interests him as his tomb is the centre of spiritual the author. He leaves no stone unturned in respect to the present
hegemony and people of all sects, casts, creeds and religions visit and the past glories of the city. He, in many of his speeches and
this shrine of Shykh with their intimate dose of devotion, faith, trust articles, refers that today’s city is not the city of its glories, but it is
and hope to be relieved from their mundane worries with sure shot just an urban block which has attracted people all over India seeking
blessings and favours from the Shykh. William persuades Dr. Jaffery employment. The narrative voice throughout the book remains that of
to accompany him to this centre of faith on one Thursday evening as Anglo-centric British privileged youth who travels with least concerns
it is on Thursday evening people arrive here to invoke the graces of
305
the benevolent spirit of Nizzamuddin. Shykh Nizzamuddin was, as he of economic resources and wants to spend as much time collecting
notes, stories of his interest by investing all time, money and efforts. The
narrative remains light, jovial and sustaining interest of the reader
a contemporary of Giyas- ud- Din Tughluk. He withdrew from the with the local or historical anecdotes or stories about the place or the
world and preached a simple message of prayer and renunciation. point under discussion. He goes even to Pakistan to capture the
glimpses of the city in minds of those who were forced to leave their
According to Shykh, the first step of Sufism was not related to beloved city on the development of critical circumstances on the
partition issue. In the interview with Tabish Khair, William Dalrymple
the opines that the most interesting travel books are by the individuals
who have made extended stays in places, getting to know them
Friday prayers or empty rituals, but with thew mastery of the maxim: intimately: books like Ian Sinclair’s circling of the capital in London
“Whatever you do not wish to be done to yourself, do not wish it to Orbital or Sam Miller’s Delhi: Adventures in Megacity. There is also
happen to others; wish for yourself what you wish for others also” Amitav Ghosh in his Egyptian village in In An Antique Land, or Chris
( 275). 123 de Bellaigue’s magnificent resent study, Rebel Land, which
examines the way that the ghosts of the Armenian genocide and
The Saint paved his own path by serving to each and every one wh
Kurdish nationalism haunt a single remote town in Eastern Turkey.
came t his door.and treating all human beings as the children of God
The list which William Dalrymple enumerates can be added with his
Almighty whatever religion might they follow. Secondly, he also used
own work on Delhi, The City of Djinns as here too his long stay has
the power of music and poetry to move devotees towards spiritual enabled and offered opportunities to him to understand the
ecstasy. temperament of the city, its heritage and the public and private
domains of its habitants.
This gentler doctrine of reconciliation and his message of
brotherhood and musical rituals attracted towards him persons of all In the same interview, William Dalrymple quotes the words of Colin
religions but it enraged the orthodox Mullahs. The orthdox agencies Thubron whom he labels as the most revered Travel writer of 80s
were not to let him go. They dragged him into the conflicts with the and who is still at work: 130 The sympathetic traveller who takes
sultan Giyas-ud-Din.but the Saint had his own spiritual powers. And time to immerse himself in a country may gain not only factual
it is his spiritual powers that: “ knowledge but also a sensuous and emotional understanding, and
convey a people’s psychology and their response to things in a way
The Tughluks have gone; Tughlukabad is a ruin; only Nizzmuddin that can never be accessed studying in a library. A good travel writer
remains” (276). can give you the wrap and weft of everyday life, the generalities of
people’s existence that are rarely reflected in academic writing or
Dr. Jaffery nicely explains the existence of some spiritual powers journalism, and hardly touched upon by any other discipline.....” In
about the Saint. Showing the magnificent and architecturally rich the
306
tombs of the so called great emperors, he asks William, “Who visits same line William has also ransacked the alleys of Delhi and brought
those tombs except some tourists? Whereas- It (Nizzamuddin’ on the surface many such issues which otherwise would have
remained either unexplored on the fallacy of taken to be granted as
s Tomb) is the cenotaph of a poor man who died penniless. Yet every ordinary and being the recurrent ones and therefore of no special
day thousands come, and they bring with them their innermost importance or would just have remained limited to the learned circles
desires. There must be something which keeps them coming, six only. (Dalrymple.William. Interview with Tabish Khair, 184) In many of
hundred years after Nizam-ud-Din left his body. Everyone who his articulations William Dalrymple defends the label of the
comes here instinctively feels the presence of the saint. (285) “Orientalists” that is posted on the writers, past or present, who write
about the East. For this he argues in the Preface to Michael Fisher’s
William himself imbibes the spiritual whiff of the shrine and Anthology of European Travel Writing on Mughal India, “Following
experiences its ‘ the success of Edward Said’s groundbreaking 1978 work
Orientalism, the exploration of the East – its peoples, habits,
velvety warmth’ inside: The tomb exuded the same thick, hushed, customs and past – by European travellers has become the target
candlelit air of extreme sanctity that hangs over the world: the for what has effectively been a major scholarly assault. ‘Orientalist’
atmosphere reminded me immediately of the tomb of Saint James in has been transformed from a simple descriptive label into a term of
Compostela or the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. (278) outright academic abuse….” (Fisher, Michael H. (ed.) (2007) Visions
of Mughal India: An Anthology of European Travel Writing. London: I.
William meets the caretakers of this shrine, and the direct B. Tauris) In his books especially in City of Djinns and White Mughal,
descendents of Nizzamuddin, known as ‘Pirzadas’ and collects the his deliberations on seeking evidences in order to appropriate the
glimpses of their personal experiences of the holy saint. Their Empire are conspicuous. As Paul Smethurst observes in his essay
narration of experiences which gave them instances of the saint’s ‘Post-Orientalism and the Past-Colonial in William Dalrymple’s Travel
spiritual presence reminds him Ibn Battuta’s narration of such Histories’: Dalrymple might show more interest in Delhi’s past than in
netherworld experiences in the company of the saintly Sufis of his its post-colonial present, but then in a post modern world, where
days. One of the major reasons behind the brutal, embittered and futurism is on the wane, past and present flow into each other. So, as
hostile attitudes of Sultan Muhammad Tughluk towards his subjects he surveys the monuments of the past in Delhi, the Red Fort, the
was the failures of one by one reform he introduced in his realm. The havellis of Ballimaran, the Mughal tykhana, the British Residency in
double tax policy, the copper currency met with humiliating failures. Shahjehanabad, Luytenns’s New Delhi, he senses the aura of past,
William quotes Zia-ud-Din Barni in this context: and the flow of time that connects it with the present. His
palimpsestic approach to history is not theoretical but practical. In
When the Sultan found that his orders did not work so well as he
City of Djinns he clambers through cellars and hidden passages
desired, he became still more embittered against his people and
literary to trace his way back through the accumulated detritus of
began to cut them down like weeds. (292) 124
fallen Empire. This is not to interpret the past to explain the present,
Sultan’s anger against the public made him increase the strength but to understand and inhabit the past 131 as a dimension to the
and number of spies i.e. secret police, which acted to add fuels in the present, and to bridge that divisiveness of history which has driven a
307
burning fire. Public unrest touched its peaks with the capricious wedge between the Islamic world and the rest. 132 Works Cited
decisions of the Sultan and it found its vent through as William notes, Dalrymple, William. City of Djinns. New Delhi: Penguin Books. 1993.
the anonymous ‘reviling and insulting’ notes for the Sultan thrown in Print ---. Interview by
the Hazar Uttan [Hundred Pillars] And this proved ‘the final straw’. In
his frenzy the Sultan came to take most notorious decision of shifting Tabish Khair. Post Colonial Travel Writing, Critical Explorations, Ed.
the capital from Delhi Justin D. Edwards and Rune Graulund, New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2011. Print. ---.
to Daultabad- seven hundred miles to the south and the city’s entire
population of half a million was given just three days to pack up and Preface. Visions of Mughal India: An Anthology of European Travel
leave. Writing. By, Michael H. Fisher. ed. London: I. B. Tauris. 2007.
History witnessed a devastating episode as people faced Print.

unprecedented hardships, a great number of tragedies occurred on
the way and only one tenth of the total number could reach the new Edwards, Justin D. and Rune Graulund Ed. Post Colonial Travel
capital. Those who did not leave Delhi were dragged to Daultabad, Writing, Critical Explorations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2011.
and the Whole Delhi was set on fire. William visits Daultabad and Print. Fisher, Michael H. ed. Visions of Mughal India: An Anthology of
inspects the things himself. Here too, in the ruins, he finds the European Travel Writing. London: I. B. Tauris 2007.
replicas of Delhi monuments which the Delhi Wallahs had prepared
to keep their nostalgic memories alive. With new generations from Print.
Delhi and other immigrants from the nearby regions, Daultabad, as
William notes, too once teemed with lively cultures and prospered in Modern Language Association. The MLA Handbook for Writers of
the course of time William quotes Isami: Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association.
2009.
Although only one tenth of the population of Delhi reached
Daultabad, they were still able to turn it into a fertile and prosperous Print.
land. (296)
Mongolkar, Manohar. A Bend In Ganges. London: Pon Books ltd.
But at present it is a deserted complex. In the fort William finds a 1967.
small Chisti ‘Khanqah’ – a dervish monastery. Here at this Durgah,
Print.
he happens to come across the name of Khwaja Khizr ‘as the old
Dervish, the Caretaker of the Durgah of Baha-Ud- din refers that the Paul Smethurst. Post-Orientalism and the Past-Colonial in William
step well there was originally built by the supernatural agency of Dalrymple’s Travel Histories’ in Edwards, Justin D. and Rune
Khawja Khizr. Now his research orients at finding the facts about this Graulund (Ed.) Post Colonial Travel Writing, Critical Explorations, ,
enigmatic ‘Khwaja Khizr’ who is associated with this city of Djinns. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.
After working for days in the Nehru library, he comes out with certain
308
traits about Khwaja Khizr. ‘Khwaja khizr, referred to as ‘green one’, Said, Edward. Orientalism. London: Penguin Books. 1978. Print 133
was once celebrated throughout Islam. There was no consensus
about his life period among Islamic Scholars as whether
he was a contemporary of Abraham who left Babel alongside the

Patriarch.
Some believe him to be
a friend of Moses who helped guide the tribes of Israel through the
Red sea.
Another belief held him to be the cousin and contemporary of

Alexander of Macedon. Still others claimed
that Khizr was the great grandson of Shem son of Noah, that he was
immortal and that his body was miraculously renewed every five
hundred years. 125 He wore a long white beard and one of his
thumbs had not bone in it. He was always dressed in green and was
called ‘Khizr [Arabic for green] because wherever he knelt and
prayed the soil instantly became covered with thick vegetation.
According to the mediaeval Islamic writers Khizr is immortal and his

spirit wanders on the earth and if a pious heart calls for this help and
recites his name three times with pure spirits, he would protect him
from any difficulty.
He lived on an island or a green carpet in the heart of the sea. ?
The same ‘Khizr’ was claimed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu in

the Northern India, and came to be worshipped as the river god
sailing
on the back of a large fish. ? In Sindh, he was
309
worshipped in the form of ‘Raja Khidar’ – God of Boatmen. ? In

Gujarat, he was believed to be the one who haunted the market early
morning and fixed the rates of several commodities. ? In Baroda,
particular this green one was worshipped to propitiate the
headaches. ? Quranic commentators believed Khwaja Khizr to be
the unnamed teacher in Surah XVIII who acts a guide to Moses and
attempts to teach him patience. ?
The references to Khizr in the Alexender Romances of the early

centuries of the Christian era are of the real origin of Khizr myth.
They borrowed it
from one of the most ancient poems in the world: The Sumerian Epic
of
Gila mesh. ? What interests William Dalrymple is that the mythical

character of Khizr which originated some centuries back is still
remembered and kept alive through devotion, still in the modern
world. With the help of Dr. Jaffery he goes in search of the Makhan-i-
Khizr [i.e. the residence of Khizr], as its reference he finds in the
book ‘Muraqqa’-e Delhi’. He is wonder struck to find the place well-
maintained in the wilderness of Mehauroli in the suburbs of Delhi is
still utilized to invoke the Great Spirit. It is another thing that due to
some unknown reasons, now the dervishes could not invoke the
great holy spirits owing to their derogatory lifestyle, plunging in lust
and their tendencies of cheating the gullible village folks. Here, he
makes reference to the Hindu notion of ‘Kaliyuga’ the saga of
derogation, the age of spiritual decay, to it both the Caretaker and
Dr.Jaffery consented saying might it be true as everything was
displaying the symptoms of decay and derogation. 126 Just as a
perfect day Tughluk’s empire too witnessed diminishing traits and
loosening of reins. As Dalrymple notes, the failures of ambitious but
somewhat impractical schemes made the governors of provincial
regions unrest and they started rebellions and declared themselves
310
independent. Tughluk’s reaction to these rebellions was as to his

nature ghastly and cruel. He started a wild play of murders and
massacres. And exactly among such chaotic social and political
circumstances, Battuta notes, the Sultan decided to send a Royal
convoy to the Chinese Monarch of which Battuta was designated the
chief ambassador. Actually, then he was leading a life of an ascetic
retreat. Dalrymple gives the traces and the tragic fate of the convoy
of Battuta and asserts how Battuta
finally returned to Morocco and settled down in Fez to write his

memoirs.
Dalrymple further notes down the details of the final days of Tughluk
- a Sultan who witnessed great unrest during his reign and so was
his death. He was on the war- field and severely threatened by the
enemy. He died on 21 st of Muhrram 1351. William notes another
interesting fact about the Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluk that he was
not buried in the Tomb he himself had got erected for his own burial.
Instead, he was buried within the Tughluk mausoleum opposite the
fortress of Tughlukabad. Whereas, his tomb the real monument is
occupied by a certain wondering Sufi – Kabir- Ud-Din Awliya – about
whom nothing is now known. What surprises William about Delhi and
about India in general is the greater reverence being attributed to the
penniless Sufis than to the Sultans. His attention is magnetted
towards the caravans going to Ajmer. Eventually he collects
information about the Urs of Moin-Ud-Din at Ajmer and boards one
such bus going to Ajmer. The bus is full of many passengers like
Boob khan from Kashmir, who travel to visit the shrine of Moin-Ud-
Din of Ajmer to find solution to their mundane problems. At Ajmer, he
finds many people talking about their experiences of magical powers
of the Saintly spirits. His desire to watch ‘Wajd’ is also fulfilled.
William notes down the usual Indian anxiety for rain following every
summer. The heat in July is unbearable. He also mentions it is
because of this scorching heat that the Mughal shifted their capitals
311
to the cool climate of Kashmir and the Britishers to their imperial

summer capital of Shimla. He, too along with Oliva, takes the train to
Kalka and then takes the toy train to Shimla for three days. 127 On
his return he finds the news of Mr.Puri’s demise. He gives a minute
description of mourning sessions at Mrs. Puri’s household. This grief-
engulfed atmosphere makes both him and Olivia home sick too.
They have completed their eleven months here and now their senses
crave for much familiar homely atmosphere. Before leaving, William
feels pressures of completing his research. He finds it difficult to
trace reliable records of the pre-Muslim Delhi. All the information now
on hand is available in
a very late medieval epic, The Prithvi Raj Raso written by the
Rajasthani Bard Chand Bardai. The epic
presents the famous story of the gallant king Prithviraj, his love story
with Sanujkta, the daughter of the neighbour King Jai Chand,
Prithviraj’s first encounter with the Muslim warlord Muhammad of
Ghor. In the First war in 1191 with Ghor, Prithviraj
defeated the invading army but chivalrously released Muhammad

whom he had captured.
But the very following year,
the Turk returned with greater force and defeated Prithviraj at the
battle of Taraori,
thus it proved the first entry of Islam in the subcontinent. Dalrymple

tries to open the pages of History of Delhi even before the
Chauhans. He succeeds in finding some very stray and insufficient
details about the Tommar Dynasty who ruled the city from Lalkot
before the Chauhans of which only one name survives that of Raja
Anagpala Tomar. The credit of installing
312
the enigmatic metal pillar which still stands, gleaming and unrusted
beneath the Qutub Minar
goes to this Anagpala, surviving the name of Anagpals. He also finds

out a pre- Muslim dam of shining quartzite in a narrow valley in the
village Anangpur which is situated six miles south to the Qutub
Minar. He painfully notes that nothing is clear about it and only
disputed ambiguous references are found about it. What surprises
Mr. Dalrymple is on one hand no sound and clear historic evidences
are available about the Tomars, but ample details available about
Delhi during the time of Mahabharata. He asserts that whereas the
Western epics like the Aneid and Odyssy have turned out to be mere
classics, Mahabharata of their time is still alive as a part and parcel
of Indian life. He gives the parameter of its popularity by citing the
case that when recently its TV adaptation was telecast on every
Sunday as a weekly soap – almost entire Indian society and even
the administrative system was affected by it. It gained highest TRP
and even there were the cases the cabinet and corporate meetings
were to be rescheduled owing to its telecast timings. Indeed, William
is impressed by this supreme piece of literature- the longest book on
the earth, still his sense of history makes him wonder whether such
plaintive descriptions could be true, and thus he states- 128
The more I read of the Mahabharata especially these sections

dealing win Indraprashta – the more I longed to know how far the
descriptions were factual, or if they were simply the product of
Vyasa’s imagination. (325)
Such doubts lead him to professor B.B.Lal, the distinguished Indian

archaeologist, who had dug a site of Indraprastha some twenty years
ago. William finds that Professor Lal is of the same opinion that
nothing of the far – fetching descriptions that the Mahabharatian
texts describe could be of factual value, but for its basic story-line of
feudal-wars for dynastical throne. Professor Lal clearly opines, when
William questions him; William: ‘
313
So are you saying you can’t believe anything that you read in the text
of the epic?’ Prof. Lal: ‘No, I’m not saying that. But what is clear is
that you can’t rely on the text alone. The only way to deal with the
problem -- speaking as an archaeologist -- is to look at Mahabharata
sites themselves’. (327)
Professor Lal’s study of ‘Hastinapur’ site confirms some historical

facts, but what fascinates William is the wonderful ‘Maya built palace
of Indraprastha’ as the text describes many wonderful things about it.
To his query about its possibilities to be real, Professor Lal presents
his archaeological arguments and concludes: “
The Indraprastha of Mahabharata was basically created by the pen

of the poet.”
To this, William’s acute sense of humour adds: “And destroyed by

the travel of an archaeologist”. (331) He utilizes his last afternoon in
Delhi to visit the ‘Dashashwamegh Ghat’ which according to the
ancient myth pertaining to Delhi was originally ‘Nigambodh Ghat’. It
was here Brahma; the creator God retrieved his forgotten knowledge
of the Vedas. In the first monsoon down pour, he experiences
spiritual bliss and feels as if he had awakened that pre-historic time
on the stream of Yamuna and wonders:
Indraprastha had fallen; six hundred years of Muslim domination had

come and gone; a brief interruption by the British was almost
forgotten. But Shiva, the oldest living God in the world, was still
worshipped; Sanskrit- a language which pre-dates any other living
tongue by millennia- was still read, still spoken. Moreover, the
sadhus and rishes- familiar figures from Mahabharata- remained
today, still following the rigorous laws of India’s most ancient
vocations: giving up everything to wander the face of the earth in
search of enlightenment; renouncing the profane in the hope of a
brief glimpse of the sacred. In this wet and dishevelled figures sitting
cross-legged under the neem 129 and bunyan trees of the river bank
314
lay what must certainly be the most remarkable Delhi survival of all.
(338)
The book has set its own class and stands as a paragon of serious
research a traveler undertakes as to fill up the narration. The city,
that once attracts the author towards it, remains a close hunt for him.
Along with his initial struggles both in settling down and to
acclimatize in it, all the aspects and the historical phases that the city
witnessed in the course of the history have been closely studied by
the author. He leaves no stone unturned in respect to the present
and the past glories of the city. He, in many of his speeches and
articles, refers that today’s city is not the city of its glories, but it is
just an urban block which has attracted people all over India seeking
employment. The narrative voice throughout the book remains that of
Anglo-centric British privileged youth who travels with least concerns
of economic resources and wants to spend as much time collecting
stories of his interest by investing all time, money and efforts. The
narrative remains light, jovial and sustaining interest of the reader
with the local or historical anecdotes or stories about the place or the
point under discussion. He goes even to Pakistan to capture the
glimpses of the city in minds of those who were forced to leave their
beloved city on the development of critical circumstances on the
partition issue. In the interview with Tabish Khair, William Dalrymple
opines that the most interesting travel books are by the individuals
who have made extended stays in places, getting to know them
intimately: books like Ian Sinclair’s circling of the capital in London
Orbital or Sam Miller’s Delhi: Adventures in Megacity. There is also
Amitav Ghosh in his Egyptian village in In An Antique Land, or Chris
de Bellaigue’s magnificent resent study, Rebel Land, which
examines the way that the ghosts of the Armenian genocide and
Kurdish nationalism haunt a single remote town in Eastern Turkey.
The list which William Dalrymple enumerates can be added with his
own work on Delhi, The City of Djinns as here too his long stay has
enabled and offered opportunities to him to understand the
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temperament of the city, its heritage and the public and private
domains of its habitants.
In the same interview, William Dalrymple quotes the words of Colin

Thubron whom he labels as the most revered Travel writer of 80s
and who is still at work: 130 The sympathetic traveller who takes
time to immerse himself in a country may gain not only factual
knowledge but also a sensuous and emotional understanding, and
convey a people’s psychology and their response to things in a way
that can never be accessed studying in a library. A good travel writer
can give you the wrap and weft of everyday life, the generalities of
people’s existence that are rarely reflected in academic writing or
journalism, and hardly touched upon by any other discipline.....”
In the same line William has also ransacked the alleys of Delhi and
brought on the surface many such issues which otherwise would
have remained either unexplored on the fallacy of taken to be
granted as ordinary and being the recurrent ones and therefore of no
special importance or would just have remained limited to the
learned circles only. (Dalrymple.William. Interview with Tabish Khair,
184) In many of his articulations William Dalrymple defends the label
of the “Orientalists” that is posted on the writers, past or present, who
write about the East. For this he argues in the Preface to Michael
Fisher’s Anthology of European Travel Writing on Mughal India,
“Following the success of Edward Said’s groundbreaking 1978 work
Orientalism, the exploration of the East – its peoples, habits,
customs and past – by European travellers has become the target
for what has effectively been a major scholarly assault. ‘Orientalist’
has been transformed from a simple descriptive label into a term of
outright academic abuse….” (
Fisher, Michael H. (ed.) (2007) Visions of Mughal India: An

Anthology of European Travel Writing. London: I. B. Tauris)
316
In his books especially in City of Djinns and White Mughal, his

deliberations on seeking evidences in order to appropriate the
Empire are conspicuous. As Paul Smethurst observes in his essay ‘
Post-Orientalism and the Past-Colonial in William Dalrymple’s Travel

Histories’:
Dalrymple might show more interest in Delhi’s past than in its post-
colonial present, but then in a post modern world, where futurism is
on the wane, past and present flow into each other. So, as he
surveys the monuments of the past in Delhi, the Red Fort, the
havellis of Ballimaran, the Mughal tykhana, the British Residency in
Shahjehanabad, Luytenns’s New Delhi, he senses the aura of past,
and the flow of time that connects it with the present. His
palimpsestic approach to history is not theoretical but practical. In
City of Djinns he clambers through cellars and hidden passages
literary to trace his way back through the accumulated detritus of
fallen Empire. This is not to interpret the past to explain the present,
but to understand and inhabit the past 131 as a dimension to the
present, and to bridge that divisiveness of history which has driven a
wedge between the Islamic world and the rest. 132 Works Cited
Dalrymple, William. City of Djinns. New Delhi: Penguin Books. 1993.
Print ---. Interview by Tabish Khair. Post Colonial Travel Writing,

Critical Explorations, Ed. Justin D. Edwards and Rune Graulund,
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print. ---.
Preface. Visions of Mughal India: An Anthology of European Travel

Writing. By, Michael H. Fisher. ed. London: I. B. Tauris. 2007.
Print.
Edwards, Justin D. and Rune Graulund Ed. Post Colonial Travel

Writing, Critical Explorations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2011.
317
Print. Fisher, Michael H. ed. Visions of Mughal India: An Anthology of

European Travel Writing. London: I. B. Tauris 2007.
Print.
Modern Language Association. The MLA Handbook for Writers of

2009.
Print.
Mongolkar, Manohar. A Bend In Ganges. London: Pon Books ltd.

1967.
Print.
Paul Smethurst. Post-Orientalism and the Past-Colonial in William

Dalrymple’s Travel Histories’ in Edwards, Justin D. and Rune
Graulund (Ed.) Post Colonial Travel Writing, Critical Explorations, ,
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.
Said, Edward. Orientalism. London: Penguin Books. 1978. Print 133

134
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c 2 Chapter 1 “To wander is to get education.” – Goethe c 2 Chapter 1 “To wander is to get education.” – Goethe
Travel is not something new to us. It is a fascinating part of human Travel is not something new to us. It is a fascinating part of human
life. The human history is a history of travel. Man had to travel from life. The human history is a history of travel. Man had to travel from
place to place either in order to fulfill his basic needs or to retain his place to place either in order to fulfill his basic needs or to retain his
existence from time immemorial. Even it won’t be an exaggeration to existence from time immemorial. Even it won’t be an exaggeration to
claim that today’s modern-developed-world has turned into reality as claim that today’s modern-developed-world has turned into reality as
a result of man’s tendencies of traveling. Travel is one of the a result of man’s tendencies of traveling. Travel is one of the
indispensable activities of human life. Whether one travels to foreign indispensable activities of human life. Whether one travels to foreign
lands or just across the city, it is a journey, and from the journeying lands or just across the city, it is a journey, and from the journeying
one shapes oneself, history and the stories one tells. one shapes oneself, history and the stories one tells.
Etymologically, the word ‘Travel’ originated from ‘Travailen’ meaning Etymologically, the word ‘Travel’ originated from ‘Travailen’ meaning
‘to make a journey’. Originally it meant ‘to toil, labour’. Thus, the ‘to make a journey’. Originally it meant ‘to toil, labour’. Thus, the
semantic development may have been via the notion of ‘go on a semantic development may have been via the notion of ‘go on a
difficult journey’. Even there are terms meaning ‘Travel’ in the difficult journey’. Even there are terms meaning ‘Travel’ in the
treasure of English language like: ‘Sojourn’, ‘Tour’, ‘Errand’, treasure of English language like: ‘Sojourn’, ‘Tour’, ‘Errand’,
‘Wandering’, ‘Trip’, ‘Movement’, ‘Mobility’, etc. almost all these terms ‘Wandering’, ‘Trip’, ‘Movement’, ‘Mobility’, etc. almost all these terms
echo the movement from one place to another echo the movement from one place to another one.
one. Traveling expands the circumference of horizons of knowledge Traveling expands the circumference of horizons of knowledge and
and insight of any human being. It not only brings different cultures insight of any human being. It not only brings different cultures and
and cultural heritages closer but also induces understanding and cultural heritages closer but also induces understanding and social
social integrity. In ancient times the apparent purposes behind any integrity. In ancient times the apparent purposes behind any travel
travel were either that of religious- i.e. Pilgrimage or that of Trades were either that of religious- i.e. Pilgrimage or that of Trades and
and Business. But with the advancement of time, the intentions have Business. But with the advancement of time, the intentions have
changed. Now, people travel to understand different cultures, for joy, changed. Now, people travel to understand different cultures, for joy,
for change, for reducing stress. Even one travels for literary, political for change, for reducing stress. Even one travels for literary, political
or economic reasons. A tendency to travel for the sake of travel, just or economic reasons. A tendency to travel for the sake of travel, just
to wander without any defined purpose, is also found in some
to persons. It is noticed that, in the ancient times the ecclesiastical
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wander without any defined purpose, is also found in some persons. personalities traveled from place to place with a view to spreading
It is noticed that, in the ancient times the ecclesiastical personalities the scopes and horizons of their specific religious beliefs and attract
traveled from place to place with a view to spreading the scopes and people of other religions towards their own. With these motives many
horizons of their specific religious beliefs and attract people of other Christian missionaries ransacked all over the world. Same is the
religions towards their own. With these motives many Christian case with the Buddhist Lamas and the Jain Monks. The purposes of
missionaries ransacked all over the world. Same is the case with the European, Japanese, Chinese and Mughal travelers were different. 3
Buddhist Lamas and the Jain Monks. The purposes of European, It is very famous that travelers like Columbus, Vasco-De-Gama,
Japanese, Chinese and Mughal travelers were different. 3 It is very Fahiyan, Hue-en-Sang, Itsing, Alberuni, Ibn Batutta, Marco Polo,
famous that travelers like Columbus, Vasco-De-Gama, Fahiyan, even Indian saints like Swami Vivekananda, Shankracharya, Swami
Hue-en-Sang, Itsing, Alberuni, Ibn Batutta, Marco Polo, even Indian Ramtirth, etc. have travelled for different purposes. Such
saints like Swami Vivekananda, Shankracharya, Swami Ramtirth, TRAVELERS, who have got the creative bent and ability to mould
etc. have travelled for different purposes. Such TRAVELERS, who their experiences with due amount of fictional creativity give account
have got the creative bent and ability to mould their experiences with of their journeys in artistic vein and this gives shape to what can be
due amount of fictional creativity give account of their journeys in termed as ‘Travel Literature’ – i.e. Travel writing of literary value.
artistic vein and this gives shape to what can be termed as ‘Travel
Literature’ – i.e. Travel writing of literary value. As Richard Kerridge puts it: The traveler offers to be a proxy,
venturing into foreign space on behalf of the reader at home, but
As Richard Kerridge puts it: The traveler offers to be a proxy, always maintaining contact with base, through the narrative-address
venturing into foreign space on behalf of the reader at home, but to that reader. He has stepped out of the web of attachments that
always maintaining contact with base, through the narrative-address normally holds him in place, in order to search for something lost or
to that reader. He has stepped out of the web of attachments that repressed in ordinary life- but only to look at it, or brush against it.
normally holds him in place, in order to search for something lost or (Kerridge 167) In recent times, Travel and travel writing activities
repressed in ordinary life- but only to look at it, or brush against it. have received a new boost. It has acquired a new height as a
(Kerridge 167) In recent times, Travel and travel writing activities flourishing and highly popular literary genre. The books subjecting
have received a new boost. It has acquired a new height as a Travel narrations apparently acquire ranks in the lists of Best- Sellers
flourishing and highly popular literary genre. The books subjecting or are Short-listed for several literary award categories. Reading
Travel narrations apparently acquire ranks in the lists of Best- Sellers public also seem to have cultivated some special bent for Travel
or are Short-listed for several literary award categories. Reading Narratives, and in the same way, the creative writers too have
public also seem to have cultivated some special bent for Travel started taking this form seriously and moulding their travelling
Narratives, and in the same way, the creative writers too have experiences in a vast array of both cotemporary and historical Travel
started taking this form seriously and moulding their travelling books. Presently, the books subjecting ‘Travel’ and the like
experiences in a vast array of both cotemporary and historical Travel experiences cover almost all the debatable issues. There is a vast
books. Presently, the books subjecting ‘Travel’ and the like variety of views expressed from which the traveler undertakes the
experiences cover almost all the debatable issues. There is a vast travel to be able to document it. Travels are undertaken and
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variety of views expressed from which the traveler undertakes the represented from the variety of angles such as that of a Pilgrim,
travel to be able to document it. Travels are undertaken and Expeditions of conquistador and Explorers, Anthropological pursuits
represented from the variety of angles such as that of a Pilgrim, to the backpackers. The advancement of Science and Technology
Expeditions of conquistador and Explorers, Anthropological pursuits has widened the Horizons of Travel from Home land to foreign land;
to the backpackers. The advancement of Science and Technology from the Oceans to the Polar Regions and still further Astronomical
has widened the Horizons of Travel from Home land to foreign land; Expeditions in Space too. The Historic events and literary traditions
from the Oceans to the Polar Regions and still further Astronomical of human civilization abound in man’s love and fascination for
Expeditions in Space too. The Historic events and literary traditions travelling activities. Odysseus, Aeneas or the knights of Round Table
of human civilization abound in man’s love and fascination for would appear lacking their very essence without their travelling
travelling activities. Odysseus, Aeneas or the knights of Round Table spirits, or the world would not have been how it is today, had Captain
would appear lacking their very essence without their travelling Cook, Columbus, Vasco –de-Gama, Boswell or Byron and in the
spirits, or the world would not have been how it is today, had Captain eastern context the Aryans, Shankaracharya, Buddha, Mahavir and
Cook, Columbus, Vasco –de-Gama, Boswell or Byron and in the many other Saints like them, had the moguls not left their home to
eastern context the Aryans, Shankaracharya, Buddha, Mahavir and conquer the remote lands….and many others like not undertaken
many other Saints like them, had the moguls not left their home to their risky, death encountering expeditions. 4 Journey is the part of
conquer the remote lands….and many others like not undertaken our existence, if taken biological foundation; the existence of any
their risky, death encountering expeditions. 4 Journey is the part of being begins with ‘spermatic journey’. French philosopher Gaston
our existence, if taken biological foundation; the existence of any Bachelard speaks of the home, the house, as the first location, “Our
being begins with ‘spermatic journey’. French philosopher Gaston corner of the world” in which we can “dream in peace”. For
Bachelard speaks of the home, the house, as the first location, “Our Bachelard, this first home is a maternal site where the individual is
corner of the world” in which we can “dream in peace”. For nurtured and from which one emerges to experience the wider world.
Bachelard, this first home is a maternal site where the individual is The connection between home and maternal shelter, and immobility
nurtured and from which one emerges to experience the wider world. has a biological foundation, for the female body is in fact the child’s
The connection between home and maternal shelter, and immobility first place. As Julia Kriseva remarks, “the biological fate causes us to
has a biological foundation, for the female body is in fact the child’s be the site of the species chains us to ‘Space, home, native soil,
first place. As Julia Kriseva remarks, “the biological fate causes us to motherland.’ This then is the home from which one must depart to be
be the site of the species chains us to ‘Space, home, native soil, a sojourner of life’s roads, the point of departure on the way to find
motherland.’ This then is the home from which one must depart to be one self…..” The funeral procession takes the man to his final
a sojourner of life’s roads, the point of departure on the way to find journey, the Eternal one- though this journey he fares not on himself
one self…..” The funeral procession takes the man to his final but on the shoulders of his kiths and kins, see, how nicely Barakt
journey, the Eternal one- though this journey he fares not on himself Virani ‘Befam’, a Gujarati Poet, has woven the line of life in a journey
but on the shoulders of his kiths and kins, see, how nicely Barakt format: ‘બેફામ’ તોય કેટલ ુ ં થાકી જવ ુ ં પડ ુ ં? નિહ તો જીવનનો માગર્ છે ઘર થ
Virani ‘Befam’, a Gujarati Poet, has woven the line of life in a journey ી કબર સ ુ ધી (Virani Tahuko) How much it proved tiresome ‘Befam’,
format: ‘બેફામ’ તોય કેટલ ુ ં થાકી જવ ુ ં પડ ુ ં? નિહ તો જીવનનો માગર્ છે ઘર થ Otherwise, journey of life is en routed from Home to doom only.
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ી કબર સ ુ ધી (Virani Tahuko) How much it proved tiresome ‘Befam’, (Note: ‘Befam’ is the pen name of the poet) In the general sense, life
Otherwise, journey of life is en routed from Home to doom only. is understood as a journey, from birth to death, and the very essence
(Note: ‘Befam’ is the pen name of the poet) In the general sense, life of our existence; the search of knowledge is also taken in the sense
is understood as a journey, from birth to death, and the very essence of journey. The Indian Upanishdic Sutras; तमसो मा Ïयोितगर्मय [O! Lord,
of our existence; the search of knowledge is also taken in the sense lead me from darkness to Light] असतो मा सɮगमय [From absence of truth
of journey. The Indian Upanishdic Sutras; तमसो मा Ïयोितगर्मय [O! Lord, to truth] म ृ ×योर ् मा अम ृ तम गमय [From Death to Immortality]
lead me from darkness to Light] असतो मा सɮगमय [From absence of truth (Brihadakaranya Upanishad) too express the process of journey. The
to truth] म ृ ×योर ् मा अम ृ तम गमय [From Death to Immortality] concept of life as a journey signifies the act of travel, of
(Brihadakaranya Upanishad) too express the process of journey. The transformation, and of an errand. In the Preface of his book Travel: A
concept of life as a journey signifies the act of travel, of Literary History Peter Whitfield tracing the facts of Human history
transformation, and of an errand. In the Preface of his book Travel: A asserts: 5 First, humanity overspread the earth through the process
Literary History Peter Whitfield tracing the facts of Human history of migration, forming communities and cultures that flourished for
asserts: 5 First, humanity overspread the earth through the process long periods in isolation from each other. Then, later, through
of migration, forming communities and cultures that flourished for exploration and resettlement, this isolation was broken down, and
long periods in isolation from each other. Then, later, through the movement began towards the one world which we now inhabit.
exploration and resettlement, this isolation was broken down, and Now, as the world has become the global village with the
the movement began towards the one world which we now inhabit. advancements and luxury of travelling facilities, it has ignited this
Now, as the world has become the global village with the latent tendency of travelling and documenting such experiences
advancements and luxury of travelling facilities, it has ignited this artistically. Carl Thompson, defining travel, states, “It (Travel) is the
latent tendency of travelling and documenting such experiences negotiation between self and other that is brought about by
artistically. Carl Thompson, defining travel, states, “It (Travel) is the movement in space” (Thompson 10). And all travel writing is at some
negotiation between self and other that is brought about by level a record or product of this encounter, and of the negotiation
movement in space” (Thompson 10). And all travel writing is at some between similarity and difference that it entailed.” Carl Thompson
level a record or product of this encounter, and of the negotiation further comments: Sometimes the encounter will be directly
between similarity and difference that it entailed.” Carl Thompson described in writing, which will accordingly offer a narration of the
further comments: Sometimes the encounter will be directly events that occurred during the writer’s travels. In other instances,
described in writing, which will accordingly offer a narration of the the encounter itself will only be implicit in the writing, as it offers an
events that occurred during the writer’s travels. In other instances, account not of the actual travelling but of just the new perspective or
the encounter itself will only be implicit in the writing, as it offers an new information acquired through travel. (Thompson 10) If examined
account not of the actual travelling but of just the new perspective or minutely, the desire to move, to explore the unexplored has always
new information acquired through travel. (Thompson 10) If examined grabbed the human sensibilities right since the time ancient. Among
minutely, the desire to move, to explore the unexplored has always other desires, man has always felt this basic desire to go elsewhere.
grabbed the human sensibilities right since the time ancient. Among This might be perhaps because travel takes man to different places
other desires, man has always felt this basic desire to go elsewhere. and places him against the variety of differences where he
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This might be perhaps because travel takes man to different places encounters the differences ranging from garments, food-habits,
and places him against the variety of differences where he whereabouts, trade and commerce, beliefs, worships and entire
encounters the differences ranging from garments, food-habits, culture. His eyes and sensibilities capture the appealing aspects of
whereabouts, trade and commerce, beliefs, worships and entire this otherness, churn them through his imagination and then he
culture. His eyes and sensibilities capture the appealing aspects of prepares an account from a foreign view point. Some journeys may
this otherness, churn them through his imagination and then he lead the traveler to the known land or through the familiar cultures-
prepares an account from a foreign view point. Some journeys may i.e. journey within his own nation, still, to use Carl Thompson’s
lead the traveler to the known land or through the familiar cultures- words-all journeys are in a way –“a confrontation with, or more
i.e. journey within his own nation, still, to use Carl Thompson’s optimistically a negotiation of, what is termed ‘alterity’” (Thompson
words-all journeys are in a way –“a confrontation with, or more 09). Mark Cocker calls it: “(Travel) is one of the greatest doors to
optimistically a negotiation of, what is termed ‘alterity’” (Thompson human freedom, and Travel Book is a medium through which
09). Mark Cocker calls it: “(Travel) is one of the greatest doors to humans celebrate this freedom” (Cocker 260). Travel, thus, is a
human freedom, and Travel Book is a medium through which mode of experiencing the world and it remains an ongoing activity
humans celebrate this freedom” (Cocker 260). Travel, thus, is a with no terminal point. Travel will never grow old or obsolete. Just as
mode of experiencing the world and it remains an ongoing activity ‘Travel’ is an ongoing activity, so is the tendency to document it; of
with no terminal point. Travel will never grow old or obsolete. Just as writing Travelling Experiences. Ample texts are now available. In that
‘Travel’ is an ongoing activity, so is the tendency to document it; of case, a need to create a criteria as to which is precisely considered
writing Travelling Experiences. Ample texts are now available. In that as a ‘Travel Book’ avidly arises. A 6 wide array of travel related
case, a need to create a criteria as to which is precisely considered material is available ranging from ‘Travel- Photography’, ’Travel-
as a ‘Travel Book’ avidly arises. A 6 wide array of travel related Maps’, ‘Travel-Guide books’, ‘Travel based – Films’, even now the 24
material is available ranging from ‘Travel- Photography’, ’Travel- hour Travel Channels too teem with telecasts of expeditions of
Maps’, ‘Travel-Guide books’, ‘Travel based – Films’, even now the 24 travelers nicely recorded in the form of Travel Documentary Films
hour Travel Channels too teem with telecasts of expeditions of focusing cult, cultures, festivals, Taboos, foods, etc. of foreign lands.
travelers nicely recorded in the form of Travel Documentary Films From all this Travel Literature has to be somewhat different in form
focusing cult, cultures, festivals, Taboos, foods, etc. of foreign lands. and tone. It may be termed as “book length accounts of journeys that
From all this Travel Literature has to be somewhat different in form have already been made, and personal narratives of famous and not
and tone. It may be termed as “book length accounts of journeys that so famous travelers ranging from Marco polo and Columbus through
have already been made, and personal narratives of famous and not to contemporary figures such as Bruce Chatwin, Dervla Murphy, Bill
so famous travelers ranging from Marco polo and Columbus through Bryxon, and Michael Plain” (Thompson 13). In the field of creative
to contemporary figures such as Bruce Chatwin, Dervla Murphy, Bill writing the works voicing the traveler’s experiences are labeled
Bryxon, and Michael Plain” (Thompson 13). In the field of creative differently as ‘Itinerary’, ‘Voyage and Tours’, ‘Journeys’, ‘Reports’,
writing the works voicing the traveler’s experiences are labeled etc. The common grounds that bound such works in the same
differently as ‘Itinerary’, ‘Voyage and Tours’, ‘Journeys’, ‘Reports’, category are their ‘Travel- Subject’ and the most probably the first
etc. The common grounds that bound such works in the same person account which presents a systematic chronological narrative
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category are their ‘Travel- Subject’ and the most probably the first of movements and events with geographic and ethnographic
person account which presents a systematic chronological narrative observations. The Reports of Travel often invest within their course
of movements and events with geographic and ethnographic some fictional devices and wonders along with the descriptions of
observations. The Reports of Travel often invest within their course factual journey foundation. In his essay ‘Stirring and Searching’,
some fictional devices and wonders along with the descriptions of William H Sherman points out: (Even) the earliest English Travel
factual journey foundation. In his essay ‘Stirring and Searching’, Writing was marked by complex rhetorical strategies. Its authors had
William H Sherman points out: (Even) the earliest English Travel to balance the known and the unknown, the traditional imperatives of
Writing was marked by complex rhetorical strategies. Its authors had persuasion and entertainment, and their individual interests with
to balance the known and the unknown, the traditional imperatives of those of their patrons, employers and monarchs. Given such diverse
persuasion and entertainment, and their individual interests with purposes, early modern travel writers were often torn between giving
those of their patrons, employers and monarchs. Given such diverse pleasure and providing practical guidance, between logging and
purposes, early modern travel writers were often torn between giving narrating, between describing what happened and suggesting what
pleasure and providing practical guidance, between logging and could have happened. These rhetorical challenges, along with the
narrating, between describing what happened and suggesting what novelty of their experiences, left travel writers with acute problems of
could have happened. These rhetorical challenges, along with the authenticity and credibility. The myths and stereotypes which could
novelty of their experiences, left travel writers with acute problems of be reproduced in otherwise sober and scholarly accounts led to
authenticity and credibility. The myths and stereotypes which could associations between travel and lying, which accounts for the
be reproduced in otherwise sober and scholarly accounts led to assurance of writers like John Cartwrite (whose title page advertised
associations between travel and lying, which accounts for the a ‘true journal… of East Indies) that they would only report ‘what
assurance of writers like John Cartwrite (whose title page advertised mine eyes have seen in more remote parts of the world …contenting
a ‘true journal… of East Indies) that they would only report ‘what myself with the conscience of truth’- claims that would, in turn, be
mine eyes have seen in more remote parts of the world …contenting mimicked in the fantastic voyage.….. (Sherman 31) With its
myself with the conscience of truth’- claims that would, in turn, be developing scopes Travel Writing ceases to be just the account of
mimicked in the fantastic voyage.….. (Sherman 31) With its the traveller detailing only the geographical aspects of travel as the
developing scopes Travel Writing ceases to be just the account of earlier travel books used to do, but it more intensely focuses on the
the traveller detailing only the geographical aspects of travel as the dimensional discourses on society, 7 culture and ethnography of the
earlier travel books used to do, but it more intensely focuses on the places with a concerning critique from a foreign view point. Travel
dimensional discourses on society, 7 culture and ethnography of the Writer constantly keeps gazing on the ‘otherness’ of the places and
places with a concerning critique from a foreign view point. Travel then in recording his/her experiences passes some comments on
Writer constantly keeps gazing on the ‘otherness’ of the places and these aspects of the places. The travel writer engages himself in
then in recording his/her experiences passes some comments on commenting on the manners, morals and customs, local social and
these aspects of the places. The travel writer engages himself in religious beliefs, taboos and the overall culture of the places he
commenting on the manners, morals and customs, local social and visits. Many times the traveler seems interested in some specific
religious beliefs, taboos and the overall culture of the places he aspect of the society or it may be the case that he undertakes his
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visits. Many times the traveler seems interested in some specific journey with a particular design in mind. This diversification of focus
aspect of the society or it may be the case that he undertakes his distinguishes the traveler from the Explorers and the Tourists. In this
journey with a particular design in mind. This diversification of focus context Paul Fussel in his Abroad: British Literary Travelling between
distinguishes the traveler from the Explorers and the Tourists. In this the Wars draws lines distinguishing the categories of the three:
context Paul Fussel in his Abroad: British Literary Travelling between “Explorers”, according to Huge and Pauline Massingham, “are to the
the Wars draws lines distinguishing the categories of the three: ordinary traveller what the Saint is to the average Church
“Explorers”, according to Huge and Pauline Massingham, “are to the congregation ...”no traveller, and certainly no tourist, is ever knighted
ordinary traveller what the Saint is to the average Church for his performances, although the strains he may undergo can be as
congregation ...”no traveller, and certainly no tourist, is ever knighted memorable as an explorer’s. All three make journeys, but the
for his performances, although the strains he may undergo can be as explorer seeks the undiscovered, the traveller, that which has been
memorable as an explorer’s. All three make journeys, but the discovered by the mind working in history, the tourist, that which has
explorer seeks the undiscovered, the traveller, that which has been been discovered by entrepreneurship and prepared for him by the
discovered by the mind working in history, the tourist, that which has arts of publicity. The genuine traveller is, or used to be, in the middle
been discovered by entrepreneurship and prepared for him by the between the two extremes. If the explorer moves towards the risks of
arts of publicity. The genuine traveller is, or used to be, in the middle the formless and unknown, the tourist moves towards the security of
between the two extremes. If the explorer moves towards the risks of pure cliché. It is between these two poles that the traveller meditates,
the formless and unknown, the tourist moves towards the security of retaining all he can of the excitement or the unpredictable attaching
pure cliché. It is between these two poles that the traveller meditates, to exploration and fusing that with the pleasure of “knowing where
retaining all he can of the excitement or the unpredictable attaching one is” belonging to tourism. (Originally quoted in- Travel Writing and
to exploration and fusing that with the pleasure of “knowing where the Empire, ed. Sachidanand Mohanty, Publisher Katha-2003 P. No.
one is” belonging to tourism. (Originally quoted in- Travel Writing and Xi) The travel writer, as said above, might have many designs, views
the Empire, ed. Sachidanand Mohanty, Publisher Katha-2003 P. No. and patterns in his mind while under taking his travelling project. And
Xi) The travel writer, as said above, might have many designs, views as he goes to the foreign land he comes across the way of the life of
and patterns in his mind while under taking his travelling project. And that place and people. He comes in a close contact with the local
as he goes to the foreign land he comes across the way of the life of traditions and customs, and all these things arrest his consciousness
that place and people. He comes in a close contact with the local which draw his reflections out about them. In this connection the
traditions and customs, and all these things arrest his consciousness prolific British travel writer, Geoffrey Moorhouse makes right
which draw his reflections out about them. In this connection the observation that: The travel narrative is indeed in a rather special
prolific British travel writer, Geoffrey Moorhouse makes right category of literature: it can include topographical description,
observation that: The travel narrative is indeed in a rather special history, autobiography, reminiscence about almost anything under
category of literature: it can include topographical description, the sun that you think your readers will tolerate as having some
history, autobiography, reminiscence about almost anything under relevance to your journey or your disquisition on a particular place.
the sun that you think your readers will tolerate as having some (Moorhouse 18) 8 A travel book, sometimes, serves/holds panoramic
relevance to your journey or your disquisition on a particular place. details of an inner voyage of the writer. The descriptions along with
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(Moorhouse 18) 8 A travel book, sometimes, serves/holds panoramic the outer voyages, also allow the reader to have a view of the
details of an inner voyage of the writer. The descriptions along with author’s inner conflicts, thought processes and his self discoveries.
the outer voyages, also allow the reader to have a view of the The narrative often shifts shudder from the outer landscapes to the
author’s inner conflicts, thought processes and his self discoveries. inner ones, writer’s own reflections, memories or examples/parables
The narrative often shifts shudder from the outer landscapes to the from his stock experiences. In this context Carl Thompson rightly
inner ones, writer’s own reflections, memories or examples/parables points out: Yet insofar as most forms of Post medieval travel writing
from his stock experiences. In this context Carl Thompson rightly do incorporate some elements of personal information and first
points out: Yet insofar as most forms of Post medieval travel writing person narration, the genre may be regarded as an important branch
do incorporate some elements of personal information and first of what is now often termed ‘life-writing’. That is to say, Travel Writing
person narration, the genre may be regarded as an important branch has frequently provided a medium in which writers can conduct an
of what is now often termed ‘life-writing’. That is to say, Travel Writing autobiographical project, exploring questions of identity and selfhood
has frequently provided a medium in which writers can conduct an whilst simultaneously presenting to others a self “authorised”
autobiographical project, exploring questions of identity and selfhood accounts of themselves. Moreover, the generic requirement to
whilst simultaneously presenting to others a self “authorised” include an element of personal detail ensures that travelogues will
accounts of themselves. Moreover, the generic requirement to often offer interesting insights into what is termed an individual’s
include an element of personal detail ensures that travelogues will subject position, even when travel writer have not deliberately set out
often offer interesting insights into what is termed an individual’s to write in such a self- reflective fashion. (Thompson 99) Thus in a
subject position, even when travel writer have not deliberately set out way just as the player arrests the attention of the spectator along
to write in such a self- reflective fashion. (Thompson 99) Thus in a with his/her interest in the overall score-development of the game,
way just as the player arrests the attention of the spectator along the travel writer’s personality also becomes a butt of attention for the
with his/her interest in the overall score-development of the game, reader along with the place travelled. It remains the same even when
the travel writer’s personality also becomes a butt of attention for the the writer strictly maintains to be objective one and prefers to give
reader along with the place travelled. It remains the same even when only impersonalised details and descriptions- but still as a rule, the
the writer strictly maintains to be objective one and prefers to give selection of the issues arresting his attention would naturally reflect
only impersonalised details and descriptions- but still as a rule, the his bent and preferences. In the accounts where the writer prefers to
selection of the issues arresting his attention would naturally reflect be eloquent about his self- the driving motive remains simply to
his bent and preferences. In the accounts where the writer prefers to render what he himself felt and experienced and judged during the
be eloquent about his self- the driving motive remains simply to journey. There are a number of narrative techniques evolved through
render what he himself felt and experienced and judged during the which the writer inserts his self revelation into the travel narratives.
journey. There are a number of narrative techniques evolved through However, the amount and articulation of the ‘self’ may vary
which the writer inserts his self revelation into the travel narratives. depending upon the individual style of the writer. Some would pick up
However, the amount and articulation of the ‘self’ may vary some singular sentences or slider passages in order to reflect how
depending upon the individual style of the writer. Some would pick up they feel/felt; whereas in some cases we find the writer manages to
some singular sentences or slider passages in order to reflect how throw light on the entire flux of his consciousness at the given time of
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they feel/felt; whereas in some cases we find the writer manages to journey. Carl Thompson aptly holds this as: In some travelogues,
throw light on the entire flux of his consciousness at the given time of then, the journey functions to some extent as a narrative device
journey. Carl Thompson aptly holds this as: In some travelogues, whereby the author’s whole life may be brought into focus. Many
then, the journey functions to some extent as a narrative device travelogues of this type also present the journey as a key stimulus to
whereby the author’s whole life may be brought into focus. Many a new understanding of the traveller’s life. In this way, the travel
travelogues of this type also present the journey as a key stimulus to account does not 9 just offer a larger history of growing self; it is also
a new understanding of the traveller’s life. In this way, the travel plotted as a developmental narrative of growing self-knowledge and
account does not 9 just offer a larger history of growing self; it is also self-realization. It thus becomes a record not just of a literal journey,
plotted as a developmental narrative of growing self-knowledge and but also of a metaphorical interior ‘voyage’ that represents an
self-realization. It thus becomes a record not just of a literal journey, important existential change in the traveller. (Thompson 114) Travel
but also of a metaphorical interior ‘voyage’ that represents an and travel accounts bring out the fact that travel not only holds the
important existential change in the traveller. (Thompson 114) Travel traveler against the foreign cultures but it also exposes to his/her
and travel accounts bring out the fact that travel not only holds the realizations what is foreign within him/her ‘self’. The traveller finds an
traveler against the foreign cultures but it also exposes to his/her opportunity during his travels to be face to face with the inner self
realizations what is foreign within him/her ‘self’. The traveller finds an which very often take place owing to his/her being away from the
opportunity during his travels to be face to face with the inner self home land or much familiar things and moreover when the foreign
which very often take place owing to his/her being away from the things appear much different from the things and ways he/she is
home land or much familiar things and moreover when the foreign usually accustomed to, this makes him/her to probe into the self and
things appear much different from the things and ways he/she is thus, begins the journey inside. Pico Iyer in his essay ‘Why We
usually accustomed to, this makes him/her to probe into the self and Travel’ nicely exposes this point: Thus travel spins us round in two
thus, begins the journey inside. Pico Iyer in his essay ‘Why We ways at once: It shows us the sights and values and issues that we
Travel’ nicely exposes this point: Thus travel spins us round in two might ordinarily ignore; but it also, and more deeply, shows us all the
ways at once: It shows us the sights and values and issues that we parts of ourselves that might otherwise grow rusty. For in travelling to
might ordinarily ignore; but it also, and more deeply, shows us all the a truly foreign place, we inevitably travel to moods and states of mind
parts of ourselves that might otherwise grow rusty. For in travelling to and hidden inward passages that we’d otherwise seldom have a
a truly foreign place, we inevitably travel to moods and states of mind cause to visit. And, We travel, then, in search of both self and
and hidden inward passages that we’d otherwise seldom have a anonymity — and, of course, in finding the one we apprehend the
cause to visit. And, We travel, then, in search of both self and other. Abroad, we are wonderfully free of caste and job and standing;
anonymity — and, of course, in finding the one we apprehend the we are, as Hazlitt puts it, just the “gentlemen in the parlour,” and
other. Abroad, we are wonderfully free of caste and job and standing; people cannot put a name or tag to us. And precisely because we
we are, as Hazlitt puts it, just the “gentlemen in the parlour,” and are clarified in this way, and freed of inessential labels, we have the
people cannot put a name or tag to us. And precisely because we opportunity to come into contact with more essential parts of
are clarified in this way, and freed of inessential labels, we have the ourselves (which may begin to explain why we may feel most alive
opportunity to come into contact with more essential parts of when far from home). (Pico Iyer) Thus, in a way, ‘Travel’ proves a
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ourselves (which may begin to explain why we may feel most alive catalyst-agent which arouses the writer to fare the journey not only
when far from home). (Pico Iyer) Thus, in a way, ‘Travel’ proves a outward but inward too. And the text produced thus turns out to be
catalyst-agent which arouses the writer to fare the journey not only product of both internal and outer voyages. The traveller first fares
outward but inward too. And the text produced thus turns out to be the original journey, sometimes writing and maintaining logs and
product of both internal and outer voyages. The traveller first fares personal points of reflection, then, at home once again he, in order to
the original journey, sometimes writing and maintaining logs and write, undertakes the entire journey in his mental domain, selecting ,
personal points of reflection, then, at home once again he, in order to enacting, creating and erasing and above all ordering and re-
write, undertakes the entire journey in his mental domain, selecting , arranging the whole enterprise of his travel with the hypothetical
enacting, creating and erasing and above all ordering and re- audience he addresses in mind. 10 Now in the style of serving and
arranging the whole enterprise of his travel with the hypothetical presenting his material, the travel writers have their own preferences
audience he addresses in mind. 10 Now in the style of serving and and personal signature styles too. Some prefer to present the
presenting his material, the travel writers have their own preferences journey in its actual colour presenting every details; how the routes
and personal signature styles too. Some prefer to present the were selected, distances were covered and what hardships he had
journey in its actual colour presenting every details; how the routes to encounter en route to the destination, whereas, some writers
were selected, distances were covered and what hardships he had would not prefer to draw much on the process of journey but rather
to encounter en route to the destination, whereas, some writers they would comment on just the outcome of the journey undertaken,
would not prefer to draw much on the process of journey but rather and their own personal reflection on the culture and the people they
they would comment on just the outcome of the journey undertaken, came across. In the narration techniques too, some travel writers
and their own personal reflection on the culture and the people they present their own material simply in the form of the first person
came across. In the narration techniques too, some travel writers singular account, with the narrative ‘I’, and allowing the readers to go
present their own material simply in the form of the first person through the text with his opinions and observations, whereas
singular account, with the narrative ‘I’, and allowing the readers to go sometimes, the narrator hides behind the mask and presents the
through the text with his opinions and observations, whereas picture from his own superior infestations. In some other case, as
sometimes, the narrator hides behind the mask and presents the does Dalrymple in Nine Lives, the writer acts just as a link and apart
picture from his own superior infestations. In some other case, as from providing the framework and occasional informative outlines,
does Dalrymple in Nine Lives, the writer acts just as a link and apart remains in the background and presents the tales of the tellers in
from providing the framework and occasional informative outlines, their own terms. Sometimes, there is a tendency among the travel
remains in the background and presents the tales of the tellers in writers to adopt the readymade route upon which some earlier
their own terms. Sometimes, there is a tendency among the travel traveller/historic figures had travelled and presented the world with
writers to adopt the readymade route upon which some earlier his own full-fledged travel account, now the modern travel writer
traveller/historic figures had travelled and presented the world with follows the footstep of that ancient traveler and prepares his own
his own full-fledged travel account, now the modern travel writer brand new travel book, just as Dalrymple has done in the cases of
follows the footstep of that ancient traveler and prepares his own his ‘In Xanadu’; in which he has adopted the famous silk route which
brand new travel book, just as Dalrymple has done in the cases of was trodden earlier by Marco Polo, and ‘From the Holy Mountain’;
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his ‘In Xanadu’; in which he has adopted the famous silk route which the footsteps of the great Byzantine traveler-monk John Moschos.
was trodden earlier by Marco Polo, and ‘From the Holy Mountain’; Commenting over the motives of Modern travel writers behind
the footsteps of the great Byzantine traveler-monk John Moschos. adoption of such schemes, Peter Hulme points out, “….
Commenting over the motives of Modern travel writers behind
adoption of such schemes, Peter Hulme points out, “…. more often the routes are being retraced in order to mark the
historical gap between the two moments and perhaps to throw light
more often the routes are being retraced in order to mark the on the earlier work, though the connection with earlier and usually
historical gap between the two moments and perhaps to throw light better known traveler can also serve as an attractive marketing
on the earlier work, though the connection with earlier and usually device” (Hulme,
better known traveler can also serve as an attractive marketing
device” (Hulme, Peter 98). Many modern travel writers prefer to stay in the foreign
lands for a considerable longer span of period and then having
Peter 98). Many modern travel writers prefer to stay in the foreign encountered the culture and ethnography at the close quarters,
lands for a considerable longer span of period and then having prepare the stuff of their books. This kind of scheme allows the
encountered the culture and ethnography at the close quarters, author many advantages as he stays for a longer period, he can
prepare the stuff of their books. This kind of scheme allows the collect ample material about the culture he observes, can pick up
author many advantages as he stays for a longer period, he can details of the cultural beliefs, mythical backgrounds and social
collect ample material about the culture he observes, can pick up eccentricities of the people of that land. William Dalrymple’s
details of the cultural beliefs, mythical backgrounds and social
eccentricities of the people of that land. William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns, The Age of Kali, and Nine Lives,
City of Djinns, The Age of Kali, and Nine Lives, Amitav Ghosh’s In an Antique Land are the results of the authors’
longer stays in particular land. From the view point of the tonal
Amitav Ghosh’s In an Antique Land are the results of the authors’ varieties too, there are a variety of experimentations found in the
longer stays in particular land. From the view point of the tonal compositions. 11 The genre admits of both very serious and very
varieties too, there are a variety of experimentations found in the humourous writing, and tonally can encompass everything from
compositions. 11 The genre admits of both very serious and very earnest polemic to inconsequential whimsy, from poetic lyricism to
humourous writing, and tonally can encompass everything from crude farce. It also spans the complete spectrum of what one might
earnest polemic to inconsequential whimsy, from poetic lyricism to term ‘high-brow’, ‘middle-brow’ and ‘low-brow’ writing. This is to say
crude farce. It also spans the complete spectrum of what one might some travel books clearly aspire to the status of ‘literature’, through
term ‘high-brow’, ‘middle-brow’ and ‘low-brow’ writing. This is to say the gravity of topics they discuss or the sophistication of their writing,
some travel books clearly aspire to the status of ‘literature’, through whilst others make no such cultural claim, being unashamedly
the gravity of topics they discuss or the sophistication of their writing, exercises in easy reading and/or sensationalism. (Thompson 17-18)
whilst others make no such cultural claim, being unashamedly On the Structuralistic basis a creative piece of travel narrative works
exercises in easy reading and/or sensationalism. (Thompson 17-18) upon ‘Travel’ as its very foundation and the ‘story-element’ in it
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On the Structuralistic basis a creative piece of travel narrative works constitutes its framework i.e. form. The study of different travel texts
upon ‘Travel’ as its very foundation and the ‘story-element’ in it allows one to observe that though journey remains at the very
constitutes its framework i.e. form. The study of different travel texts foundation, some travellers dig deep into the myths and history of the
allows one to observe that though journey remains at the very place, in other cases one would find the travellers’ keen interests in
foundation, some travellers dig deep into the myths and history of the the cultural variances and in still some others the writers’ focus
place, in other cases one would find the travellers’ keen interests in remains concentrated over socio- political issues, demographic
the cultural variances and in still some others the writers’ focus pursuits. Many travel books may also address the audience picking
remains concentrated over socio- political issues, demographic up the socio-scientific issues in the realistic vein but narrating them
pursuits. Many travel books may also address the audience picking woven into purely fictional devices. The varying degree of
up the socio-scientific issues in the realistic vein but narrating them subjectivity, weaving of the realist issues in the fictional devices, the
woven into purely fictional devices. The varying degree of employing of socio-scientific strategies and methodologies in the
subjectivity, weaving of the realist issues in the fictional devices, the composition of travel narratives triggers the debate about the genre
employing of socio-scientific strategies and methodologies in the of Travel Writing. Debbie Lisle points out the framework of Travel
composition of travel narratives triggers the debate about the genre Narratives just identical to the fictional narratives following the
of Travel Writing. Debbie Lisle points out the framework of Travel scheme of Beginning (Home), Middle (Away) and an End (Home).
Narratives just identical to the fictional narratives following the (Lisle 39) The traveller gets ready to travel and the preparatory
scheme of Beginning (Home), Middle (Away) and an End (Home). prelude goes in the framing up of the Beginning of any travel text.
(Lisle 39) The traveller gets ready to travel and the preparatory The middle constitutes the details of the real travel. And the End
prelude goes in the framing up of the Beginning of any travel text. constitutes the arrival at home and the writers’ exercise of collecting
The middle constitutes the details of the real travel. And the End the filling stuff for the composition of the Journey into the narrative.
constitutes the arrival at home and the writers’ exercise of collecting The end result that emerges is the outcome of the writer’s creative
the filling stuff for the composition of the Journey into the narrative. competence. And at the root of all this exercise there always remains
The end result that emerges is the outcome of the writer’s creative at the base of the writer’s mind a hypothetic audience whom he
competence. And at the root of all this exercise there always remains engages through his narrative. Paul Fussel observes in his Abroad:
at the base of the writer’s mind a hypothetic audience whom he A travel book, at its purest, is addressed to those who do not plan to
engages through his narrative. Paul Fussel observes in his Abroad: follow the traveller at all, but who require the exotic comic anomalies,
A travel book, at its purest, is addressed to those who do not plan to wonders, and scandals of literary form romance, which their own
follow the traveller at all, but who require the exotic comic anomalies, place or time cannot entirely supply … aren’t all travel books really
wonders, and scandals of literary form romance, which their own romances in the old sense, with the difference that the adventures
place or time cannot entirely supply … aren’t all travel books really are located within an actual, often famous, topography? (Fussel 203)
romances in the old sense, with the difference that the adventures 12 As the traveller finds himself in the foreign land, observing the all
are located within an actual, often famous, topography? (Fussel 203) the difference that come his ways and pointing out the peculiarities,
12 As the traveller finds himself in the foreign land, observing the all trying to bridge the gaps of communication and cultures, in all this
the difference that come his ways and pointing out the peculiarities, exercises in the cases of travellers one thing is common that the
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trying to bridge the gaps of communication and cultures, in all this traveller toils alone and therefore it is natural that he turns to himself.
exercises in the cases of travellers one thing is common that the This fact makes the travel account personal and sometimes one
traveller toils alone and therefore it is natural that he turns to himself. finds flares of personal memoire and traces of autobiography. In this
This fact makes the travel account personal and sometimes one connection Paul Fussel further suggests regarding a piece of travel
finds flares of personal memoire and traces of autobiography. In this writing as: a sub-species of memoir in which the autobiographical
connection Paul Fussel further suggests regarding a piece of travel narrative arises from the speaker’s encounter with distant or
writing as: a sub-species of memoir in which the autobiographical unfamiliar data, and in which the narrative – unlike that in a novel or
narrative arises from the speaker’s encounter with distant or a romance – claims literal validity by constant reference to actuality.
unfamiliar data, and in which the narrative – unlike that in a novel or (Fussel 203) Still, to consider travel writing just as a subjective
a romance – claims literal validity by constant reference to actuality. reporting would be not enough, but it imbricates other forms too.
(Fussel 203) Still, to consider travel writing just as a subjective Jonathan Rabban sums up this nature of travel literature with the
reporting would be not enough, but it imbricates other forms too. metaphor of an open house: As a literary form, travel writing is a
Jonathan Rabban sums up this nature of travel literature with the notoriously raffish open house where different genres are likely to
metaphor of an open house: As a literary form, travel writing is a end up in the bed. It accommodates the private diary, the essay, the
notoriously raffish open house where different genres are likely to short story, the prose poem, the rough note and polished table talk
end up in the bed. It accommodates the private diary, the essay, the with indiscriminate hospitality. It freely mixes narrative and discursive
short story, the prose poem, the rough note and polished table talk writing. (Raban 254-55) The same nature of travel texts has been
with indiscriminate hospitality. It freely mixes narrative and discursive described in somewhat different terms when Thomas Swick talks of it
writing. (Raban 254-55) The same nature of travel texts has been as: The travel book itself has a similar grab bag quality. It
described in somewhat different terms when Thomas Swick talks of it incorporates the characters and plot line of a novel, the descriptive
as: The travel book itself has a similar grab bag quality. It power of poetry, the substance of a history lesson, the
incorporates the characters and plot line of a novel, the descriptive discursiveness of an essay, and the—often inadvertent—self-
power of poetry, the substance of a history lesson, the revelation of a memoir. It revels in the particular while occasionally
discursiveness of an essay, and the—often inadvertent—self- illuminating the universal. It colors and shapes and fills in gaps.
revelation of a memoir. It revels in the particular while occasionally Because it results from displacement, it is frequently funny. It takes
illuminating the universal. It colors and shapes and fills in gaps. readers for a spin (and shows them, usually, how lucky they are). It
Because it results from displacement, it is frequently funny. It takes humanizes the alien. More often than not it celebrates the unsung. It
readers for a spin (and shows them, usually, how lucky they are). It uncovers truths that are stranger than fiction. It gives eyewitness
humanizes the alien. More often than not it celebrates the unsung. It proof of life’s infinite possibilities. (Swick, Thomas) In the same
uncovers truths that are stranger than fiction. It gives eyewitness attempts of making a decisive comment on the genre of travel writing
proof of life’s infinite possibilities. (Swick, Thomas) In the same texts, Tim Youngs keeps the debate alive by stating: Travel writing
attempts of making a decisive comment on the genre of travel writing feeds from and back into other forms of literature. To try to identify
texts, Tim Youngs keeps the debate alive by stating: Travel writing boundaries between various forms would be impossible and I would
feeds from and back into other forms of literature. To try to identify be deeply suspicious of any attempt at the task. (Youngs 08) 13
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boundaries between various forms would be impossible and I would Travel Narratives’ and Accounts’ significance in enacting the History
be deeply suspicious of any attempt at the task. (Youngs 08) 13 is also beyond doubt. Herodotus, 450 to 430 BC, the father of
Travel Narratives’ and Accounts’ significance in enacting the History History, wrote the seminal histories which, if taken in general sense,
is also beyond doubt. Herodotus, 450 to 430 BC, the father of were nothing but the travel accounts. The main topics on which
History, wrote the seminal histories which, if taken in general sense, Herodotus presented his accounts were the war fares between
were nothing but the travel accounts. The main topics on which Greece and Persia. “Rather than merely narrating events in the
Herodotus presented his accounts were the war fares between course of war, he chose to portray the conflicts as a clash between
Greece and Persia. “Rather than merely narrating events in the the cultures, to contrast the beliefs, practices and characters of the
course of war, he chose to portray the conflicts as a clash between foreign nations with those of the Greeks” (Whitfield 5). The most
the cultures, to contrast the beliefs, practices and characters of the initial Historical Accounts, in this way, were in the forms of travel
foreign nations with those of the Greeks” (Whitfield 5). The most narratives. Even the historical accounts of Xenophon ‘Anabasis’, also
initial Historical Accounts, in this way, were in the forms of travel go in the same line of Herodotus and present the War between
narratives. Even the historical accounts of Xenophon ‘Anabasis’, also Greece and Persia. Polybius, in the second century BC, too presents
go in the same line of Herodotus and present the War between the History of war between Rome and Carthage in the form of travel
Greece and Persia. Polybius, in the second century BC, too presents narrative which present the reality of travel in a high mountain
the History of war between Rome and Carthage in the form of travel landscape. The concepts of chivalrous spirits and valiant efficiencies
narrative which present the reality of travel in a high mountain started attributed to the person’s capacity and positions in visiting
landscape. The concepts of chivalrous spirits and valiant efficiencies several unknown lands and regions. Trade was a strong force for
started attributed to the person’s capacity and positions in visiting many travellers to undertake long journeys to distant lands. Then in
several unknown lands and regions. Trade was a strong force for the course of time it was fairly replaced by the urge to explore the
many travellers to undertake long journeys to distant lands. Then in unexplored and seek knowledge which other civilizations evolved in
the course of time it was fairly replaced by the urge to explore the their own unique ways. Many great explorers spent many formidable
unexplored and seek knowledge which other civilizations evolved in years of their lives in search of knowledge namely Vasco-de-Gama,
their own unique ways. Many great explorers spent many formidable Columbus, Alexander the great, Marco Polo, Huen-Tsang, Ibn
years of their lives in search of knowledge namely Vasco-de-Gama, Batuta, Gautam Buddha, Adi Shankara, Swami Vivekananda and
Columbus, Alexander the great, Marco Polo, Huen-Tsang, Ibn many more. In this way, Travel writing has flourished though the
Batuta, Gautam Buddha, Adi Shankara, Swami Vivekananda and ages, and early travel accounts by explorers and other travellers
many more. In this way, Travel writing has flourished though the continue to be valued as a significant source of information about
ages, and early travel accounts by explorers and other travellers historical cultures and places. Travel writing seems to be resulted
continue to be valued as a significant source of information about from man’s natural instinct to know and record the things from
historical cultures and places. Travel writing seems to be resulted beyond his general surroundings. Peter Hulme and Tim Young put in
from man’s natural instinct to know and record the things from the Introduction of Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing: “The
beyond his general surroundings. Peter Hulme and Tim Young put in traveller’s tale is as old as fiction itself: one of
the Introduction of Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing: “The
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traveller’s tale is as old as fiction itself: one of the very earliest extant the very earliest extant stories, composed in Egypt during the twelfth
stories, composed in Egypt during the twelfth Dynasty, a thousand Dynasty, a thousand years before the Odyssey,
years before the Odyssey, tells of a shipwrecked sailor alone on the
marvelous island” (Peter 02). William Sherman in his essay Stirring tells of a shipwrecked sailor alone on the marvelous island” (Peter
and Searching asserts that the historic motive of mapping the world 02). William Sherman in his essay Stirring and Searching asserts
and documenting the routes in order to provide ease and direction to that the historic motive of mapping the world and documenting the
the travellers who would follow in their footsteps and fill in the gaps routes in order to provide ease and direction to the travellers who
of geographical knowledge. Bavin, Columbus, Francis Drake, would follow in their footsteps and fill in the gaps of geographical
Richard Eden, Richard Haklute—were some of the explorers who knowledge. Bavin, Columbus, Francis Drake, Richard Eden, Richard
ventured to put on the paper the unfathomable bounty of the world at Haklute—were some of the explorers who ventured to put on the
the early stages. Another analysis, Sherman gives us is, the paper the unfathomable bounty of the world at the early stages.
‘Typology of Travel Writers’ of the first two centuries. “The two 14 Another analysis, Sherman gives us is, the ‘Typology of Travel
centuries of Travel Writers”, he puts, “...have sometimes been Writers’ of the first two centuries. “The two 14 centuries of Travel
characterised as a period in which the Pilgrim gave way to Writers”, he puts, “...have sometimes been characterised as a period
merchants, the Explorers and the philosophers,... when Sir Thomas in which the Pilgrim gave way to merchants, the Explorers and the
Palmer published his chart of various kinds of travellers in 1606 he philosophers,... when Sir Thomas Palmer published his chart of
included preachers, postmen, soldiers and spies” ( Sherman 21). various kinds of travellers in 1606 he included preachers, postmen,
Almost all the records of early travels exhibit specific patterns soldiers and spies” ( Sherman 21). Almost all the records of early
showing all these explorations were based either on spiritual or on travels exhibit specific patterns showing all these explorations were
the commercial motives. And in turn, the textual representations based either on spiritual or on the commercial motives. And in turn,
enjoyed extreme popularity on account of people’s basic fascination the textual representations enjoyed extreme popularity on account of
for getting the details of ‘unknown’ and this attraction of people and people’s basic fascination for getting the details of ‘unknown’ and this
‘the gratitude generated in them for the Wanderer for having attraction of people and ‘the gratitude generated in them for the
experienced something extraordinary’ – lured the travel-story-tellers Wanderer for having experienced something extraordinary’ – lured
to attribute something magical in their accounts as they stayed the travel-story-tellers to attribute something magical in their
assured that whatever they would narrate would, without a bit of accounts as they stayed assured that whatever they would narrate
doubt, go with ease among the people, rather it would attract them would, without a bit of doubt, go with ease among the people, rather
towards it. “...authors played with the boundaries between it would attract them towards it. “...authors played with the
eyewitness testimony, second-hand information, and outright boundaries between eyewitness testimony, second-hand information,
invention, and readers were often unsure whether they were reading and outright invention, and readers were often unsure whether they
truth or fiction” (Sherman 31). These traits of fake, fiction and were reading truth or fiction” (Sherman 31). These traits of fake,
inventions in the travel accounts might have earned the entire fiction and inventions in the travel accounts might have earned the
volume of travel writing ‘second rate’ title in the realm of serious entire volume of travel writing ‘second rate’ title in the realm of
literature. Another major motive behind Travelers’ leaving Home and serious literature. Another major motive behind Travelers’ leaving
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heading for the Foreign Lands has remained the ambitions of Home and heading for the Foreign Lands has remained the
expansion of the stately territories. The Royal Dynasties intentionally ambitions of expansion of the stately territories. The Royal Dynasties
funded the daring travelers to explore the unknown lands and collect intentionally funded the daring travelers to explore the unknown
useful knowledge about the prospective lands which can be taken lands and collect useful knowledge about the prospective lands
under their Regimes. After the formation of large imperial states, which can be taken under their Regimes. After the formation of large
travel accounts emerged as a prominent literary genre in many imperial states, travel accounts emerged as a prominent literary
lands. In European societies, after the Renaissance awakening genre in many lands. In European societies, after the Renaissance
people ventured to the distant corners of the world and tried to awakening people ventured to the distant corners of the world and
expand not only their own knowledge but through the new born tried to expand not only their own knowledge but through the new
technology of printing presses, brought out numerous travel born technology of printing presses, brought out numerous travel
narratives. These narratives presented the worlds they saw from narratives. These narratives presented the worlds they saw from
their own superior mental set ups. And at Home there were people their own superior mental set ups. And at Home there were people
who ardently waited with insatiable appetite for news about the larger who ardently waited with insatiable appetite for news about the larger
world. The spirits of Discoveries drove the European Travellers with world. The spirits of Discoveries drove the European Travellers with
such intensity that they ransacked the interior regions of Africa, such intensity that they ransacked the interior regions of Africa,
America and the major parts of Asian Continents just at the begging America and the major parts of Asian Continents just at the begging
of the 19 th century. The colonial administrators had their own vested of the 19 th century. The colonial administrators had their own vested
interests. Although there is a consistent pattern of travel writing interests. Although there is a consistent pattern of travel writing
through the centuries, travelogues and adventure narratives became through the centuries, travelogues and adventure narratives became
extremely popular during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, extremely popular during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
with great impetus provided to the realm through imperialism and with great impetus provided to the realm through imperialism and
colonization of territories. The Western travellers ransacked the 15 colonization of territories. The Western travellers ransacked the 15
recesses of the globe with their singular mission to explore the recesses of the globe with their singular mission to explore the
undiscovered parts of the earthly planet. In the 20th century, travel undiscovered parts of the earthly planet. In the 20th century, travel
related writings evolved into several different categories, including a related writings evolved into several different categories, including a
vast number of travel guidebook series, travel-related periodicals, vast number of travel guidebook series, travel-related periodicals,
and travel diaries, recordings of scientific and exploratory missions, and travel diaries, recordings of scientific and exploratory missions,
adventure narratives, and semi-autobiographical accounts of adventure narratives, and semi-autobiographical accounts of
personal travels. The main trait behind the extreme popularity of this personal travels. The main trait behind the extreme popularity of this
kind of the texts was it served the reading public the elements of kind of the texts was it served the reading public the elements of
mystery, the imaginary adventures of the far and unknown regions. mystery, the imaginary adventures of the far and unknown regions.
After the years of enlightenment, the European spirits of discovery After the years of enlightenment, the European spirits of discovery
led many expeditions, the major among them were those of Captain led many expeditions, the major among them were those of Captain
Cook’s Pacific Explorations. The travel accounts of these expeditions Cook’s Pacific Explorations. The travel accounts of these expeditions
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gained great popularity as well as social reactions. The accounts on gained great popularity as well as social reactions. The accounts on
the Tahiti islands by his ship ‘Endeavour’ collected much attentions the Tahiti islands by his ship ‘Endeavour’ collected much attentions
as the descriptions of these islands and the way of life of these as the descriptions of these islands and the way of life of these
islanders served the element of wonder to the reading public. islanders served the element of wonder to the reading public.
Another great and noteworthy paradigm of eighteen century travel Another great and noteworthy paradigm of eighteen century travel
was the emerging popularity of the Grand Tour of Europe, which was the emerging popularity of the Grand Tour of Europe, which
exposed the English Youth to the culture of the European Continent exposed the English Youth to the culture of the European Continent
in entirety and enabled them to have direct practice of the aristocratic in entirety and enabled them to have direct practice of the aristocratic
etiquettes: A man who has not been in Italy is always conscious of etiquettes: A man who has not been in Italy is always conscious of
an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man
should see. The grand object of travelling is to see the shores of the should see. The grand object of travelling is to see the shores of the
Mediterranean. On those shores were the four great empires of the Mediterranean. On those shores were the four great empires of the
world; the Assyrian, the Persian The Grecian and the Roman. All our world; the Assyrian, the Persian The Grecian and the Roman. All our
religion, almost all our laws, almost all our arts, almost all that sets religion, almost all our laws, almost all our arts, almost all that sets
us above Savages, has come to us from the shores of the us above Savages, has come to us from the shores of the
Mediterranean. (Boswell’s Life of Johnson 505) (Originally quoted by Mediterranean. (Boswell’s Life of Johnson 505) (Originally quoted by
Peter Whitefield in Travel: a Literary History 154) Since the entire Peter Whitefield in Travel: a Literary History 154) Since the entire
route to Italy was predetermined and conventionalised, there was a route to Italy was predetermined and conventionalised, there was a
little room for any variations and so few were the chances of its little room for any variations and so few were the chances of its
varied recreation: Within this rigid framework, the promise of great varied recreation: Within this rigid framework, the promise of great
travel literature would appear to be slight, and there is undoubtedly a travel literature would appear to be slight, and there is undoubtedly a
sameness about the records of the Grand Tour. The skill of the writer sameness about the records of the Grand Tour. The skill of the writer
was to ring innumerable variations on a few basic themes, to infuse was to ring innumerable variations on a few basic themes, to infuse
personal colour, life, adventure or eccentricity into the personal colour, life, adventure or eccentricity into the
conventionalised experience. A competitiveness quickly arose conventionalised experience. A competitiveness quickly arose
among writers as to who could bring back the most colourful stories, among writers as to who could bring back the most colourful stories,
the most whimsical, eccentric or bizarre. As a result, the artistic the most whimsical, eccentric or bizarre. As a result, the artistic
beauties of Florence, 16 Venice and Rome almost invariably came beauties of Florence, 16 Venice and Rome almost invariably came
second to stories about the roads, the inns, the local characters and second to stories about the roads, the inns, the local characters and
villains, the grand parties, the loose morals, and—if the traveller was villains, the grand parties, the loose morals, and—if the traveller was
of the elite – the life of the European courts which he visited. Thomas of the elite – the life of the European courts which he visited. Thomas
Gray, who made the Grand Tour in 1739-41 in the company of Gray, who made the Grand Tour in 1739-41 in the company of
Horace Walpole, even wrote a satirical ‘Outline for a Book of Horace Walpole, even wrote a satirical ‘Outline for a Book of
Travels’, which makes it perfectly clear what he thought of the typical Travels’, which makes it perfectly clear what he thought of the typical
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literature of the Tour. (Whitefield 155) Eighteenth century produced literature of the Tour. (Whitefield 155) Eighteenth century produced
numerous texts on the Grand Tour, to mention chief and noteworthy numerous texts on the Grand Tour, to mention chief and noteworthy
among them are – The Diary of John Evelyn, The Voyage of Italy, among them are – The Diary of John Evelyn, The Voyage of Italy,
The Letters of Horace Walpole. When travel and travelling activities The Letters of Horace Walpole. When travel and travelling activities
were so much so in vague, how could creative writing maintain were so much so in vague, how could creative writing maintain
distance from them? There were artists and men of letters who distance from them? There were artists and men of letters who
moulded their creativity into this pattern and produced fiction on moulded their creativity into this pattern and produced fiction on
travel during the eighteen century. Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) travel during the eighteen century. Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719)
enacts the adventures of the protagonist in isolation. Jonathan Swift enacts the adventures of the protagonist in isolation. Jonathan Swift
uses the travel phenomenon in his own unique way in his Gulliver’s uses the travel phenomenon in his own unique way in his Gulliver’s
Travels (1726). Johnson Rasselas tries to drive the point home Travels (1726). Johnson Rasselas tries to drive the point home
through the extensive travels of the protagonist that though man through the extensive travels of the protagonist that though man
journeys from place to place in search of pleasures and happiness journeys from place to place in search of pleasures and happiness
the ideal happiness is quite unobtainable. And the entire versions of the ideal happiness is quite unobtainable. And the entire versions of
the Picaresque Novels modeled themselves on the wandering the Picaresque Novels modeled themselves on the wandering
adventures of the roughish hero. The nineteenth century bears the adventures of the roughish hero. The nineteenth century bears the
flair of romanticism and spirits of wonder in the travel accounts. By flair of romanticism and spirits of wonder in the travel accounts. By
this time, England had almost established herself in the many of the this time, England had almost established herself in the many of the
Asian and African nations. Byron used travel as a poetic strategy and Asian and African nations. Byron used travel as a poetic strategy and
presented the world in the essence of remoteness and escape. presented the world in the essence of remoteness and escape.
Swinburne, Thackeray and Ruskin also produced great stuff on Swinburne, Thackeray and Ruskin also produced great stuff on
travel. Moreover, there were ample accounts on the English colonies travel. Moreover, there were ample accounts on the English colonies
spread on the earth. The new emerging travel and information spread on the earth. The new emerging travel and information
technologies have turned the world into a small Hutch, transforming technologies have turned the world into a small Hutch, transforming
the travel into a mass activity. Even people started emigrations on the travel into a mass activity. Even people started emigrations on
the social, political or on the commercial plains. There are the social, political or on the commercial plains. There are
generations of writers who have made foreign lands their second generations of writers who have made foreign lands their second
home and given rise to what is termed as ‘Diaspora Literature’ in the home and given rise to what is termed as ‘Diaspora Literature’ in the
modern creative literature. Writers and artists such as T. S. Eliot, modern creative literature. Writers and artists such as T. S. Eliot,
Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Joseph Conrad, and Pablo Picasso were Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Joseph Conrad, and Pablo Picasso were
themselves émigrés, living much of their adult lives outside the themselves émigrés, living much of their adult lives outside the
nations of their birth. The years between the two World Wars proved nations of their birth. The years between the two World Wars proved
much more prolific and productive, and Paul Fussel rightly hails the much more prolific and productive, and Paul Fussel rightly hails the
decade of 1930s as ‘the Golden Era’ of travel writing, especially in decade of 1930s as ‘the Golden Era’ of travel writing, especially in
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Britain. In the hands of the writers like D. H. Lawrence 17 and Andre Britain. In the hands of the writers like D. H. Lawrence 17 and Andre
Gide, travel writing obtained new heights of popularity. As Carl Gide, travel writing obtained new heights of popularity. As Carl
Thompson puts it: In a decade that witnessed a global economic Thompson puts it: In a decade that witnessed a global economic
depression, the rise of totalitarianism in Europe, and ultimately the depression, the rise of totalitarianism in Europe, and ultimately the
outbreak of the Second World War, the travelogue seemed to enable outbreak of the Second World War, the travelogue seemed to enable
a more direct engagement with worldly affairs and with politics than a more direct engagement with worldly affairs and with politics than
was possible in the traditional literary genres. Figures such as was possible in the traditional literary genres. Figures such as
George Orwell, Graham Green, Evelyn Waugh, Peter Fleming, George Orwell, Graham Green, Evelyn Waugh, Peter Fleming,
Robert Byron, Ernest Hemingway, Rebecca West and Freya Stark Robert Byron, Ernest Hemingway, Rebecca West and Freya Stark
accordingly took up the travel writing genre, and utilised it to diverse accordingly took up the travel writing genre, and utilised it to diverse
ends: as a form of political and cultural commentary (in case of ends: as a form of political and cultural commentary (in case of
Orwell and West); as a source of comic adventures (Fleming and Orwell and West); as a source of comic adventures (Fleming and
Waugh); or as a means of exploring subjectivity, memory and the Waugh); or as a means of exploring subjectivity, memory and the
unconscious (Greene). (Thompson 58) After the wars too the genre unconscious (Greene). (Thompson 58) After the wars too the genre
sustained the interests of both the creative artists and the reading sustained the interests of both the creative artists and the reading
public. The flux of new age travel writing displayed a variety of public. The flux of new age travel writing displayed a variety of
innovative approaches in the genre. The chief among them can be innovative approaches in the genre. The chief among them can be
enumerated as that of Paul Theroux’s The Great Railway Bazzar: By enumerated as that of Paul Theroux’s The Great Railway Bazzar: By
Train through Asia (1975), and The Pantagonian Express (1979), Train through Asia (1975), and The Pantagonian Express (1979),
Peter Matthiesen’s The Snow Leopard (1975), Bruce Chatwin’s In Peter Matthiesen’s The Snow Leopard (1975), Bruce Chatwin’s In
Pantagonia (1977) and Robin Davidson’s Tracks (1980). The travel Pantagonia (1977) and Robin Davidson’s Tracks (1980). The travel
literature of this time, thus, exhibits a variety of interests and tonal literature of this time, thus, exhibits a variety of interests and tonal
diversifications. Exactly during this time came Edward Said’s seminal diversifications. Exactly during this time came Edward Said’s seminal
study Orientalism (1978). Said’s study evoked a great attention study Orientalism (1978). Said’s study evoked a great attention
towards and critical debates on travel writing. Said’s argument in it is: towards and critical debates on travel writing. Said’s argument in it is:
“the observations on all the oriental lands, people and culture made “the observations on all the oriental lands, people and culture made
by the Western Travellers are with a pattern of constructing them as by the Western Travellers are with a pattern of constructing them as
savage, primitive and as the antithesis of a supposedly more savage, primitive and as the antithesis of a supposedly more
enlightened West. Only these sort of superior motives have generally enlightened West. Only these sort of superior motives have generally
driven the Westerners to serve their ideological ends and to justify driven the Westerners to serve their ideological ends and to justify
their colonial ambitions in these regions”. The entire domain of the their colonial ambitions in these regions”. The entire domain of the
travel literature, if taken superficially, exhibits the western hegemony. travel literature, if taken superficially, exhibits the western hegemony.
And the whole corpus of travel literature reflects that the world was And the whole corpus of travel literature reflects that the world was
ransacked only by the western travelers and the documentation of it ransacked only by the western travelers and the documentation of it
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happened in the western languages only. But the facts go in the happened in the western languages only. But the facts go in the
different directions. Actually in the initial phases, i.e. before 1500, the different directions. Actually in the initial phases, i.e. before 1500, the
major travel accounts were produced from the eastern sides, major travel accounts were produced from the eastern sides,
especially by the Chinese and the Muslim travelers. These travel especially by the Chinese and the Muslim travelers. These travel
accounts were focused mainly on the trade and commercial activities accounts were focused mainly on the trade and commercial activities
and the spiritual concerns of pilgrimage. A mural in the Mogao Caves and the spiritual concerns of pilgrimage. A mural in the Mogao Caves
from the ca. 7th century recounts the famous travels of Zhang Qian, from the ca. 7th century recounts the famous travels of Zhang Qian,
an imperial envoy of the Han emperor, who traveled across Central an imperial envoy of the Han emperor, who traveled across Central
Asia 18 from 139 to ca.126 BCE and returned with accurate Asia 18 from 139 to ca.126 BCE and returned with accurate
information about the western regions, which the Han dynasty then information about the western regions, which the Han dynasty then
successfully colonized. Pilgrimage, a spiritually-motivated journey successfully colonized. Pilgrimage, a spiritually-motivated journey
distinct in many religions, prompted thousands of Buddhists pilgrims distinct in many religions, prompted thousands of Buddhists pilgrims
to record their travels from East Asia to sacred sites in India where to record their travels from East Asia to sacred sites in India where
the Buddha was believed to have lived and taught. In the Islamic the Buddha was believed to have lived and taught. In the Islamic
world, Rihla literature, an entire genre of Muslim travel literature, was world, Rihla literature, an entire genre of Muslim travel literature, was
born out of the fifth pillar of Islam—to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. born out of the fifth pillar of Islam—to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.
One writer, Ibn Jubayr, recorded his journey from Spain to Mecca One writer, Ibn Jubayr, recorded his journey from Spain to Mecca
from 1183 to 1185 and is recognized as the founder of Rihla. While from 1183 to 1185 and is recognized as the founder of Rihla. While
more men than women wrote travel accounts in the pre-modern era, more men than women wrote travel accounts in the pre-modern era,
there were some women too who prepared their accounts of Hajj. there were some women too who prepared their accounts of Hajj.
Christian women too left behind their pilgrimage accounts, including Christian women too left behind their pilgrimage accounts, including
the famous, Itinerarium Egeriae, or Travels of Egeria, a fourth- the famous, Itinerarium Egeriae, or Travels of Egeria, a fourth-
century Gallic woman who recounted her travels to Jerusalem and century Gallic woman who recounted her travels to Jerusalem and
other Christian holy sites. She made religious travel quite popular other Christian holy sites. She made religious travel quite popular
among western European women who could afford the pilgrimage. among western European women who could afford the pilgrimage.
After 1500, Muslim and Asian travel accounts continued in large After 1500, Muslim and Asian travel accounts continued in large
numbers, but now accounts of European adventurers, missionaries, numbers, but now accounts of European adventurers, missionaries,
explorers, and merchants overshadowed their Eastern counterparts explorers, and merchants overshadowed their Eastern counterparts
due to the newly-invented printing press and an increasingly literate due to the newly-invented printing press and an increasingly literate
Europe that was eager to explore, conquer and eventually colonize Europe that was eager to explore, conquer and eventually colonize
regions far beyond their borders. European publishers churned out regions far beyond their borders. European publishers churned out
thousands of copies while editors, such as Richard Hakluyt in the thousands of copies while editors, such as Richard Hakluyt in the
sixteenth century, began to organize and compile travel narratives. sixteenth century, began to organize and compile travel narratives.
Scholarship in the past twenty years or so depicts the genre of travel Scholarship in the past twenty years or so depicts the genre of travel
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writing as part of the European imperial project, yet this Eurocentric writing as part of the European imperial project, yet this Eurocentric
view fails to take into account the numerous non-European travel view fails to take into account the numerous non-European travel
narratives, both historic and contemporary. The abundance and narratives, both historic and contemporary. The abundance and
varieties of travel and travelers in world history and the prolific varieties of travel and travelers in world history and the prolific
literature produced on Travels offer not only new scholarship, but literature produced on Travels offer not only new scholarship, but
also practical applications for using travel literature in the classroom. also practical applications for using travel literature in the classroom.
(Maxwell, Mary) 19 Women Travellers and Their Travel Accounts: (Maxwell, Mary) 19 Women Travellers and Their Travel Accounts:
Basically, for centuries in almost all the civilizations on the earth, Basically, for centuries in almost all the civilizations on the earth,
travel and adventures are the qualities mainly attributed to the travel and adventures are the qualities mainly attributed to the
masculine power and prowess. On the other hand women are masculine power and prowess. On the other hand women are
soundly rooted with the household responsibilities as that of bringing soundly rooted with the household responsibilities as that of bringing
up the children and looking after the entire family activities. Moreover up the children and looking after the entire family activities. Moreover
even though women remained present on travels along with the men even though women remained present on travels along with the men
as wives, caretakers or nurses, in the Patriarchal ideology to have as wives, caretakers or nurses, in the Patriarchal ideology to have
their responses on such travels is quite that of a remote dream. The their responses on such travels is quite that of a remote dream. The
stamp of ‘sessility’ that has been stuck on the women on the grounds stamp of ‘sessility’ that has been stuck on the women on the grounds
that they are firmly rooted in the family and that is why immobile and that they are firmly rooted in the family and that is why immobile and
have nothing to do with the prowess of travels and mobility, showed have nothing to do with the prowess of travels and mobility, showed
no sign of weakening late until nineteenth century. During the phase no sign of weakening late until nineteenth century. During the phase
of colonialisation of the different parts of the world proved the most of colonialisation of the different parts of the world proved the most
fertile phase for the production of the Travel Accounts and it is also fertile phase for the production of the Travel Accounts and it is also
true that in all the wake Women had accompanied men, still, as Sara true that in all the wake Women had accompanied men, still, as Sara
Mills observes: ......, women as individuals and as writers are always Mills observes: ......, women as individuals and as writers are always
seen to be marginal to the process of colonialism. A further reason seen to be marginal to the process of colonialism. A further reason
why the colonial context is not considered by critics is that women’s why the colonial context is not considered by critics is that women’s
writing and their involvement in colonialism was markedly different writing and their involvement in colonialism was markedly different
from men’s; their work was informed by different discursive from men’s; their work was informed by different discursive
frameworks and pressures. It is these frameworks which I shall map frameworks and pressures. It is these frameworks which I shall map
out. Because of the way that discourses of femininity circulated out. Because of the way that discourses of femininity circulated
within the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, women travel within the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, women travel
writers were unable to adopt the imperialist voice with the ease with writers were unable to adopt the imperialist voice with the ease with
which male writers did. The writing, which they produced, tended to which male writers did. The writing, which they produced, tended to
be more tentative than male writing, less able to assert the ‘truths’ of be more tentative than male writing, less able to assert the ‘truths’ of
British rule without qualification. Because of their oppressive British rule without qualification. Because of their oppressive
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socialisation and marginal position in relation to imperialism, despite socialisation and marginal position in relation to imperialism, despite
their generally privileged class position, women writers tended to their generally privileged class position, women writers tended to
concentrate on descriptions of people as individuals, rather than on concentrate on descriptions of people as individuals, rather than on
statements about the race as a whole. It is in their struggle with the statements about the race as a whole. It is in their struggle with the
discourses of imperialism and femininity, neither of which they could discourses of imperialism and femininity, neither of which they could
wholeheartedly adopt, and which pulled them in different textual wholeheartedly adopt, and which pulled them in different textual
directions, that their writing exposes the unsteady foundations on directions, that their writing exposes the unsteady foundations on
which it is based. (Mills 03) And the few women travel accounts, just which it is based. (Mills 03) And the few women travel accounts, just
like the oasis in the wide and far dessert, were full of subjective like the oasis in the wide and far dessert, were full of subjective
concerns and lacking confidence and full of textual unease that the concerns and lacking confidence and full of textual unease that the
critics like Paul Fussel did not admit them as the travel accounts or critics like Paul Fussel did not admit them as the travel accounts or
as 20 the stuff of creative writing at all. Carl Thompson too makes as 20 the stuff of creative writing at all. Carl Thompson too makes
quite similar observations in this regards: If the female traveller quite similar observations in this regards: If the female traveller
contravenes the patriarchal ideology of separate spheres by quitting contravenes the patriarchal ideology of separate spheres by quitting
her home and venturing out into the world, the female travel writer, or her home and venturing out into the world, the female travel writer, or
at least, the woman who publishes a travel account, contravenes that at least, the woman who publishes a travel account, contravenes that
ideology twice over. Not only does she travel, she then positions ideology twice over. Not only does she travel, she then positions
herself a second time in the public sphere, as an author; and a herself a second time in the public sphere, as an author; and a
reluctance to take up the latter role is a further reason why there are reluctance to take up the latter role is a further reason why there are
so few published travelogues by women prior to 1800. Even the so few published travelogues by women prior to 1800. Even the
noteworthy point in some of the nineteenth century women noteworthy point in some of the nineteenth century women
travelogues, the women travel writers have adopted the epistolary or travelogues, the women travel writers have adopted the epistolary or
the Diary format claiming that the observations and reflections made the Diary format claiming that the observations and reflections made
in them were for personal references only and never intended to be in them were for personal references only and never intended to be
published. (Thompson 180) In the modern era, with the safe and published. (Thompson 180) In the modern era, with the safe and
speedy travel technologies, women tread the world as freely and speedy travel technologies, women tread the world as freely and
fearlessly as their male counterparts. They receive ample room in fearlessly as their male counterparts. They receive ample room in
publishing their accounts presenting to the world form a feministic publishing their accounts presenting to the world form a feministic
view points. Still, there rings the note of resentments from the view points. Still, there rings the note of resentments from the
women travellers that they often “find themselves confronted with the women travellers that they often “find themselves confronted with the
cultural expectations and stereotypes which assume some types of cultural expectations and stereotypes which assume some types of
travel and travel writing, and arguably the very notion of travel per travel and travel writing, and arguably the very notion of travel per
se, to be more commonly a masculine rather than a feminine activity” se, to be more commonly a masculine rather than a feminine activity”
(Thompson 180). Critical Reactions: Critical reaction to travel (Thompson 180). Critical Reactions: Critical reaction to travel
340
narratives has a mixed history, with scholars such as Paul Fussell narratives has a mixed history, with scholars such as Paul Fussell
perceiving many of these texts as a “heaven for second-rate [literary] perceiving many of these texts as a “heaven for second-rate [literary]
talents”; yet their popularity continues unabated, with travel writers talents”; yet their popularity continues unabated, with travel writers
having achieved remarkable commercial success. A notable having achieved remarkable commercial success. A notable
example is the set of memoirs by British author Peter Mayle about example is the set of memoirs by British author Peter Mayle about
France's Provence region, his adopted home. According to Patrick France's Provence region, his adopted home. According to Patrick
Holland and Graham Huggan, writers such as Mayle appeal to a Holland and Graham Huggan, writers such as Mayle appeal to a
mostly middle-class readership, and while their success is to be mostly middle-class readership, and while their success is to be
lauded, both critics caution against travel writing that “frequently lauded, both critics caution against travel writing that “frequently
provides an effective alibi for the perpetuation and reinstallation of provides an effective alibi for the perpetuation and reinstallation of
ethnocentrically superior attitudes to ‘other’ cultures, peoples, and ethnocentrically superior attitudes to ‘other’ cultures, peoples, and
places.” Holland and Huggan concede, nonetheless, that despite its places.” Holland and Huggan concede, nonetheless, that despite its
accompanying prejudices, the very act of writing about another accompanying prejudices, the very act of writing about another
culture or place introduces it to a wider audience, allowing for the culture or place introduces it to a wider audience, allowing for the
formation of new cultural affiliations and links that promote analysis formation of new cultural affiliations and links that promote analysis
and reassessment. In contrast to eighteenth and nineteenth-century and reassessment. In contrast to eighteenth and nineteenth-century
21 imperialist travel narratives, contemporary travel narratives cover 21 imperialist travel narratives, contemporary travel narratives cover
a wide range of points of view, including those of postcolonial a wide range of points of view, including those of postcolonial
travellers, women, and environmentalists. In addition, the horizons travellers, women, and environmentalists. In addition, the horizons
for travel-related texts continues to expand, through venues such as for travel-related texts continues to expand, through venues such as
travel periodicals, the increased popularity of television programs travel periodicals, the increased popularity of television programs
focusing on travel and adventure, and the incredible mobility focusing on travel and adventure, and the incredible mobility
provided by modern means of travel. Even, the advancement and provided by modern means of travel. Even, the advancement and
the spread of the computer technology and the facilities have given the spread of the computer technology and the facilities have given
birth to a new kind of travel writings in the form of “Travel Blogs” --- birth to a new kind of travel writings in the form of “Travel Blogs” ---
which are easily accessible as well as get publication with a click of which are easily accessible as well as get publication with a click of
mouse..... Moreover, there are now ample travel accounts in English mouse..... Moreover, there are now ample travel accounts in English
as well as in the other vernacular languages which present the as well as in the other vernacular languages which present the
eastern reflections on the west. The African Continent’s reaction to eastern reflections on the west. The African Continent’s reaction to
what was popularised by the colonial traders rings the agitations of what was popularised by the colonial traders rings the agitations of
the natives for their unique cultures and traditions being painted with the natives for their unique cultures and traditions being painted with
the labels of savageness and unscrupulous practices. Writers like the labels of savageness and unscrupulous practices. Writers like
Chinua Achebe have registered their resentments for such practices Chinua Achebe have registered their resentments for such practices
through their meritorious creative works. In the ‘Introduction’ to his through their meritorious creative works. In the ‘Introduction’ to his
341
edited book “Travel Writing and the Empire”, Sachidananda Mohanty, edited book “Travel Writing and the Empire”, Sachidananda Mohanty,
commenting on the changing trends of Travel Writing notes that: commenting on the changing trends of Travel Writing notes that:
Travel Writing is more than a geographical account, local colour, Travel Writing is more than a geographical account, local colour,
spirit of place, or depiction of manners and morals, and is actually a spirit of place, or depiction of manners and morals, and is actually a
form of a memoir, an autobiography, dates back to Emerson and form of a memoir, an autobiography, dates back to Emerson and
Thoreau, if not to the earlier masters. What is radically new is Thoreau, if not to the earlier masters. What is radically new is
perhaps the perception that travel books map out the territories of perhaps the perception that travel books map out the territories of
mind, definé contours of nations and communities, and determine mind, definé contours of nations and communities, and determine
forms of cultural and political representations. They mediate across forms of cultural and political representations. They mediate across
disciplinary boundaries and knowledge systems. Thus, while the disciplinary boundaries and knowledge systems. Thus, while the
earlier approaches retain their charm and validity, the newer ones earlier approaches retain their charm and validity, the newer ones
pose challenges to our earlier paradigms. Properly handled, they pose challenges to our earlier paradigms. Properly handled, they
illuminate our understanding of society and culture. (Mohanty xvii) In illuminate our understanding of society and culture. (Mohanty xvii) In
this way to conclude with the words of Evi Misti, “Travel, like this way to conclude with the words of Evi Misti, “Travel, like
translation – a word semantically related to it – functions as a cross- translation – a word semantically related to it – functions as a cross-
cultural process challenging and eventually changing the boundaries cultural process challenging and eventually changing the boundaries
of both geographical and ideological insularity”. After of both geographical and ideological insularity”. After an in-depth
study of the various critical approaches to the travel writing and
an in-depth study of the various critical approaches to the travel having concentrated on several popular travel texts, the researcher
writing and having concentrated on several popular travel texts, the has pinpointed certain salient key-features of travel writing, which to
researcher has pinpointed certain salient key-features of travel a greater or lesser degree operate in the composition
writing, which to a greater or lesser degree operate in the
composition of the travel narratives: 22 After an in-depth study of the various
critical approaches to the travel writing and having concentrated on
of several popular travel texts, the researcher has pinpointed certain
salient key-features of travel writing, which to a greater or lesser
the travel narratives: 22 After an in-depth study of the various critical degree operate in the composition of the travel narratives:
approaches to the travel writing and having concentrated on several
popular travel texts, the researcher has pinpointed certain salient Salient Features of Travel Writing: ? Travel writing centers on a key
key-features of travel writing, which to a greater or lesser degree event, text or on the route designed by the writer. ?
operate in the composition of the travel narratives:
Sometimes, the writer picks up major happenings on his travelling
Salient Features of Travel Writing: ? Travel writing centers on a key experiences and narrates with his creative bent. ?
event, text or on the route designed by the writer. ?
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Sometimes, the writer picks up major happenings on his travelling uses background information that builds up to this event/text or the
experiences and narrates with his creative bent. ? route. ? may incorporate research to enhance the background
information— even if the writer didn’t know the information things at
uses background information that builds up to this event/text or the the time of the visit. ? clearly describes the location and focuses on
route. ? may incorporate research to enhance the background elements that are key to the story or experience. ? clearly describes
information— even if the writer didn’t know the information things at any important people so that readers feel as if they know them a
the time of the visit. ? clearly describes the location and focuses on little. ? clearly presents the geographical and ethnographic details. ?
elements that are key to the story or experience. ? clearly describes focuses on the special festivals, conventions, taboos of the culture of
any important people so that readers feel as if they know them a the place he visits. ? uses dialogue where possible to help the story
little. ? clearly presents the geographical and ethnographic details. ? “happen” for the reader. ? mixes reflections on the experience with
focuses on the special festivals, conventions, taboos of the culture of the retelling to help the reader see the importance of the experience.
the place he visits. ? uses dialogue where possible to help the story ? may present the writer’s own journey within as travel offers him/her
“happen” for the reader. ? mixes reflections on the experience with to be more with ‘self’ in the different culture and environment. ?
the retelling to help the reader see the importance of the experience. caters the interest of the readers by keeping the narrative free, jovial
? may present the writer’s own journey within as travel offers him/her and replete with the clues that keep the reader’s curiosity alive. ?
to be more with ‘self’ in the different culture and environment. ? may invest the myths/beliefs or any other popular story about the
caters the interest of the readers by keeping the narrative free, jovial place. ? presents the historical details of the place in an attempt to
and replete with the clues that keep the reader’s curiosity alive. ? link the past and the present of the places under focus. ? tries to
may invest the myths/beliefs or any other popular story about the represent the things and experiences in the contextual framework of
place. ? presents the historical details of the place in an attempt to his hypothetical audience. 23 ? The narrative envisages the writer as
link the past and the present of the places under focus. ? tries to the hero of the travel. The heroism lies in the encounter with the
represent the things and experiences in the contextual framework of unknown and uncertainties. The difficulties encountered in the entire
his hypothetical audience. 23 ? The narrative envisages the writer as process of the travelling and recounting forms the major part of the
the hero of the travel. The heroism lies in the encounter with the narrative. The journey can be accomplished in the company of some
unknown and uncertainties. The difficulties encountered in the entire sort of companions who emerge in the narrative as sidekicks. ? The
process of the travelling and recounting forms the major part of the constant reference to the difference becomes a narrative strategy
narrative. The journey can be accomplished in the company of some which reinforces the binary of us/them. ? The travel can become the
sort of companions who emerge in the narrative as sidekicks. ? The strategy for demonstrating cultural superiority of one’s own society or
constant reference to the difference becomes a narrative strategy the nation over the other. Inversely, it can also occasion a severe
which reinforces the binary of us/them. ? The travel can become the critique of one’s own culture vis-a-vis other. ? (Travel writing) may
strategy for demonstrating cultural superiority of one’s own society or also serve the purpose of righting the historical wrongs committed to
the nation over the other. Inversely, it can also occasion a severe one’s own culture by the other. ? may be taken as the textual
critique of one’s own culture vis-a-vis other. ? (Travel writing) may representation of cultural interaction operated on the preferences
also serve the purpose of righting the historical wrongs committed to and bent of the writer himself. Biography of William Dalrymple Figure
343
one’s own culture by the other. ? may be taken as the textual I : William Dalrymple. (http://www.williamdalrymple.uk.com/biog)
representation of cultural interaction operated on the preferences William Dalrymple was born in Scotland in 1965, and brought up on
and bent of the writer himself. Biography of William Dalrymple Figure the shores of the Firth of Forth. He was educated at Ampleforth and
I : William Dalrymple. (http://www.williamdalrymple.uk.com/biog) Trinity College, Cambridge where he was first History Exhibitioner
then Senior History Scholar. Literature and literary studies perhaps
William Dalrymple was born in Scotland in 1965, and brought up on are the genetic bonds for him, as he belongs to the family of Virginia
the shores of the Firth of Forth. Woolf; his father was a cousin of Virginia Woolf. 24 In 1986, while
still at college, he set off to follow on foot the outward route of Marco
He was educated at Ampleforth and Trinity College, Cambridge Polo from Jerusalem to Mongolia and wrote a highly acclaimed best-
where he was first History Exhibitioner then Senior History Scholar. seller about the journey, In Xanadu, when he was twenty-two. The
book
Literature and literary studies perhaps are the genetic bonds for him,
as he belongs to the family of Virginia Woolf; his father was a cousin won the 1990 Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish
of Virginia Woolf. 24 Arts Council Spring Book Award;
In 1986, while still at college, he set off to follow on foot the outward it was also short-listed for the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize.
route of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Mongolia and wrote a highly In 1989 Dalrymple moved to Delhi where he lived for five years
acclaimed best-seller about the journey, In Xanadu, when he was researching his second book, City of Djinns, which won the 1994
twenty-two. The book Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young
British Writer of the Year Award. From the Holy Mountain, his
won the 1990 Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish acclaimed study of the demise of Christianity in its Middle Eastern
Arts Council Spring Book Award; homeland, was awarded the Scottish Arts Council Autumn Book
Award for 1997; it was also short- listed for the 1998 Thomas Cook
it was also short-listed for the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize. Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize. A
In 1989 Dalrymple moved to Delhi where he lived for five years collection of his writings about India, The Age of Kali, won the French
researching his second book, City of Djinns, which won the 1994 Prix Astrolabe in 2005. In 1999, he changed genres and after four
Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young books of travel, concentrated on the writing of history. White Mughals
British Writer of the Year Award. From the Holy Mountain, his was published in 2003, and the book won Britain’s most prestigious
acclaimed study of the demise of Christianity in its Middle Eastern history prize, the Wolfson Prize, in 2003. It was also awarded the
homeland, was awarded the Scottish Arts Council Autumn Book Scottish Book of the Year Prize, and was short-listed for the PEN
Award for 1997; it was also short- listed for the 1998 Thomas Cook History Award, the Kiryama Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial
Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize. A Prize. The book is to be made into a major motion picture, directed
collection of his writings about India, The Age of Kali, won the French by Academy Award Winner, Ralph Fiennes. The Last Mughal: The
Prix Astrolabe in 2005. In 1999, he changed genres and after four Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857, described as 'a masterpiece' in the
books of travel, concentrated on the writing of history. White Mughals
344
was published in 2003, and the book won Britain’s most prestigious New York Review of Books, won the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize for
history prize, the Wolfson Prize, in 2003. It was also awarded the History and India’s leading literary award, the Vodafone/Crossword
Scottish Book of the Year Prize, and was award for Non Fiction. It was also long listed for the Samuel Johnson
Prize.
short-listed
for the PEN History Award, the Kiryama Prize and the James Tait
Black Memorial Prize. The book is to be made into a major motion published in 2009, won the Asia House Literary Award and was
picture, directed by Academy Award Winner, Ralph Fiennes. The again long listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize. Wendy Dingier wrote
Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857, described as 'a of it in the TLS, ‘A glorious mix of anthropology, history and the
masterpiece' in the New York Review of Books, won the Duff Cooper history of religions, packaged in writing worthy of a good novel…Not
Memorial Prize for History and India’s leading literary award, the since Kipling has anyone evoked village India so movingly. Only a
Vodafone/Crossword award for Non Fiction. It was also long listed for brilliant writer like Dalrymple could bring off this astonishing and
the Samuel Johnson Prize. unprecedented revelation of the humanity of people on the farthest
extremes of religious ecstasy.’ On the release of the book, Dalrymple
Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, toured the US, the UK, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Holland and
Australia with a band consisting of some of the Indian and Pakistani
published in 2009, won the Asia House Literary Award and was mystics featured in his book, including Sufis, Fakirs, Bauls,
again long listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize. Wendy Dingier wrote Theveram hymn singers and a prison warder and part-time Theyyam
of it in the TLS, ‘A glorious mix of anthropology, history and the dancer widely believed to be an incarnation of the 25 God Vishnu,
history of religions, packaged in writing worthy of a good novel…Not performing music and poetry from the book; the tour culminated in a
since Kipling has anyone evoked village India so movingly. Only a sell-out performance in the Sydney Opera House. A frequent
brilliant writer like Dalrymple could bring off this astonishing and broadcaster, he wrote and presented three television series Stones
unprecedented revelation of the humanity of people on the farthest of the Raj (Channel 4), Sufi Soul (Channel 4) and Indian Journeys
extremes of religious ecstasy.’ On the release of the book, Dalrymple (BBC/PBS), the last of which won the Grierson Award for Best
toured the US, the UK, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Holland and Documentary Series at BAFTA in 2002. His Radio 4 series on the
Australia with a band consisting of some of the Indian and Pakistani history of British spirituality and mysticism, The Long Search, won
mystics featured in his book, including Sufis, Fakirs, Bauls, the 2002 Sandford St Martin Prize for Religious Broadcasting and
Theveram hymn singers and a prison warder and part-time Theyyam was described by the judges as ‘thrilling in its brilliance. ’ In 2002 he
dancer widely believed to be an incarnation of the 25 God Vishnu, was awarded the Mungo Park Medal by the Royal Scottish
performing music and poetry from the book; the tour culminated in a Geographical Society for his ‘outstanding contribution to travel
sell-out performance in the Sydney Opera House. literature’. He received the Sykes Medal in 2005 from the Royal
Society for Asian Affairs for his contribution "to understanding
A frequent broadcaster, he wrote and presented three television contemporary Islam." In March 2008, he won the James Todd
series Stones of the Raj (Channel 4), Sufi Soul (Channel 4) and
345
Indian Journeys (BBC/PBS), the last of which won the Grierson Memorial Prize and in 2011, was awarded the Media Citizen
Award for Best Documentary Series at BAFTA in 2002. His Radio 4 Puraskar by the Indian Confederation of NGOs for emphasizing as
series on the history of British spirituality and mysticism, The Long an author of issues of global importance and concern. In December
Search, won the 2002 Sandford St Martin Prize for Religious 2005 his article on the madrasas of Pakistan was awarded the prize
Broadcasting and was described by the judges as ‘thrilling in its for Best Print Article of the Year at the 2005 Foreign Press
brilliance. ’ In 2002 he was awarded the Mungo Park Medal by the Association Media Awards He has three honorary doctorates of
Royal Scottish Geographical Society for his ‘outstanding contribution letters, from the University of St Andrews ‘for his services to literature
to travel literature’. He received the Sykes Medal in 2005 from the and international relations, to broadcasting and understanding,’ from
Royal Society for Asian Affairs for his contribution "to understanding the University of Lucknow ‘for his outstanding contribution in
contemporary Islam." In March 2008, he won the James Todd literature and history’, and from the University of Aberdeen ‘for his
Memorial Prize and in 2011, was awarded the Media Citizen contribution to the writing of the history of India.’ Two more, from the
Puraskar by the Indian Confederation of NGOs for emphasizing as Universities of Chichester and Bradford. William Dalrymple is a
an author of Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal Geographical
Society and of the Royal Asiatic Society, and is a founder and co-
issues of global importance and concern. In December 2005 his director of the Jaipur Literature Festival. He is a regular contributor to
article on the madrasas of Pakistan was awarded the prize for Best the New Yorker, the Guardian, the TLS, and the New York Review of
Print Article of the Year at the 2005 Foreign Press Association Media Books, and is the India correspondent of the New Statesman. His
Awards He has three honorary doctorates of letters, from the The Return of a King: the First Battle for Afghanistan 1839–42, about
University of St Andrews ‘for his services to literature and the First Anglo-Afghan War, was published in paperback in
international relations, to broadcasting and understanding,’ from the February-20_ by Bloomsbury in the UK and India and the US by
University of Lucknow ‘for his outstanding contribution in literature Vintage. He co-curated a major exhibition on Late Mughal Art,
and history’, and from the University of Aberdeen ‘for his contribution Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi, 1707–1857 for 26 the Asia
to the writing of the history of India.’ Two more, from the Universities Society in New York, to run from February to May 2012. He is
of Chichester and Bradford. William Dalrymple is a Fellow of the currently the Whitney J. Oates Fellow in Humanities at Princeton
Royal Society of Literature, the Royal Geographical Society and of University. William
the Royal Asiatic Society, and is a founder and co- director of the
Jaipur Literature Festival. He is a regular contributor to the New is married to the artist Olivia Fraser and they have three children;
Yorker, the Guardian, the TLS, and the New York Review of Books, Ibby, Sam and Adam.
and is the India correspondent of the New Statesman. His The
Return of a King: the First Battle for Afghanistan 1839–42, about the William resides at a farm on the outskirts of Delhi with his family for
First Anglo-Afghan War, ten months of the year. In his talks with Victoria Moore, (7:00AM BST
02 July 2013) [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/
was restaurants/10148823/William- Dalrymple-I-fatten-up-in-London-
then-diet-in-India.html at 14:17 18/11/ 2014], William admits that
346
published in paperback in February-20_ by Bloomsbury in the UK “There is a big difference between life in India and life here. We have
and India and the US by Vintage. He co-curated a major exhibition the full Down town there. Here, you can just go down and have
on Late Mughal Art, Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi, coffee in the morning half-naked without worrying, but the drawback
1707–1857 for 26 the Asia Society in New York, to run from February is that you have to go and get your own light bulb when one blows,
to May 2012. He is currently the Whitney J. Oates Fellow in and remember how to unscrew a plug. The London months are
Humanities at Princeton University. William usually a round of lunches and book publicity”. About his love for
India, William clearly confesses in his talks with Anand Raj OK,
is married to the artist Olivia Fraser and they have three children; Features Editor, Friday Magazine, “I’ve never looked back… never
really left India,’’ he says. “I am obsessed with the country and just
Ibby, Sam and Adam. cannot think of living anywhere else.’’ Ascribing reason for his love
for India, he mentions that, “a small trickle of Bengali blood that’s in
William resides at a farm on the outskirts of Delhi with his family for me’’. His maternal great-great-grandmother Sophia Pattle was the
ten months of the year. In his talks with Victoria Moore, (7:00AM BST daughter of a Bengali woman. “I’m sure at some level the familiarity
02 July 2013) [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/ must have come from that. Heredity works in its own ways,’’ he
restaurants/10148823/William- Dalrymple-I-fatten-up-in-London- happily mentions the point to Anand Raj. William also points out that
then-diet-in-India.html at 14:17 18/11/ 2014], William admits that in his life he had never imagined nor ever dreamt of coming to India.
“There is a big difference between life in India and life here. We have As a history scholar at Cambridge, he was more keen to go on a dig
the full Down town there. Here, you can just go down and have in an archaeological site in Iraq. “But the job fell through at the last
coffee in the morning half-naked without worrying, but the drawback minute when Saddam Hussain closed the British School of
is that you have to go and get your own light bulb when one blows, Archaeology in Baghdad.’’ One of his friends who was going to India
and remember how to unscrew a plug. The London months are asked him if he would go along. “And at the last minute, just like that,
usually a round of lunches and book publicity”. About his love for I agreed,’’ he says. “It must have been a mixture of extreme
India, William clearly confesses in his talks with Anand Raj OK, strangeness and familiarity – the latter a result of the colonial rule –
Features Editor, Friday Magazine, “I’ve never looked back… never that I jumped at the chance to go along to India.’’ In his another
really left India,’’ he says. “I am obsessed with the country and just interview with Nanki Singh, [Hindustan Times Chandigarh,
cannot think of living anywhere else.’’ Ascribing reason for his love November 01, 2014], on an event of Chandigarh Literature Festival,
for India, he mentions that, “a small trickle of Bengali blood that’s in Dalrymple once again comes to his point of arriving in India and
me’’. His maternal great-great-grandmother Sophia Pattle was the admits that I was backpacking and had a budget of Rs. 35 a day but
daughter of a Bengali woman. “I’m sure at some level the familiarity it was the trip that changed my life,” he reminisces. India has been
must have come from that. Heredity works in its own ways,’’ he good for him he says and also good to him. “As my interests have
happily mentions the point to Anand Raj. William also points out that changed, India has accommodated them,” he smiles fondly. 27 After
in his life he had never imagined nor ever dreamt of coming to India. backpacking and hanging out in Goa for a few weeks – a magnet for
As a history scholar at Cambridge, he was more keen to go on a dig Westerners in India because of its pristine beaches – Dalrymple
in an archaeological site in Iraq. “But the job fell through at the last found himself being drawn to Delhi. “It was the ruins in and around
minute when Saddam Hussain closed the British School of
347
Archaeology in Baghdad.’’ One of his friends who was going to India India’s capital that fascinated me,’’ says Dalrymple. “I kept imagining
asked him if he would go along. “And at the last minute, just like that, all the history lying buried there.’’ As much as he loves being in India,
I agreed,’’ he says. “It must have been a mixture of extreme he says he finds it frustrating being an outsider even though he has
strangeness and familiarity – the latter a result of the colonial rule – lived in the country for so long. “But as a writer it keeps you sharp
that I jumped at the chance to go along to India.’’ In his another and there are a lot of things that still surprise you. There are things
interview with Nanki Singh, [Hindustan Times Chandigarh, you don’t understand. There are things you keep asking questions
November 01, 2014], on an event of Chandigarh Literature Festival, about… India is so complicated. You can never get complacent and
Dalrymple once again comes to his point of arriving in India and it is in that need to answer questions that my books come about.’’
admits that I was backpacking and had a budget of Rs. 35 a day but William, being an avid researcher goes to any extent in order to
it was the trip that changed my life,” he reminisces. India has been collect material for his bestselling books. In such pursuits he travels
good for him he says and also good to him. “As my interests have in the lands and regions which hold an apparent danger even to
changed, India has accommodated them,” he smiles fondly. 27 After one’s life itself. He has been shot at in Kashmir and in Palestine. He
backpacking and hanging out in Goa for a few weeks – a magnet for narrowly missed a sniper attack and was nearly killed while
Westerners in India because of its pristine beaches – Dalrymple researching a book in Afghanistan. Dalrymple, who has won a clutch
found himself being drawn to Delhi. “It was the ruins in and around of awards, including the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the
India’s capital that fascinated me,’’ says Dalrymple. “I kept imagining Year Award, the Wolfson Prize for History and the Asia House Award
all the history lying buried there.’’ As much as he loves being in India, for Asian Literature, scoured libraries and archives in England, India,
he says he finds it frustrating being an outsider even though he has Pakistan and Kabul for details of the war but wasn’t satisfied with
lived in the country for so long. “But as a writer it keeps you sharp what he found. The perfectionist that he is, he also wanted to see the
and there are a lot of things that still surprise you. There are things place where the battle between the British troops and the Afghans
you don’t understand. There are things you keep asking questions was fought. It’s this attention to detail, desire to “live the story” and
about… India is so complicated. You can never get complacent and copious research coupled with vivid and dramatic writing that have
it is in that need to answer questions that my books come about.’’ made his books so popular across the world. As a narrative historian,
William, being an avid researcher goes to any extent in order to he is determined to leave no stone unturned in his quest to get as
collect material for his bestselling books. In such pursuits he travels much detail as he can on the subject he is writing about. And if it
in the lands and regions which hold an apparent danger even to means travelling across the world to some of the most dangerous
one’s life itself. He has been shot at in Kashmir and in Palestine. He places, then so be it.(By Anand Raj OK, Features Editor, Friday
narrowly missed a sniper attack and was nearly killed while Magazine Published: 00:00 March 1, 2013Friday) In his creative
researching a book in Afghanistan. Dalrymple, who has won a clutch writing Dalrymple models his stance on many predecessors whom
of awards, including he considers his role-models and under whose influence he has
shaped his own creativity. He accepted that he is hugely influenced
the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award, the by Eric Newby, Patrick Leigh Fermor and Bruce Chatwin, among
others, and is happy that “while there are people writing a lot of non-
348
Wolfson Prize for History and the Asia House Award for Asian fiction, no one is doing this kind of stuff: narrative non- fiction/history.
Literature, scoured libraries and archives in England, India, Pakistan So, he says, “I am kind of a pioneer. And I’m not complaining’’. When
and Kabul for details of the war but wasn’t satisfied with what he Anand Raj asks him about his future planning and projects on hand,
found. The perfectionist that he is, he also wanted to see the place Dalrymple 28 replies that he is considering a book on how
where the battle between the British troops and the Afghans was Christianity arrived in India. “I’ve begun to do some research... I’m
fought. It’s this attention to detail, desire to “live the story” and not sure where it will lead me,’’ William Dalrymple has got the
copious research coupled with vivid and dramatic writing that have passion and versatility to work on the volatile issues sometime may
made his books so popular across the world. As a narrative historian, be very sensitive and leading to ignite sparks of revolts and
he is determined to leave no stone unturned in his quest to get as agitations, still, all this he manages to do with the knack of an expert
much detail as he can on the subject he is writing about. And if it through his hours of work in the libraries searching for the authentic
means travelling across the world to some of the most dangerous sources, manuscripts in the archives and interviewing a number of
places, then so be it.(By Anand Raj OK, Features Editor, Friday people relentlessly. In his interview to Laaleen Khan (Published:
Magazine Published: 00:00 March 1, 2013Friday) In his creative October 15, 2011, International Express Tribune with the
writing Dalrymple models his stance on many predecessors whom InternationalNew York Times), Dalrymple says, “My books break
he considers his role-models and under whose influence he has down into travel books, where I go on journeys and interview people,
shaped his own creativity. He accepted that he is hugely influenced and history books, where I spend time most of the times with
by Eric Newby, Patrick Leigh Fermor and Bruce Chatwin, among manuscripts in the library. It’s exciting to research both, but in
others, and is happy that “while there are people writing a lot of non- different ways. With travel books you have the pleasure of the open
fiction, no one is doing this kind of stuff: narrative non- fiction/history. road. With history books you’re following a trail like a detective. TV
So, he says, “I am kind of a pioneer. And I’m not complaining’’. When and travel journalism make a lovely change between the big projects,
Anand Raj asks him about his future planning and projects on hand, but they are much less substantial than books”. Commenting how he
Dalrymple 28 replies that he is considering a book on how prepares the path way for his books and the process of his collecting
Christianity arrived in India. “I’ve begun to do some research... I’m materials, in his talks with Karim Waheed, the corresspondent of The
not sure where it will lead me,’’ William Dalrymple has got the Daily Star, on the occasion of Hay Festival Dhaka 2014, Dalrymple
passion and versatility to work on the volatile issues sometime may explaining the question Why his history books read like novels?,
be very sensitive and leading to ignite sparks of revolts and says, “Because it's 'narrative history'. The narrative form is ancient
agitations, still, all this he manages to do with the knack of an expert whereas the novel form has developed much later. My writing
through his hours of work in the libraries searching for the authentic process is like Chinese cooking; most of the time is invested in mise
sources, manuscripts in the archives and interviewing a number of en place: chopping up ingredients, organising them, and at the very
people relentlessly. In his interview to Laaleen Khan (Published: end when all the things are ready to go, you start the cooking. I write
October 15, 2011, International Express Tribune with the a book once every four or five years and most of that time goes into
InternationalNew York Times), Dalrymple says, “My books break researching and preparing what exactly I'm going to write. I'd have
down into travel books, where I go on journeys and interview people, over 400 pages of dateline… lots and lots of index cards. I'm a
and history books, where I spend time most of the times with micro-planner. Clarity and control are very crucial if you're going to
349
manuscripts in the library. It’s exciting to research both, but in write about history” (Dalrymple. Interview with Karim Waheed). In his
different ways. With travel books you have the pleasure of the open article in MUMBAI BOSS, JULY 14, 2014, “How I Write”, William
road. With history books you’re following a trail like a detective. TV Dalrymple, discusses in detail his process of bringing out a book in
and travel journalism make a lovely change between the big projects, the scheme of every four year. I have two different routines
but they are much less substantial than books”. Commenting how he depending on whether I’m writing a book or not. I write a book once
prepares the path way for his books and the process of his collecting every four-five years, and it normally takes the best part of a year to
materials, in his talks with Karim Waheed, the corresspondent of The put the thing down on paper: the shortest was nine months for Nine
Daily Star, on the occasion of Hay Festival Dhaka 2014, Dalrymple Lives, the longest From the Holy Mountain which took 18 months.
explaining the question Why his history books read like novels?, Writing up one of these history books is like a final year of a four-
says, “Because it's 'narrative history'. The narrative form is ancient year course in university. The first year is easiest and lightest, I’m
whereas the novel form has developed much later. My writing going on book tours— 29 to Paris or Rome or Milan or
process is like Chinese cooking; most of the time is invested in mise America—doing lectures and readings on the previous book, and
en place: chopping up ingredients, organising them, and at the very while I’m doing that I finalise what the next book is about. It’s the
end when all the things are ready to go, you start the cooking. I write least-hard working year, I’m popping into libraries, sending emails to
a book once every four or five years and most of that time goes into other historians in the same fields. Year two is more secondary
researching and preparing what exactly I'm going to write. I'd have reading, so I’m reading all the stuff that has been put in previous
over 400 pages of dateline… lots and lots of index cards. I'm a books about what I’m writing about. Year three is about archives,
micro-planner. Clarity and control are very crucial if you're going to sitting in Delhi National Archives or Lahore archive, or in Kabul, as I
write about history” (Dalrymple. Interview with Karim Waheed). In his did for Return of a King. During that time, I’m usually stuck in a
article in MUMBAI BOSS, JULY 14, 2014, “How I Write”, William library with nose in a laptop. I have a very highly tuned filing system
Dalrymple, discusses in detail his process of bringing out a book in which I’ve got down to an art. All the material has to be properly
the scheme of every four year. I have two different routines prepared and perfected. I liken book writing to Chinese cooking—the
depending on whether I’m writing a book or not. I write a book once real effort is chopping up ingredients, all gingers in one pile, beets all
every four-five years, and it normally takes the best part of a year to marinated, so at the very end when all the things are ready to go, I
put the thing down on paper: the shortest was nine months for Nine put pan on heat and start the cooking. And if you’re well prepared the
Lives, the longest From the Holy Mountain which took 18 months. cooking should go easily, and you should have it ready in nine
Writing up one of these history books is like a final year of a four- months to a year. During the research process which takes place in
year course in university. The first year is easiest and lightest, I’m year two or three, I have a very anal system. I have three or four
going on book tours— 29 to Paris or Rome or Milan or card indexes, organised by name, place, and topic. I keep a dateline
America—doing lectures and readings on the previous book, and on my laptop with every event from the beginning of the story to the
while I’m doing that I finalise what the next book is about. It’s the end. It usually starts at about four or five pages and by the time I
least-hard working year, I’m popping into libraries, sending emails to start to write it’s about 400 pages. In that is the key quotes boiled
other historians in the same fields. Year two is more secondary down and tightened up in neat little gobbets. It’s a very slow process.
reading, so I’m reading all the stuff that has been put in previous A really good quote can go under topic and place and show up in
350
books about what I’m writing about. Year three is about archives, four different places, but it means when you’re writing it, the quote is
sitting in Delhi National Archives or Lahore archive, or in Kabul, as I already there on your computer, ready to be cut and pasted. If you
did for Return of a King. During that time, I’m usually stuck in a can write at speed, then that’s the key. If everything is planned out
library with nose in a laptop. I have a very highly tuned filing system and the order is clear then you don’t end up with writer’s block and
which I’ve got down to an art. All the material has to be properly you get a book written in a year or less. The final year is completely
prepared and perfected. I liken book writing to Chinese cooking—the different from the others. I stop going out much, and never go out to
real effort is chopping up ingredients, all gingers in one pile, beets all lunch. In that year, I get up at 5.30am. I will prop up a print-out of the
marinated, so at the very end when all the things are ready to go, I chapter I’m working on besides my bed, and when I wake I’ll go out
put pan on heat and start the cooking. And if you’re well prepared the on the terrace however hot the season, fresh from sleep, my mind
cooking should go easily, and you should have it ready in nine awake, and I will reread the chapter up to the point I’m at, and make
months to a year. During the research process which takes place in the corrections onto the print-out. It takes me about a month to write
year two or three, I have a very anal system. I have three or four a single chapter and by the end of the month, everything at the
card indexes, organised by name, place, and topic. I keep a dateline beginning would have been sifted through about 30 times, re-edited
on my laptop with every event from the beginning of the story to the every morning. I don’t do what 30 novelists do which is thrash out a
end. It usually starts at about four or five pages and by the time I first draft and then go back to it to revise. I’ll be revising the whole
start to write it’s about 400 pages. In that is the key quotes boiled chapter every morning, which is why I get up so early. Then again in
down and tightened up in neat little gobbets. It’s a very slow process. this final year, I will have my corrections put in the computer, then go
A really good quote can go under topic and place and show up in for a run and have breakfast, answer urgent emails at that point, then
four different places, but it means when you’re writing it, the quote is hopefully by about 9.30am I’m writing new material, which I do until
already there on your computer, ready to be cut and pasted. If you about 2 pm when I have a late lunch. I stop then, and that’s the point
can write at speed, then that’s the key. If everything is planned out that I start worrying about laundry, where you’re going out for a
and the order is clear then you don’t end up with writer’s block and dinner, all normal paraphernalia of everyday life. I go back to do a
you get a book written in a year or less. The final year is completely final edit and research for the next day in the afternoon at 4 or 6,
different from the others. I stop going out much, and never go out to when the next day’s writing gets planned. Then just before dinner I’ll
lunch. In that year, I get up at 5.30am. I will prop up a print-out of the do a print-out and put it by my bed. After dinner, I rarely go out, I
chapter I’m working on besides my bed, and when I wake I’ll go out collapse by the telly, watching 24 or The Bridge or The Killing. Often
on the terrace however hot the season, fresh from sleep, my mind I’ll fall asleep during it, especially if I’ve been awake since 5.30am,
awake, and I will reread the chapter up to the point I’m at, and make and I’ll be kicked awake by my children for snoring. There are two
the corrections onto the print-out. It takes me about a month to write key things during this time—I work in the shed at the end of the
a single chapter and by the end of the month, everything at the garden where there’s no wifi. You mustn’t have wifi, because as soon
beginning would have been sifted through about 30 times, re-edited as you’re online you can eat up two hours in a trice. In the final year I
every morning. I don’t do what 30 novelists do which is thrash out a go from a rambling individual to almost autocratically, fixatedly
first draft and then go back to it to revise. I’ll be revising the whole hardworking and focused and that is the one discipline of being a
chapter every morning, which is why I get up so early. Then again in writer. One year in four or five you are completely eaten up by the
351
this final year, I will have my corrections put in the computer, then go book. If it’s working, you’re really dreaming it, it’s not a figure of
for a run and have breakfast, answer urgent emails at that point, then speech, it’s a literal thing. You’re harnessing the power of your
hopefully by about 9.30am I’m writing new material, which I do until subconscious. The second key thing is to extend the morning as long
about 2 pm when I have a late lunch. I stop then, and that’s the point as possible, I put my Blackberry in a draw and lock it, I do not look at
that I start worrying about laundry, where you’re going out for a emails. You live in that book for four hours. The other thing I do is
dinner, all normal paraphernalia of everyday life. I go back to do a that I have a writing path, behind the shed at the back of my Delhi
final edit and research for the next day in the afternoon at 4 or 6, farm, where the goats graze. Around the goat’s grazing area is what
when the next day’s writing gets planned. Then just before dinner I’ll my children call the goataway. It’s a path cut through high grass,
do a print-out and put it by my bed. After dinner, I rarely go out, I which is my walking path. When I’m stuck with a passage I’ll go
collapse by the telly, watching 24 or The Bridge or The Killing. Often round and round. For a big problem it’s ten rounds, for a small to
I’ll fall asleep during it, especially if I’ve been awake since 5.30am, medium problem it’s five or six rounds. That’s my thinking path and
and I’ll be kicked awake by my children for snoring. There are two that’s a very important part of my 31 creative process, I go without a
key things during this time—I work in the shed at the end of the notepad, when it comes to me I’ll rush off to my desk. In summer in
garden where there’s no wifi. You mustn’t have wifi, because as soon April/May, I often have a little siesta after lunch. And in summer, if I’m
as you’re online you can eat up two hours in a trice. In the final year I writing well, I have a pool near the shed, and I’ll celebrate the
go from a rambling individual to almost autocratically, fixatedly passing of a page with a dip in the pool, it acts like a great lure for
hardworking and focused and that is the one discipline of being a getting on with it. It’s easier with the history books, as it’s clear where
writer. One year in four or five you are completely eaten up by the you’re going. The thing I find most difficult as a writer is knowing
book. If it’s working, you’re really dreaming it, it’s not a figure of what to do next. If you have a clear plot, like say British invasion of
speech, it’s a literal thing. You’re harnessing the power of your Afghanistan, one foot goes in front of the other. Travel writing is
subconscious. The second key thing is to extend the morning as long much less clear—with Nine Lives I wasn’t entirely clear what I was
as possible, I put my Blackberry in a draw and lock it, I do not look at after until I found it. I’m very easily led astray by temptation. But
emails. You live in that book for four hours. The other thing I do is nonetheless in my writing year— the last one was 2012, when I did
that I have a writing path, behind the shed at the back of my Delhi Return of a King; I started in May and finished the following April—
farm, where the goats graze. Around the goat’s grazing area is what during that time I’m really super disciplined. You stop going to
my children call the goataway. It’s a path cut through high grass, parties, I diet at the same time, the rules change. The other key rule
which is my walking path. When I’m stuck with a passage I’ll go is no drinking at all until the pen is down, at dinner. If you drink you
round and round. For a big problem it’s ten rounds, for a small to often write lots, but you read it the next day and it’s often complete
medium problem it’s five or six rounds. That’s my thinking path and rubbish. I find a couple of sips of wine, and the quality just goes out
that’s a very important part of my 31 creative process, I go without a the window immediately. My writing desk in the shed is immaculate,
notepad, when it comes to me I’ll rush off to my desk. In summer in organised with paperclips in the right place, books lined up like
April/May, I often have a little siesta after lunch. And in summer, if I’m soldiers in a parade. I have some small fragments of Timurid tiles I
writing well, I have a pool near the shed, and I’ll celebrate the found lying abandoned in Herat lying scattered around abandoned
passing of a page with a dip in the pool, it acts like a great lure for near a minefield, which act as paperweights. The writing is mostly
352
getting on with it. It’s easier with the history books, as it’s clear where done on a laptop, but I take notes in notebooks, and I get them and
you’re going. The thing I find most difficult as a writer is knowing my card indexes and files from Sara Stationers on Chiswick High
what to do next. If you have a clear plot, like say British invasion of Road [in London]. I always use the same notebook, it’s part of the
Afghanistan, one foot goes in front of the other. Travel writing is superstition. I also always use the same size card index, and when
much less clear—with Nine Lives I wasn’t entirely clear what I was my books overlap I can use the same card indexes. So if I’m writing
after until I found it. I’m very easily led astray by temptation. But about Nadir Shah for my next book then I already have index cards
nonetheless in my writing year— the last one was 2012, when I did about him from City of Djinns. 32 I have a white cockatoo Albinia.
Return of a King; I started in May and finished the following April— Albinia is my companion for my writing and she sits with me. She’s a
during that time I’m really super disciplined. You stop going to very noisy, boisterous bird and she loves dancing and music and
parties, I diet at the same time, the rules change. The other key rule conversation. But she has a weird second sense when I get down to
is no drinking at all until the pen is down, at dinner. If you drink you writing, and she keeps completely silent until I’m done. (Dalrymple
often write lots, but you read it the next day and it’s often complete “How I Write”) As for his next book on hand, William talks to the
rubbish. I find a couple of sips of wine, and the quality just goes out interviewers and in his collumns in the various print media. In one
the window immediately. My writing desk in the shed is immaculate, talk with Jennifer Cox, on 09 July 2014, William gives a rough plan
organised with paperclips in the right place, books lined up like for his next project to Cox’s query what will be next after his three
soldiers in a parade. I have some small fragments of Timurid tiles I history book, “I read a wonderful book last year called Natasha’s
found lying abandoned in Herat lying scattered around abandoned Dance – a cultural history of Russia – and in a single volume the
near a minefield, which act as paperweights. The writing is mostly author managed to get an incredible amount of his reading about
done on a laptop, but I take notes in notebooks, and I get them and Russian art, literature, cinema, all in one coherent frame. If I can find
my card indexes and files from Sara Stationers on Chiswick High a way to do something similar: a big cultural history of India – a
Road [in London]. I always use the same notebook, it’s part of the narrative that pulled the strands together – that’s what I’d love to do
superstition. I also always use the same size card index, and when next”. But by November 2014, the plans have acquired a concrete
my books overlap I can use the same card indexes. So if I’m writing form. Things in mind have got clear shapings. At present, Dalrymple
about Nadir Shah for my next book then I already have index cards is researching for his next book, The Anarchy which traces the
about him from City of Djinns. 32 I have a white cockatoo Albinia. growth of the East India Company from between 1756 to 1803. "I am
Albinia is my companion for my writing and she sits with me. She’s a working on the book which chronicles the feats of the East India
very noisy, boisterous bird and she loves dancing and music and Company that started off from a private trade company and became
conversation. But she has a weird second sense when I get down to a colonial power," he told DNA. "The book will take at least another
writing, and she keeps completely silent until I’m done. (Dalrymple three to four years to be published" (Porecha, Maitri. A World Gone
“How I Write”) As for his next book on hand, William talks to the By Through the Eyes of William Dalrymple.). 33 Works Cited “
interviewers and in his collumns in the various print media. In one
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353
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From the Holy Mountain From the Holy Mountain

______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
______________ On the blurb of the book, Karen Armstrong writes ______________ On the blurb of the book, Karen Armstrong writes
praising the talent of William Dalrymple reflected in From the Holy praising the talent of William Dalrymple reflected in From the Holy
Mountain: “An eloquent, poignant and courageous account of a Mountain: “An eloquent, poignant and courageous account of a
journey that pits the idealism of the past against the hatred, journey that pits the idealism of the past against the hatred,
disposition and denial of the present” (Cover page last). In From the disposition and denial of the present” (Cover page last). In From the
Holy Mountain William Dalrymple records his exploration of the Holy Mountain William Dalrymple records his exploration of the
regions of ancient Byzantium world and through his sincere regions of ancient Byzantium world and through his sincere
scholarship tries to unfold the historic facts engraved within the scholarship tries to unfold the historic facts engraved within the
layers of time. In the ancient time the world of Byzantium layers of time. In the ancient time the world of Byzantium
surroundings throbbed in the Christian spirituality, worshipping and surroundings throbbed in the Christian spirituality, worshipping and
philosophy, while the present scenario at the young William’s visit of philosophy, while the present scenario at the young William’s visit of
the same, the ancient glory seems standing the fear of extinction. the same, the ancient glory seems standing the fear of extinction.
Christian Idealism, the invaluable heritage in the form of precious Christian Idealism, the invaluable heritage in the form of precious
monuments as well as the Christian manuscripts and on the whole monuments as well as the Christian manuscripts and on the whole
the Christian culture and cult itself are standing on the verge of the Christian culture and cult itself are standing on the verge of
decay and decline. What Moschos’s wonderful book The Spiritual decay and decline. What Moschos’s wonderful book The Spiritual
Meadows presents as the beginning of the process in which Islamic Meadows presents as the beginning of the process in which Islamic
powers getting strong hold in the Mediterranean lands and powers getting strong hold in the Mediterranean lands and
Christianity stepping back from the place of its own origin, as William Christianity stepping back from the place of its own origin, as William
Dalrymple notes, seems reaping results. William Dalrymple has Dalrymple notes, seems reaping results. William Dalrymple has
adopted the same scheme of as he adopted in his first book In adopted the same scheme of as he adopted in his first book In
Xanadu in which he traces the footsteps of Marco Polo from Xanadu in which he traces the footsteps of Marco Polo from
Jerusalem to Xanadu in China covering the entire silk route, Jerusalem to Xanadu in China covering the entire silk route,
here in this book he wanders in the Byzantine world where the great here in this book he wanders in the Byzantine world where the great
saint and scholar John Moschos had journeyed in the company of saint and scholar John Moschos had journeyed in the company of
his disciple Sophronius.
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his disciple Sophronius. John Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows John Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows provides the prime
provides the prime inspiration to William Dalrymple to explore the inspiration to William Dalrymple to explore the parts of the Middle
parts of the Middle East and he tries to have the glimpses of John East and he tries to have the glimpses of John Moschos’s world of
Moschos’s world of Byzantium. Byzantium.
Thus, Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows gives him the thrust of Thus, Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows gives him the thrust of
traveling this world, William himself notes, “.... ‘The Spiritual traveling this world, William himself notes, “.... ‘The Spiritual
Meadows’ of John Moschos, the unlikely little book which first Meadows’ of John Moschos, the unlikely little book which first
brought me to this monastery, and the original manuscript of which I brought me to this monastery, and the original manuscript of which I
saw for the first time less than one hour ago. God willing, John saw for the first time less than one hour ago. God willing, John
Moschos will lead me on, eastward to Constantinople and Anatolia, Moschos will lead me on, eastward to Constantinople and Anatolia,
then southwards to the Nile and thence, if it is still possible, to the then southwards to the Nile and thence, if it is still possible, to the
great Khangra Oasis, once the southern frontier of Byzantium.” great Khangra Oasis, once the southern frontier of Byzantium.”
(Dalrymple From the Holy Mountain 4) The book (Dalrymple From the Holy Mountain 4) The book
itself runs with John Moschos’ descriptions of the landscape in flaring itself runs with John Moschos’ descriptions of the landscape in flaring
colours: 64 In my opinion, the meadows in spring present a colours: 64 In my opinion, the meadows in spring present a
particularly delightful prospect. One part of this meadow blushes with particularly delightful prospect. One part of this meadow blushes with
roses, in other places lilies predominate, in another violets blaze out, roses, in other places lilies predominate, in another violets blaze out,
resembling the Imperial purple. (11) Such descriptions of the resembling the Imperial purple. (11) Such descriptions of the
Byzantine world allured the writer to follow the same route after Byzantine world allured the writer to follow the same route after
thousands of years: ‘The Spiritual Meadows’ was a collection of most thousands of years: ‘The Spiritual Meadows’ was a collection of most
memorable sayings, anecdotes and holy stories that Moschos memorable sayings, anecdotes and holy stories that Moschos
gathered on his travels, and was written as part of a long tradition of gathered on his travels, and was written as part of a long tradition of
such apophthegmata, or sayings of fathers. (12) such apophthegmata, or sayings of fathers. (12) The book
The book voices the concern on the lost glory of Christianity and voices the concern on the lost glory of Christianity and seems an
seems an attempt to analyse the root causes operating behind such attempt to analyse the root causes operating behind such drastic
drastic transitions. transitions.
The visit, vista and encounters of John Moschos and William The visit, vista and encounters of John Moschos and William
Dalrymple in this world stand far apart. The experiences and Dalrymple in this world stand far apart. The experiences and
presentations of both the travelers have polar differences as at time presentations of both the travelers have polar differences as at time
of Moschos visit, the Byzantium was full of bustling Christian of Moschos visit, the Byzantium was full of bustling Christian
communities, glorifying Churches, renowned Monasteries, but after communities, glorifying Churches, renowned Monasteries, but after
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hundreds of years, at the time of William’s visit, the scenario has lost hundreds of years, at the time of William’s visit, the scenario has lost
the tinge of Christianity altogether, and what remains has been in the the tinge of Christianity altogether, and what remains has been in the
state of decline and decay and the remains can be said to have state of decline and decay and the remains can be said to have
survived only through the chance of fortune --- abandoned/deserted survived only through the chance of fortune --- abandoned/deserted
Churches, depeopled Monasteries waiting their destruction and a Churches, depeopled Monasteries waiting their destruction and a
few Christian communities with palpating hearts uncertain about their few Christian communities with palpating hearts uncertain about their
security. Now, it is only a Muslim world ruling supreme the Middle security. Now, it is only a Muslim world ruling supreme the Middle
East and constantly trying to drive the left over Christians out of the East and constantly trying to drive the left over Christians out of the
region by hook or crook. The struggle of Christian cult to hold on to region by hook or crook. The struggle of Christian cult to hold on to
their roots seems yielding to the socio-political forces engineered their roots seems yielding to the socio-political forces engineered
only in the favour of one particular group at the cost of the other. To only in the favour of one particular group at the cost of the other. To
be more precise, the decline and disturbances started well at the be more precise, the decline and disturbances started well at the
time of Moschos’ travels and are captured in his accounts too, time of Moschos’ travels and are captured in his accounts too,
this is how Dalrymple sums up the time slot of this great man’s this is how Dalrymple sums up the time slot of this great man’s
travels: Reading between the lines of John Moschos’s memoires, it is travels: Reading between the lines of John Moschos’s memoires, it is
clear that he and his friend were travelling in dangerous times. clear that he and his friend were travelling in dangerous times.
Following the collapse of Justinian’s great attempt at reviving the Following the collapse of Justinian’s great attempt at reviving the
Empire, Byzantium was under assault: from the west by Avars, Empire, Byzantium was under assault: from the west by Avars,
Slavs, Goyths and Lombards, from the east by crescendo of raids by Slavs, Goyths and Lombards, from the east by crescendo of raids by
desert nomads and the legions of Sassnian Persia. The great cities desert nomads and the legions of Sassnian Persia. The great cities
of the East Mediterranean were in fast decay: in Antinoch, huts full of of the East Mediterranean were in fast decay: in Antinoch, huts full of
refugees were springing up in the middle of the wide Roman refugees were springing up in the middle of the wide Roman
avenues which 65 had once buzzed with trade and industry. The avenues which 65 had once buzzed with trade and industry. The
great Mediterranean ports--- Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, Selusia---were great Mediterranean ports--- Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, Selusia---were
becoming idle; many of them were reverting to little more than fishing becoming idle; many of them were reverting to little more than fishing
villages. (13) William initiates his expedition with his visit of the villages. (13) William initiates his expedition with his visit of the
Monastery of Iviron, at Mount Athos, Greece. The driving motives Monastery of Iviron, at Mount Athos, Greece. The driving motives
behind this visit were nothing but his desire to have a look at the behind this visit were nothing but his desire to have a look at the
manuscripts. Reaching here he digs into the history of the monastery manuscripts. Reaching here he digs into the history of the monastery
and relating it he notes how it was founded by St. Euthymus of and relating it he notes how it was founded by St. Euthymus of
Salonica. At the age of eighteen, he wandered all around eating only Salonica. At the age of eighteen, he wandered all around eating only
grass. Later on he became stylite; then afterwards his fame spread grass. Later on he became stylite; then afterwards his fame spread
all around. He also brings to the light how the voluptuous nature of all around. He also brings to the light how the voluptuous nature of
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the monastery’s monks led to the prohibition of female from stepping the monastery’s monks led to the prohibition of female from stepping
their feet on the mountain: … it came to the ears of the Byzantine their feet on the mountain: … it came to the ears of the Byzantine
emperor that the monks were in the habit of debauching the emperor that the monks were in the habit of debauching the
daughters of the shepherds who came to the mountain to sell milk daughters of the shepherds who came to the mountain to sell milk
and wool. Thereafter it was decreed that nothing woman, no cow, no and wool. Thereafter it was decreed that nothing woman, no cow, no
mare, no bitch could step within its limits. Today this rule is relaxed mare, no bitch could step within its limits. Today this rule is relaxed
only for cats. (05) William’s access to the library and his mission to only for cats. (05) William’s access to the library and his mission to
have a look at Moschos manuscripts also weave around it a good have a look at Moschos manuscripts also weave around it a good
stuff of story. At first he was declined altogether to be allowed into stuff of story. At first he was declined altogether to be allowed into
the library. Then it was produced that it was not possible till Abbot’s the library. Then it was produced that it was not possible till Abbot’s
return who was out to Constantinople and would be back within a return who was out to Constantinople and would be back within a
week. William’s permit was expiring only the other day. Moreover his week. William’s permit was expiring only the other day. Moreover his
not being the ‘orthodox’ was also a question but was resolved with not being the ‘orthodox’ was also a question but was resolved with
his promise to the ‘kind’ Christophoros not to let anybody know that his promise to the ‘kind’ Christophoros not to let anybody know that
he was a ‘heretic’. When all this was resolved on the grounds of he was a ‘heretic’. When all this was resolved on the grounds of
favours, it was said that he would be allowed to access the library favours, it was said that he would be allowed to access the library
only if he could arrange for the lanterns since there was no light. only if he could arrange for the lanterns since there was no light.
There were real grounds behind such restrictions for the strangers to There were real grounds behind such restrictions for the strangers to
the library. It is reported: We have to keep everything well locked the library. It is reported: We have to keep everything well locked
these days… three years ago, in the middle of winter, some raiders these days… three years ago, in the middle of winter, some raiders
turned up in motor boats at the Great Larva. They had sten guns and turned up in motor boats at the Great Larva. They had sten guns and
were assisted by an ex-novice who had been thrown out by the were assisted by an ex-novice who had been thrown out by the
Abbot. They got into the library and stole many of the most ancient Abbot. They got into the library and stole many of the most ancient
manuscripts. (7-8) William also notes down the incidents of theft or manuscripts. (7-8) William also notes down the incidents of theft or
mishandlings or the tricky business of these invaluable manuscripts mishandlings or the tricky business of these invaluable manuscripts
by some of the men in past. The English traveler Hon. Robert by some of the men in past. The English traveler Hon. Robert
Curzon was accused of purchasing the priceless manuscripts from Curzon was accused of purchasing the priceless manuscripts from
the Abbot by weight like fruits in the market. The German bibliophile, the Abbot by weight like fruits in the market. The German bibliophile,
Herman Tischendorf claimed he had obtained various leaves of Herman Tischendorf claimed he had obtained various leaves of
manuscripts from a basket of 66 firewood intended to be burnt in manuscripts from a basket of 66 firewood intended to be burnt in
order to keep the monks warm in winter. Entering into the library order to keep the monks warm in winter. Entering into the library
William himself finds the instances of lack of care and amounts of William himself finds the instances of lack of care and amounts of
neglect and carelessness in the keeping and maintenance of this neglect and carelessness in the keeping and maintenance of this
invaluable heritage. The instance is provided with the brief dialogue invaluable heritage. The instance is provided with the brief dialogue
361
regarding John Tzimiskes’s coat: “What is that”, I whispered. “It’s regarding John Tzimiskes’s coat: “What is that”, I whispered. “It’s
John Tzimiskes’s coat.” “The Emperor John Tzimiskes? But he lived John Tzimiskes’s coat.” “The Emperor John Tzimiskes? But he lived
in the tenth century.” Christophoros shrugged his shoulders. “You in the tenth century.” Christophoros shrugged his shoulders. “You
can’t just leave something like that hanging up there,” I said. “Well”, can’t just leave something like that hanging up there,” I said. “Well”,
said Christophoros irritably, “where else would you put it?” (08) said Christophoros irritably, “where else would you put it?” (08)
William finds the book, the manuscript which has brought him here. William finds the book, the manuscript which has brought him here.
And his instant reactions about the book are: I opened the cover. And his instant reactions about the book are: I opened the cover.
Inside, the text was written in purple ink on the finest vellum---- Inside, the text was written in purple ink on the finest vellum----
strong, supple and waxy, but so thin as to be virtually translucent. strong, supple and waxy, but so thin as to be virtually translucent.
The calligraphy was a beautifully clear and cursive form of early The calligraphy was a beautifully clear and cursive form of early
medieval Georgian. According to the library’s detailed catalogue, the medieval Georgian. According to the library’s detailed catalogue, the
volume had bound together a number of different early Byzantine volume had bound together a number of different early Byzantine
devotional texts. (11) On the whole talking about the book, he notes devotional texts. (11) On the whole talking about the book, he notes
that the book was a compilation of most memorable sayings, that the book was a compilation of most memorable sayings,
anecdotes and stories “that Moschos gathered on his travels, and anecdotes and stories “that Moschos gathered on his travels, and
was written as part of a long tradition of such apophthegmata, or was written as part of a long tradition of such apophthegmata, or
Sayings of the fathers. However, Moschos’s writings are infinitely Sayings of the fathers. However, Moschos’s writings are infinitely
more vocative, graphic and humorous than those of any of his more vocative, graphic and humorous than those of any of his
contemporaries, and almost alone of the surviving examples of the contemporaries, and almost alone of the surviving examples of the
genre, they can still be read with genuine pleasure.” (12) With the genre, they can still be read with genuine pleasure.” (12) With the
help and support of Moschos’s work the keynote that Dalrymple help and support of Moschos’s work the keynote that Dalrymple
wants to strike is the historical fact that till the rise of Islam, from the wants to strike is the historical fact that till the rise of Islam, from the
age of Constantine i.e. from the early fourth century, ‘the East age of Constantine i.e. from the early fourth century, ‘the East
Mediterranean world was entirely Christian’. The whole of this Mediterranean world was entirely Christian’. The whole of this
Mediterranean world was the hub of the Christian learnings. The Mediterranean world was the hub of the Christian learnings. The
Monasteries were vibrant with the scholastic activities and the Monasteries were vibrant with the scholastic activities and the
libraries were pregnant with invaluable manuscripts. Not only this, libraries were pregnant with invaluable manuscripts. Not only this,
the Levant was the important centre of the trade with the Orient. The the Levant was the important centre of the trade with the Orient. The
advent of Islam brought about the start of decline and it completely advent of Islam brought about the start of decline and it completely
went under Islamic control in the year of 638 A.D. when Sophronius, went under Islamic control in the year of 638 A.D. when Sophronius,
Moschos’s companion, in his old age from the position of Patriarch of Moschos’s companion, in his old age from the position of Patriarch of
Jerusalem, handed the keys to the Caliph. William clearly notes the Jerusalem, handed the keys to the Caliph. William clearly notes the
facts of ‘Christianity’s devastating decline in the land of its birth’ facts of ‘Christianity’s devastating decline in the land of its birth’
delineated in Moschos’s accounts are just opening phases whose delineated in Moschos’s accounts are just opening phases whose
362
denouement is yet to take place in the current 67 times: “The denouement is yet to take place in the current 67 times: “The
Spiritual Meadows could be read less as a dead history book than as Spiritual Meadows could be read less as a dead history book than as
the prologue to an unfolding tragedy whose final chapter is still being the prologue to an unfolding tragedy whose final chapter is still being
written” (19). At present, the things have grown very hard for the written” (19). At present, the things have grown very hard for the
Christians in this area and there is a tendency among the natives to Christians in this area and there is a tendency among the natives to
evacuate to foreign lands in search of safety, security and prosperity evacuate to foreign lands in search of safety, security and prosperity
and therefore a Palestine Christian writer reports to William: Things and therefore a Palestine Christian writer reports to William: Things
have got so bad that the remaining Christians in Jerusalem could be have got so bad that the remaining Christians in Jerusalem could be
flown out in just nine jumbo jets; indeed there are now said to be flown out in just nine jumbo jets; indeed there are now said to be
more Jerusalem born Christians living in Sydney than in Jerusalem more Jerusalem born Christians living in Sydney than in Jerusalem
itself. (20) (Emphasis mine) The emphasis tries to highlight the itself. (20) (Emphasis mine) The emphasis tries to highlight the
tendency and trends of emigration among the native Christians who tendency and trends of emigration among the native Christians who
have evolved enough understanding that life would be far more have evolved enough understanding that life would be far more
better in the safety and security of foreign lands than at HOME. Two better in the safety and security of foreign lands than at HOME. Two
The second chapter narrates the visit to the Turkish Empire. William The second chapter narrates the visit to the Turkish Empire. William
travels to the cities of Turkey like Istanbul, Antioch, Urfa, and travels to the cities of Turkey like Istanbul, Antioch, Urfa, and
Diyarbakir and presents the compare - contrast review of the Diyarbakir and presents the compare - contrast review of the
scenario in the Historic context and the present plights especially of scenario in the Historic context and the present plights especially of
the Christians who are undergoing atrocities at the hands of local the Christians who are undergoing atrocities at the hands of local
Islamic extremist forces. Istanbul is his first destination. William folds Islamic extremist forces. Istanbul is his first destination. William folds
open the grand Historic flakes of this city of Constantinople. He notes open the grand Historic flakes of this city of Constantinople. He notes
that the city was capital of Christendom, the richest metropolis in that the city was capital of Christendom, the richest metropolis in
Europe and the most populous city west of the great Chinese Silk Europe and the most populous city west of the great Chinese Silk
Route terminus. From over there, the greatest Byzantine Emperor Route terminus. From over there, the greatest Byzantine Emperor
controlled his Empire. For over a thousand years Constantinople was controlled his Empire. For over a thousand years Constantinople was
the capital of Christendom, the richest metropolis in Europe and the the capital of Christendom, the richest metropolis in Europe and the
most populous city west of the great Chinese Silk Route terminus of most populous city west of the great Chinese Silk Route terminus of
Chang-an. (26) Describing the gorgeous temperament of this Chang-an. (26) Describing the gorgeous temperament of this
historical city, Dalrymple asserts that when John Moschos arrived in historical city, Dalrymple asserts that when John Moschos arrived in
the city, it was, being on the main Silk route and the junction of the the city, it was, being on the main Silk route and the junction of the
East –West trade and also being the center of learning, the greatest East –West trade and also being the center of learning, the greatest
metropolis of Europe with about a population of three quarter of a metropolis of Europe with about a population of three quarter of a
million and so divergent population that ‘it was said that seventy-two million and so divergent population that ‘it was said that seventy-two
different tongues could be heard in its streets’ (27). The city’s life different tongues could be heard in its streets’ (27). The city’s life
363
was so riveting and interesting that it was quite difficult for the was so riveting and interesting that it was quite difficult for the
natives to be able to part with it. Dalrymple drives this point home by natives to be able to part with it. Dalrymple drives this point home by
an interesting incident of one twelfth century Byzantine author who an interesting incident of one twelfth century Byzantine author who
was forced to leave the city for a diplomatic mission. Out of the was forced to leave the city for a diplomatic mission. Out of the
agony of being sent away 68 from his beloved city, the author writes: agony of being sent away 68 from his beloved city, the author writes:
“Oh, land of Byzantine , oh thrice happy city, eye of universe, “Oh, land of Byzantine , oh thrice happy city, eye of universe,
ornament of the world, star shining a far, beacon of the lower world, ornament of the world, star shining a far, beacon of the lower world,
would that I were within you, enjoying you to the full! Do not part me would that I were within you, enjoying you to the full! Do not part me
from your maternal bosom” (27). This great Byzantine city was from your maternal bosom” (27). This great Byzantine city was
eventually won by the Turks in 1453. Even with the new rulers the eventually won by the Turks in 1453. Even with the new rulers the
city maintained its importance and in some respects its significance city maintained its importance and in some respects its significance
increased, and as Dalrymple notes, ‘for the next two centuries the increased, and as Dalrymple notes, ‘for the next two centuries the
Ottoman Empire was the most powerful force in Eurasia, and Ottoman Empire was the most powerful force in Eurasia, and
Constantinople again became the Mediterranean’s greatest port’. Constantinople again became the Mediterranean’s greatest port’.
(27) Religious and ethnic tolerance was the most significant virtue of (27) Religious and ethnic tolerance was the most significant virtue of
erly Ottoman Constantinople. William notes from the historical facts erly Ottoman Constantinople. William notes from the historical facts
thsat the majority of the senior Ottoman odfficials were not ethnic thsat the majority of the senior Ottoman odfficials were not ethnic
Turks, but Christians or Jewish converts. The land at thaqt time Turks, but Christians or Jewish converts. The land at thaqt time
stood at the epitome of religious freedom: “No country on the earth stood at the epitome of religious freedom: “No country on the earth
where the exercise of all religions is more free and less subject to where the exercise of all religions is more free and less subject to
being troubled, than in Turkey” (28). Dalrymple notes with pains that being troubled, than in Turkey” (28). Dalrymple notes with pains that
the tolerance towards the other religions and the multicultural legacy the tolerance towards the other religions and the multicultural legacy
of the city ceased with the advent of new sagas of time. William of the city ceased with the advent of new sagas of time. William
compares the ancient grandeurs with present impoverished lot of the compares the ancient grandeurs with present impoverished lot of the
great city and notes that with the ‘hardening of attitudes’ it has turned great city and notes that with the ‘hardening of attitudes’ it has turned
out to be nothing more than a culturally barren place. The population out to be nothing more than a culturally barren place. The population
from the multi ethnic has turned to mono ethnic with 99 per cent of from the multi ethnic has turned to mono ethnic with 99 per cent of
the Turks only. The Jews left to Israel. The Greeks flew to Athens. the Turks only. The Jews left to Israel. The Greeks flew to Athens.
The Armenians flew to Armenia or the United States in horror. The Armenians flew to Armenia or the United States in horror.
“Istanbul, once home to an inspirational ferment of different “Istanbul, once home to an inspirational ferment of different
ethnicities, is today a culturally barren and financially impoverished ethnicities, is today a culturally barren and financially impoverished
mono-ethnic megalopolis, 99 per cent Turkish” (28). Out of his mono-ethnic megalopolis, 99 per cent Turkish” (28). Out of his
expertise in the history as well as study of cultures on the larger expertise in the history as well as study of cultures on the larger
scales, Dalrymple makes a curious observation in the context of scales, Dalrymple makes a curious observation in the context of
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cultural development in two entirely different national set ups. In cultural development in two entirely different national set ups. In
many ways, Turkey’s development since the Second World War many ways, Turkey’s development since the Second World War
seems to have followed exactly the opposite course to that of India. seems to have followed exactly the opposite course to that of India.
There Gandhi tried to wean the whole country onto dhotis, non- There Gandhi tried to wean the whole country onto dhotis, non-
violence and spinning wheels; the result was crass materialism and violence and spinning wheels; the result was crass materialism and
the almost daily burning of brides in ‘Kitchen accidents’ if they fail to the almost daily burning of brides in ‘Kitchen accidents’ if they fail to
deliver the new moped or colour television promised as dowry. In deliver the new moped or colour television promised as dowry. In
Turkey Ataturk tried the reverse approach: he banned the fez, Turkey Ataturk tried the reverse approach: he banned the fez,
outlawed the Arab script and tried to drag the Turks kicking and outlawed the Arab script and tried to drag the Turks kicking and
screaming into Europe. The result: a resurgent Islamic movement, screaming into Europe. The result: a resurgent Islamic movement,
mullahs being cheered 69 in the mosques whenever they announce mullahs being cheered 69 in the mosques whenever they announce
that the earth is flat, and the sophisticated career women of Istanbul that the earth is flat, and the sophisticated career women of Istanbul
competing with each other to wear the most all-enveloping veil or competing with each other to wear the most all-enveloping veil or
medieval-looking burkha. (29) The observation shows the medieval-looking burkha. (29) The observation shows the
development of the people’s esteems and cultural preferences taking development of the people’s esteems and cultural preferences taking
exactly opposite direction from the ideologies and visions set up exactly opposite direction from the ideologies and visions set up
before them by their apex leaderships. Where Gandhi tries to before them by their apex leaderships. Where Gandhi tries to
propagate the principles of simplicity, non-violence and leading life propagate the principles of simplicity, non-violence and leading life
on the minimum requirements to the people of India, the materialistic on the minimum requirements to the people of India, the materialistic
approaches to life have really taken command of ordinary people. approaches to life have really taken command of ordinary people.
And during eighties and nineties the instances of news features as And during eighties and nineties the instances of news features as
Dalrymple refers to were common occurrence. The same, he notes, Dalrymple refers to were common occurrence. The same, he notes,
has happened in Turkey. Here, Ataturk banned the Islamic has happened in Turkey. Here, Ataturk banned the Islamic
extravagancies and tried to set up the European model of extravagancies and tried to set up the European model of
development with just moderate inclusion of religious practices in the development with just moderate inclusion of religious practices in the
general life, the things took exactly opposite avenues. This sort of general life, the things took exactly opposite avenues. This sort of
staunch approaches towards the religious authority resulted in the staunch approaches towards the religious authority resulted in the
narrowed tolerance for the other religions and encouraged the narrowed tolerance for the other religions and encouraged the
people to look them with the feudal attitudes. The same anxieties people to look them with the feudal attitudes. The same anxieties
and concerns drip in almost all the matters which William discusses and concerns drip in almost all the matters which William discusses
with local Christians who have not yet fled anywhere else as their with local Christians who have not yet fled anywhere else as their
brethrens and preferred to be rooted to their land of origin. At brethrens and preferred to be rooted to their land of origin. At
Phanar, in the absence of Patriarch’s secretary whom he actually Phanar, in the absence of Patriarch’s secretary whom he actually
wanted to meet and had a letter of introduction addressed to, William wanted to meet and had a letter of introduction addressed to, William
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manages to talk to Fr. Dimitrios, a member of the Patriarch’s staff. manages to talk to Fr. Dimitrios, a member of the Patriarch’s staff.
According to Fr. Dimitrios the things were all well till the end of According to Fr. Dimitrios the things were all well till the end of
nineteenth century. Even the fall of Ottoman Empire, the Greco- nineteenth century. Even the fall of Ottoman Empire, the Greco-
Turkish war of 1922 did not make any difference to the Christians. Turkish war of 1922 did not make any difference to the Christians.
“By the terms of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the 400,000 Greeks in “By the terms of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the 400,000 Greeks in
the city and its suburbs were specifically allowed to remain in their the city and its suburbs were specifically allowed to remain in their
homes with their rights sand property intact” (30). But everything homes with their rights sand property intact” (30). But everything
changed overnight, William notes Fr. Dimitrios’s words, “in 1955 changed overnight, William notes Fr. Dimitrios’s words, “in 1955
when Istanbul played host to the worst race riot in Europe since when Istanbul played host to the worst race riot in Europe since
Krisstallnatch. ….. Almost every Greek shop in the city had its Krisstallnatch. ….. Almost every Greek shop in the city had its
widows broken; cemeteries were desecrated; the tombs of Patriarchs widows broken; cemeteries were desecrated; the tombs of Patriarchs
were destroyed; seventy three Orthodox churches were gutted” (30). were destroyed; seventy three Orthodox churches were gutted” (30).
The wordy threats and occasional assaults have become routine The wordy threats and occasional assaults have become routine
occurrences for the Christians who have chosen to be here. The occurrences for the Christians who have chosen to be here. The
same tunes of insecurity are played before William by the Armenian same tunes of insecurity are played before William by the Armenian
priest whom he met at Kum Kapi, the Armenian Patriarchate. priest whom he met at Kum Kapi, the Armenian Patriarchate.
Slopping of human urine in to Armenian churches, 70 vandalizing the Slopping of human urine in to Armenian churches, 70 vandalizing the
graveyards and churches –these are the common atrocities graveyards and churches –these are the common atrocities
exercised against the Christians. Having described in this way the exercised against the Christians. Having described in this way the
ancient glories of Istanbul and the present nightmare of the ancient glories of Istanbul and the present nightmare of the
Christians, William turns to John Moschos and projects the gaze to Christians, William turns to John Moschos and projects the gaze to
Moschos’s reflection for the city. The way Moschos presented the Moschos’s reflection for the city. The way Moschos presented the
extravagance of the Christian ecclesiastical agencies; it seems extravagance of the Christian ecclesiastical agencies; it seems
William looks for the justification of the downfall of the Christian William looks for the justification of the downfall of the Christian
authority. Moschos reports about the astonishing sexual appetites of authority. Moschos reports about the astonishing sexual appetites of
the emperor Zeno. Even the priests fondly indulged in the acts of the emperor Zeno. Even the priests fondly indulged in the acts of
murdering and whoring. The bishops like Sisinnios remained busy in murdering and whoring. The bishops like Sisinnios remained busy in
self adorations and the ladies like Justinian’s wife used their bodily self adorations and the ladies like Justinian’s wife used their bodily
charms to make the man dance to their tantrums. All this exercises charms to make the man dance to their tantrums. All this exercises
produce sound evidences of the moral anarchy prevalent in the city produce sound evidences of the moral anarchy prevalent in the city
at the time of Moschos’s visit. Under the hostile Turkish approaches, at the time of Moschos’s visit. Under the hostile Turkish approaches,
the expectation of maintenance of the Christian Historical the expectation of maintenance of the Christian Historical
monuments is something unreasonable. William comes across this monuments is something unreasonable. William comes across this
too. The supreme masterpiece of Byzantine architecture, Hagia too. The supreme masterpiece of Byzantine architecture, Hagia
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Sophia, the beautiful church ever built was once a place of divine Sophia, the beautiful church ever built was once a place of divine
charms, but today, it remains unprotected and left open to all sorts of charms, but today, it remains unprotected and left open to all sorts of
activities. On reaching the church, William finds himself shocked activities. On reaching the church, William finds himself shocked
when he was informed by the ladies present there that a ‘Beauty when he was informed by the ladies present there that a ‘Beauty
Contest’ was going on inside the church. The total gist of the entire Contest’ was going on inside the church. The total gist of the entire
situation and the plight of the non-Islamic groups in the Ataturk’s situation and the plight of the non-Islamic groups in the Ataturk’s
Turkey is nicely captured in the following passage which not only Turkey is nicely captured in the following passage which not only
allows the reader to have an impression of the scenario but also allows the reader to have an impression of the scenario but also
serves the instance of the author’s consummate skills of narration: serves the instance of the author’s consummate skills of narration:
The Ottoman Empire was administrated by a system which allowed, The Ottoman Empire was administrated by a system which allowed,
and indeed thrived on, diversity. Each millet or religious community and indeed thrived on, diversity. Each millet or religious community
was internally self governing, with its own laws and courts. The new was internally self governing, with its own laws and courts. The new
Turkey of Ataturk went to the opposite extreme: uniformity was all. Turkey of Ataturk went to the opposite extreme: uniformity was all.
The vast majority of the Greeks were expelled, and those who The vast majority of the Greeks were expelled, and those who
remained had to become Turks, at least in name. the same went for remained had to become Turks, at least in name. the same went for
the Kurds. Officially they do not exist. Their language and their songs the Kurds. Officially they do not exist. Their language and their songs
were banned until very recently; in official documents and news were banned until very recently; in official documents and news
broadcasts they are still described as ‘Mountain Turks’. (48) After broadcasts they are still described as ‘Mountain Turks’. (48) After
Istanbul, William turned to Antioch by a tiresome night bus journey. Istanbul, William turned to Antioch by a tiresome night bus journey.
Antioch is now just a city of memory and nothing now remains like Antioch is now just a city of memory and nothing now remains like
Constantine’s Golden Octagon, the council Chamber where libanius Constantine’s Golden Octagon, the council Chamber where libanius
declaimed, the great hippodrome that could seat eighty thousand declaimed, the great hippodrome that could seat eighty thousand
people. It was in the centre of an earthquake zone qnd had been people. It was in the centre of an earthquake zone qnd had been
leveed again and again. It was in a way left alone: 71 Today, it is a leveed again and again. It was in a way left alone: 71 Today, it is a
sleepy, provincial place, architecturally undistinguished but for a few sleepy, provincial place, architecturally undistinguished but for a few
fine late-Ottoman villas decorated with carved wooden balustrades fine late-Ottoman villas decorated with carved wooden balustrades
and with vines tumbling over the shuttered windows. Other than the and with vines tumbling over the shuttered windows. Other than the
occasional archeologist, no one really bothers to come to Antioch occasional archeologist, no one really bothers to come to Antioch
any more…. (54) William brings in the notes of Moschos on this city any more…. (54) William brings in the notes of Moschos on this city
of Antioch, in 590s. Moschos noted in his accounts that the city was of Antioch, in 590s. Moschos noted in his accounts that the city was
on its sad phase of decline. Its port was beginning to silt up, and the on its sad phase of decline. Its port was beginning to silt up, and the
great tread had begun waning. The bazaars were starving except great tread had begun waning. The bazaars were starving except
some local agro-produce. Corruption was on apex. Ecclesiastical some local agro-produce. Corruption was on apex. Ecclesiastical
personalities found engaging in immoral trades and close dealings personalities found engaging in immoral trades and close dealings
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with prostitutes. The theatres were the dens of anti-social and with prostitutes. The theatres were the dens of anti-social and
immoral occupations. Sorcery was its gravest vice. Moschos immoral occupations. Sorcery was its gravest vice. Moschos
presented a full length story of Stylites increasing influence on the presented a full length story of Stylites increasing influence on the
public’s faith. The pillars set by these competing saints were visited public’s faith. The pillars set by these competing saints were visited
by many people and they remained busy with pubic activities. by many people and they remained busy with pubic activities.
William notes: “Today it seems that no one comes to Symeon’s William notes: “Today it seems that no one comes to Symeon’s
shrine. There are a handful of Christians left in Antioch, and they shrine. There are a handful of Christians left in Antioch, and they
have better things to worry about than the ruins of a forgotten hermit” have better things to worry about than the ruins of a forgotten hermit”
(58). William then visits the silk route bazaar town, Urfa. In the days (58). William then visits the silk route bazaar town, Urfa. In the days
of grand antiquity it remained full with different people speaking of grand antiquity it remained full with different people speaking
different tongues--- Arabic, Persian, Kurdish, Turoyo, and Turkish. different tongues--- Arabic, Persian, Kurdish, Turoyo, and Turkish.
“Urfa has always been a frontier town, filled with an explosive mix of “Urfa has always been a frontier town, filled with an explosive mix of
different nationalities” (65). At the time of Moschos visit it laid on the different nationalities” (65). At the time of Moschos visit it laid on the
most sensitive frontier, in the world, separating the two great powers most sensitive frontier, in the world, separating the two great powers
at late antiquity: Persia and Byzantium. Its imperial treasury was rich at late antiquity: Persia and Byzantium. Its imperial treasury was rich
from the custom duties. Being interested in the public life and in from the custom duties. Being interested in the public life and in
efforts to bring the real ethnographical traces out, Dalrymple not only efforts to bring the real ethnographical traces out, Dalrymple not only
digs deep into the historical and geographical aspects of the place digs deep into the historical and geographical aspects of the place
and people, he, in the spirits of a true travel writer, also weaves his and people, he, in the spirits of a true travel writer, also weaves his
narratives with the curious popular beliefs and superstitions too. In narratives with the curious popular beliefs and superstitions too. In
Urfa, he highlights the superstition of the fish pond. The ownership of Urfa, he highlights the superstition of the fish pond. The ownership of
this fish pool is attributed to Abraham, and the belief runs from this fish pool is attributed to Abraham, and the belief runs from
generation to generation that if someone hunts these fish, he would generation to generation that if someone hunts these fish, he would
go blind. William collects even more of such versions of stories, and go blind. William collects even more of such versions of stories, and
concludes the curious thing about it is: “The name of the religion and concludes the curious thing about it is: “The name of the religion and
the sex of the deity has altered with the centuries, but the fish have the sex of the deity has altered with the centuries, but the fish have
remained sacred age after age, culture after culture…” (76). 72 From remained sacred age after age, culture after culture…” (76). 72 From
Urfa, William reaches Diyarbakir. This place was also, William notes, Urfa, William reaches Diyarbakir. This place was also, William notes,
on the famous Silk Route located on the river Tigris. It was built by on the famous Silk Route located on the river Tigris. It was built by
Julian the Apostate. The city’s history was considered black as its Julian the Apostate. The city’s history was considered black as its
reign had shifted from Byzantine, Persian and Arab conquests. The reign had shifted from Byzantine, Persian and Arab conquests. The
city witnessed the massacre of thousands of its citizens each time city witnessed the massacre of thousands of its citizens each time
the rein shifted from one ruler to another. Even today Urfa remains the rein shifted from one ruler to another. Even today Urfa remains
restless with current Kurdish insurgency, being ruthlessly crushed by restless with current Kurdish insurgency, being ruthlessly crushed by
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the Turkish Government machineries. The situation is tense and the Turkish Government machineries. The situation is tense and
hostile to such an extent that anyone or any journalist raises voices hostile to such an extent that anyone or any journalist raises voices
for the Kurds, he would be murdered the next day. The horizons of for the Kurds, he would be murdered the next day. The horizons of
Diyarbakir always remained engulfed with terror, horrors and Diyarbakir always remained engulfed with terror, horrors and
murders and massacres. William presents the records of 1895,when murders and massacres. William presents the records of 1895,when
2500 Armenians were killed and looted. The end result of such 2500 Armenians were killed and looted. The end result of such
continual atrocities is that now there are only a small number of continual atrocities is that now there are only a small number of
Armenians left in the city and only one Armenians church Armenians left in the city and only one Armenians church
functioning. William also notes that the hostility was not limited to the functioning. William also notes that the hostility was not limited to the
living people but the Armenian monuments were also t6argeted and living people but the Armenian monuments were also t6argeted and
leveled to the under one or another alibi. Even the Turkish and other leveled to the under one or another alibi. Even the Turkish and other
foreign academic agencies working on Armenian archeological sites foreign academic agencies working on Armenian archeological sites
or working on Armenian history were highly discouraged. “It is simply or working on Armenian history were highly discouraged. “It is simply
not possible to work on the Armenians. Officially they do not exist not possible to work on the Armenians. Officially they do not exist
and have never4 done so. If you try to get permission to dig on an and have never4 done so. If you try to get permission to dig on an
Armenian site it will be withheld, and if you go ahead without Armenian site it will be withheld, and if you go ahead without
permission you will be prosecuted.” ---- A British Archeologist (85) A permission you will be prosecuted.” ---- A British Archeologist (85) A
French art historian J.M. Thierry was arrested while making the plan French art historian J.M. Thierry was arrested while making the plan
of an Armenians church near Van. Later he had to flee from the of an Armenians church near Van. Later he had to flee from the
country. There was a country wide government sponsored mission to country. There was a country wide government sponsored mission to
eliminate all the traces of Armenian evidence. The government eliminate all the traces of Armenian evidence. The government
displayed zero tolerance to the entire cast and creed. William rightly displayed zero tolerance to the entire cast and creed. William rightly
quotes the words of his friend, George Hintlian, the curator of the quotes the words of his friend, George Hintlian, the curator of the
Armenian Museum in Jerusalem: You can attribute diapering Armenian Museum in Jerusalem: You can attribute diapering
churches to earthquakes, robbers, Kurds, Islamic fundamentalists, churches to earthquakes, robbers, Kurds, Islamic fundamentalists,
men from outer space or anything else you care to blame. The end men from outer space or anything else you care to blame. The end
result is exactly the same. Every passing year another Armenian result is exactly the same. Every passing year another Armenian
church disappears and for this the Turkish authorities can only be church disappears and for this the Turkish authorities can only be
pleased. (88) His journey from Diyarbakir to the Monastery of Mar pleased. (88) His journey from Diyarbakir to the Monastery of Mar
Gabriel proves eventful. He leaves Diyarbakir in the company and Gabriel proves eventful. He leaves Diyarbakir in the company and
car of Mas’ud, some of his friends had advised him to go off the road car of Mas’ud, some of his friends had advised him to go off the road
before four. On the way, they encounter the inquiry of ‘Secret Police’. before four. On the way, they encounter the inquiry of ‘Secret Police’.
Even the police and military forces followed them to the Deir el- 73 Even the police and military forces followed them to the Deir el- 73
Zaferan, Tur Abdin. William notes that this was the Patriarchal Seat Zaferan, Tur Abdin. William notes that this was the Patriarchal Seat
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of the Syrian Orthodox Church, split from the Byzantine mainstream. of the Syrian Orthodox Church, split from the Byzantine mainstream.
The Islamic extremist pressures have suppressed this group too. The Islamic extremist pressures have suppressed this group too.
And the result is, as it is reported to William: From 200,000 in the; And the result is, as it is reported to William: From 200,000 in the;
last century, the size of the community fell to surround seventy last century, the size of the community fell to surround seventy
thousand by 1920. By 1990 there were barely four thousand Surinani thousand by 1920. By 1990 there were barely four thousand Surinani
left in the whole region; now there are around nine hundred, plus left in the whole region; now there are around nine hundred, plus
about a dozen monks and nuns, spread over the five extant about a dozen monks and nuns, spread over the five extant
monasteries. (91) And, as Symeon (The monk at Deir el-Zaferan) monasteries. (91) And, as Symeon (The monk at Deir el-Zaferan)
expresses his deep felt grief to the plight of Christianity: Two hundred expresses his deep felt grief to the plight of Christianity: Two hundred
years ago there were seven hundred monks on this mountain. The years ago there were seven hundred monks on this mountain. The
community has survived so long---survived the Byzantines, the community has survived so long---survived the Byzantines, the
Persians, the Arabs Tamurlane, the Ottomans. Now there are just Persians, the Arabs Tamurlane, the Ottomans. Now there are just
two of us left (at Deir el-Zaferan). (95) William’s visit of Mar Gabriel two of us left (at Deir el-Zaferan). (95) William’s visit of Mar Gabriel
allows him to peep into some more painful accounts regarding the allows him to peep into some more painful accounts regarding the
razing of Christianity in the region. During his stay at the Monastery razing of Christianity in the region. During his stay at the Monastery
he comes to know from Fr. Tomas how the Christian villages were he comes to know from Fr. Tomas how the Christian villages were
evacuated and gutted only on the suspicion of their being help to the evacuated and gutted only on the suspicion of their being help to the
PKK extremists (Kurdish militia). It was here on listening to the boys PKK extremists (Kurdish militia). It was here on listening to the boys
and other locals conversing in Toroyo, he feels Jesus might have and other locals conversing in Toroyo, he feels Jesus might have
talked in the same accents when a boy. Here he also collects talked in the same accents when a boy. Here he also collects
information regarding Ein Wardo, where the Suriani people protected information regarding Ein Wardo, where the Suriani people protected
themselves from the invading Ottoman troops. From this, he goes to themselves from the invading Ottoman troops. From this, he goes to
meet one of the defenders who resided in the nearby village at the meet one of the defenders who resided in the nearby village at the
age of ninety-four. Here, William’s driver cum companion, Mas’ud age of ninety-four. Here, William’s driver cum companion, Mas’ud
was severely interrogated by the secret police on the suspicion that was severely interrogated by the secret police on the suspicion that
William was not just a simple tourist but a journalist too. When they William was not just a simple tourist but a journalist too. When they
returned from the visit of the old priest of Ein Wardo, Abouna Shabo, returned from the visit of the old priest of Ein Wardo, Abouna Shabo,
at Midyat, at the monastery of Mar Gabriel, Afrem informed William at Midyat, at the monastery of Mar Gabriel, Afrem informed William
that the police had been there and waited for him for five hours that that the police had been there and waited for him for five hours that
day in order to inquire him. These were not good sign and for the day in order to inquire him. These were not good sign and for the
safety of both monastery and William himself and Mas’ud, he must safety of both monastery and William himself and Mas’ud, he must
leave the place. But before leaving the region, he gets Mas’ud to leave the place. But before leaving the region, he gets Mas’ud to
take him to Ein Wardo. In spite of the warnings of the risks especially take him to Ein Wardo. In spite of the warnings of the risks especially
of the landmines, he traverses the path and the result is he gives the of the landmines, he traverses the path and the result is he gives the
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readers a live account of the place on the secret corners. On their readers a live account of the place on the secret corners. On their
return, they were arrested by the military officials but fortunately were return, they were arrested by the military officials but fortunately were
released without any of the harassment they had imagined from the released without any of the harassment they had imagined from the
stories they had heard about. It was indeed a pleasant experience at stories they had heard about. It was indeed a pleasant experience at
last from the Military Officials. 74 Three The third chapter gives a last from the Military Officials. 74 Three The third chapter gives a
detailed account of William’s visit in the land of Syria. As per the detailed account of William’s visit in the land of Syria. As per the
scheme adopted by him for the construction of his entire travel, here scheme adopted by him for the construction of his entire travel, here
too, he sticks to too, he sticks to his compare contrast of the landscape to that of at
the time of John Moschos as reported by him in his famous ‘The
his compare contrast of the landscape to that of at the time of John Spiritual Meadows’. Before he crossed the border into the Syrian
Moschos as reported by him in his land, he relates a story originally enacted by John Moschos related
to the border town Nibis, that he was about to enter as soon as he
famous ‘The Spiritual Meadows’. Before he crossed the border into put a foot in Syria -- the story of a Nestorian Christian lady’s marrying
the Syrian land, he relates a story originally enacted by John a pagan man, and her faith in Lord; and the eventual reward of
Moschos related to the border town Nibis, that he was about to enter handsome fortune through the grace of Lord. William sighs at the
as soon as he put a foot in Syria -- the story of a Nestorian Christian end of the story with a note that “nothing appears to survive today of
lady’s marrying a pagan man, and her faith in Lord; and the eventual late antique Nibis save the cathedral baptistery, dated by a Greek
reward of handsome fortune through the grace of Lord. William sighs inscription to 359 A. D. (137) Syria shocks him; rather it was a
at the end of the story with a note that “nothing appears to survive pleasant one. He notes it had undergone great changes ever since
today of late antique Nibis save the cathedral baptistery, dated by a his last visit a decade back. As compared to his tense journey
Greek inscription to 359 A. D. (137) Syria shocks him; rather it was a through the minefields, barricaded roads and constant threats of
pleasant one. He notes it had undergone great changes ever since interrogation and tortures of secret police of Turkey, it appears to him
his last visit a decade back. As compared to his tense journey as the ‘Garden of Eden’. Referring to the dictatorial reign, he notes
through the minefields, barricaded roads and constant threats of that the public is free to do anything and enjoys a considerable
interrogation and tortures of secret police of Turkey, it appears to him peaceful life so long as they keep away from politics. The dictator,
as the ‘Garden of Eden’. Referring to the dictatorial reign, he notes President Asad’s Syria has become a peaceful and safe destination
that the public is free to do anything and enjoys a considerable for the destitute and tortured Christians. The Christians from the
peaceful life so long as they keep away from politics. The dictator, neighboring nation like Iraq prefer to reside in the camps sharing with
President Asad’s Syria has become a peaceful and safe destination the sect of people of opposite faith. William collects information
for the destitute and tortured Christians. The Christians from the regarding this camp from George Joseph, a cousin of one of the
neighboring nation like Iraq prefer to reside in the camps sharing with monks at Mar Grabiel, and grows curious to visit it personally; upon
the sect of people of opposite faith. William collects information which he was warned by George that such a step might generate
regarding this camp from George Joseph, a cousin of one of the sensitive and serious reactions from the administration; instead, he
monks at Mar Grabiel, and grows curious to visit it personally; upon was advised to interview one such Nestorian in London, as many of
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which he was warned by George that such a step might generate them have settled in Europe. Learning this fact, William makes a
sensitive and serious reactions from the administration; instead, he generalized statement on the travel writer’s fate: Such are the
was advised to interview one such Nestorian in London, as many of humiliations of the travel writer in the late twentieth century: go to the
them have settled in Europe. Learning this fact, William makes a end of the earth to search for the most exotic heretics in the world,
generalized statement on the travel writer’s fate: Such are the and you find they have cornered the kebab business at the end of
humiliations of the travel writer in the late twentieth century: go to the your street in London. (143) Talkative George fills the travel time with
end of the earth to search for the most exotic heretics in the world, his interesting stories which William happily shares with us too. At
and you find they have cornered the kebab business at the end of the Syrian Orthodox Cathedral William witnesses the attempts of
your street in London. (143) Talkative George fills the travel time with reviving the ancient traditions of Stylit saints, which to him personally
his interesting stories which William happily shares with us too. At seem just an outward imitation of the traditions which the saints took
the Syrian Orthodox Cathedral William witnesses the attempts of voluntarily by renouncing the mundane interests. At lunch at Sally
reviving the ancient traditions of Stylit saints, which to him personally Mazloumian’s 75 home, who was the widow of the owner of the hotel
seem just an outward imitation of the traditions which the saints took who had passed away just a year ago, William happened to meet
voluntarily by renouncing the mundane interests. At lunch at Sally Christians especially the Armenians and heard them with great
Mazloumian’s 75 home, who was the widow of the owner of the hotel sympathy. They all had some stories to relate. They were all
who had passed away just a year ago, William happened to meet refugees there. One by one they narrated their stories to William; all
Christians especially the Armenians and heard them with great ranging in the atrocities from physical tortures to genocides.
sympathy. They all had some stories to relate. They were all Armenians were the butt of hatred for the Turks, and they killed them
refugees there. One by one they narrated their stories to William; all in bulks at every opportunity. Tired from such incessant atrocities
ranging in the atrocities from physical tortures to genocides. they took shelter in Syria, where after its independence in 1946,
Armenians were the butt of hatred for the Turks, and they killed them there was a backlash. There was anti-Christian feeling widespread.
in bulks at every opportunity. Tired from such incessant atrocities Attempts were made to declare Syria an Islamic State. But the
they took shelter in Syria, where after its independence in 1946, ascent of Asad on the political horizon was a honey thing or the
there was a backlash. There was anti-Christian feeling widespread. Armenians here. Asad kept himself in power by forming what was in
Attempts were made to declare Syria an Islamic State. But the effect a coalition o Syria’s many religious minorities--- Shias, Druze,
ascent of Asad on the political horizon was a honey thing or the Yezidis, Christians and Alawites. In Syria, the Christians were treated
Armenians here. Asad kept himself in power by forming what was in equally with the Muslims. There was no enmity between Christians
effect a coalition o Syria’s many religious minorities--- Shias, Druze, and Muslims. William quotes the words of Mar Gregories’s words in
Yezidis, Christians and Alawites. In Syria, the Christians were treated this connection: If Syria were not here, we would be finished. It is a
equally with the Muslims. There was no enmity between Christians place of sanctuary, a heaven for all Christians: for the Nestorians and
and Muslims. William quotes the words of Mar Gregories’s words in Chaldeans driven out of Iraq, the Syrian Orthodox and the
this connection: If Syria were not here, we would be finished. It is a Armenians driven out of Turkey, even Palestinian Christians driven
place of sanctuary, a heaven for all Christians: for the Nestorians and out of the Holy Land by the Israelis. (150) All of them were worried
Chaldeans driven out of Iraq, the Syrian Orthodox and the about the future scenario after the reign of Asad is over. The
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Armenians driven out of Turkey, even Palestinian Christians driven fundamentalism, they observe, is gaining momentum and at any
out of the Holy Land by the Israelis. (150) All of them were worried possibility of Asad’s regime crumbling, it would generate adversities
about the future scenario after the reign of Asad is over. The to the Christians. “As long as the bottle is closed with firm cork all is
fundamentalism, they observe, is gaining momentum and at any well. But eventually the cork will come out. And then no one knows
possibility of Asad’s regime crumbling, it would generate adversities what will happen” (155). The enmity between Christianity and Islam
to the Christians. “As long as the bottle is closed with firm cork all is makes him think deep. He studies the book of Theodoret (John
well. But eventually the cork will come out. And then no one knows Moschos’s contemporary) ‘The History of the Monks’, and brings
what will happen” (155). The enmity between Christianity and Islam forth the facts how several saints exercised powerful influences on
makes him think deep. He studies the book of Theodoret (John the people and society. “As Theodoret once remarked, the holy men
Moschos’s contemporary) ‘The History of the Monks’, and brings replaced the pagan gods; their shrines replaced the temples, and
forth the facts how several saints exercised powerful influences on their feasts superseded the old pagan festivals” (162). From the
the people and society. “As Theodoret once remarked, the holy men increasing influence of the saints and people’s faith in them, there
replaced the pagan gods; their shrines replaced the temples, and emerged the exercise of protection and extortion of the Demonic
their feasts superseded the old pagan festivals” (162). From the powers. The exact counter foil of the Islamic djinns and their Sufi
increasing influence of the saints and people’s faith in them, there Mysticism preparing Talisman and other aids for the protection or the
emerged the exercise of protection and extortion of the Demonic extortion of djinns. 76 Theodoret referred the city of Cyrrhus as
powers. The exact counter foil of the Islamic djinns and their Sufi Hagiopolis --- th e city of saints. Visiting a couple of ruinous
Mysticism preparing Talisman and other aids for the protection or the Churches on his way to the city of Cyrrhus, William reaches the
extortion of djinns. 76 Theodoret referred the city of Cyrrhus as destination; at first half the way hitchhiking and then by a car. William
Hagiopolis --- th e city of saints. Visiting a couple of ruinous here comes to know about the Muslim Tomb of Nebi Uri, worshipped
Churches on his way to the city of Cyrrhus, William reaches the by both the Christian and the Islamic faith. The Nebi Uri, he clarifies,
destination; at first half the way hitchhiking and then by a car. William is none another but the Christian Uriah the Hettie. Here, he clearly
here comes to know about the Muslim Tomb of Nebi Uri, worshipped states how he looks at the common grounds of both the religions
by both the Christian and the Islamic faith. The Nebi Uri, he clarifies, which have, at present, evolved hostile attitudes towards each
is none another but the Christian Uriah the Hettie. Here, he clearly other.“Today the West often views Islam as a civilization very
states how he looks at the common grounds of both the religions different from and innately hostile to Christianity. Only when you
which have, at present, evolved hostile attitudes towards each travel in Christianity’s eastern homelands do you realize how closely
other.“Today the West often views Islam as a civilization very the two religions are really linked” (168). He goes further to note that:
different from and innately hostile to Christianity. Only when you “If John Moschos were to come back today it is likely that he would
travel in Christianity’s eastern homelands do you realize how closely find much more that was familiar in the practices of a modern Muslim
the two religions are really linked” (168). He goes further to note that: Sufi than he would with those of, say, a contemporary American
“If John Moschos were to come back today it is likely that he would Evangelical”(168). William Dalrymple keeps his narrative ‘live and
find much more that was familiar in the practices of a modern Muslim riveting’ by his direct dialoguing to the locals or the ‘in charges’ of the
Sufi than he would with those of, say, a contemporary American places he visits, the local people, their direct experiences, opinions
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Evangelical”(168). William Dalrymple keeps his narrative ‘live and and sometimes the stories of their past experiences. This sort of
riveting’ by his direct dialoguing to the locals or the ‘in charges’ of the scheme saves the narration from being monotonous one sided one,
places he visits, the local people, their direct experiences, opinions the readers feel well nigh that they are being presented the most
and sometimes the stories of their past experiences. This sort of authentic version of information and find their interest with the curios
scheme saves the narration from being monotonous one sided one, current of what is next…? In the same vein, he presents his meeting
the readers feel well nigh that they are being presented the most with the Urfalees in Aleppo, Malfono Namek. Malfono Namek
authentic version of information and find their interest with the curios presents the tragic tale of the entire village’s evacuation from Urfa
current of what is next…? In the same vein, he presents his meeting and also discusses the matter of their music and hymns being the
with the Urfalees in Aleppo, Malfono Namek. Malfono Namek most original one unaltered from their original sources. William’s next
presents the tragic tale of the entire village’s evacuation from Urfa destination was Sorjilla town. He went there in order to witness the
and also discusses the matter of their music and hymns being the ruins of antique buildings spread out across the Beloco valley which
most original one unaltered from their original sources. William’s next John Moschos has also mentioned in his book for its merchandise
destination was Sorjilla town. He went there in order to witness the enterprises. With his skills of pictorial descriptions, William presents
ruins of antique buildings spread out across the Beloco valley which the whole complex live before the readers’ eyes. From here he visits
John Moschos has also mentioned in his book for its merchandise Homs, known as Emesa in the antiquity. The place was famous for
enterprises. With his skills of pictorial descriptions, William presents many a vices prevalent in the Christian society of that time. William
the whole complex live before the readers’ eyes. From here he visits also makes reference to the several historical events associated to
Homs, known as Emesa in the antiquity. The place was famous for this place just as this is the place where St. Willibald was imprisoned
many a vices prevalent in the Christian society of that time. William for several months on his way to Jerusalem, and that this was the
also makes reference to the several historical events associated to place, as per the myth, Malik Jylan, the emperorof Rum, was
this place just as this is the place where St. Willibald was imprisoned commanded by Virgin Mary to build a convent; the emperor did the
for several months on his way to Jerusalem, and that this was the same and also installed his own sister as the first abbess. William
place, as per the myth, Malik Jylan, the emperorof Rum, was visits the same convent and tells the reader of the travel writer Colin
commanded by Virgin Mary to build a convent; the emperor did the Thubron, who noted to have witnessed 77 miracle in the convent
same and also installed his own sister as the first abbess. William when he visited it in 1966. William notes to have witnessed a miracle
visits the same convent and tells the reader of the travel writer Colin too, but it is of another form: … he (Colin Thubron)
Thubron, who noted to have witnessed 77 miracle in the convent
when he visited it in 1966. William notes to have witnessed a miracle claimed to have witnessed a miracle: to have seen the face of the
too, but it is of another form: … he (Colin Thubron) icon of Notre Dame de Seidnaya stream with tears. In the same
Church I too witnessed a miracle, or something that today would
claimed to have witnessed a miracle: to have seen the face of the certainly be regarded as a miracle in almost any other country in the
icon of Notre Dame de Seidnaya stream with tears. In the same Middle East. For the congregation seemed to consist not of
Church I too witnessed a miracle, or something that today would Christians but almost entirely of heavily bearded Muslim
certainly be regarded as a miracle in almost any other country in the
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Middle East. For the congregation seemed to consist not of men. (187) The continuing and wide spreading faith of the convent is
Christians but almost entirely of heavily bearded Muslim experienced and witnessed by William himself as he saw the
convent over crowded at night by the Muslim couples on their course
men. (187) The continuing and wide spreading faith of the convent is of prayer to have offspring by the grace of the Lady. William receives
experienced and witnessed by William himself as he saw the a pleasant shock as well as a sort of surprise when he learns that
convent over crowded at night by the Muslim couples on their course even the cosmonauts revered the Virgin and made offerings. Four
of prayer to have offspring by the grace of the Lady. William receives Most of all, however, I was becoming fascinated by the Maronites.
a pleasant shock as well as a sort of surprise when he learns that They sounded very different from any of the other Christian
even the cosmonauts revered the Virgin and made offerings. Four communities I have so far come across on my journey. Although they
Most of all, however, I was becoming fascinated by the Maronites. do not appear in The Spiritual Meadow, the Maronites started off as
They sounded very different from any of the other Christian a cult around a Byzantine hermit who was a near-contemporary of
communities I have so far come across on my journey. Although they John Moscohs. Indeed St. Maron’s ascetic tendencies were so
do not appear in The Spiritual Meadow, the Maronites started off as extreme that he earned a place in Theodoret’s compendium of
a cult around a Byzantine hermit who was a near-contemporary of eremitical eccentricities, the History of the Monks of Syria. (196) This
John Moscohs. Indeed St. Maron’s ascetic tendencies were so is how William introduces his interests in this special cult of
extreme that he earned a place in Theodoret’s compendium of Maronites on his visit of Labanon that forms the fourth chapter of the
eremitical eccentricities, the History of the Monks of Syria. (196) This book. This part of the earth, William notes, had been under the
is how William introduces his interests in this special cult of severe spells of anarchy for last two decades. The area was
Maronites on his visit of Labanon that forms the fourth chapter of the ransacked and turned upside-down through the bombarding of
book. This part of the earth, William notes, had been under the Israelis as well as clashes of different groups within its own
severe spells of anarchy for last two decades. The area was territories. The History of Labanon had much to do with the History of
ransacked and turned upside-down through the bombarding of the Maronite Christians and therefore, William opens the pages of
Israelis as well as clashes of different groups within its own the origin of this cult. It came into existence following St. Maron’s
territories. The History of Labanon had much to do with the History of ascetic tendencies. His thoughts were so stronger that St. Maron
the Maronite Christians and therefore, William opens the pages of secured his place in Theodoret’s ‘The History of the monks of Syria’.
the origin of this cult. It came into existence following St. Maron’s Another interesting thing about this cult was that they favoured
ascetic tendencies. His thoughts were so stronger that St. Maron Monothelitism, the particular brand of Christiology. It had originally
secured his place in Theodoret’s ‘The History of the monks of Syria’. been promoted by the Emperor Heracliusas a compromise defitiopn
Another interesting thing about this cult was that they favoured of the person of Christacceptable to both the Orthodox and
Monothelitism, the particular brand of Christiology. It had originally Monophyrites. Eventually, the definition, William notes here, was
been promoted by the Emperor Heracliusas a compromise defitiopn flung to air by both parties and the Maronuites remained singular cult
of the person of Christacceptable to both the Orthodox and to embrace it, thus, 78 got labeled as heretics. Though the Maronites
Monophyrites. Eventually, the definition, William notes here, was were rooted to Syria, they had to flee away from there in order to
flung to air by both parties and the Maronuites remained singular cult avoid the harassments form Byzantines. As the entire ethnic group
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to embrace it, thus, 78 got labeled as heretics. Though the Maronites sustained and developed with the help of French. The French helped
were rooted to Syria, they had to flee away from there in order to them in creating ‘State of Greater Lebanon’ and thus the tendency to
avoid the harassments form Byzantines. As the entire ethnic group prove themselves more French than Syrian found its root in this
sustained and developed with the help of French. The French helped group. In the course of time the population of the Muslims increased
them in creating ‘State of Greater Lebanon’ and thus the tendency to posing direct competition to the Maronites. The clashes resulted in
prove themselves more French than Syrian found its root in this massacres of Muslims and branding the Maronites as the most
group. In the course of time the population of the Muslims increased ruthless, brutal and politically incompetent: ….the balance of
posing direct competition to the Maronites. The clashes resulted in responsibility for the outbreak of the civil war to the Maronites’
massacres of Muslims and branding the Maronites as the most intransigence, their contempt for their Muslim neighbours, and their
ruthless, brutal and politically incompetent: ….the balance of point blank refusal to share Lebanon with the landless Palestinian
responsibility for the outbreak of the civil war to the Maronites’ refugees rejected from their homes at the creation of Israel in 1948.
intransigence, their contempt for their Muslim neighbours, and their (198) At the hotel bar, reading the broucher “Lebanon: The Promised
point blank refusal to share Lebanon with the landless Palestinian Land Of Tourism”, William thinks about Lebanon to be a place of
refugees rejected from their homes at the creation of Israel in 1948. such promised delicacies. But Juan Carlos, the journalist and his
(198) At the hotel bar, reading the broucher “Lebanon: The Promised friend tells something adverse to this revealing to him that it was the
Land Of Tourism”, William thinks about Lebanon to be a place of place of massacres, gang rapes, opium, drugs and heroines. There
such promised delicacies. But Juan Carlos, the journalist and his were censorships on press freedom. He also meets other
friend tells something adverse to this revealing to him that it was the intellectuals of this area such as Professor Salibi, Fisk, Dr. Badr and
place of massacres, gang rapes, opium, drugs and heroines. There Walid Jumblatt, Lady Cochrane, etc. He also meets Robert Franjieh,
were censorships on press freedom. He also meets other one of the family members Suleiman Franjieh, Lebanon’s late
intellectuals of this area such as Professor Salibi, Fisk, Dr. Badr and President and the founder of Marada militia operated by the Maronite
Walid Jumblatt, Lady Cochrane, etc. He also meets Robert Franjieh, clan. All of these intellectuals and prominently influential
one of the family members Suleiman Franjieh, Lebanon’s late personalities have their own tale to relate. The root cause of the
President and the founder of Marada militia operated by the Maronite entire civil war, William here quotes Walid Jumblatt, the Druze
clan. All of these intellectuals and prominently influential leader; it was not just the case of Christian against the Muslim, but
personalities have their own tale to relate. The root cause of the rather it was the case of the Maronites against rest of all: The
entire civil war, William here quotes Walid Jumblatt, the Druze Maronites have always been their own worst enemies. They have
leader; it was not just the case of Christian against the Muslim, but wanted to dominate Lebanon as if it were an entirely Christian state.
rather it was the case of the Maronites against rest of all: The They have never been prepared to give the majority the rights, to
Maronites have always been their own worst enemies. They have share powers or in any way to bring about democratic reforms. (22)
wanted to dominate Lebanon as if it were an entirely Christian state. The Maronites presided over both the birth and death of Lebanon,
They have never been prepared to give the majority the rights, to said Lady Cochrane. Without them, Lebanon would never have
share powers or in any way to bring about democratic reforms. (22) existed. With them behaving as they have tendency to do, it can’t go
The Maronites presided over both the birth and death of Lebanon, on. Of course the war brought out the worst in everyone. The
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said Lady Cochrane. Without them, Lebanon would never have Muslims all turned into terrorists and the Christians into Mafiosi…..
existed. With them behaving as they have tendency to do, it can’t go (241) 79 “No,” said Robert. “The war lives on. Everything in my life ---
on. Of course the war brought out the worst in everyone. The everything in Lebanon --- has been marked by that bounda ry:
Muslims all turned into terrorists and the Christians into Mafiosi….. everything is either before or after war. It has changed and brutalized
(241) 79 “No,” said Robert. “The war lives on. Everything in my life --- everything…... during the war most people in this country ceased to
everything in Lebanon --- has been marked by that bounda ry: make an effort, to work or to study: they knew they could be dead the
everything is either before or after war. It has changed and brutalized next day, so they lived for the moment. It is the same today. In fact it
everything…... during the war most people in this country ceased to may be the only thing people have learned from the war.” (259-260)
make an effort, to work or to study: they knew they could be dead the Even on his way to Chouf, at the brief stoppage, at Deir el-Qamar, to
next day, so they lived for the moment. It is the same today. In fact it allow the car to cool down, William picks up an opportunity to talk to
may be the only thing people have learned from the war.” (259-260) a Maronite Priest; old Pere Abbe Marcel abi-Khalil. The priest
Even on his way to Chouf, at the brief stoppage, at Deir el-Qamar, to discloses the facts that Jumblatt was helping the Christian settle
allow the car to cool down, William picks up an opportunity to talk to down in that town and that the Druze and Christians lived at peace
a Maronite Priest; old Pere Abbe Marcel abi-Khalil. The priest with each other for a long time there. At the Jumblatt’s collection of
discloses the facts that Jumblatt was helping the Christian settle the mosaics William feels that the glorious collection was not only
down in that town and that the Druze and Christians lived at peace impressive but perhaps some of the mosaics of the collection must
with each other for a long time there. At the Jumblatt’s collection of have felt the feet of his hero, John Moschos. His shudder of thought
the mosaics William feels that the glorious collection was not only of distant past glories got shattered by the ‘sonic boom’ which brings
impressive but perhaps some of the mosaics of the collection must him back to the reality and on inquiry what it was, he got the flat
have felt the feet of his hero, John Moschos. His shudder of thought prosaic reply that it was an Israeli reminder to the locales about their
of distant past glories got shattered by the ‘sonic boom’ which brings presence there. From there, William travels to Bsharre, site of the
him back to the reality and on inquiry what it was, he got the flat genesis of the Maronite cult. William also refers that it was the city of
prosaic reply that it was an Israeli reminder to the locales about their the great Khalil Gibran, the author of ‘The Prophet’. Along with,
presence there. From there, William travels to Bsharre, site of the William refers, it was also the centre in present from where the
genesis of the Maronite cult. William also refers that it was the city of notorious Samir Geagea operated and executed mass murders in
the great Khalil Gibran, the author of ‘The Prophet’. Along with, the area in name of religious tiffs. Secondly it is the place where
William refers, it was also the centre in present from where the people resort to fire deadly ammunitions only in order to celebrate
notorious Samir Geagea operated and executed mass murders in their joyful events. Thus, through these three references William
the area in name of religious tiffs. Secondly it is the place where introduces the place that is next on his itinerary. At Bsharre William
people resort to fire deadly ammunitions only in order to celebrate goes on the visit of the Maronite Patriarchate in the Qadisha valley
their joyful events. Thus, through these three references William on foot and gives a live description of his errand and daring breaking
introduces the place that is next on his itinerary. At Bsharre William in the ‘locked’ Church, and meeting with a mysterious looking hermit
goes on the visit of the Maronite Patriarchate in the Qadisha valley on his way back, whose name he, he mentions later, “had never
on foot and gives a live description of his errand and daring breaking learned” (251). Before leaving Lebanon and heading towards the
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in the ‘locked’ Church, and meeting with a mysterious looking hermit Holy Land of Bethlehem, William visits the ancient city of Ba’albek,
on his way back, whose name he, he mentions later, “had never one of John Moschos’s stopping points as he passed up the coast of
learned” (251). Before leaving Lebanon and heading towards the Byzantine Phoenicia and the Mar Elias refugee camp of the
Holy Land of Bethlehem, William visits the ancient city of Ba’albek, Palestinian Christian. The city of Ba’albek, William notes, was the
one of John Moschos’s stopping points as he passed up the coast of known for the pagan cults prospering in the city, the present scenario
Byzantine Phoenicia and the Mar Elias refugee camp of the also demonstrated the same anti Christian activities but this time not
Palestinian Christian. The city of Ba’albek, William notes, was the the pagans but the Shia cult of Islam. The Mar Elias refugee camp of
known for the pagan cults prospering in the city, the present scenario the Palestinian Christian displays the wounds of war not only in the
also demonstrated the same anti Christian activities but this time not landscape but also in the minds and lives of people. Through 80 the
the pagans but the Shia cult of Islam. The Mar Elias refugee camp of case study of life story of Samira, Sarah Daou’s mother, William tries
the Palestinian Christian displays the wounds of war not only in the to show the miseries of the entire ethnic group. Her story seems to
landscape but also in the minds and lives of people. Through 80 the fill the horrors of war and brutal treatments to the people by the
case study of life story of Samira, Sarah Daou’s mother, William tries powerful groups on the grounds of religious feuds. Though
to show the miseries of the entire ethnic group. Her story seems to devastated to the edge of existence and surviving the situations
fill the horrors of war and brutal treatments to the people by the which were volatile to the extent that one could not be sure of life
powerful groups on the grounds of religious feuds. Though even for the next hour, Sarah and her family live on the spirits of
devastated to the edge of existence and surviving the situations forgiveness even to those who have deliberately wronged them. In
which were volatile to the extent that one could not be sure of life her conversation to William she says: “If you are a Christian you
even for the next hour, Sarah and her family live on the spirits of have to learn to forgive your enemies. It is not for me to judge them.”
forgiveness even to those who have deliberately wronged them. In In response to William’s question how about their yearnings to go
her conversation to William she says: “If you are a Christian you back to their own land Palestine; to their own village Kafr Bir’im, it is
have to learn to forgive your enemies. It is not for me to judge them.” clear that they are ready to get planted back to their own land at any
In response to William’s question how about their yearnings to go cost, their yearnings are paramount but the scope of their turning into
back to their own land Palestine; to their own village Kafr Bir’im, it is reality?....as Samira nicely expresses: “it is in the hands of God”
clear that they are ready to get planted back to their own land at any (275). Five The fifth chapter deals with William’s visit to the West
cost, their yearnings are paramount but the scope of their turning into Bank - the area under Israel occupation after war. The land of West
reality?....as Samira nicely expresses: “it is in the hands of God” Bank was shattered in the turmoil of war affairs. The area of West
(275). Five The fifth chapter deals with William’s visit to the West Bank and the part of East Jerusalem had been the Israel won
Bank - the area under Israel occupation after war. The land of West regions in the 1907 war and served as the buffer zones between the
Bank was shattered in the turmoil of war affairs. The area of West Jewish State and its neighbours. There was a competition for
Bank and the part of East Jerusalem had been the Israel won colonization. The conquered territory was replenished with the
regions in the 1907 war and served as the buffer zones between the Jewish settlements. Eighty percent of West Bank’s water had been
Jewish State and its neighbours. There was a competition for piped out to Israel by the military forces. The signs of conflicts are
colonization. The conquered territory was replenished with the still there. The Us Camps teemed with the people uprooted from their
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Jewish settlements. Eighty percent of West Bank’s water had been home land at the creation of Israel. Discriminated approaches
piped out to Israel by the military forces. The signs of conflicts are between ‘ours’ and ‘others’ rang bell in the area. William captures the
still there. The Us Camps teemed with the people uprooted from their entire scenario in the following terms: The settlers have guns, vote in
home land at the creation of Israel. Discriminated approaches elections, enjoy Israeli civil justice and can join the army; the
between ‘ours’ and ‘others’ rang bell in the area. William captures the Palestinians under Israeli occupation are forbidden to own weapons
entire scenario in the following terms: The settlers have guns, vote in of any sort cannot vote in Israeli elections and are subject to the
elections, enjoy Israeli civil justice and can join the army; the arbitrary and dismissive verdicts of military courts. (283) Having,
Palestinians under Israeli occupation are forbidden to own weapons thus, described the war tortured scenario of Israel occupied areas,
of any sort cannot vote in Israeli elections and are subject to the William turns to the Monastery of Mar Saba. On the way to Mar
arbitrary and dismissive verdicts of military courts. (283) Having, Saba, he picks up an opportunity to visit the tomb of his hero, John
thus, described the war tortured scenario of Israel occupied areas, Moschos at the Lavra of St. Theodosius. Narrating the history of
William turns to the Monastery of Mar Saba. On the way to Mar Moschos’s burial here in this place of Theodosius, William collects
Saba, he picks up an opportunity to visit the tomb of his hero, John information from the Nun, the only caretaker of the shrine. 81 St.
Moschos at the Lavra of St. Theodosius. Narrating the history of John Moschos died in Constantinople, but his dying wish was that he
Moschos’s burial here in this place of Theodosius, William collects should be brought back hereto the Lavra of St. Theodosius. He
information from the Nun, the only caretaker of the shrine. 81 St. regarded this as his home: this was where he was first tonsured, and
John Moschos died in Constantinople, but his dying wish was that he where he spent most of his life. (287) William spent some time at the
should be brought back hereto the Lavra of St. Theodosius. He tomb of Moschos. He prayed there and
regarded this as his home: this was where he was first tonsured, and
where he spent most of his life. (287) William spent some time at the prayed for the people who had helped him on the journey, the monks
tomb of Moschos. He prayed there and who had showed the
prayed for the people who had helped him on the journey, the monks manuscripts, the frightened Suriani, the Armenians of Aleppo and the
who had showed the manuscripts, the frightened Suriani, the Palestinian Christians. He prayed also for the safe and secured
Armenians of Aleppo and the Palestinian Christians. journey to the rest of the path. William’s prayers for the suffering lot
of Christians show his concerns for the religious fraternity. He tries to
He prayed also for the safe and secured journey to the rest of the seek the spiritual aids to the sufferings of the people of his own
path. William’s prayers for the suffering lot of Christians show his religious faith. It gives us clear notion that he has witnessed such
concerns for the religious fraternity. He tries to seek the spiritual aids dire plights of them that apparently there seems no imminent relief.
to the sufferings of the people of his own religious faith. It gives us His pains at the vanishing stance of Christianity and working of the
clear notion that he has witnessed such dire plights of them that extreme forces to wipe out the very existence of the religion from its
apparently there seems no imminent relief. His pains at the vanishing point of very origin acquire the climatic heights at this juncture of the
stance of Christianity and working of the extreme forces to wipe out book, especially when he finds himself standing close to the tomb of
the very existence of the religion from its point of very origin acquire John Moschos. “I
379
the climatic heights at this juncture of the book, especially when he stood before the grave of John Moschos, the man whose writings
finds himself standing close to the tomb of John Moschos. “I had brought me on this journey and in whose footsteps I was
travelling. (287)
stood before the grave of John Moschos, the man whose writings
had brought me on this journey and in whose footsteps I was The monastery was the place, notes William, where Moschos spent
travelling. (287) The a major part of his life and therefore many of its resident monks
frequent the pages of ‘The Spiritual Meadows’. The devastation has
monastery was the place, notes William, where Moschos spent a deserted the glorious monastery which once remained busy with
major part of his life and therefore many of its resident monks multi-faceted religious performance of services to the holy Christ and
frequent the pages of ‘The Spiritual Meadows’. The devastation has pursuits of eternal scores of knowledge. The monks and their
deserted the glorious monastery which once remained busy with spiritual halo drew many pilgrims to the site. But all that has vanished
multi-faceted religious performance of services to the holy Christ and like the moments of a dreamy conscious. The massacre of the
pursuits of eternal scores of knowledge. The monks and their monks at the hands of the Persians translated the place into not
spiritual halo drew many pilgrims to the site. But all that has vanished better than an isolated alley of any deserted city, with the only nun to
like the moments of a dreamy conscious. The massacre of the take care of it. Looking the pile of the bleached bones and skulls of
monks at the hands of the Persians translated the place into not the anonymous monks William imagines them to be the live and
better than an isolated alley of any deserted city, with the only nun to vibrant figures of Moschos’s book. And here he relates the story of
take care of it. Looking the pile of the bleached bones and skulls of the two brother monks who were the only ones to be saved from the
the anonymous monks William imagines them to be the live and swords of the Persians. The monastery of Mar Saba was ten miles
vibrant figures of Moschos’s book. And here he relates the story of from St. Theodosius’. Giving pictorial description of this monastery,
the two brother monks who were the only ones to be saved from the William enters into the pages of history---the golden era of the
swords of the Persians. The monastery of Mar Saba was ten miles monastery. William tries to capture those remote moments which
from St. Theodosius’. Giving pictorial description of this monastery, remained textured and woven in the knowledge pursuits of the
William enters into the pages of history---the golden era of the brilliant monk folks. It was the hub of scholarship, intellectuality and
monastery. William tries to capture those remote moments which philosophical contemplations. Once its twenty four hour passed busy
remained textured and woven in the knowledge pursuits of the with monks’ copying manuscripts, composing hymns 82 and creative
brilliant monk folks. It was the hub of scholarship, intellectuality and poems. Its library remained replete with the remarkable manuscripts
philosophical contemplations. Once its twenty four hour passed busy and kept on being fed with new multiplication of knowledge. At Mar
with monks’ copying manuscripts, composing hymns 82 and creative Saba, the present Monks offer him good treatment and satisfy his
poems. Its library remained replete with the remarkable manuscripts appetite of curiosity with the stories of past and present. Their talks
and kept on being fed with new multiplication of knowledge. At Mar harness wide range of topics from their experiencing the presence of
Saba, the present Monks offer him good treatment and satisfy his the holy saint Saba in the monastery, the demons’ attacks to the
appetite of curiosity with the stories of past and present. Their talks frequency of rains and the terrors of the local nomads to loot the
harness wide range of topics from their experiencing the presence of hidden treasures in the separate cells of the different monks. William
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the holy saint Saba in the monastery, the demons’ attacks to the here feels amazed to witness how even in the hardships of the
frequency of rains and the terrors of the local nomads to loot the deserts Christianity prospered. The things at the Mar Saba make him
hidden treasures in the separate cells of the different monks. William remember the pages of Moschos’s ‘The Spiritual Meadows’. William
here feels amazed to witness how even in the hardships of the also notes in detail the goods of superstitious beliefs held by the
deserts Christianity prospered. The things at the Mar Saba make him monks at Mar Saba that carry a good deal of faith and sometimes
remember the pages of Moschos’s ‘The Spiritual Meadows’. William seems that without them their life and routine would lose colouring of
also notes in detail the goods of superstitious beliefs held by the faith. He notes, “It is strange still to find many of their superstitions,
monks at Mar Saba that carry a good deal of faith and sometimes fears and prejudices alive in the conservation of the monks who still
seems that without them their life and routine would lose colouring of inhabit this” (279). William visited the Holy city of Jerusalem,
faith. He notes, “It is strange still to find many of their superstitions, specially the Armenian quarter. When John Moschos arrived there,
fears and prejudices alive in the conservation of the monks who still there were many communities like Gregorians, Armenias, Syrians,
inhabit this” (279). William visited the Holy city of Jerusalem, Galatians, Italians and some Franks. The city was full of small
specially the Armenian quarter. When John Moschos arrived there, Church missions. It was full with clerics. With the passage of time
there were many communities like Gregorians, Armenias, Syrians, others disappeared but the Armenians had managed to retain. The
Galatians, Italians and some Franks. The city was full of small city was engrossed in the battle from time to time. There were bloody
Church missions. It was full with clerics. With the passage of time wars in the name of religions. It had witness stormy massacres just
others disappeared but the Armenians had managed to retain. The in the name of religion which are enough to falsify its name as the
city was engrossed in the battle from time to time. There were bloody land of Peace. For despite the references in the psalms to ‘the peace
wars in the name of religions. It had witness stormy massacres just of Jerusalem’, the holy city has probably seen more rapine and
in the name of religion which are enough to falsify its name as the pillage, more regularly, than any comparable patch of ground on the
land of Peace. For despite the references in the psalms to ‘the peace planet. Here the Israelites battled with the Jebusites, Cannonites,
of Jerusalem’, the holy city has probably seen more rapine and Phillistines, Assyrians, Babilonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans;
pillage, more regularly, than any comparable patch of ground on the here the Arabs eventually succeded them only to lose control
planet. Here the Israelites battled with the Jebusites, Cannonites, successively to the cruseders, the turks,the British and the Israelis.
Phillistines, Assyrians, Babilonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans; (310) William’s visit to the Armenian quarters in Jerusalem gives him
here the Arabs eventually succeded them only to lose control the impression that amid these conflicts among the religious cults, it
successively to the cruseders, the turks,the British and the Israelis. held the instance of the peaceful continuity. In the third nations, the
(310) William’s visit to the Armenian quarters in Jerusalem gives him Armenia was the first nation to convert to Christianity. They were
the impression that amid these conflicts among the religious cults, it enthusiastic pilgrims to the Holy places. At the time of Moschos’s
held the instance of the peaceful continuity. In the third nations, the visit there were seventy Armenian churches in the city. After 1915,
Armenia was the first nation to convert to Christianity. They were there were genocides of a million and a half Armenians at the hands
enthusiastic pilgrims to the Holy places. At the time of Moschos’s of the Turks. Then, he Jerusalem, especially the Armenian quarter
visit there were seventy Armenian churches in the city. After 1915, became the place of refuge for many Armenian survivors. The life
there were genocides of a million and a half Armenians at the hands here, too, notes William, was 83 an instance of all hardships and
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of the Turks. Then, he Jerusalem, especially the Armenian quarter silent sufferings. The land was ruled by the Israelis and its law.
became the place of refuge for many Armenian survivors. The life Under the Israeli rule, only Jews were given the right while non-Jews
here, too, notes William, was 83 an instance of all hardships and were excluded from everywhere. All the Arab residents were evicted.
silent sufferings. The land was ruled by the Israelis and its law. Old mosques and shrines were bulldozed and Palestinians were
Under the Israeli rule, only Jews were given the right while non-Jews expelled from their homes. Muslim quarter had been acquired by
were excluded from everywhere. All the Arab residents were evicted. some radical settler groups. Even they had damaged Christians’
Old mosques and shrines were bulldozed and Palestinians were properties. Christians were also worried about their future. Hagop,
expelled from their homes. Muslim quarter had been acquired by the Bishop, reports to William: I am seriously worried for our future.
some radical settler groups. Even they had damaged Christians’ We hads been here for 1600 years, yet we cannot be sure what will
properties. Christians were also worried about their future. Hagop, happen tomorrow. The Israelis claim that they are champions of
the Bishop, reports to William: I am seriously worried for our future. religious freedom, but behind that smokescreen they make it
We hads been here for 1600 years, yet we cannot be sure what will impossible for our community to flourish. (313) Not only that the
happen tomorrow. The Israelis claim that they are champions of monumental sites of Judaism were treated with care and respect
religious freedom, but behind that smokescreen they make it while the Christian antiquities were being disregarded as part of
impossible for our community to flourish. (313) Not only that the Israel’s campaign to assert its rights to the city. The historical
monumental sites of Judaism were treated with care and respect archeological buildings were not given proper attention only on the
while the Christian antiquities were being disregarded as part of grounds that they belonged to the non-Jews. William contacts some
Israel’s campaign to assert its rights to the city. The historical of the liberal minded elites of Israel who clearly opine against such
archeological buildings were not given proper attention only on the biased treatment and manipulated handlings to the precious
grounds that they belonged to the non-Jews. William contacts some historical heritage. Shulamit Giva, the Jerusalem based archeologist,
of the liberal minded elites of Israel who clearly opine against such expressed her concerns in 1992, “Israeli archeology had lost its
biased treatment and manipulated handlings to the precious independence as a scientific discipline and become an executive
historical heritage. Shulamit Giva, the Jerusalem based archeologist, arm of an ideological movement, a nationalist and political instrument
expressed her concerns in 1992, “Israeli archeology had lost its which provided “roots” for the new state” (333). William’s curiosity to
independence as a scientific discipline and become an executive learn about the ‘contact zones’ of the different cults and religious
arm of an ideological movement, a nationalist and political instrument groups led him to the site of the shrine of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem.
which provided “roots” for the new state” (333). William’s curiosity to William notes that the places where Israelis and the Palestinians
learn about the ‘contact zones’ of the different cults and religious came in close contacts were few; albeit any such contacts drove to
groups led him to the site of the shrine of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem. communal tensions only. There had been few places where one
William notes that the places where Israelis and the Palestinians could see religious harmony among the Jews, the Christians and the
came in close contacts were few; albeit any such contacts drove to Muslims. But the site of Beit Jala was an exception where all these
communal tensions only. There had been few places where one three religious communities at Palestine used to pay visit with equal
could see religious harmony among the Jews, the Christians and the amount of faith. The Christians regarded it as the birthplace of St.
Muslims. But the site of Beit Jala was an exception where all these George, the Jews as the burial place of the Prophet Elias, Muslims
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three religious communities at Palestine used to pay visit with equal as the home of the legendary saint of fertility known simply as Khidr.
amount of faith. The Christians regarded it as the birthplace of St. Before leaving Jerusalem, William visits the two sites: the one is
George, the Jews as the burial place of the Prophet Elias, Muslims Pharan, the modern Ein Fara, where Moschos spent ten years of his
as the home of the legendary saint of fertility known simply as Khidr. initial phase of monkhood, and second one is the Kafr Bir’im village,
Before leaving Jerusalem, William visits the two sites: the one is the village of Samira Daou whom William met in the Mar Elias
Pharan, the modern Ein Fara, where Moschos spent ten years of his refugee camp. Pharan is a remote cave monastery to the north of
initial phase of monkhood, and second one is the Kafr Bir’im village, Jerusalem. In connection with the cave monastery, William narrates
the village of Samira Daou whom William met in the Mar Elias the story of Fr. Alexandros whom he met, and who claimed to be the
refugee camp. Pharan is a remote cave monastery to the north of last one of the lineage of the 84 monks of the cave monastery, and
Jerusalem. In connection with the cave monastery, William narrates that he had to leave and dessert the monastery to be safe from being
the story of Fr. Alexandros whom he met, and who claimed to be the murdered mercilessly from the Israeli militant groups. William
last one of the lineage of the 84 monks of the cave monastery, and reaches the spot of Ein Fara with the help of a Christian Palestinian
that he had to leave and dessert the monastery to be safe from being taxi driver, Sami Fanous. William reaches to the spot alone and on
murdered mercilessly from the Israeli militant groups. William foot. It was an aloof place surrounded by the bare hills deep in the
reaches the spot of Ein Fara with the help of a Christian Palestinian valley. William’s observations take the entire scenario and landscape
taxi driver, Sami Fanous. William reaches to the spot alone and on into views and the result is the pictorial description of it which makes
foot. It was an aloof place surrounded by the bare hills deep in the the readers feel as if he/she were present there imbibing the natural
valley. William’s observations take the entire scenario and landscape charms of the place: Arriving at the bottom, I took off my shoes and
into views and the result is the pictorial description of it which makes bathed my feet in the clear, cold water. Despite the heat, the area
the readers feel as if he/she were present there imbibing the natural around the spring was cool, shady and peaceful. As I sat there I
charms of the place: Arriving at the bottom, I took off my shoes and thought how easy it was to understand why Moschos had chosen
bathed my feet in the clear, cold water. Despite the heat, the area this spot to spend his years as a hermit: in such a place, it seemed to
around the spring was cool, shady and peaceful. As I sat there I me it must have been easy to foster the grand monastic virtues of
thought how easy it was to understand why Moschos had chosen gentleness, balance, lack of haste and clarity of spirit. All around the
this spot to spend his years as a hermit: in such a place, it seemed to spring, peppering the cliffs of the ravine, were the mouths of the
me it must have been easy to foster the grand monastic virtues of caves that had once been filled with Moschos’s fellow hermits. (360)
gentleness, balance, lack of haste and clarity of spirit. All around the Here, they were held up by the security guards for some unknown
spring, peppering the cliffs of the ravine, were the mouths of the reasons. After the prolonged inquiries, checking of William’s passport
caves that had once been filled with Moschos’s fellow hermits. (360) and other documents, the driver’s documents and a series of phone
Here, they were held up by the security guards for some unknown calls to the Higher Authorities they were ultimately let go with a point
reasons. After the prolonged inquiries, checking of William’s passport of note “It was a bit of misunderstanding”; William here emphatically
and other documents, the driver’s documents and a series of phone notes yet there was not a slightest line of ‘apology’ on the faces of
calls to the Higher Authorities they were ultimately let go with a point the security guards. The Kafr Bir’im village was the place which was
of note “It was a bit of misunderstanding”; William here emphatically got vacated by the Israeli forces from the Palestinian Christian
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notes yet there was not a slightest line of ‘apology’ on the faces of inhabitants on a short notice in 1948. The family of Samira Daou
the security guards. The Kafr Bir’im village was the place which was whom William met in the Mar Elias refugee camp had left it during
got vacated by the Israeli forces from the Palestinian Christian this hustle bustle and had spent the major part of their life miserably
inhabitants on a short notice in 1948. The family of Samira Daou in the refugee camps. On their meeting Samira Daou had expressed
whom William met in the Mar Elias refugee camp had left it during her desire to learn about their neighbours who had chosen to stay
this hustle bustle and had spent the major part of their life miserably back and had taken refuge in the nearby town Jish. To fulfill this
in the refugee camps. On their meeting Samira Daou had expressed promise, William visits the village Kafr Bir’im where at present stands
her desire to learn about their neighbours who had chosen to stay the National Park. At Jish, he directs his inquiries about the fate of
back and had taken refuge in the nearby town Jish. To fulfill this the village and its habitants. He finds a number of old habitant of the
promise, William visits the village Kafr Bir’im where at present stands Kafr Bir’im village full of fresh memories of their village life as if it had
the National Park. At Jish, he directs his inquiries about the fate of been the event of only yesterday. They narrated to William their
the village and its habitants. He finds a number of old habitant of the struggle to get their village and property back and how everything
Kafr Bir’im village full of fresh memories of their village life as if it had was razed to ground before their eyes even after they had won the
been the event of only yesterday. They narrated to William their matter in the court of law. 85 On the whole, the visit to Jerusalem
struggle to get their village and property back and how everything and west bank brings the readers in close quarters with the restless
was razed to ground before their eyes even after they had won the and violence stricken patches of the earth. William even at the risk of
matter in the court of law. 85 On the whole, the visit to Jerusalem his own life manages to make the readers face-to-face with the real
and west bank brings the readers in close quarters with the restless scenario of the public life. Not only that the political and religious
and violence stricken patches of the earth. William even at the risk of groups’ aggressive and hostile treatments towards the groups who
his own life manages to make the readers face-to-face with the real do not confirm their faith conspicuously arrest William’s attention,
scenario of the public life. Not only that the political and religious William deliberately tries to throw light of the issues of malicious
groups’ aggressive and hostile treatments towards the groups who political manipulations to the real historical monuments and the
do not confirm their faith conspicuously arrest William’s attention, politically powered use of the scientific disciplines. The sight and
William deliberately tries to throw light of the issues of malicious scenario which Moschos would have witnessed had been taken to its
political manipulations to the real historical monuments and the still further worsening avenues. The concerns as voiced by the
politically powered use of the scientific disciplines. The sight and Christian locales to William still stand the same grave anxieties in the
scenario which Moschos would have witnessed had been taken to its hostile and war stricken developments in the Middle East even in the
still further worsening avenues. The concerns as voiced by the year on 2014. Six Chapter six deals with William’s visit to the land of
Christian locales to William still stand the same grave anxieties in the Egypt and his first stay in Egypt is at the city of Alexandria, which he
hostile and war stricken developments in the Middle East even in the refers to as “a city clinging to the minds of old men like traces of
year on 2014. Six Chapter six deals with William’s visit to the land of perfume on a sleeve: Alexandria the capital of Memory” (376). At the
Egypt and his first stay in Egypt is at the city of Alexandria, which he very outset, he mentions he visited Alexandria through the pages of
refers to as “a city clinging to the minds of old men like traces of Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet. On the surface the place
perfume on a sleeve: Alexandria the capital of Memory” (376). At the gave William an experience of peace which the places he had just
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very outset, he mentions he visited Alexandria through the pages of visited knew nothing of it. But here too, the peace and orderliness
Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet. On the surface the place had been founded upon the uprooting of the Christians and the Jews
gave William an experience of peace which the places he had just from the land. William meets the Jews of Alexandria who had got
visited knew nothing of it. But here too, the peace and orderliness reduced from millions to only few. William notes the curious incidents
had been founded upon the uprooting of the Christians and the Jews of the disappearance of the donkey in 1900 and at another incident a
from the land. William meets the Jews of Alexandria who had got newly wedded bride in the underground chambers which lay beneath
reduced from millions to only few. William notes the curious incidents the floor of Alexandra, and in this way “the ancient city continues to
of the disappearance of the donkey in 1900 and at another incident a make its presence felt.” And this kind of incidents would mark the
newly wedded bride in the underground chambers which lay beneath spots for excavations which allowed the access to the ancient world
the floor of Alexandra, and in this way “the ancient city continues to of grand monuments. William visits the excavated sites and wonders
make its presence felt.” And this kind of incidents would mark the how Christianity would have been uprooted from this once
spots for excavations which allowed the access to the ancient world intellectual capital of Christianity. It was this Alexandria which was
of grand monuments. William visits the excavated sites and wonders the meeting place of many cults and cultures. William here draws his
how Christianity would have been uprooted from this once interpretative line of genesis of the Christian iconography from the
intellectual capital of Christianity. It was this Alexandria which was early pagan ones displayed in the Greco-Roman Museum in
the meeting place of many cults and cultures. William here draws his Alexandria. 86 William notes here that the real foundations of this
interpretative line of genesis of the Christian iconography from the Alexandria were laid by the real habitants of this land that is the
early pagan ones displayed in the Greco-Roman Museum in Greeks and the Jews. He meets them and collects their version of
Alexandria. 86 William notes here that the real foundations of this the stories which sound not better than the plights of Muslims and
Alexandria were laid by the real habitants of this land that is the Christians in the Israel. Just as it happens in the areas with non
Greeks and the Jews. He meets them and collects their version of favoured groups, the majority of the Jews and the Greeks have fled
the stories which sound not better than the plights of Muslims and and sought abode in the countries of the Western World of the
Christians in the Israel. Just as it happens in the areas with non Australian continent, the rest find it impossible to leave the land
favoured groups, the majority of the Jews and the Greeks have fled where they feel strictly rooted. As Miss Christina out pours her heart,
and sought abode in the countries of the Western World of the “Alexandria was a Greek town. But few of us are left. Every year,
Australian continent, the rest find it impossible to leave the land little by little, we get smaller. In twenty years no one will be left”
where they feel strictly rooted. As Miss Christina out pours her heart, (380). In his conversations with these people, William tries to trace
“Alexandria was a Greek town. But few of us are left. Every year, out the points of sudden change of the scenario and the hostile
little by little, we get smaller. In twenty years no one will be left” attitudes towards these particular groups. It was a sudden change,
(380). In his conversations with these people, William tries to trace accorded one of the Greek ladies, more particularly after Nasser
out the points of sudden change of the scenario and the hostile threw the Europeans away. Before that, as claims Diodorus of Sicily
attitudes towards these particular groups. It was a sudden change, in the fifth century B.C., Alexandria was the ‘Queen of the
accorded one of the Greek ladies, more particularly after Nasser Mediterranean, the greatest port of the classical world certainly far
threw the Europeans away. Before that, as claims Diodorus of Sicily ahead of the rest in elegance and extent and riches and luxuries.
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in the fifth century B.C., Alexandria was the ‘Queen of the Even till recent times, says Miss Christina to William, Alexandria was
Mediterranean, the greatest port of the classical world certainly far like Paris. It was the most creative town—all these different cultures
ahead of the rest in elegance and extent and riches and luxuries. collaborating and mingling with each other: conferences lectures,
Even till recent times, says Miss Christina to William, Alexandria was gallerias.... William notes that it was the town where Cleopatra
like Paris. It was the most creative town—all these different cultures sighed her last breathes or many of the ancient Byzantine creative
collaborating and mingling with each other: conferences lectures, artistic pieces obtained their incarnations here in the alleys of this
gallerias.... William notes that it was the town where Cleopatra town. Through the risky driving of Ramazan, William visits the
sighed her last breathes or many of the ancient Byzantine creative ancient Byzantine town site Oxyrhynchus, presently known as
artistic pieces obtained their incarnations here in the alleys of this Behnasa. Reaching the site at irst he was on the verge of
town. Through the risky driving of Ramazan, William visits the disappoinbtmnt as there was not a trace available that could prove
ancient Byzantine town site Oxyrhynchus, presently known as the existence of the grand ancient town’s presence at the spot; no
Behnasa. Reaching the site at irst he was on the verge of pillars, no temple nothing. But suddenly William notes his attention
disappoinbtmnt as there was not a trace available that could prove was drawn towards the soft soil bed beneath his feet which was
the existence of the grand ancient town’s presence at the spot; no hiding the shards of broken pots and potteries; actually it was the
pillars, no temple nothing. But suddenly William notes his attention rubbish dumps of the ancient town. It came to notice first in 1895.
was drawn towards the soft soil bed beneath his feet which was William here mentions and credits two British archeologists Bernard
hiding the shards of broken pots and potteries; actually it was the Grenfell and Arthur Hunt for their meticulous work and falling to their
rubbish dumps of the ancient town. It came to notice first in 1895. hand the lost Byzantine classical library, now stored in the library of
William here mentions and credits two British archeologists Bernard Alexandria. William serves many of them to the readers in order to
Grenfell and Arthur Hunt for their meticulous work and falling to their allow them to have an idea about the quality of concerns and
hand the lost Byzantine classical library, now stored in the library of reflections of the people of ancient world. William also visits the
Alexandria. William serves many of them to the readers in order to Monastery of Saint Anthony and presents his research over the
allow them to have an idea about the quality of concerns and genesis of the Monastic tradition in Christianity. As per the version
reflections of the people of ancient world. William also visits the presented 87 by William it was Saint Anthony who in order to evade
Monastery of Saint Anthony and presents his research over the the man folk following him settled at the most awkward place. Still he
genesis of the Monastic tradition in Christianity. As per the version was perused by the ancient Alexandrian intellectuals, and in this
presented 87 by William it was Saint Anthony who in order to evade way, specifies William, the Monasteries came into existence. The
the man folk following him settled at the most awkward place. Still he monasteries became so popular that there were “seven hundred
was perused by the ancient Alexandrian intellectuals, and in this monasteries in the desert between Jerusalem and the southern
way, specifies William, the Monasteries came into existence. The border of the Byzantine empire.” William notes that the site of the
monasteries became so popular that there were “seven hundred monastery of Saint Anthony was at the most inhospitable patch of
monasteries in the desert between Jerusalem and the southern dessert, and its access was rather very difficult in the ancient time. It
border of the Byzantine empire.” William notes that the site of the took three week’s time with caravan of camels to reach it. The
monastery of Saint Anthony was at the most inhospitable patch of philosophy of Saint Anthony was the simpler one which preached
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dessert, and its access was rather very difficult in the ancient time. It human folks to attain oneness with the Nature. For this reason Saint
took three week’s time with caravan of camels to reach it. The Anthony preferred long session of prayers and manual labour as a
philosophy of Saint Anthony was the simpler one which preached gesture to be one with the nature than to invest energy in the pursuit
human folks to attain oneness with the Nature. For this reason Saint of ‘Knowledge of written words’. William notes that though the
Anthony preferred long session of prayers and manual labour as a present lot of priests is educated they prefer to spend much of their
gesture to be one with the nature than to invest energy in the pursuit energies in physical labour and long sessions of prayers, and many
of ‘Knowledge of written words’. William notes that though the of their talks remain preoccupied with the mysteries and miracles
present lot of priests is educated they prefer to spend much of their caused by the holy spirits of the late Saints who, as it is strongly held
energies in physical labour and long sessions of prayers, and many by them, constantly stay at guard of their disciples and the premises
of their talks remain preoccupied with the mysteries and miracles of their monasteries. During his stay at the monastery of Saint
caused by the holy spirits of the late Saints who, as it is strongly held Anthony, William enters into a prolonged conversation with Fr.
by them, constantly stay at guard of their disciples and the premises Dioscuros who satisfies most of his quarries about the way of
of their monasteries. During his stay at the monastery of Saint monastic lives taken by the monks at present. William here also
Anthony, William enters into a prolonged conversation with Fr. notes down the same receding spirits and silencing attitudes of the
Dioscuros who satisfies most of his quarries about the way of Christians against the oppressions done to them. He clearly
monastic lives taken by the monks at present. William here also mentions that , “The Copts have suffered petty discrimination for
notes down the same receding spirits and silencing attitudes of the centuries, but the recent revival of Islamist insurgencies in Upper
Christians against the oppressions done to them. He clearly Egypt has made their position more dangerous” (411). Still, notes
mentions that , “The Copts have suffered petty discrimination for William, like Suriani in Turkey, the Copts step back and seem doing
centuries, but the recent revival of Islamist insurgencies in Upper every effort to avoid subject. But once they open their accounts,
Egypt has made their position more dangerous” (411). Still, notes there come a full length volume of oppressions and massacres of the
William, like Suriani in Turkey, the Copts step back and seem doing Christian people as well as the destruction of Christian monuments.
every effort to avoid subject. But once they open their accounts, The comments apparently show the hidden feeling that all the
there come a full length volume of oppressions and massacres of the attacks and oppressions and atrocities are under the knowledge of
Christian people as well as the destruction of Christian monuments. the government but there was sheer absence of political willingness
The comments apparently show the hidden feeling that all the to deal with them with any stricter measures. William also brings in
attacks and oppressions and atrocities are under the knowledge of the description of Moschos’s visit. ‘In Spiritual Meadows’ Moschos
the government but there was sheer absence of political willingness presents the full length accounts and incidents of nomadic attacks on
to deal with them with any stricter measures. William also brings in the Christian monks and elders. After the vespers, in his
the description of Moschos’s visit. ‘In Spiritual Meadows’ Moschos conversations with the Abbot, William researches on the famous
presents the full length accounts and incidents of nomadic attacks on stone sculpture at Scotland and the painting at the monastery
the Christian monks and elders. After the vespers, in his featuring two saints: Anthony and Paul. The incident was on not
conversations with the Abbot, William researches on the famous being able to decide how much share each one of them should have
stone sculpture at Scotland and the painting at the monastery from the loaf of the bread, they decided to tear it 88 into two in this
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featuring two saints: Anthony and Paul. The incident was on not way. William presents his expert comments on the both the piece of
being able to decide how much share each one of them should have arts and passes his judgment that the painting was much near to the
from the loaf of the bread, they decided to tear it 88 into two in this reality as it presented the saints sitting in a cave, whereas the stone
way. William presents his expert comments on the both the piece of sculpture presented them sitting in chairs, adding that version of it
arts and passes his judgment that the painting was much near to the might have reached Scotland through any merchant, pilgrim or any
reality as it presented the saints sitting in a cave, whereas the stone wandering Monk. Meanwhile waiting for the permission to visit the
sculpture presented them sitting in chairs, adding that version of it sensitive area of Upper Egypt, through the strange divorce writ for
might have reached Scotland through any merchant, pilgrim or any Dr. Abu Zaid and his wife Dr. Ibthal Yunis on the grounds that the
wandering Monk. Meanwhile waiting for the permission to visit the marriage was incompatible, William tries to give the reader idea of
sensitive area of Upper Egypt, through the strange divorce writ for increasing hold of the Islamic Extremists at all fronts in Egypt. Dr.
Dr. Abu Zaid and his wife Dr. Ibthal Yunis on the grounds that the Zaid also confesses that he was not getting support from his own
marriage was incompatible, William tries to give the reader idea of authority students’ circles or from his own colleagues. He tells
increasing hold of the Islamic Extremists at all fronts in Egypt. Dr. William that by swearing to be a true Islamic follower he could settle
Zaid also confesses that he was not getting support from his own the case but by doing so he did not want to allow the extremists win
authority students’ circles or from his own colleagues. He tells on false moral grounds. His visits to the two Christian localities;
William that by swearing to be a true Islamic follower he could settle Shubra and Bin Shams, though bring forth the same incidents of
the case but by doing so he did not want to allow the extremists win atrocious treatments to the Copts, make him realize another facet of
on false moral grounds. His visits to the two Christian localities; the reality. Here, at both the places, he finds the people reluctant to
Shubra and Bin Shams, though bring forth the same incidents of refer to the incidents of attacks on the Churches or on Christians.
atrocious treatments to the Copts, make him realize another facet of And when he tries to discuss the causes of it with the Coptic driver
the reality. Here, at both the places, he finds the people reluctant to Menas, who had taken him to the places in his taxi, the driver clears
refer to the incidents of attacks on the Churches or on Christians. the grounds as: We don’t like to create problems with the Muslims.
And when he tries to discuss the causes of it with the Coptic driver At the moment our life is not too bad. To shout out our complaints will
Menas, who had taken him to the places in his taxi, the driver clears do us no good. The Christians in Europe will not help. Nor will the
the grounds as: We don’t like to create problems with the Muslims. Americans. There is no one to help us. So we keep quiet. We have
At the moment our life is not too bad. To shout out our complaints will no option but to get on as best we can. (434) He further adds to the
do us no good. The Christians in Europe will not help. Nor will the comment of William as this kind of attitudes being counterproductive:
Americans. There is no one to help us. So we keep quiet. We have If the government does not like what we are saying, it can be very
no option but to get on as best we can. (434) He further adds to the cruel to us, in many ways: with work, with business, with our families,
comment of William as this kind of attitudes being counterproductive: with our children in school. They can make our life hell. For this
If the government does not like what we are saying, it can be very reason the people are not telling you the clear situation. (434) Lastly
cruel to us, in many ways: with work, with business, with our families, the driver bluntly reminds William about his business and dangers he
with our children in school. They can make our life hell. For this might incur to the local Christian localities just for his zeal of
reason the people are not telling you the clear situation. (434) Lastly producing a book; This is not your problem. It is our problem. You
388
the driver bluntly reminds William about his business and dangers he make a book then you go home. But we have to stay here. I know
might incur to the local Christian localities just for his zeal of you are trying to help. But you must be very careful. If you are not,
producing a book; This is not your problem. It is our problem. You you could do us great harm. (434) 89 At Cairo, he obtains permission
make a book then you go home. But we have to stay here. I know to enter in the Upper Egypt only when he presents the transcript of
you are trying to help. But you must be very careful. If you are not, President Mubarak’s interview conducted by him in which Mubarak
you could do us great harm. (434) 89 At Cairo, he obtains permission personally permitted him to visit any part of Upper Egypt he wished.
to enter in the Upper Egypt only when he presents the transcript of The transcript of the personal interview worked nicely, he was not
President Mubarak’s interview conducted by him in which Mubarak only granted permission to travel in the inner recess of Upper Egypt
personally permitted him to visit any part of Upper Egypt he wished. but that he was provided with a government car and an interpreter as
The transcript of the personal interview worked nicely, he was not well. The initial phase of the journey in the Government car and with
only granted permission to travel in the inner recess of Upper Egypt escorts seemed ordinary but as they approached the interior area,
but that he was provided with a government car and an interpreter as William thought it was better to have traveled privately than to move
well. The initial phase of the journey in the Government car and with around with escorts attracting unnecessary attention of the terrorist
escorts seemed ordinary but as they approached the interior area, groups. At one or two places, on learning the styles and strategies of
William thought it was better to have traveled privately than to move the militant groups, not only he himself but he studied the grim lines
around with escorts attracting unnecessary attention of the terrorist of fear on the face of the interpreter too. The first village that falls on
groups. At one or two places, on learning the styles and strategies of the rout happens to be the village of some Coptic Christians who
the militant groups, not only he himself but he studied the grim lines have been agitating with the Muslim Militant group, Gema’a al-
of fear on the face of the interpreter too. The first village that falls on Islamiya. The original issue was that of property of one Coptic
the rout happens to be the village of some Coptic Christians who Christians which the Muslim Bully wanted to purchase at insulting
have been agitating with the Muslim Militant group, Gema’a al- lower rate. But as the story goes, the issue resulted in merciless
Islamiya. The original issue was that of property of one Coptic massacre of the Christians, even the innocent Monks were
Christians which the Muslim Bully wanted to purchase at insulting assassinated in the premises of the church; the church where the
lower rate. But as the story goes, the issue resulted in merciless Holy Family from King Harod once took shelter. Having arrived at
massacre of the Christians, even the innocent Monks were Asyut, William took a sigh of relief as then he was on the verge of his
assassinated in the premises of the church; the church where the nearly intangible and difficult task of following the Byzantine Journey
Holy Family from King Harod once took shelter. Having arrived at of John Moschos. He notes Asyut was known as Lycopolis in
Asyut, William took a sigh of relief as then he was on the verge of his Byzantine times. This place and the Kharga Oasis were utilised as
nearly intangible and difficult task of following the Byzantine Journey the exile regions for the unwanted and unfavoured class of people
of John Moschos. He notes Asyut was known as Lycopolis in who came on the way of reign as obstructions. At present too,
Byzantine times. This place and the Kharga Oasis were utilised as William makes it clear, the place was used as the jail of the political
the exile regions for the unwanted and unfavoured class of people opponents, serving the same purpose as it held in past. The last
who came on the way of reign as obstructions. At present too, patch of journey was somewhat tricky, though this time not any
William makes it clear, the place was used as the jail of the political threats of being killed in militant attacks, but the dessert things
389
opponents, serving the same purpose as it held in past. The last played tricks: The dessert played tricks with our senses. In such a
patch of journey was somewhat tricky, though this time not any place it was impossible to verify the size of any object that might
threats of being killed in militant attacks, but the dessert things break this white madness. Outcrops of rock might be pebbles,
played tricks: The dessert played tricks with our senses. In such a boulders or small mountains. At one point, shortly after leaving our
place it was impossible to verify the size of any object that might escort, we came across a group of workers who were labouring to
break this white madness. Outcrops of rock might be pebbles, mend a stretch of road badly damaged by a freak storm that had hit
boulders or small mountains. At one point, shortly after leaving our Asyut a month earlier. From a distance the men appeared like giants;
escort, we came across a group of workers who were labouring to as we got nearer they shrunk to dwarves. Only as we passed
mend a stretch of road badly damaged by a freak storm that had hit alongside them were we able to judge their true height with any
Asyut a month earlier. From a distance the men appeared like giants; certainty. (449) 90 Here William marks the point that how difficult it
as we got nearer they shrunk to dwarves. Only as we passed would have proved to Moschos and his companion Sophronius to
alongside them were we able to judge their true height with any travel to this most awkward geographical patch of the earth and the
certainty. (449) 90 Here William marks the point that how difficult it second thing what would have attracted them to fare such a death
would have proved to Moschos and his companion Sophronius to countering journey. William makes a guess that as Moschos had
travel to this most awkward geographical patch of the earth and the included the story of Nestorius’s exile into this land in ‘The Spiritual
second thing what would have attracted them to fare such a death Meadows’, the notoriety of him or the monk in himself might have
countering journey. William makes a guess that as Moschos had attracted him to this place of spiritual exile. Standing at the great holy
included the story of Nestorius’s exile into this land in ‘The Spiritual mountain William, being engulfed in the contemplations of the span
Meadows’, the notoriety of him or the monk in himself might have of his entire journey, imagines how Moschos might have casted his
attracted him to this place of spiritual exile. Standing at the great holy receding glances on the recesses of the mountain sprawling in the
mountain William, being engulfed in the contemplations of the span white dessert with acute pains of witnessing the beginning of process
of his entire journey, imagines how Moschos might have casted his of withering the plant of Christianity from the very land in which it
receding glances on the recesses of the mountain sprawling in the sprouted and spread to the four corners of the world. Sharing the
white dessert with acute pains of witnessing the beginning of process pains of Moschos, William out pours his own pains as well: It is a
of withering the plant of Christianity from the very land in which it Historical continuum that began during the journey of Moschos and
sprouted and spread to the four corners of the world. Sharing the the final chapter of which I have been witnessing on my own travels
pains of Moschos, William out pours his own pains as well: It is a some fourteen years later....... On my journey in his footsteps I have
Historical continuum that began during the journey of Moschos and seen the very last stalks in the process of being uprooted. It has
the final chapter of which I have been witnessing on my own travels been a continuous process, lasting nearly one and a half millennia,
some fourteen years later....... On my journey in his footsteps I have Moschos saw its beinnings. I have seen the beginning of its end.
seen the very last stalks in the process of being uprooted. It has (453-454) Just as ‘Travel’ leaves one wiser and with broadened
been a continuous process, lasting nearly one and a half millennia, visions, William too finds he was quite wrong for his assumptions at
Moschos saw its beinnings. I have seen the beginning of its end. the beginning of journey. He confesses that his assumption for the
(453-454) Just as ‘Travel’ leaves one wiser and with broadened decaying status of Christianity in the Middle East led him to consider
390
visions, William too finds he was quite wrong for his assumptions at the insurgence of Islamic extremism solely responsible. At the end of
the beginning of journey. He confesses that his assumption for the the journey, he feels the process and the factors are more complex
decaying status of Christianity in the Middle East led him to consider than he thought of at the initiation of his journey. His observations, as
the insurgence of Islamic extremism solely responsible. At the end of he brings forth, run as under: ? “In South-East Turkey the Syrian
the journey, he feels the process and the factors are more complex Christians were caught in crossfire of civil war, between two rival
than he thought of at the initiation of his journey. His observations, as nationalisms, one Kurdish and the other Turkish.” ? “In Lebanon, the
he brings forth, run as under: ? “In South-East Turkey the Syrian Maronites had reaped a bitter harvest of their own sowing: their
Christians were caught in crossfire of civil war, between two rival failure to compromise with the country’s Muslim majority had led to
nationalisms, one Kurdish and the other Turkish.” ? “In Lebanon, the destructive civil war that ended in a mass emigration of Christians.” ?
Maronites had reaped a bitter harvest of their own sowing: their “The dilemma of the Palestinian Christians was quite different again.
failure to compromise with the country’s Muslim majority had led to Their problem was that, like their Muslim compatriots, they were
destructive civil war that ended in a mass emigration of Christians.” ? Arabs in the Jewish State.” ? “Only in Egypt was the Christian
“The dilemma of the Palestinian Christians was quite different again. population unambiguously threatened by a 91 straight forward
Their problem was that, like their Muslim compatriots, they were resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism, and such violent
Arabs in the Jewish State.” ? “Only in Egypt was the Christian fundamentalism was limited to specific Cairo suburbs.” ? “Only in
population unambiguously threatened by a 91 straight forward Syria had I seen the Christian population looking happy and
resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism, and such violent confident, and even their future looked decidedly uncertain...” (448)
fundamentalism was limited to specific Cairo suburbs.” ? “Only in On the whole,
Syria had I seen the Christian population looking happy and
confident, and even their future looked decidedly uncertain...” (448) the Christian population was either crumbled and suffocated through
On the whole, consciously calculated policies or
the Christian population was either crumbled and suffocated through immigrated to the safer parts of the earth to save themselves from
consciously calculated policies or immigrated to the safer parts of the the atrocious treatments from the powerful forces in the entire region
earth to save themselves from the atrocious treatments from the of the Middle-East. The beginning of the process of the decadence of
powerful forces in the entire region of the Middle-East. The beginning Christianity which Moschos witnessed during his journeys, William
of the process of the decadence of Christianity which Moschos finds it on the verge of its completion.
witnessed during his journeys, William finds it on the verge of its
completion. Just as Debbie Lisle points out in Between Fact and Fiction that:
“Like policy documents, eye-witness accounts, newspaper stories
Just as Debbie Lisle points out in Between Fact and Fiction that: and documentaries, travel writing is part of the discursive terrain that
“Like policy documents, eye-witness accounts, newspaper stories shapes the ‘real world’ of global politics” (Lisle 33). From the Holy
and documentaries, travel writing is part of the discursive terrain that Mountain tries to document the entire transformative ethnographic
shapes the ‘real world’ of global politics” (Lisle 33). From the Holy changes in the Middle East and tries to influence the ‘Home’ to take
some supportive steps for those Christians who really need to be
391
Mountain tries to document the entire transformative ethnographic taken care of. Middle East regions have always remained fond
changes in the Middle East and tries to influence the ‘Home’ to take destinations for the European travellers. First as the regions cover
some supportive steps for those Christians who really need to be the ecclesiastical significance of places of Pilgrimage, the desire to
taken care of. Middle East regions have always remained fond see the very lands of Christ’s childhood and suffering and preaching,
destinations for the European travellers. First as the regions cover attracted many to the regions and secondly as their curiosity about
the ecclesiastical significance of places of Pilgrimage, the desire to the Islam and its various traditions. From the fourth century and for
see the very lands of Christ’s childhood and suffering and preaching, well over a millennium; the pilgrimage was the dominant mode of
attracted many to the regions and secondly as their curiosity about travel through the Middle East and the most available paradigm for
the Islam and its various traditions. From the fourth century and for travel writing. Significantly, this mode survived longest and retained
well over a millennium; the pilgrimage was the dominant mode of its central place in the British discourse on the Orient even after the
travel through the Middle East and the most available paradigm for Reformation and secularisation. Religious travel to the sites of the
travel writing. Significantly, this mode survived longest and retained stages of Christ’s life and suffering had an extraordinary revival
its central place in the British discourse on the Orient even after the during the nineteenth century. (Melman 108) William’s travels
Reformation and secularisation. Religious travel to the sites of the through the region happen on the same line of curiosity and
stages of Christ’s life and suffering had an extraordinary revival frameworks of pilgrimage. At more than one places, William asserts
during the nineteenth century. (Melman 108) William’s travels his religious involvement at the Holy places and in the company of
through the region happen on the same line of curiosity and the saints in the various Churches he visits. The concerns for the
frameworks of pilgrimage. At more than one places, William asserts existence of the Christian faith and the followers in the regions and
his religious involvement at the Holy places and in the company of provinces of the Middle East, the process of wiping out the Christians
the saints in the various Churches he visits. The concerns for the from the region in the name of Muslim Extremism that has got
existence of the Christian faith and the followers in the regions and initiated, as William 92 Dalrymple has pointed out in Form The Holy
provinces of the Middle East, the process of wiping out the Christians Mountain, since the time of Moschos’ traversing the region and
from the region in the name of Muslim Extremism that has got documented by him in his book has been going on still to date....
initiated, as William 92 Dalrymple has pointed out in Form The Holy Even the world got a grave shock when ISIS terrorists released a
Mountain, since the time of Moschos’ traversing the region and grisly video showing the mass beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic
documented by him in his book has been going on still to date.... Christians in Libya on 16 February 2015. Pope Francis of Rome
Even the world got a grave shock when ISIS terrorists released a condemning the massacre of the Christians said: It makes no
grisly video showing the mass beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts, or
Christians in Libya on 16 February 2015. Pope Francis of Rome Protestants, the martyrs belong to all Christians.” John L. Allen Jr.,
condemning the massacre of the Christians said: It makes no the Associate editor wrote on February 17, 2015 “The pope’s words
difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts, or reflect a mounting sense of urgency about the survival of Christianity
Protestants, the martyrs belong to all Christians.” John L. Allen Jr., all across the Middle East, especially in regions where the Islamic
the Associate editor wrote on February 17, 2015 “The pope’s words State effectively aims to create “Christian-free” zones. (Allen, John L.
reflect a mounting sense of urgency about the survival of Christianity Hard Truths) Raymond Ibrahim CP OP-ED Contributor in Christian
392
all across the Middle East, especially in regions where the Islamic Post Opinion quotes on 19 February 2015: In its online English
State effectively aims to create “Christian-free” zones. (Allen, John L. magazine Dabiq, after justifying the slaughter of the 21, the Islamic
Hard Truths) Raymond Ibrahim CP OP-ED Contributor in Christian State concludes by asserting that "it is important for Muslims
Post Opinion quotes on 19 February 2015: In its online English everywhere to know that there is no doubt in the great reward to be
magazine Dabiq, after justifying the slaughter of the 21, the Islamic found on Judgment Day for those who spill the blood of these Coptic
State concludes by asserting that "it is important for Muslims crusaders wherever they may be found" (Ibrahim, Raymond.
everywhere to know that there is no doubt in the great reward to be Slaughter) In the essay Future of Christians in the Arab World, Riad
found on Judgment Day for those who spill the blood of these Coptic Jarjour poits out that the Christians are emigrating more rapidly than
crusaders wherever they may be found" (Ibrahim, Raymond. Muslims, and in propotionally greater numbers to the countries
Slaughter) In the essay Future of Christians in the Arab World, Riad outside the Arab World. (Jarjour 14) The reasons behind this
Jarjour poits out that the Christians are emigrating more rapidly than emigration are obvious as pointed out by many experts that they are
Muslims, and in propotionally greater numbers to the countries evading dire threats of the Islamist extremists which are strangling
outside the Arab World. (Jarjour 14) The reasons behind this their throats. The principal cause of Christian demographic decline in
emigration are obvious as pointed out by many experts that they are the Arab and surrounding Middle East – the great reducer--- is
evading dire threats of the Islamist extremists which are strangling emigratio n, and it doesn’t take much to trigger it. The economic
their throats. The principal cause of Christian demographic decline in disruption brought on by years of war caused many Lebanese, the
the Arab and surrounding Middle East – the great reducer--- is majority of these being Christians, to leave their war-torn country
emigratio n, and it doesn’t take much to trigger it. The economic after 1975, first to neighbouring Cyprus, then to Europe, the
disruption brought on by years of war caused many Lebanese, the Americas, and Australia in search of security and better livelihood.
majority of these being Christians, to leave their war-torn country (Malik 33) In From The Holy Mountain, thus, William picks up the
after 1975, first to neighbouring Cyprus, then to Europe, the contemporary ethnographical issue of crisis in the Middle East.
Americas, and Australia in search of security and better livelihood. Having travelled in the land which is the cradle of Christianity, he
(Malik 33) In From The Holy Mountain, thus, William picks up the tries to inspect the core elements of thinning of chrisdtian population
contemporary ethnographical issue of crisis in the Middle East. and the destructions or mal-preservation or sheer negligence
Having travelled in the land which is the cradle of Christianity, he towards the great Christian monuments in the entire region. He has
tries to inspect the core elements of thinning of chrisdtian population woven his travel on the framework of the travels of John Moschos
and the destructions or mal-preservation or sheer negligence and by following his footsteps William here takes the concerns and
towards the great Christian monuments in the entire region. He has observations about the Christianity made by John 93 Moscos to a
woven his travel on the framework of the travels of John Moschos step further. The issue and crisis are still aggravating in the Middle
and by following his footsteps William here takes the concerns and East and when the Researcher is writing this, in these days too, the
observations about the Christianity made by John 93 Moscos to a news of massacre of the local and native Christians at the hand of
step further. The issue and crisis are still aggravating in the Middle the Muslim Extremist group who call themselves ISIS (Islamic State
East and when the Researcher is writing this, in these days too, the of Iraq and Syria) teem every other day in the media. 94 Works Cited
news of massacre of the local and native Christians at the hand of
393
the Muslim Extremist group who call themselves ISIS (Islamic State Allen Jr, John L. “Hard Thruths about the Survival of Christianity in
of Iraq and Syria) teem every other day in the media. 94 Works Cited the Middle East.” Crux. 17 Feb. 2015. Web. 20 February 2015.
Allen Jr, John L. “Hard Thruths about the Survival of Christianity in Dalrymple, William. From the Holy Mountain. New Delhi: Penguin
the Middle East.” Crux. 17 Feb. 2015. Web. 20 February 2015. Books, 1997.
Dalrymple, William. From the Holy Mountain. New Delhi: Penguin Print Ibrahim,Raymond. “Slaughter of 21 Christians ushers rise of
Books, 1997. islamic State in Libiya” Christian Post.19 Feb 2015. Web. 20
February 2015.
Print Ibrahim,Raymond. “Slaughter of 21 Christians ushers rise of
islamic State in Libiya” Christian Post.19 Feb 2015. Web. 20 Jarjour, Riad. Future of Christians in the Arab World Betty Jane
February 2015. Bailey, J. Martin Bailey. Ed. Who Are the Christians in the Middle
East? Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003.
Jarjour, Riad. Future of Christians in the Arab World Betty Jane
Bailey, J. Martin Bailey. Ed. Who Are the Christians in the Middle Print.
East? Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003.
Malik, Habib C. Islamism and the future of the Christians of the
Print. Middle East,Hoover Press. 2010. Print. Malik, Habib. “The Future of
Christians in the Middle East.” CERC Catholic Education Resource
Malik, Habib C. Islamism and the future of the Christians of the Center. Web. 21 february 2015.
Middle East,Hoover Press. 2010. Print. Malik, Habib. “The Future of
Christians in the Middle East.” CERC Catholic Education Resource Melman, Billie. “The Middle East/ Arabia ‘The Cradle of Islam’”.
Center. Web. 21 february 2015.
Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulme and Tim
Melman, Billie. “The Middle East/ Arabia ‘The Cradle of Islam’”. Young.
Cambridge Cambridge U P. 2002.
Companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Young. Print.
Cambridge Modern Language Association. The MLA Handbook for Writers of

Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association,
U P. 2002. 2009. Print.
Print. Shortt, Rupert. Chrstinofobia. Rider. 2012. Print.
394

2009. Print.
Shortt, Rupert. Chrstinofobia. Rider. 2012. Print. 95 96
395
Conclusion ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ Conclusion ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------
----------------- --------------- Travel writing or travel literature has ----------------- --------------- Travel writing or travel literature has
obtained new heights in the recent times. The popularity of the genre obtained new heights in the recent times. The popularity of the genre
has attracted much critical attention too. William Dalrymple was just has attracted much critical attention too. William Dalrymple was just
twenty two when he came out with his debut work In Xanadu and twenty two when he came out with his debut work In Xanadu and
from his very first book; he adopted the genre of travel writing. In the from his very first book; he adopted the genre of travel writing. In the
preparation and planning of the book, he clearly mentions his preparation and planning of the book, he clearly mentions his
objectives behind his selection. Right since then, he has been a objectives behind his selection. Right since then, he has been a
consistent and prolific writer. He applies his creative bent on writing consistent and prolific writer. He applies his creative bent on writing
travel books and later also wrote narrative histories. His narrative travel books and later also wrote narrative histories. His narrative
histories and travel books have overlapping themes, which he histories and travel books have overlapping themes, which he
himself asserts that while researching on his second book, City of himself asserts that while researching on his second book, City of
Djinns, he came across the Mughal Legacy and the then British Djinns, he came across the Mughal Legacy and the then British
Officials’ irresistible attraction for it. This cultivated an idea of the Officials’ irresistible attraction for it. This cultivated an idea of the
book White Mughal and after that came the story Last Mughal, and book White Mughal and after that came the story Last Mughal, and
latest one is A Return of a King in which he has presented his latest one is A Return of a King in which he has presented his
researched history on the last war between the British army and the researched history on the last war between the British army and the
Afghan troops. He invests his sincere efforts in the collection of the Afghan troops. He invests his sincere efforts in the collection of the
material of the books and sometimes risks his life too in the perusal material of the books and sometimes risks his life too in the perusal
of the first hand resources. This study through its close examination of the first hand resources. This study through its close examination
of Dalrymple’s travel books evaluates the merits of the author at the of Dalrymple’s travel books evaluates the merits of the author at the
composition of the genre and his contribution in popularizing it and to composition of the genre and his contribution in popularizing it and to
bring forth to the world at large through the media of his books bring forth to the world at large through the media of his books
certain unexplored and raging discourses, traditions and the buried certain unexplored and raging discourses, traditions and the buried
legacies which in the course of time lost sight of or are declining in legacies which in the course of time lost sight of or are declining in
the force of new development. the force of new development.
In all the books studied, William Dalrymple has carefully interwoven In all the books studied, William Dalrymple has carefully interwoven
his personal reflections, memoirs, historical facts which he collects his personal reflections, memoirs, historical facts which he collects
through his toiling through different Archives, personal or Institutional through his toiling through different Archives, personal or Institutional
libraries, interviews of the natives who command the authority in the libraries, interviews of the natives who command the authority in the
396
area of knowledge of the topics/issues under focus, references to the area of knowledge of the topics/issues under focus, references to the
earlier travel accounts along with his journey and encounters with the earlier travel accounts along with his journey and encounters with the
local people and culture. He constitutes a very jovial and free local people and culture. He constitutes a very jovial and free
narrative with sparkles of humour and informative cubes. Close narrative with sparkles of humour and informative cubes. Close
perusal of the texts gives us an idea that William Dalrymple has perusal of the texts gives us an idea that William Dalrymple has
carefully developed his persona in the narrative who is the centre or carefully developed his persona in the narrative who is the centre or
the hero of his narrative. In his the hero of his narrative.
doctoral thesis Dorgello has clearly 243 observed that, “ In his
There are up to three Dalrymple figures involved in each text: the doctoral thesis Dorgello has clearly 243 observed that, “There are up
central, autobiographical character, the narrator, and finally the to three Dalrymple figures involved in each text: the central,
author / public figure. autobiographical character, the narrator, and finally the author /
public figure.
In conversation with Tim Youngs, Dalrymple firmly states: “I never
consciously created a persona around the ‘I’. The ‘I’, I suppose, is In conversation with Tim Youngs, Dalrymple firmly states: “I never
the me of that particular moment, and how I see things at that consciously created a persona around the ‘I’. The ‘I’, I suppose, is
particular moment” (40). Dalrymple’s denial of the use of fictional the me of that particular moment, and how I see things at that
elements in the construction of the iterations of the character of particular moment” (40). Dalrymple’s denial of the use of fictional
William glosses any changes in the ways in which William is elements in the construction of the iterations of the character of
represented (within individual texts, or, particularly, across William glosses any changes in the ways in which William is
Dalrymple’s body of work) as accurate reflections of Dalrymple’s represented (within individual texts, or, particularly, across
intellectual and emotional development. Such a disingenuous Dalrymple’s body of work) as accurate reflections of Dalrymple’s
approach necessarily privileges the centrality of the authorial figure, intellectual and emotional development. Such a disingenuous
and relies upon the (inherently personal) authority of autobiography approach necessarily privileges the centrality of the authorial figure,
for its legitimacy”. [Dorgello Thesis] Moreover, the narrative and relies upon the (inherently personal) authority of autobiography
constitutes the chronicle of William’s observations on the countries for its legitimacy”. [Dorgello Thesis] Moreover, the narrative
and people encountered, and the discomforts and hardships he and constitutes the chronicle of William’s observations on the countries
his companions face in the act of travel. The narrative tone always and people encountered, and the discomforts and hardships he and
remains to be that of the superior Western trope, despite his his companions face in the act of travel. The narrative tone always
conscious mentions in various interviews and public talks to maintain remains to be that of the superior Western trope, despite his
neutrality and confessions to be in love with the Indian soil and the conscious mentions in various interviews and public talks to maintain
desire to be borne here in India if granted five more lives. The neutrality and confessions to be in love with the Indian soil and the
treasures of material which can be coined and transformed into the desire to be borne here in India if granted five more lives. The
bestselling books can have made him to wish to be borne here, but treasures of material which can be coined and transformed into the
397
all the same he seems and is truly writing for Home. Dorgello nicely bestselling books can have made him to wish to be borne here, but
points out this point, …his texts can be read as belated echoes or all the same he seems and is truly writing for Home. Dorgello nicely
iterations of prior colonial relationships and representations. points out this point, …his texts can be read as belated echoes or
Essentially, Dalrymple’s texts portray a privileged, British protagonist iterations of prior colonial relationships and representations.
who travels to and writes about India (and occasionally other Essentially, Dalrymple’s texts portray a privileged, British protagonist
destinations). Not only does an anachronistically characterised who travels to and writes about India (and occasionally other
William repeat the traditional colonial journey from imperial destinations). Not only does an anachronistically characterised
metropole to colonial outpost, but Dalrymple compounds this William repeat the traditional colonial journey from imperial
connection by making British India (rather than India itself) his chief metropole to colonial outpost, but Dalrymple compounds this
subject. This double connection with Britain’s imperial presence in connection by making British India (rather than India itself) his chief
India means that the ways in which the British-Indian relationship is subject. This double connection with Britain’s imperial presence in
represented is all the more significant. (Dorgello Thesis) The India means that the ways in which the British-Indian relationship is
instances he uses to drive his point home or the projection of represented is all the more significant. (Dorgello Thesis) The
parallels all, all through his books; go in direction of western instances he uses to drive his point home or the projection of
sympathy. The sights which arrest his attention or the major topics parallels all, all through his books; go in direction of western
he picked up for his more journalistic travel accounts of The Age of sympathy. The sights which arrest his attention or the major topics
Kali, seem to emboss a pattern that he works with the designs to he picked up for his more journalistic travel accounts of The Age of
expose the vulnerable issues of the Indian civilization which was Kali, seem to emboss a pattern that he works with the designs to
staggering to raise itself to 244 the global equality levels especially expose the vulnerable issues of the Indian civilization which was
during the late nineties. Dalrymple received severe and bitter staggering to raise itself to 244 the global equality levels especially
reactions within Indian circles but somehow through his constant during the late nineties. Dalrymple received severe and bitter
perusal of various issues, consistent production of books and their reactions within Indian circles but somehow through his constant
promotional campaigns, presence at the public events like various perusal of various issues, consistent production of books and their
Literary Festivals, and carefully manipulated marketing strategies, he promotional campaigns, presence at the public events like various
has obtained a groomed status, influence and managed to emerge Literary Festivals, and carefully manipulated marketing strategies, he
as the expert and authority of the south Asian affairs, histories and has obtained a groomed status, influence and managed to emerge
socio-political issues. The major debate which Dalrymple raises as the expert and authority of the south Asian affairs, histories and
within or outside his texts is that of the pendulum of power grid which socio-political issues. The major debate which Dalrymple raises
oscillated on the Indian horizons between the colonizers and the within or outside his texts is that of the pendulum of power grid which
colonized. The research and the fact finding exercise benefits him on oscillated on the Indian horizons between the colonizers and the
the double fronts. As it being the favourite subject in the West helps colonized. The research and the fact finding exercise benefits him on
him magnet attention of the western literary-socio-political high the double fronts. As it being the favourite subject in the West helps
powers and at the same time within India too, works out the colonial him magnet attention of the western literary-socio-political high
obsessions and hangovers. Still, to his merits rests his constant powers and at the same time within India too, works out the colonial
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perusal of the various socio-political issues, his sincerity, capacity obsessions and hangovers. Still, to his merits rests his constant
and willingness to go to any extent to collect firsthand experience perusal of the various socio-political issues, his sincerity, capacity
and resources which impart gravity to his works and take them to the and willingness to go to any extent to collect firsthand experience
top of the popularity columns. As a traveler he uses his guts to enter and resources which impart gravity to his works and take them to the
any terrain where any ordinary home- dweller or foreigner could not top of the popularity columns. As a traveler he uses his guts to enter
access. The stories thus collected create a sort of attraction and the any terrain where any ordinary home- dweller or foreigner could not
point of perusal for the readers at home or of foreign land. The access. The stories thus collected create a sort of attraction and the
narrative, as the genre itself demands, remains light vein, free and point of perusal for the readers at home or of foreign land. The
jovial. Dalrymple stuffs humour as the text develops. His first book, In narrative, as the genre itself demands, remains light vein, free and
Xanadu displays much light veined humourous account, in which the jovial. Dalrymple stuffs humour as the text develops. His first book, In
protagonist remains to be butt of innocence in the company of the Xanadu displays much light veined humourous account, in which the
two female companions at first Laura and then in the later part his protagonist remains to be butt of innocence in the company of the
ex-girlfriend, Louisa. In the second book, The City of Djinns, too, two female companions at first Laura and then in the later part his
there are sparkles of humour spread all through the text. Much of it is ex-girlfriend, Louisa. In the second book, The City of Djinns, too,
found at the place of his first settlement at Delhi, at the landlady, Mrs. there are sparkles of humour spread all through the text. Much of it is
Puri’s household. The elderly and old landlord Mr.Puri’s amorous found at the place of his first settlement at Delhi, at the landlady, Mrs.
approaches to his wife, Olivia; William puts it in the light vein: “ Puri’s household. The elderly and old landlord Mr.Puri’s amorous
approaches to his wife, Olivia; William puts it in the light vein: “During
During our first month in the flat, however, Mr. Puri was on his best our first month in the flat, however, Mr. Puri was on his best behavior.
behavior. Apart from twice proposing marriage to my wife, he Apart from twice proposing marriage to my wife, he behaved with
behaved with perfect decorum.”(City of Djinns 13) perfect decorum.”(City of Djinns 13) The Landlady’s strictness of
conduct in the day-today household activities and the housemaid or
The Landlady’s strictness of conduct in the day-today household the cook all these things and characters are presented in the
activities and the housemaid or the cook all these things and humourous colourings. Moreover, his major companion, the taxi-
characters are presented in the humourous colourings. Moreover, his driver, Balvinder Singh’s enthusiasm to speak English and his
major companion, the taxi- driver, Balvinder Singh’s enthusiasm to habitual drinking and driving eccentrics, his generalization for the
speak English and his habitual drinking and driving eccentrics, his English in connection to their sexual habits, all this sorts of things
generalization for the English in connection to their sexual habits, all contribute to the generation of mirth. The later works do not display
this sorts of things contribute to the generation of mirth. The later much such humourous stuffing, and it can be taken as his growing
works do not display much such humourous stuffing, and it can be maturity and more command on the narrative techniques. He himself
taken as his growing maturity and more command on the narrative talks about this 245 point in detail to Tim Youngs in his interview with
techniques. He himself talks about this 245 point in detail to Tim him “The fact is that it (In Xanadu) has got the best jokes and is a
Youngs in his interview with him “The fact is that it (In Xanadu) has much funnier book than the others. I think I have got progressively
got the best jokes and is a much funnier book than the others. I think more politically correct and dull as I get middle aged. But in readings
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I have got progressively more politically correct and dull as I get In Xanadu will get a louder laugh than anything” (Interview with Tim
middle aged. But in readings In Xanadu will get a louder laugh than Youngs 40). Just as he himself mentions, his later works do not raise
anything” (Interview with Tim Youngs 40). Just as he himself much of the jovial spirits. On the contrary, From the Holy Mountains
mentions, his later works do not raise much of the jovial spirits. On treats the serious subject of devastation, destruction and demise of
the contrary, From the Holy Mountains treats the serious subject of Christianity from the regions of Middle East. The narrative
devastation, destruction and demise of Christianity from the regions documents the extinction and the miserable plight of the eastern
of Middle East. The narrative documents the extinction and the Christians in the very land where the Christianity originally
miserable plight of the eastern Christians in the very land where the blossomed.The Age of Kali too is the representation of the beggar
Christianity originally blossomed.The Age of Kali too is the plights of the Indian continent on the grounds of Socio-Political
representation of the beggar plights of the Indian continent on the issues. The last book, Nine lives, as its sub title suggests, is the
grounds of Socio-Political issues. The last book, Nine lives, as its search of sacred in modern India, still another serious subject and
sub title suggests, is the search of sacred in modern India, still more serious stuff to be discussed and brought under scrutiny, and
another serious subject and more serious stuff to be discussed and so does not leave any room for free jovial cutting of jokes. Still, the
brought under scrutiny, and so does not leave any room for free narrative sways in a manner that despite the serious themes or the
jovial cutting of jokes. Still, the narrative sways in a manner that issues; the overall temperament finds an easy and conversational
despite the serious themes or the issues; the overall temperament tone. Major travel texts adopt the scheme of taking a key event, text
finds an easy and conversational tone. Major travel texts adopt the or any specific route around which the entire account develops.
scheme of taking a key event, text or any specific route around which
the entire account develops. Sometimes, the writer picks up major happenings on his travelling
experiences and narrates with his creative bent.
Sometimes, the writer picks up major happenings on his travelling
experiences and narrates with his creative bent. William Dalrymple’s all the books even including his History
Narratives, have a clear foundation. His first book, In Xanadu is
William Dalrymple’s all the books even including his History framed upon the famous silk route following the footsteps
Narratives, have a clear foundation. His first book, In Xanadu is
framed upon the famous silk route following of Marco Polo, i.e. from Jerusalem to Shang tu in China- popular in
the West as 'Xanadu'. The
the footsteps of Marco Polo, i.e. from Jerusalem to Shang tu in
China- popular in the West as 'Xanadu'. The book presents William’s journey from Jerusalem to Chinese Shang tu
in the company of two companions; first of Laura and then, Louisa.
book presents William’s journey from Jerusalem to Chinese Shang tu The journey vividly documents the hardships, dangers, toils and dare
in the company of two companions; first of Laura and then, Louisa. devil tricks taken by the traveler on the course of the journey.
The journey vividly documents the hardships, dangers, toils and dare Dalrymple, along with
devil tricks taken by the traveler on the course of the journey.
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Dalrymple, along with his constant compare and contrast of the his constant compare and contrast of the present landscape with that
present landscape with that of at the time of Marco Polo as it has of at the time of Marco Polo as it has been reported by Polo in his
been reported by Polo in his Travels, also presents elaborate
ethnographic details along with detailed commentary on the issues of Travels, also presents elaborate ethnographic details along with
cultural or conventional continuations of the regions he visits. Mostly detailed commentary on the issues of cultural or conventional
he prefers to stay with the family of the locals, instead of in the continuations of the regions he visits. Mostly he prefers to stay with
hotels, thus, picking up an opportunity to observe their life from the the family of the locals, instead of in the hotels, thus, picking up an
close quarters. At places, he brings forth the historical details and opportunity to observe their life from the close quarters. At places, he
mythical stories too to describe the entire scenario of the place. His brings forth the historical details and mythical stories too to describe
second book The City of Djinns is a quite different, and can be taken the entire scenario of the place. His second book The City of Djinns
as the dwelling account rather than on the move. It along with is a quite different, and can be taken as the dwelling account rather
presenting Dalrymple’s justifications for; and initial exercises of than on the move. It along with presenting Dalrymple’s justifications
settling down in Delhi, delineates his quest of the Historic for; and initial exercises of settling down in Delhi, delineates his
Developments of this city. 246 quest of the Historic Developments of this city. 246
Delhi, perhaps, might be the only city in the world which witnessed Delhi, perhaps, might be the only city in the world which witnessed
so many destructions and devastations either natural or manmade. so many destructions and devastations either natural or manmade.
After each of the devastations the city breathed its rebirth and After each of the devastations the city breathed its rebirth and
resurgence with new enthusiasm and vigour. William Dalrymple resurgence with new enthusiasm and vigour. William Dalrymple
erects the foundation of the book on the very facts as he has been erects the foundation of the book on the very facts as he has been
informed by Pir Sadr-ud-Din: informed by Pir Sadr-ud-Din:
When I met Pir Sadr-ud-Din, that I learned the secret that kept the When I met Pir Sadr-ud-Din, that I learned the secret that kept the
city returning to new life. ‘Delhi’, said Pir Sadr-ud-Din, ‘was a city of city returning to new life. ‘Delhi’, said Pir Sadr-ud-Din, ‘was a city of
djinns. Though it had been burned by invaders time and time again, djinns. Though it had been burned by invaders time and time again,
millennium after millennium, still the city was rebuilt; each time it rose millennium after millennium, still the city was rebuilt; each time it rose
like a phoenix from the fire. Just as the Hindus believe that a body like a phoenix from the fire. Just as the Hindus believe that a body
will be reincarnated over and over again until it becomes perfect, so will be reincarnated over and over again until it becomes perfect, so
it seemed Delhi was destined to appear in a new incarnation century it seemed Delhi was destined to appear in a new incarnation century
after century. The reason for this, said Sadr-ud-din, was that the after century. The reason for this, said Sadr-ud-din, was that the
djinns loved Delhi so much they could never bear to see it empty or djinns loved Delhi so much they could never bear to see it empty or
deserted’... ( deserted’... (
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Dalrymple City of Djinns 9) He investigates the traces of all the cities Dalrymple City of Djinns 9) He investigates the traces of all the cities
right from the Lutyan’s to the mythical Indraprasth of Mahabharata. right from the Lutyan’s to the mythical Indraprasth of Mahabharata.
In the course of the book, he also presents the post-partition and In the course of the book, he also presents the post-partition and
post Indira Gandhi murder riots. He mixes with and spends time with post Indira Gandhi murder riots. He mixes with and spends time with
group of the Eunuchs, whose reference he found as the care takers group of the Eunuchs, whose reference he found as the care takers
of the Mughal Zenanas. The third book, From the Holy Mountain, of the Mughal Zenanas. The third book, From the Holy Mountain,
again takes the set route, earlier traversed by the famous traveler. again takes the set route, earlier traversed by the famous traveler.
Here in this book he wanders in the Byzantine world where the great Here in this book he wanders in the Byzantine world where the great
saint and scholar John Moschos had journeyed in the company of saint and scholar John Moschos had journeyed in the company of
his disciple Sophronius, his disciple Sophronius, the sophist. John Moschos’s The Spiritual
Meadows provides the prime inspiration to William Dalrymple to
the sophist. explore the parts of the Middle East and he tries to have the
glimpses of John Moschos’s world of Byzantium.
John Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows provides the prime
inspiration to William Dalrymple to explore the parts of the Middle Thus, Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows gives him the thrust of
East and he tries to have the glimpses of John Moschos’s world of traveling this world, William himself notes: .... The Spiritual Meadows
Byzantium. of John Moschos, the unlikely little book which first brought me to
this monastery, and the original manuscript of which I saw for the first
Thus, Moschos’s The Spiritual Meadows gives him the thrust of time less than one hour ago. God willing, John Moschos will lead me
traveling this world, William himself notes: .... The Spiritual Meadows on, eastward to Constantinople and Anatolia, then southwards to the
of John Moschos, the unlikely little book which first brought me to Nile and thence, if it is still possible, to the great Khangra Oasis,
this monastery, and the original manuscript of which I saw for the first once the southern frontier of Byzantium. (From the Holy Mountain 4)
time less than one hour ago. God willing, John Moschos will lead me
on, eastward to Constantinople and Anatolia, then southwards to the The book
Nile and thence, if it is still possible, to the great Khangra Oasis,
once the southern frontier of Byzantium. (From the Holy Mountain 4) voices the concern on the lost glory of Christianity and seems an
The book attempt to analyse the root causes operating behind such drastic
transitions.
voices the concern on the lost glory of Christianity and seems an
attempt to analyse the root causes operating behind such drastic Not only this, Dalrymple also presents the plights of the local people
transitions. and their miseries on the 247 war stricken scenario, raging all
around. One interesting outcome of the wars and constant violence
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Not only this, Dalrymple also presents the plights of the local people all around the region, as Dalrymple observes, is people’s evolving
and their miseries on the 247 war stricken scenario, raging all tendencies to go for fun and delights in life and altogether aversion of
around. One interesting outcome of the wars and constant violence eyes from any sort of serious art and development or any form of
all around the region, as Dalrymple observes, is people’s evolving constructive tasks. On getting such clues, he inquires the people and
tendencies to go for fun and delights in life and altogether aversion of finds them narrating the reason that they felt they were never certain
eyes from any sort of serious art and development or any form of of life even for the next day; and in such uncertainty they felt it better
constructive tasks. On getting such clues, he inquires the people and to enjoy the time in their stock without caring and getting engaged in
finds them narrating the reason that they felt they were never certain the issues of serious nature. The Age of Kali, the fourth book of
of life even for the next day; and in such uncertainty they felt it better William Dalrymple concentrates its focus
to enjoy the time in their stock without caring and getting engaged in
the issues of serious nature. The Age of Kali, the fourth book of on
William Dalrymple concentrates its focus
the bloodshed violence spread throughout the subcontinent. He
on the bloodshed violence spread throughout the subcontinent. He states, he feels convinced that the Age of ‘Kali’ has in reality cuffed
states, he feels convinced that the Age of ‘Kali’ has in reality cuffed the human race here, and made them thirsty of each other’s blood-
the human race here, and made them thirsty of each other’s blood- no matter whatever is the ground. Be it social, political or the
no matter whatever is the ground. Be it social, political or the religious, or on the grounds of morality, status or family feuds, the
religious, or on the grounds of morality, status or family feuds, the human race seems on the dagger drawing stance. Tolerance and
human race seems on the dagger drawing stance. Tolerance and broad-mindedness are no longer in the index of human virtues,
broad-mindedness are no longer in the index of human virtues, rather they are considered to be the attributes of weakness in the
rather they are considered to be the attributes of weakness in the social arena. Man finds himself entangled with his own fellow people
social arena. Man finds himself entangled with his own fellow people and he feels he has to struggle hard to get what, he thinks, is
and he feels he has to struggle hard to get what, he thinks, is essential for his well-being and happiness. The weakest points of
essential for his well-being and happiness. The weakest points of Democracy have got surfaced and the reins of power have been
Democracy have got surfaced and the reins of power have been grabbed by the persons with criminal backgrounds.
grabbed by the persons with criminal backgrounds.
In this way, the book documents the
In this way, the book documents the evils spread through the society
and tries to bring forth the scanned facts which hold the alarm evils spread through the society and tries to bring forth the scanned
signals at the showy pomp and gongs of development and facts which hold the alarm signals at the showy pomp and gongs of
modernization. Nine Lives picks up the issues of religion and development and modernization. Nine Lives picks up the issues of
spirituality in India. Here, William Dalrymple investigates the religion and spirituality in India. Here, William Dalrymple investigates
parameters and the extents and extremity level to which the religious the parameters and the extents and extremity level to which the
conducts make part of human life in the modernistic traces and the religious conducts make part of human life in the modernistic traces
and the streams of development. His captioning of the subtitle ‘In
403
streams of development. His captioning of the subtitle ‘In search of search of Sacred in Modern India’ very well glimpses his under
Sacred in Modern India’ very well glimpses his under currents of currents of thoughts and intentions. The stories he has picked up, his
thoughts and intentions. The stories he has picked up, his interviews interviews of the specific religious characters, the struggles of these
of the specific religious characters, the struggles of these characters characters in their personal, social, and even at their religious
in their personal, social, and even at their religious bodies, and his bodies, and his narrative strategy of letting the character be on the
narrative strategy of letting the character be on the front of narration front of narration directly in the first person reporting; all this in a way
directly in the first person reporting; all this in a way brings forth the brings forth the varied cultural traditions co-existing in India, but
varied cultural traditions co-existing in India, but alongside it also pin alongside it also pin points the shacking loose of faiths in the existing
points the shacking loose of faiths in the existing religious religious conventions and a sure concern at the bottom to preserve
conventions and a sure concern at the bottom to preserve some of some of them. Here he has picked up the personas of Jainism,
them. Here he has picked up the personas of Jainism, Buddhism, Buddhism, major trends of Hinduism, the Sufism and through the
major trends of Hinduism, the Sufism and through the study of these study of these specific characters, he brings out several facts
specific characters, he brings out several facts regarding them which regarding them which otherwise would have been inaccessible to the
otherwise would have been inaccessible to the readers at 248 home readers at 248 home or abroad. The protagonists of the different
or abroad. The protagonists of the different essays are the essays are the representatives of caste system existent in Hinduism.
representatives of caste system existent in Hinduism. The Theyyam The Theyyam dancer proudly and for more than once in the essay
dancer proudly and for more than once in the essay reports that reports that during the Theyyam seasons even the high cadre
during the Theyyam seasons even the high cadre Brahmins too Brahmins too would touch his feet and come seeking his blessings.
would touch his feet and come seeking his blessings. The majority of The majority of the Bauls in Bengal are from the lower strata of
the Bauls in Bengal are from the lower strata of society. The society. The daughters of Yellamma, the Devadasis are from the
daughters of Yellamma, the Devadasis are from the lower caste lower caste families, and the singers of Epic are the members of
families, and the singers of Epic are the members of nomadic nomadic families. In each essay, Dalrymple first reaches up to the
families. In each essay, Dalrymple first reaches up to the specific specific character he has intended to meet in order to collect
character he has intended to meet in order to collect information information about the specific creed or cult. Then he, after some
about the specific creed or cult. Then he, after some propagating propagating detailing and initial queries, slides in the side and lets
detailing and initial queries, slides in the side and lets the character the character narrate the entire issue from his/her points of views.
narrate the entire issue from his/her points of views. This strategy This strategy works nicely in favour of the author, one as he is the
works nicely in favour of the author, one as he is the outsider and the outsider and the issues/characters under discussion involve religious
issues/characters under discussion involve religious matter so it matter so it saves him from getting dragged into any controversy.
saves him from getting dragged into any controversy. Secondly, the Secondly, the material presented seems much authentic. Travel
material presented seems much authentic. Travel books, in major books, in major cases, present the detailed descriptions of the sights
cases, present the detailed descriptions of the sights and the places and the places and even the transportations and the roads taken are
and even the transportations and the roads taken are also find their also find their way in the narration. The writer views the place as the
way in the narration. The writer views the place as the outsider and outsider and the things, locations and everything that is different or
404
the things, locations and everything that is different or located in located in different backgrounds capture his attentions. His creative
different backgrounds capture his attentions. His creative process process incorporates such differences in the narrative. The intensity
incorporates such differences in the narrative. The intensity or the or the lengths of details may vary in different travel writers i.e. some
lengths of details may vary in different travel writers i.e. some travel travel writers would go for the detailed description of the travel
writers would go for the detailed description of the travel process, the process, the places visited and the people encountered whereas
places visited and the people encountered whereas some others some others would just draw outlines of the journey and develop the
would just draw outlines of the journey and develop the narrative on narrative on more somber issues and the internal process that is
more somber issues and the internal process that is taking shape in taking shape in their mind rather than detailing the physical part of
their mind rather than detailing the physical part of the journey. the journey. Dalrymple incorporates details of the journey, gives fair
Dalrymple incorporates details of the journey, gives fair account of account of the places he visits and the people he encounters. He has
the places he visits and the people he encounters. He has got an got an extraordinary talent in creating a live image of the place or
extraordinary talent in creating a live image of the place or person person just with a line or two. He also takes enough time to detail the
just with a line or two. He also takes enough time to detail the journey and the transportations especially in In Xanadu and in From
journey and the transportations especially in In Xanadu and in From the Holy Mountains. The other three books namely;
the Holy Mountains. The other three books namely;
concentrate more on the places and people and the cultural detailing
concentrate more on the places and people and the cultural detailing rather than on the journeying on the road. In the very initial phase of
rather than on the journeying on the road. In the very initial phase of the journey in In Xanadu, at the time of preparations for departure,
the journey in In Xanadu, at the time of preparations for departure, anticipating the nature of the travel, William notes: 249 Thus I
anticipating the nature of the travel, William notes: 249 Thus I committed myself to travelling across twelve thousand miles of
committed myself to travelling across twelve thousand miles of extremely dangerous, inhospitable territory, much of which seemed
extremely dangerous, inhospitable territory, much of which seemed still to be closed to the foreigners, with two companions, one a
still to be closed to the foreigners, with two companions, one a complete stranger, the other completely estranged. (In Xanadu
complete stranger, the other completely estranged. (In Xanadu 13-14) Along with the descriptions of the sights and places, his
13-14) Along with the descriptions of the sights and places, his reflections too generate gravity in the narration. Arriving at the holy
reflections too generate gravity in the narration. Arriving at the holy city of Jerusalem, he points out: For two thousand years Jerusalem
city of Jerusalem, he points out: For two thousand years Jerusalem has brought out the least attractive qualities in every race that has
has brought out the least attractive qualities in every race that has lived there. The Holy City has had more atrocities committed in it,
lived there. The Holy City has had more atrocities committed in it, more consistently, than any other town in the world. Sacred to three
more consistently, than any other town in the world. Sacred to three religions, the city has witnessed the worst intolerance and self-
religions, the city has witnessed the worst intolerance and self- righteousness of all of them. (In Xanadu 18) At some places William
righteousness of all of them. (In Xanadu 18) At some places William presents his imaginations from the historical clues how the place
405
presents his imaginations from the historical clues how the place would have been bustling with activities during that time and close to
would have been bustling with activities during that time and close to it also presents how it appears to him at present. Describing the han
it also presents how it appears to him at present. Describing the han close to the sea port at Acre, William writes: During the months of
close to the sea port at Acre, William writes: During the months of the passagium, between Easter and late autumn, the han would
the passagium, between Easter and late autumn, the han would have been full of sea captains, merchants and sailors. Here they
have been full of sea captains, merchants and sailors. Here they would wake and sleep, eat and drink, buy and sell, free from the laws
would wake and sleep, eat and drink, buy and sell, free from the laws and customs of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It is a quite place now.
and customs of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It is a quite place now. You enter the compound under a narrow arch of red and white
You enter the compound under a narrow arch of red and white polychrome keystones, past a pair of old metal-reinforced gates still
polychrome keystones, past a pair of old metal-reinforced gates still hanging from their original rusty hinges. (In Xanadu 23) The people
hanging from their original rusty hinges. (In Xanadu 23) The people are also described with picking their peculiarities. On their way to the
are also described with picking their peculiarities. On their way to the Armenia Capital of Sis, heading towards the citadel of Sis, after a
Armenia Capital of Sis, heading towards the citadel of Sis, after a walk of a mile or two, he and Laura take a lift of a tractor full of local
walk of a mile or two, he and Laura take a lift of a tractor full of local people. Here goes the description: Inside was a vast earth-mother
people. Here goes the description: Inside was a vast earth-mother swathed in voluminous wraps of calico and taffeta. Beside her was a
swathed in voluminous wraps of calico and taffeta. Beside her was a small boy, presumably her son. She clucked around him like an old
small boy, presumably her son. She clucked around him like an old broody hen, wiping his nose and removing hey from his hair. She
broody hen, wiping his nose and removing hey from his hair. She said nothing, but blenched occasionally and fed herself noisily from a
said nothing, but blenched occasionally and fed herself noisily from a nose-bag.
nose-bag.
Good looks have been shared out unevenly among the Turks. Their
Good looks have been shared out unevenly among the Turks. Their men are almost all handsome with dark, supple skin and strong
men are almost all handsome with dark, supple skin and strong features: good bones, sharp eyes and tall, masculine bodies. But the
features: good bones, sharp eyes and tall, masculine bodies. But the women share their menfolk’s pronounced features in a most
women share their menfolk’s pronounced features in a most unflattering way. Very few are beautiful. Their noses are too large,
unflattering way. Very few are beautiful. Their noses are too large, their chins too prominent. Baggy wraps conceal pneumatic bodies.
their chins too prominent. Baggy wraps conceal pneumatic bodies. Here must lie the reason for the Turks’ easy drift 250 out of
Here must lie the reason for the Turks’ easy drift 250 out of heterosexuality. (
heterosexuality. (
Dalrymple In Xanadu 71) In the ‘City of Djinns’, William presents the
Dalrymple In Xanadu 71) In the ‘City of Djinns’, William presents the travels in dwellings. His stay in Delhi and his excavation of the
travels in dwellings. His stay in Delhi and his excavation of the different layers of history is replete with the descriptions of
different layers of history is replete with the descriptions of monumental sights, different alleys of the city which bear historic
monumental sights, different alleys of the city which bear historic importance, gardens sites, streets, and people who bear authority in
406
importance, gardens sites, streets, and people who bear authority in connection with the city’s history or keep the linage of historic and
connection with the city’s history or keep the linage of historic and representative art alive. Along with these monumental and historic
representative art alive. Along with these monumental and historic descriptions, William also provides the clues of the present day
descriptions, William also provides the clues of the present day scenario and the beating life in the city of Delhi: The damburst of
scenario and the beating life in the city of Delhi: western goods and ideas that were now pouring into India had
brought with them an undertow of western morality.
The damburst of western goods and ideas that were now pouring
into India had brought with them an undertow of western morality. Adulterous couples now filled the public gardens; condom
advertisements dominated the Delhi skyline. The Indian capital, once
Adulterous couples now filled the public gardens; condom the last bastion of the chaperoned virgin, the double-locked bedroom
advertisements dominated the Delhi skyline. The Indian capital, and the arranged marriage, was slowly filling with lovers: whispering,
blushing, occasionally holding hands, they loitered beneath flowering
once the last bastion of the chaperoned virgin, the double-locked trees like figures from a miniature. Delhi was starting to unbutton.
bedroom and the arranged marriage, was slowly filling with lovers: After the long Victorian twilight, the sari was beginning to slip. (
whispering, blushing, occasionally holding hands,
City of Djinns 24) The study and interest in both the major religions
they loitered beneath flowering trees like figures from a miniature. of India, namely Hindu and Islam; William comes to the level of
Delhi was starting to unbutton. drawing line between them, their apparent differences and
preferences. In ‘City of Djinns’ he presents his observations in
After the long Victorian twilight, the sari was beginning to slip. ( regards of the both: Hindus revere nature but never feel any need to
marshal or mould it into a design of their own: a Bunyan tree will
City of Djinns 24) The study and interest in both the major religions almost be encouraged to spread its drooping creepers into the
of India, namely Hindu and Islam; William comes to the level of middle of any village market, or to block any backwoods track. It is
drawing line between them, their apparent differences and revered for itself; however it develops, that end is regarded as a sort
preferences. In ‘City of Djinns’ he presents his observations in of perfection. As in nature, so in architecture: Hindu palaces seem to
regards of the both: grow organically of their own will: a hall here, a shrine there, a
sudden inexplicable curve in the curtain wall somewhere else. The
Hindus revere nature but never feel any need to marshal or mould it
Muslim tradition is quite different. Inheriting the Greek love of order
into a design of their own: a Bunyan tree will almost be encouraged
and logic, Islamic gardens—like their buildings – are regimented into
to spread its drooping creepers into the middle of any village market,
lines of perfect symmetry; balance and design is all; nothing is left to
or to block any backwoods track. It is revered for itself; however it
impulse or chance. With these qualities, the Mughal gardens dotted
develops, that end is regarded as a sort of perfection. As in nature,
around the subcontinent are as alien to the Indian environment as
so in architecture: Hindu palaces seem to grow organically of their
the Brighton Pavilion is to the English south coast, or the Chinese
own will: a hall here, a shrine there, a sudden inexplicable curve in
Pagoda to Kew. Outside the garden, 251 all is delightful chaos;
the curtain wall somewhere else. The Muslim tradition is quite
407
different. Inheriting the Greek love of order and logic, Islamic inside, reflecting the central concept of Islam, spontaneity is crushed
gardens—like their buildings – are regimented into lines of perfect by submission to a higher order”. (City of Djinns 235) In the process
symmetry; balance and design is all; nothing is left to impulse or of ransacking the city with the gauge of historic significance, William
chance. With these qualities, the Mughal gardens dotted around the consults certain people too who bear the authoritative knowledge
subcontinent are as alien to the Indian environment as the Brighton and information about the city’s gorgeous past. One such person is
Pavilion is to the English south coast, or the Chinese Pagoda to Kew. Dr. Yunus Jaffery whose ancestors were Persian tutors at the Red
Outside the garden, 251 all is delightful chaos; inside, reflecting the Fort. William went to meet him on a rainy afternoon: The door
central concept of Islam, spontaneity is crushed by submission to a opened to reveal a gaunt, clean-shaven man. He wore white Mughal
higher order”. ( pyjamas whose trouser-bottoms, wide and slightly flared, were cut in
the style once favoured by eighteen-century Delhi gallants. On his
City of Djinns 235) In the process of ransacking the city with the head he sported a thin white mosque-cap. Heavy black glasses
gauge of historic significance, William consults certain people too perched on the bridge of his nose, but the effect was not severe.
who bear the authoritative knowledge and information about the (City of Djinns 186) The Age of Kali too is full of lively descriptions of
city’s gorgeous past. One such person is Dr. Yunus Jaffery whose people, places, traditions and conventions and the oddities and
ancestors were Persian tutors at the Red Fort. William went to meet abnormalities that arrest William’s attention while his stay in India.
him on a rainy afternoon: The main focus of the book is on the issues that Dalrymple finds to
be followed in detail and they are from Northern part of India to Sri
The door opened to reveal a gaunt, clean-shaven man. He wore Lanka, Pakistan, Goa, and the territories on the Indian Ocean too.
white Mughal pyjamas whose trouser-bottoms, wide and slightly
flared, were cut in the style once favoured by eighteen-century Delhi What captures Dalrymple’s attention are the grounds gravely fixed
gallants. On his head he sported a thin white mosque-cap. Heavy on the stark reality of commonplace life. He describes how caste,
black glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, but the effect was crime, money and muscle power have a stranglehold on rural north
not severe. ( Indian society, particularly Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan
where women are raped, and caste based militias kill each other with
City of Djinns 186) The Age of Kali too is full of lively descriptions of impunity. The agencies of administration and police are often in
people, places, traditions and conventions and the oddities and collusion with the criminals. He also tries to understand the leagues
abnormalities that arrest William’s attention while his stay in India. of the convicted murderers to win the elections, the student unions’
The main focus of the book is on the issues that Dalrymple finds to fascination for the power game of politics for that their use of guns
be followed in detail and they are from Northern part of India to Sri and grenades when actually books and journals should be their
Lanka, Pakistan, Goa, and the territories on the Indian Ocean too. concerns. On the whole, it is all about what William comes across
during his travels across the Indian subcontinent. Some places he
What captures Dalrymple’s attention are the grounds gravely fixed visits, particularly the camps of Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the
on the stark reality of commonplace life. He describes how caste, borders of Pakistan, demand great cautions and hold a bit of
crime, money and muscle power have a stranglehold on rural north personal risk too. For these are the places where fatal- deadly
Indian society, particularly Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan
408
where women are raped, and caste based militias kill each other with weapons trade free and even the local outsider is not easily well-
impunity. The agencies of administration and police are often in come within their staunch secretive circles and is looked at with
collusion with the criminals. He also tries to understand the leagues sheer suspicion, and the slightest blur of untrustworthiness from
of the convicted murderers to win the elections, the student unions’ such an outsider might be justified with a shot of a gun.
fascination for the power game of politics for that their use of guns
and grenades when actually books and journals should be their Like ‘The Age of Kali’. ‘Nine Lives’ too focuses on the various issues
concerns. On the whole, it is all about what William comes across or persons, but unlike it, here the focus remains fixedly concentrated
during his travels across the Indian subcontinent. Some places he on the spiritual and religious orbit of the life of the ordinary persons.
visits, particularly the camps of Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the Each essay describes different 252 person belonging to different
borders of Pakistan, demand great cautions and hold a bit of religious background. What fires his imagination for this book is the
personal risk too. For these are the places where fatal- deadly very basic questions which he himself puts forward in the
weapons trade free and even the local outsider is not easily well- introduction of the book:
come within their staunch secretive circles and is looked at with
sheer suspicion, and the slightest blur of untrustworthiness from What does it actually mean to be a holy man or a Jain nun, a mystic
such an outsider might be justified with a shot of a gun. or a tantric seeking salvation on the roads of modern India, as the
Tata trucks thunder past? Why does one individual embrace armed
Like ‘The Age of Kali’. ‘Nine Lives’ too focuses on the various issues resistance as a sacred calling, while another devoutly practices
or persons, but unlike it, here the focus remains fixedly concentrated ahimsa, or non-violence? Why does one think he can create a god,
on the spiritual and religious orbit of the life of the ordinary persons. while another thinks that god can inhabit him? How is each specific
Each essay describes different 252 person belonging to different religious path surviving the changes India is currently undergoing?
religious background. What fires his imagination for this book is the What changes and what remains the same? Does India still offer any
very basic questions which he himself puts forward in the sort of real spiritual alternative to materialism, or is it now just
introduction of the book: another fast developing satrap of the wider capitalist world? (Nine
Lives Xiii)
What does it actually mean to be a holy man or a Jain nun, a mystic
or a tantric seeking salvation on the roads of modern India, as the The book remains rich with the lively descriptions of the persons.
Tata trucks thunder past? Why does one individual embrace armed Carl Thompson in his book Travel Writing observes that: From the
resistance as a sacred calling, while another devoutly practices late eighteen century Travel Writing starts to look inwards as well as
ahimsa, or non-violence? Why does one think he can create a god, outwards. At the same time, however, this new concern with the
while another thinks that god can inhabit him? How is each specific traveling self could be pursued in several different ways, and it has
religious path surviving the changes India is currently undergoing? since the eighteen century encompassed a variety of styles and
What changes and what remains the same? Does India still offer any techniques for writing about the self. For example, the extent to
sort of real spiritual alternative to materialism, or is it now just which travel writers articulate their inner world of thought and feeling
can vary considerably. In many travelogues, this inward scrutiny and
409
another fast developing satrap of the wider capitalist world? (Nine subsequent self-expression does not go much further than a simple
Lives Xiii) declaration of what the traveler thought and felt at various
junctures…..in more extreme forms, however, this inward gaze may
The book remains rich with the lively descriptions of the persons. become an attempt to chart the flux of consciousness in the course
Carl Thompson in his book Travel Writing observes that: From the of travel. (Thompson Travel Writing 111) In his travel writing, William
late eighteen century Travel Writing starts to look inwards as well as Dalrymple too presents the journey within. He looks inwards and
outwards. At the same time, however, this new concern with the presents sometimes the entire flux of thought process though not in
traveling self could be pursued in several different ways, and it has the stream of conscious vein; his majority of concerns go regarding
since the eighteen century encompassed a variety of styles and the travel or covering the distance to the next destination or
techniques for writing about the self. For example, the extent to sometimes more on his reflection with the historical facts and the
which travel writers articulate their inner world of thought and feeling present day plights of the place he visits. In his first book, ‘In
can vary considerably. In many travelogues, this inward scrutiny and Xanadu’, his majority of conversations with ‘self’ focuses on the next
subsequent self-expression does not go much further than a simple destination and in bringing out the historical facts or in the excavating
declaration of what the traveler thought and felt at various the details presented in the ‘Travels’ of Marco Polo and comparing
junctures…..in more extreme forms, however, this inward gaze may them with the present day scenario, and thereby extending his own
become an attempt to chart the flux of consciousness in the course concerns for the things deteriorating. At one place, he narrates his
of travel. (Thompson Travel Writing 111) In his travel writing, William dream, which he sees while sleeping. It was about his aching front
Dalrymple too presents the journey within. He looks inwards and teeth which he dreams Laura, in the form of the dentist tries to cure
presents sometimes the entire flux of thought process though not in with pliers in hand, and 253 in the mean while he gets up from the
the stream of conscious vein; his majority of concerns go regarding dream very shivering. The dream and the troubles in it signify the
the travel or covering the distance to the next destination or uncertainty that prevails on their being able to reach to their
sometimes more on his reflection with the historical facts and the destination and the exhausting hardships in the transit they have
present day plights of the place he visits. In his first book, ‘In been facing. And here comes the quotable quote of the traveler
Xanadu’, his majority of conversations with ‘self’ focuses on the next which only a traveler with his personal felt sentiments could term it: “
destination and in bringing out the historical facts or in the excavating
the details presented in the ‘Travels’ of Marco Polo and comparing There are moments in all long journeys when the whole business of
them with the present day scenario, and thereby extending his own travelling seems utterly futile. One feels homesick, tired and above
concerns for the things deteriorating. At one place, he narrates his all bored. Nothing pleases. Everything palls” (
dream, which he sees while sleeping. It was about his aching front
teeth which he dreams Laura, in the form of the dentist tries to cure Dalrymple. In Xanadu 220). Sometimes, William comes to state the
with pliers in hand, and 253 in the mean while he gets up from the bare feelings that descend to his mind as per the situation: in the
dream very shivering. The dream and the troubles in it signify the Epilogue of In Xanadu, recording his feelings just after the success
uncertainty that prevails on their being able to reach to their of his mission he writes, “I had never understood Burton’s feelings
destination and the exhausting hardships in the transit they have until I left Xanadu. Within the hour, the euphoria of having reached
410
been facing. And here comes the quotable quote of the traveler our goal and delivered the oil began to wear off” (Dalrymple In
which only a traveler with his personal felt sentiments could term it: “ Xanadu 301). City of Djinns encompasses author’s initial phase of
settlement in the city of Delhi along with the creative exercise of this
There are moments in all long journeys when the whole business of book itself, thus, it makes us confront many passages which narrate
travelling seems utterly futile. One feels homesick, tired and above the mind of the author himself. He remains extremely busy with his
all bored. Nothing pleases. Everything palls” ( project, perturbed by the hot weather of the city. He visits several
sights either alone or in the company either of his wife, Olivia or
Dalrymple. In Xanadu 220). Sometimes, William comes to state the Balvinder Singh, the taxi driver. He shows all the signs that he is in
bare feelings that descend to his mind as per the situation: in the love with the city. He presents his mantle state very often and clearly
Epilogue of In Xanadu, recording his feelings just after the success when he feels it best to: To best appreciate New Delhi I used to walk
of his mission he writes, “I had never understood Burton’s feelings to it from the Old City. Leaving behind the press and confusion of
until I left Xanadu. Within the hour, the euphoria of having reached Shahjehanabad ---- the noise and the heat, the rickshaws and the
our goal and delivered the oil began to wear off” (Dalrymple In barrow-boys, the incense and the sewer stink--- I would find myself
Xanadu 301). City of Djinns encompasses author’s initial phase of suddenly in a gridiron of wide avenues and open boulevards, a
settlement in the city of Delhi along with the creative exercise of this scheme as ordered and inevitable as a Bach fugue. Suddenly the
book itself, thus, it makes us confront many passages which narrate roads would empty and the air clean. There was no dust, no heat: all
the mind of the author himself. He remains extremely busy with his was shaded, green and cool. (Dalrymple City of Djinns 81) The
project, perturbed by the hot weather of the city. He visits several narrative of ‘From the Holy Mountain’ showcases many instances of
sights either alone or in the company either of his wife, Olivia or William’s introspective passages. As he witnesses the nightmarish
Balvinder Singh, the taxi driver. He shows all the signs that he is in plight of the eastern Christians, and collects their painful stories of
love with the city. He presents his mantle state very often and clearly atrocities, his conscious experiences great pains that somehow peep
when he feels it best to: in the narration too. At the grave of Moschos, he is solely internalized
and as if communicating with only his own ‘self’, he presents the
To best appreciate New Delhi I used to walk to it from the Old City. strain: I
Leaving behind the press and confusion of Shahjehanabad ---- the
noise and the heat, the rickshaws and the barrow-boys, the incense stood before the grave of John Moschos, the man whose writings
and the sewer stink--- I would find myself suddenly in a gridiron of had brought me on this journey, and in whose footsteps I was
wide avenues and open boulevards, a scheme as ordered and travelling. On the
inevitable as a Bach fugue. Suddenly the roads would empty and the
air clean. There was no dust, no heat: all was shaded, green and top of the slab rested a modern icon of the man, shown old and grey
cool. ( with a scroll in one hand and a quill in the other. So I thought, this
was where he 254 started off, and where, after all his travels through
Dalrymple City of Djinns 81) The narrative of ‘From the Holy the width and breadth of Byzantine Levante, he ended up. Prompted
Mountain’ showcases many instances of William’s introspective
411
passages. As he witnesses the nightmarish plight of the eastern by the example of the nun, despite having half dropped the habit, I
Christians, and collects their painful stories of atrocities, his began to pray there, and the prayers came with surprising ease. I
conscious experiences great pains that somehow peep in the
narration too. At the grave of Moschos, he is solely internalized and prayed for the people who had helped me on the journey, the monks
as if communicating with only his own ‘self’, he presents the strain: I who had showed me the manuscript on Mount Ethos, the frightened
Suriani of Mar Gabriel, the Armenians of Aleppo and the Palestinian
stood before the grave of John Moschos, the man whose writings Christians
had brought me on this journey, and in whose footsteps I was
travelling. in the camp of Mar Elias. And then I did what I suppose I had come
to do: I sought the blessing of John Moschos for the rest of the trip,
On the top of the slab rested a modern icon of the man, shown old and particularly asked for his protection in the badlands of Upper
and grey with a scroll in one hand and a quill in the other. So I Egypt, the most dangerous part of the journey. (Dalrymple From the
thought, this was where he 254 started off, and where, after all his Holy Mountain 287) In his last two books, viz. ‘
travels through the width and breadth of Byzantine Levante, he
ended up. Prompted by the example of the nun, despite having half The Age of Kali’, and ‘Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern
dropped the habit, I began to pray there, and the prayers came with India’, William Dalrymple
surprising ease. I
has adopted an entirely different scheme of narration. Here, he
prayed for the people who had helped me on the journey, the monks presents the accounts not on his own but they are highly person or
who had showed me the situation based. So the narration concentrates more around the
person or place under discussion. This sort of narration allows him to
manuscript on Mount Ethos, the frightened Suriani of Mar Gabriel, present the things from the local view points, keeping the causes and
the Armenians of Aleppo and the Palestinian Christians in the camp effect principle in the balance of the local elements. He just remains
of Mar Elias. And then I did what I suppose I had come to do: I a platform provider from where the local place or person gets its/his
sought the blessing of John Moschos for the rest of the trip, and voice amplified through the medium of his book. Thus, though the
particularly asked for his protection in the badlands of Upper Egypt, entire scheme seems objective, still, in the selection of the issues,
the most dangerous part of the journey. (Dalrymple From the Holy person and places, his personality operates well nigh. Sometimes it
Mountain 287) In his last two books, viz. ‘ seems he tries to pick up the negative stuffs and through attempts to
show these countries their place on the index of Development. On
The Age of Kali’, and ‘ the whole, the entire trope of writing represents a carefully staged
presentation of the author’s narrative persona. As Carl Thompson
Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India’, William Dalrymple has pointed out that in many cases the travel writer’s self fashioning
also often proceeds by a logic of differentiation, whereby the ‘Other’
has adopted an entirely different scheme of narration. Here, he is constructed in some subtle or unsubtle way principally as a foil or
presents the accounts not on his own but they are highly person or counterpoint to the supposedly heroic, civilized and/or cultured
412
situation based. So the narration concentrates more around the protagonist. In the writings of William Dalrymple this sort of scheme
person or place under discussion. This sort of narration allows him to also remains fully at work. William at every chance picks up an
present the things from the local view points, keeping the causes and opportunity to project his superiority over the inferior, uncivilized
effect principle in the balance of the local elements. He just remains locals and their lack of sophistication in the simple life business in
a platform provider from where the local place or person gets its/his almost all the books. In the Chinese territory, in ‘In Xanadu’, he
voice amplified through the medium of his book. Thus, though the presents the matter of cleaning of nose in a very sarcastic manner:
entire scheme seems objective, still, in the selection of the issues, Particularly unpleasant was the aggressive old man with whom we
person and places, his personality operates well nigh. Sometimes it shared our coal slag. Our relationship got off to a bad start on the
seems he tries to pick up the negative stuffs and through attempts to first day when during a mid-morning chai shop, I blew my nose in his
show these countries their place on the index of Development. On presence. For this unforgivable 255 faux pas I earned myself a
the whole, the entire trope of writing represents a carefully staged violent torrent of abuse. It appears that my crime was twofold: firstly
presentation of the author’s narrative persona. As Carl Thompson blowing my nose while he was drinking, secondly using a
has pointed out that in many cases the travel writer’s self fashioning handkerchief. Apparently polite Uigur etiquette demands that one
also often proceeds by a logic of differentiation, whereby the ‘Other’ walks away from any imbibing company, raises one’s left hand to the
is constructed in some subtle or unsubtle way principally as a foil or ridge of one’s nose and blows heartily through the nostrils, aiming to
counterpoint to the supposedly heroic, civilized and/or cultured discharge the deposit onto the ground. Any overhang should then be
protagonist. In the writings of William Dalrymple this sort of scheme wiped away, and the hand then cleaned on the shirt front. (Dalrymple
also remains fully at work. William at every chance picks up an In Xanadu 273) The book abounds in many such examples. In ‘City
opportunity to project his superiority over the inferior, uncivilized of Djinns’ too, William’s superior self finds amplification at every
locals and their lack of sophistication in the simple life business in chance or opportunity. To cite an example from it: to his queries
almost all the books. In the Chinese territory, in ‘In Xanadu’, he regarding the festival of Diwali, Mrs. Puri explains to William that all
presents the matter of cleaning of nose in a very sarcastic manner: the lighting and firing crackers were not just burning of money but
Particularly unpleasant was the aggressive old man with whom we rather it is about accumulating it. “Diwali is the festival of Laxmi, the
shared our coal slag. Our relationship got off to a bad start on the goddess of Wealth”, explained Mrs. Puri, “If we light candles and
first day when during a mid-morning chai shop, I blew my nose in his leave our front doors open, on this night Laxmi will come into our
presence. For this unforgivable 255 faux pas I earned myself a house and count all our moneys.” “Why does she do that? I asked,
violent torrent of abuse. It appears that my crime was twofold: firstly intrigued by the idea of Laxmi parking her lotus outside the gate and
blowing my nose while he was drinking, secondly using a paying a visit in her avatar as divine auditor.” (Dalrymple City of
handkerchief. Apparently polite Uigur etiquette demands that one Djinns 93) Behind the compositions and motives of ‘The Age of Kali’,
walks away from any imbibing company, raises one’s left hand to the and ‘Nine Lives’, there seem the exercise of sounding the trumpets
ridge of one’s nose and blows heartily through the nostrils, aiming to of western superiority. The issues he has picked up in The Age of
discharge the deposit onto the ground. Any overhang should then be Kali are all the mid-nineties issues which India encountered with the
wiped away, and the hand then cleaned on the shirt front. (Dalrymple duel storming at the socio-political domains; on one hand went the
In Xanadu 273) The book abounds in many such examples. In ‘City government policy of liberalization and thereby the direct effects of
413
of Djinns’ too, William’s superior self finds amplification at every foreign investments in the Indian markets. Though it had some
chance or opportunity. To cite an example from it: to his queries positive effects on the financial horizons yet, it acted as a trauma to
regarding the festival of Diwali, Mrs. Puri explains to William that all the centuries’ long superior self image of the Indian culture.
the lighting and firing crackers were not just burning of money but Secondly, in the new wave of influence that took the society under its
rather umbrella was that of Television. The society and especially the
middle class came under its strong hold which took the westernized
it is about accumulating it. “Diwali is the festival of Laxmi, the way of life as a parameter of modernity and advancement. The
goddess of Wealth”, explained Mrs. Puri, “If we light candles and financial flow increased the purchasing power of the middleclass
leave our front doors open, on this night Laxmi will come into our which fairly invested in buying the luxurious amenities and the
house and count all our moneys.” “Why does she do that? I asked, average household got television sets, telephones and two-wheelers.
intrigued by the idea of Laxmi parking her lotus outside the gate and This transformation brought certain social evils too. The increased
paying a visit in her avatar as divine auditor.” ( standards of life increased the competitions too. The political
scenario also underwent transformations. The voters started
Dalrymple City of Djinns 93) Behind the compositions and motives of demanding their ‘cost’ for casting votes in the favour of any certain
‘The Age of Kali’, and ‘Nine Lives’, there seem the exercise of political group. As elections went costly, the degree of political scams
sounding the trumpets of western superiority. The issues he has too increased. And in this way the entire social institution kept losing
picked up in The Age of Kali are all the mid-nineties issues which ethical dignity. Being the 256 outsider these issues arrest William
India encountered with the duel storming at the socio-political Dalrymple’s attention and he presents the journalistic stuff around
domains; on one hand went the government policy of liberalization them with a special captioning that though the matters bear grave
and thereby the direct effects of foreign investments in the Indian seriousness they pass as simple routine news articles in the Indian
markets. Though it had some positive effects on the financial society. In case of ‘Nine Lives’ too, the sub title: ‘In search of Sacred
horizons yet, it acted as a trauma to the centuries’ long superior self in Modern India’; pin points the author’s motives of undertaking
image of the Indian culture. Secondly, in the new wave of influence exercise of locating the status of religion and spirituality which has
that took the society under its umbrella was that of Television. The acted as the signature identity of Indian culture, especially in Modern
society and especially the middle class came under its strong hold Indian society. The author marks it with the audible emphasis that in
which took the westernized way of life as a parameter of modernity the fast and furious flow of modernity in the Indian society,
and advancement. The financial flow increased the purchasing somewhere the ideological spirituality and the devotional avenues
power of the middleclass which fairly invested in buying the luxurious are eroded. The new generation is deviating from the long cults of
amenities and the average household got television sets, telephones conventional lineages and looking forward to some new forms of
and two-wheelers. This transformation brought certain social evils careers. This tendency of the younger generations mounts a sure
too. The increased standards of life increased the competitions too. pressure on the older generations who feel it their moral
The political scenario also underwent transformations. The voters responsibility to keep the strain alive and flowing. The concerns of
started demanding their ‘cost’ for casting votes in the favour of any Srikanda, the idol maker, represent the worries of the entire lot of the
certain political group. As elections went costly, the degree of elderly generation: “I don’t know”, said Srikanda, shrugging his
414
political scams too increased. And in this way the entire social shoulders. “It’s all part of the world opening up. After all, as my son
institution kept losing ethical dignity. Being the 256 outsider these says, this is the age of computers. And as much as I might want
issues arrest William Dalrymple’s attention and he presents the otherwise, I can hardly tell him this is the age of bronze caster”
journalistic stuff around them with a special captioning that though (Dalrymple Nine Lives 204) [Perhaps here William derives the
the matters bear grave seriousness they pass as simple routine pleasure in showing the West defeating the East.] Another strategy
news articles in the Indian society. In case of ‘Nine Lives’ too, the most travel writers resort to is that of presenting themselves superior
sub title: ‘In search of Sacred in Modern India’; pin points the to the other travelers whom they happen to pass by on their routes
author’s motives of undertaking exercise of locating the status of and transits accidently or by chance. William Dalrymple in his initial
religion and spirituality which has acted as the signature identity of books makes use of this strategy and uses the travelers of other
Indian culture, especially in Modern Indian society. The author marks countries in contrast to his own activities. In his first book, ‘In
it with the audible emphasis that in the fast and furious flow of Xanadu’, when at the hotel Seljuk happens to encounter some
modernity in the Indian society, somewhere the ideological spirituality German cyclists doing press-ups in front of his room. Here he aims
and the devotional avenues are eroded. The new generation is to show that their intentions were intellectual whereas the Germans
deviating from the long cults of conventional lineages and looking journeyed on the physical measures and were least interested in the
forward to some new forms of careers. This tendency of the younger intellectual pursuits. Again on the bus when they happen to meet a
generations mounts a sure pressure on the older generations who Japanese tourist, he makes fun of him referring to his name;
feel it their moral responsibility to keep the strain alive and flowing. Condom. Even in the Chinese Keriya the party of German
The concerns of Srikanda, the idol maker, represent the worries of geomorphologists is also described with a sort of ridicule and comic
the entire lot of the elderly generation: “I don’t know”, said Srikanda, vein. One of the Germans’ attempts to talk to Louisa as a gesture to
shrugging his shoulders. “It’s all part of the world opening up. After make a better acquaintance with her is also presented in a lighter
all, as my son says, this is the age of computers. And as much as I vein: “German: My father was in semi-conductors. I too vood have
might want otherwise, I can hardly tell him this is the age of bronze gone into semi-conductors, had I not discovered moraines”
caster” (Dalrymple Nine Lives 204) [Perhaps here William derives (Dalrymple In Xanadu 267). In From the Holy Mountain, he presents
the pleasure in showing the West defeating the East.] Another the ancient travellers’ irresponsible conducts in contrast to his own
strategy most travel writers resort to is that of presenting themselves sincererity of purpose: The English traveller the Hon. Robert Curzon
superior to the other travelers whom they happen to pass by on their is still considered one of the worst offenders: after a quick circuit
routes and transits accidently or by chance. William Dalrymple in his around the monastic libraries of Athos in the late 1840s (in the
initial books makes use of this strategy and uses the travelers of company, I am 257 ashamed to say, of my great-great-uncle),
other countries in contrast to his own activities. In his first book, ‘In Curzon left the Holy Mountain with his trunks bulging with illuminated
Xanadu’, when at the hotel Seljuk happens to encounter some manuscripts and Byzantine chrysobuls (Pp.9 From the Holy
German cyclists doing press-ups in front of his room. Here he aims Mountain). Further, Dalrymple refers the celebrated Travel Writer
to show that their intentions were intellectual whereas the Germans Colin Thubron and his witnessing miracle and tries to erect a parallel
journeyed on the physical measures and were least interested in the to him by his own experiences: When the travel writer Colin Thubron
intellectual pursuits. Again on the bus when they happen to meet a visited the convent in 1966, he
415
Japanese tourist, he makes fun of him referring to his name; claimed to have witnessed a miracle: to have seen the face of the
Condom. Even in the Chinese Keriya the party of German icon of Notre Dame de Seidnaya stream with tears. In the same
geomorphologists is also described with a sort of ridicule and comic church I too witnessed a miracle, or something that today would
vein. One of the Germans’ attempts to talk to Louisa as a gesture to certainly be regarded as a miracle in almost any other country in the
make a better acquaintance with her is also presented in a lighter Middle East. For the congregation seemed to consist not of
vein: “German: My father was in semi-conductors. I too vood have Christians but almost entirely of heavily bearded Muslim
gone into semi-conductors, had I not discovered moraines”
(Dalrymple In Xanadu 267). In From the Holy Mountain, he presents men. (Dalrymple From the Holy Mountain 187) The travel writers
the ancient travellers’ irresponsible conducts in contrast to his own travel with the set motive of documenting their trip, they certainly
sincererity of purpose: The English traveller the Hon. Robert Curzon keep and maintain log of their travels and keep on maintaining the
is still considered one of the worst offenders: after a quick circuit records of journey along with the original travels. Afterwards, at
around the monastic libraries of Athos in the late 1840s (in the home they once again fare the journey in their memory and enact it
company, I am 257 ashamed to say, of my great-great-uncle), again in order to write it – an entire course of a creative process
Curzon left the Holy Mountain with his trunks bulging with illuminated takes place with all the tactics of selection, addition, and omission of
manuscripts and Byzantine chrysobuls (Pp.9 From the Holy facts and invented issues. William Dalrymple, in the first book, gives
Mountain). Further, Dalrymple refers the celebrated Travel Writer us clear clues of maintaining and scribbling through his log book, but
Colin Thubron and his witnessing miracle and tries to erect a parallel in the later works does not find it necessary to report about it. He
to him by his own experiences: When the travel writer Colin Thubron plans his narrative in strategic modes. He would not just visit the
visited the convent in 1966, he place but would collect all the tit-bits of the place, and at the time of
composition, he also presents views presented for the place by the
claimed to have witnessed a miracle: to have seen the face of the previous travelers. He would also investigate the myths or any other
icon of Notre Dame de Seidnaya stream with tears. In the same popular or historic accounts or local beliefs around the particular
church I too witnessed a miracle, or something that today would place. Wherever necessary he places a short story of mythical
certainly be regarded as a miracle in almost any other country in the stories about the place and thus keeps the narration replete with
Middle East. For the congregation seemed to consist not of various interests worthy materials and saves it being monotonous,
Christians but almost entirely of heavily bearded Muslim dull and drab with only the place descriptions. His library research
enriches the work with knowledge cubes which otherwise would not
men. (Dalrymple From the Holy Mountain 187) The travel writers have been accumulated by the readers. In course of the first book In
travel with the set motive of documenting their trip, they certainly Xanadu, he presents accounts of the three Magi, and presents the
keep and maintain log of their travels and keep on maintaining the whole version of the story and examines its probable origin and
records of journey along with the original travels. Afterwards, at suggests still there is an avid need of close perusal. He also talks in
home they once again fare the journey in their memory and enact it detail about the Assassins’ group and their mechanics of terror.
again in order to write it – an entire course of a creative process When in Lahore, he comes to visit Jahangir’s tomb, he opens the
takes place with all the tactics of selection, addition, and omission of whole chapter of Tom Coryat’s travels and his descriptions of the
416
facts and invented issues. William Dalrymple, in the first book, gives places. In the hotel in the Mansehra, he presents the weird stories
us clear clues of maintaining and scribbling through his log book, but about the local tribes and soon after that he presents the details of
in the later works does not find it necessary to report about it. He the Maurya emperor Ashok whose stone carved edicts he visits. The
plans his narrative in strategic modes. He would not just visit the whole narration remains pulsating with this sort of strains of stories.
place but would collect all the tit-bits of the place, and at the time of In the 258 City of Djinns, he presents many such stories right from
composition, he also presents views presented for the place by the the presenting the individual tragedy of the Sikh family in the post-
previous travelers. He would also investigate the myths or any other Indira murder riots, partition stories as well as the historic accounts
popular or historic accounts or local beliefs around the particular of Shahjehan and his sons, and the detailed version of Muhmmad
place. Wherever necessary he places a short story of mythical Tughlaq’s Delhi to Dolatabad episode, the myth of Khwaja Khizr and
stories about the place and thus keeps the narration replete with many. In From the Holy Mountains, he presents many mythical and
various interests worthy materials and saves it being monotonous, historical accounts related to the places he visits like the story of
dull and drab with only the place descriptions. His library research Abrahm’s Fish pond in Urfa and the stories of the Byzantine saints.
enriches the work with knowledge cubes which otherwise would not The Age of Kali and Nine Lives constitute themselves of the detailed
have been accumulated by the readers. In course of the first book In accounts. In previous books the accounts or the stories came as the
Xanadu, he presents accounts of the three Magi, and presents the fillers or occurred in between the travel places, but in the later two
whole version of the story and examines its probable origin and books the description of process of journey goes silent and only the
suggests still there is an avid need of close perusal. He also talks in peculiar stories that arrest the writer’s attention form the major part
detail about the Assassins’ group and their mechanics of terror. of the narrative. In his conversation with Tabish Khair, William
When in Lahore, he comes to visit Jahangir’s tomb, he opens the Dalrymple himself comments and clarifies his own stance and
whole chapter of Tom Coryat’s travels and his descriptions of the transformation of his own schemes of travel texts: What I think is in
places. In the hotel in the Mansehra, he presents the weird stories all my books is a sense of place and a sense of history. In some the
about the local tribes and soon after that he presents the details of history predominates, in others the place takes the lead. But any
the Maurya emperor Ashok whose stone carved edicts he visits. The fascination I had with the business of travel itself – walking, catching
whole narration remains pulsating with this sort of strains of stories. buses and trains, and getting from a to b – was pretty well exhausted
In the 258 City of Djinns, he presents many such stories right from after In Xanadu. Since then I have been using the form to write either
the presenting the individual tragedy of the Sikh family in the post- about the place – trying to catch the essence of Delhi in City of
Indira murder riots, partition stories as well as the historic accounts Djinns for example; or about an issue – the demise of the Middle
of Shahjehan and his sons, and the detailed version of Muhmmad Eastern Christians in From the Holy Mountain. Nine Lives is in some
Tughlaq’s Delhi to Dolatabad episode, the myth of Khwaja Khizr and ways deliberately the opposite of the sort of narrator-led travel
many. In From the Holy Mountains, he presents many mythical and narrative like In Xanadu: here the narrator is almost absent, there is
historical accounts related to the places he visits like the story of no description of travel, no continuous narrative, and I suppose it is
Abrahm’s Fish pond in Urfa and the stories of the Byzantine saints. as much a work of journalism or anthropology or spirituality as a
The Age of Kali and Nine Lives constitute themselves of the detailed travel book; and yet it is in some ways very much a classic travel
accounts. In previous books the accounts or the stories came as the book: the individual setting off with a notebook and set of questions
417
fillers or occurred in between the travel places, but in the later two and writing it up when he gets home. (Dalrymple Interview with
books the description of process of journey goes silent and only the Tabish Khair 176) On the whole the study of William Dalrymple’s
peculiar stories that arrest the writer’s attention form the major part travel books at least brings to the fore that the author is sincere with
of the narrative. In his conversation with Tabish Khair, William his efforts and pursuits of the issues. When being asked by Tabish
Dalrymple himself comments and clarifies his own stance and Khair about his views of looking at the things and issues of the
transformation of his own schemes of travel texts: What I think is in ‘Orient’ being a ‘Westerner’, Dalrymple nicely opposed the point by
all my books is a sense of place and a sense of history. In some the asserting that I write about the world I live in, and write it as I see it,
history predominates, in others the place takes the lead. But any and encounter it. Generations of my family have lived and died in
fascination I had with the business of travel itself – walking, catching India, I have Bengali blood swirling in my veins, I’ve lived here for
buses and trains, and getting from a to b – was pretty well exhausted quarter of a century and I think of it as home. I will never be an
after In Xanadu. Since then I have been using the form to write either Indian, but like many people in the globalised world, I am both insider
about the place – trying to catch the essence of Delhi in City of and outsider: who today spends their lives in the village 259 where
Djinns for example; or about an issue – the demise of the Middle they are born? To have that dualism is I think a pretty useful
Eastern Christians in From the Holy Mountain. Nine Lives is in some complexity for a writer, not an obstacle. (Dalrymple Interview with
ways deliberately the opposite of the sort of narrator-led travel Tabish Khair 180)
narrative like In Xanadu: here the narrator is almost absent, there is
no description of travel, no continuous narrative, and I suppose it is In the same interview, William Dalrymple quotes the words of Colin
as much a work of journalism or anthropology or spirituality as a Thubron whom he labels as the most revered Travel writer of 80s
travel book; and yet it is in some ways very much a classic travel and who is still at work: The sympathetic traveler who takes time to
book: the individual setting off with a notebook and set of questions immerse himself in a country may gain not only factual knowledge
and writing it up when he gets home. (Dalrymple Interview with but also a sensuous and emotional understanding, and convey a
Tabish Khair 176) On the whole the study of William Dalrymple’s people’s psychology and their response to things in a way that can
travel books at least brings to the fore that the author is sincere with never be accessed studying in a library. A good travel writer can give
his efforts and pursuits of the issues. When being asked by Tabish you the wrap and weft of everyday life, the generalities of people’s
Khair about his views of looking at the things and issues of the existence that are rarely reflected in academic writing or journalism,
‘Orient’ being a ‘Westerner’, Dalrymple nicely opposed the point by and hardly touched upon by any other discipline.
asserting that I write about the world I live in, and write it as I see it,
and encounter it. Generations of my family have lived and died in Despite the internet and revolution in communications, there is still
India, I have Bengali blood swirling in my veins, I’ve lived here for no substitute for a good piece of travel writing. (Dalrymple Interview
quarter of a century and I think of it as home. I will never be an with Tabish Khair 180) The same is true about William Dalrymple
Indian, but like many people in the globalised world, I am both insider also. He has brought many issues in the discussion. He has also
and outsider: who today spends their lives in the village 259 where worked meticulously against the faulty generalizations regarding
they are born? To have that dualism is I think a pretty useful India by some of the western writers and travelers especially in the
mid 70s and 80s. The most important privilege he enjoys is that of
418
complexity for a writer, not an obstacle. (Dalrymple Interview with being insider and outsider at the same time. His works encompass
Tabish Khair 180) the issues which perhaps would never have got to the attention and
under the scholastic discussions, had he not presented them through
In the same interview, William Dalrymple quotes the words of Colin his well researched and well pursued interests. Moreover, to his
Thubron whom he labels as the most revered Travel writer of 80s expert gaze fall many occult details which he, with his ability to
and who is still at work: The sympathetic traveler who takes time to emboss creativity, picks up and weaves them in lively narratives.
immerse himself in a country may gain not only factual knowledge Scopes for Advance Research in the Context of Travel Literature
but also a sensuous and emotional understanding, and convey a -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
people’s psychology and their response to things in a way that can As the Researcher has stated earlier, it is natural that the more one
never be accessed studying in a library. A good travel writer can give traverses in one subject-area, the more it opens one’s insight and
you the wrap and weft of everyday life, the generalities of people’s one gets clearer visions in that particular discipline of knowledge.
existence that are rarely reflected in academic writing or journalism, Sometimes this clarity of vision allows the person to talk more freely
and hardly touched upon by any other discipline. Despite the and with easier terminology and better explanatory images about the
subject under study which otherwise to other people appears tough,
internet and revolution in communications, there is still no substitute complex or demanding more traits of concentrated efforts. As the
for a good piece of travel writing. (Dalrymple Interview with Tabish Researcher went on studying the History of Travel Writing, which, the
Khair 180) The same is true about William Dalrymple also. He has Researcher must assert, has been nicely and in a systematic vein
brought many issues in the discussion. He has also worked preserved and documented in the West. In the eastern territories 260
meticulously against the faulty generalizations regarding India by of the globe, and especially in the Indian sub-continent, there is no
some of the western writers and travelers especially in the mid 70s separate discipline of travel writing found, though travel and
and 80s. The most important privilege he enjoys is that of being descriptions of travels are found in almost all literatures of all
insider and outsider at the same time. His works encompass the languages right from Sanskrit to Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, and many
issues which perhaps would never have got to the attention and more. Whatever Travel Literature is found in India in different
under the scholastic discussions, had he not presented them through languages can be traced as flourished either under direct or indirect
his well researched and well pursued interests. Moreover, to his influence of Western Travel Writings and its critical principles. The
expert gaze fall many occult details which he, with his ability to conspicuous difference that the Researcher could strike between the
emboss creativity, picks up and weaves them in lively narratives. Western and Eastern approach of knowledge is that the Western
Scopes for Advance Research in the Context of Travel Literature excel the Eastern in the matters of documentations of the evolved
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- knowledge. The Researcher also noticed the facts that during the
As the Researcher has stated earlier, it is natural that the more one time of Renaissance, the explorers were strictly instructed to keep
traverses in one subject-area, the more it opens one’s insight and and maintain detailed log of their travels. The oddities or anything
one gets clearer visions in that particular discipline of knowledge. that appeared as entirely different from their knowledge system was
Sometimes this clarity of vision allows the person to talk more freely preserved along with the word descriptions in the forms of sketches.
and with easier terminology and better explanatory images about the The travel-logs were waited and at home were studied carefully as to
419
subject under study which otherwise to other people appears tough, keep the track and for the guidance of the next batch of the sea-
complex or demanding more traits of concentrated efforts. As the explorer. In this way it created a corpus of knowledge, which helped
Researcher went on studying the History of Travel Writing, which, the society as the stepping support, and any one, as it was open to
Researcher must assert, has been nicely and in a systematic vein access to everybody in the forms of book, could take his/her
preserved and documented in the West. In the eastern territories 260 observation to new logical ends. The printing press technology
of the globe, and especially in the Indian sub-continent, there is no added new feather, and the books framed documents were more
separate discipline of travel writing found, though travel and convenient. The information, thus, evolved by the reports of journeys
descriptions of travels are found in almost all literatures of all gave shape to the Histories and historical accounts. Later, travel and
languages right from Sanskrit to Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, and many history developed their own independent disciplines. Historically, the
more. Whatever Travel Literature is found in India in different travel accounts, then called traveller’s accounts, created a greater
languages can be traced as flourished either under direct or indirect consciousness among the European societies about the progress
influence of Western Travel Writings and its critical principles. The and availability of greater resources in the outer world, especially in
conspicuous difference that the Researcher could strike between the the eastern part of the globe. The information that travel induced;
Western and Eastern approach of knowledge is that the Western bred the desire to explore these parts and to take hold of them and
excel the Eastern in the matters of documentations of the evolved this might be considered as one of the contributing factors of the
knowledge. The Researcher also noticed the facts that during the genesis of Imperial- Colonial set ups in the history of human
time of Renaissance, the explorers were strictly instructed to keep civilization. During the eighteenth century travellers and travel
and maintain detailed log of their travels. The oddities or anything accounts’ popularity attracted even many mediocre talents to it. The
that appeared as entirely different from their knowledge system was creative artists fashioned their fictional novels on the grip of travel
preserved along with the word descriptions in the forms of sketches. accounts. The things and the spirits of exploitation and encashment
The travel-logs were waited and at home were studied carefully as to of the form’s popularity went to the extent that there generated the
keep the track and for the guidance of the next batch of the sea- doubts on the authenticity of several travel accounts; this led to the
explorer. In this way it created a corpus of knowledge, which helped consideration of travel accounts as the forms of lesser arts. When,
society as the stepping support, and any one, as it was open to towards the first half of the twentieth century, most of the colonies
access to everybody in the forms of book, could take his/her got independence as a result of emergence of Nationalism,
observation to new logical ends. The printing press technology Education and got conscious of their own Nations cultures and
added new feather, and the books framed documents were more societies as separate and unique entities. There emerged the sense
convenient. The information, thus, evolved by the reports of journeys of resentment and contradiction to the representation of their 261
gave shape to the Histories and historical accounts. Later, travel and cultures on mere western scales on the derogatory levels. Thus, the
history developed their own independent disciplines. Historically, the rose of the new ‘view’ of the worlds once represented by the
travel accounts, then called traveller’s accounts, created a greater Eurocentric tones and attitudes; contradicting or presenting the views
consciousness among the European societies about the progress of the places and societies not as ‘others’ but as ‘ours’ which is often
and availability of greater resources in the outer world, especially in identified as ‘Post-Colonial’ Travel Writing. With the advent of new
the eastern part of the globe. The information that travel induced; millennium, the first half of the twenty-first century witnessed
420
bred the desire to explore these parts and to take hold of them and immense development of information technology. This new
this might be considered as one of the contributing factors of the technology of information access and data-transfer brought the world
genesis of Imperial- Colonial set ups in the history of human to the tip of one’s fingers with the internet access at 3G or 4G and
civilization. During the eighteenth century travellers and travel generations of Smart-phones. The world and the earth’s
accounts’ popularity attracted even many mediocre talents to it. The demographic carpet became accessible both physically and with the
creative artists fashioned their fictional novels on the grip of travel aids of information technology. This gave rise to a new debate that
accounts. The things and the spirits of exploitation and encashment since now there is no unknown world, there are no unexplored
of the form’s popularity went to the extent that there generated the worlds (where the ancient travellers went and produced their stuff to
doubts on the authenticity of several travel accounts; this led to the the Home Dwellers who were probably never able to access the
consideration of travel accounts as the forms of lesser arts. When, place ‘HE’ visited and therefore was the only authority and authentic
towards the first half of the twentieth century, most of the colonies source of the ‘truths’ he presented), this will leave no scope for the
got independence as a result of emergence of Nationalism, survival of travel writing. But, the assumptions proved mistaken as
Education and got conscious of their own Nations cultures and there were some popular adventure- packed travel accounts on
societies as separate and unique entities. There emerged the sense POLAR regions and the advancements in the space science
of resentment and contradiction to the representation of their 261 introduced possibilities in the space travel too. Against the
cultures on mere western scales on the derogatory levels. Thus, the assumption of travel writing getting stalled with the advancement of
rose of the new ‘view’ of the worlds once represented by the information technology, travel writing as a form of non-fiction and
Eurocentric tones and attitudes; contradicting or presenting the views based on the REAL experiences acquired new heights of popularity.
of the places and societies not as ‘others’ but as ‘ours’ which is often In the world of novel realms of creative publications i.e. Television
identified as ‘Post-Colonial’ Travel Writing. With the advent of new and Internet, travel narration took the format of travel documentaries
millennium, the first half of the twenty-first century witnessed which allowed the new generation of spectators a novel experience
immense development of information technology. This new of witnessing how the traveller undertakes his/her expedition and
technology of information access and data-transfer brought the world encounters with the subjects and situations in the foreign land. On
to the tip of one’s fingers with the internet access at 3G or 4G and the domain of World Wide Web, traveller Blogs acquires immense
generations of Smart-phones. The world and the earth’s popularity with the advantage of its quick reach to the readers the
demographic carpet became accessible both physically and with the very evening as soon as the traveller returns to his/her hotel or
aids of information technology. This gave rise to a new debate that staying place composes the blog and shares it with the readers. Not
since now there is no unknown world, there are no unexplored only this, with their new outlook and novel approaches to the
worlds (where the ancient travellers went and produced their stuff to destination places, the new generations of travel writers have
the Home Dwellers who were probably never able to access the transformed the travel writing into a Brand new genre in the category
place ‘HE’ visited and therefore was the only authority and authentic of non-fiction. In past the faculty of travelling was attributed only to
source of the ‘truths’ he presented), this will leave no scope for the the males; the females were attributed to ‘sessility’ i.e. being
survival of travel writing. But, the assumptions proved mistaken as grounded at Home. And this is why, though women were very much
there were some popular adventure- packed travel accounts on present on the travels as wives, mistresses or prostitutes; 262 there
421
POLAR regions and the advancements in the space science are comparatively less number of (Woman) travel accounts
introduced possibilities in the space travel too. Against the available; and those which are available are in the forms of personal
assumption of travel writing getting stalled with the advancement of diaries. But now the scenario, outlook and sensibilities have
information technology, travel writing as a form of non-fiction and changed. Now there are women explorers who traverse the recesses
based on the REAL experiences acquired new heights of popularity. of the globe and space all alone and not as the accompanying
In the world of novel realms of creative publications i.e. Television travellers only. They come out with their own accounts not only in the
and Internet, travel narration took the format of travel documentaries book formats in the forms of documentaries and Blogs too.
which allowed the new generation of spectators a novel experience Moreover, the history of human civilization is the history of
of witnessing how the traveller undertakes his/her expedition and migrations, individual or mass, willing or forced. So there are many
encounters with the subjects and situations in the foreign land. On scopes of varying view points as to how after generations of getting
the domain of World Wide Web, traveller Blogs acquires immense settled in the foreign land and civilization, an individual from that
popularity with the advantage of its quick reach to the readers the group happens to visit back to one’s country of real origin and how
very evening as soon as the traveller returns to his/her hotel or he/she reacts and responds to it i.e. what is known as Diasporic
staying place composes the blog and shares it with the readers. Not sensibilities of identity crisis or search of the place in the social orbits
only this, with their new outlook and novel approaches to the once left behind by one’s forefathers. Looking to all this facts the
destination places, the new generations of travel writers have Researcher would like to draw attention of the aspiring Researchers
transformed the travel writing into a Brand new genre in the category to the following topics which deserve full fathomed attention and if
of non-fiction. In past the faculty of travelling was attributed only to followed with keen interests, the end results of them would be a real
the males; the females were attributed to ‘sessility’ i.e. being addition to the existing corpus of knowledge: (A) The Travels and
grounded at Home. And this is why, though women were very much Travel Writings in India. The researcher can take different language
present on the travels as wives, mistresses or prostitutes; 262 there groups and major contributors and the patterns of their destination
are comparatively less number of (Woman) travel accounts selection, motives behind the travel and their historical significance in
available; and those which are available are in the forms of personal the making of modern India. (e.g. Gandhi’s travels, Vivekanand’s
diaries. But now the scenario, outlook and sensibilities have travels and their reflections on their travelling in the different regions
changed. Now there are women explorers who traverse the recesses of India in their speeches letters, etc.) (B) The researcher can also
of the globe and space all alone and not as the accompanying work to distinguish, compare and contrast, the real travelogues and
travellers only. They come out with their own accounts not only in the the fictional travelogues. (C) The researcher may also concentrate
book formats in the forms of documentaries and Blogs too. over the different views and visions adopted by two different travel
Moreover, the history of human civilization is the history of writers and their narrative styles in the composition of their travel
migrations, individual or mass, willing or forced. So there are many texts. (D) The researcher may also select some travel texts of the
scopes of varying view points as to how after generations of getting Eastern Travellers on the descriptions of Western Destinations and
settled in the foreign land and civilization, an individual from that the pattern of picking up the issues, pointing out the ethnographical,
group happens to visit back to one’s country of real origin and how cultural distinctions in their travel 263 narratives. (E) The researcher
he/she reacts and responds to it i.e. what is known as Diasporic may also take up the task of compare and contrast the attitudes of
422
sensibilities of identity crisis or search of the place in the social orbits the different travellers in their respective travel texts. (F) The Inter-
once left behind by one’s forefathers. Looking to all this facts the disciplinary studies on Travel texts and Blogs and Travel
Researcher would like to draw attention of the aspiring Researchers Documentaries can also be undertaken. (G) The researcher can also
to the following topics which deserve full fathomed attention and if focus on the works of Woman Travel Writers. 264 Works Cited
followed with keen interests, the end results of them would be a real
addition to the existing corpus of knowledge: (A) The Travels and Dalrymple, William. In Xanadu, New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1989.
Travel Writings in India. The researcher can take different language Print ---. The City of Djinns. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1993. Print
groups and major contributors and the patterns of their destination ---. From the Holy Mountain. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1997. Print
selection, motives behind the travel and their historical significance in ---. The Age of Kali.
the making of modern India. (e.g. Gandhi’s travels, Vivekanand’s
travels and their reflections on their travelling in the different regions New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1998. Print ---. Nine Lives. London:
of India in their speeches letters, etc.) (B) The researcher can also Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009. Print ---.
work to distinguish, compare and contrast, the real travelogues and
the fictional travelogues. (C) The researcher may also concentrate Interview with Tim Youngs. Studies in Travel Writing 9 (2005): 37-63.
over the different views and visions adopted by two different travel
writers and their narrative styles in the composition of their travel Print ---,
texts. (D) The researcher may also select some travel texts of the
Interview with Tabish Khair. Post Colonial Travel Writing, Critical
Eastern Travellers on the descriptions of Western Destinations and
Explorations, Ed. Justin D. Edwards and Rune Graulund, New York:
the pattern of picking up the issues, pointing out the ethnographical,
Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.
cultural distinctions in their travel 263 narratives. (E) The researcher
may also take up the task of compare and contrast the attitudes of Thompson, Carl. Travel Writing. London & New York: Routledge.
the different travellers in their respective travel texts. (F) The Inter- 2011. Print.
disciplinary studies on Travel texts and Blogs and Travel
Documentaries can also be undertaken. (G) The researcher can also Dorgelo, Rebecca. “Travelling into History: The Travel Writing and
focus on the works of Woman Travel Writers. 264 Works Cited Narrative History of William Dalrymple.” Diss. U of Tasmania 2011.
Web. 24 Dec 2014.
Dalrymple, William. In Xanadu, New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1989.
Print ---. The City of Djinns. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1993. Print Modern Language Association. The MLA Handbook for Writers of
---. From the Holy Mountain. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1997. Print Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association,
---. The Age of Kali. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1998. Print ---. Nine 2009. Print.
Lives. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009.
Print ---.
423
Interview with Tim Youngs. Studies in Travel Writing 9 (2005): 37-63.

Print ---,
Interview with
Tabish Khair. Post Colonial Travel Writing, Critical Explorations, Ed.

Justin D. Edwards and Rune Graulund, New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2011. Print.
Thompson, Carl. Travel Writing. London & New York: Routledge.

2011. Print.
Dorgelo, Rebecca. “Travelling into History: The Travel Writing and

Web. 24 Dec 2014.

2009. Print. 265 266
424
In Xanadu: A Quest In Xanadu: A Quest is a debut creation of In Xanadu: A Quest In Xanadu: A Quest is a debut creation of
William Dalrymple as he rises as a promising luminous star on the William Dalrymple as he rises as a promising luminous star on the
literary horizon as a travel writer. The book, first published in 1989, literary horizon as a travel writer. The book, first published in 1989,
bears all the traits of travel writing with Dalrymple's strategic bears all the traits of travel writing with Dalrymple's strategic
adoptation of the route adoptation of
of Marco Polo., i.e. from Jerusalem to Shang tu in China- popular in the route of Marco Polo., i.e. from Jerusalem to Shang tu in China-
the West as 'Xanadu'; the popular in the West as 'Xanadu'; the
term applied to the place by Samuel Taylor Coleridge i.e., from the term applied to the place by Samuel Taylor Coleridge i.e., from the
Middle East and into China following in the footsteps of Marco Polo. Middle East and into China following in the footsteps of Marco Polo.
The book acquired extreme popularity and The book acquired extreme popularity and
won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts
Council Spring Book Award Council Spring Book Award
for 1990, and was a bestseller. While in the final year of his studies, for 1990, and was a bestseller. While in the final year of his studies,
on being suggested about the opening of the Highway in the eastern on being suggested about the opening of the Highway in the eastern
Asian frontiers, “It was my then girlfriend Louisa who spotted the Asian frontiers, “It was my then girlfriend Louisa who spotted the
small article in the New York Herald Tribune which announced the small article in the New York Herald Tribune which announced the
opening of the [Karakoram] highway and together we decided to opening of the [Karakoram] highway and together we decided to
mount an expedition to follow in the Venetian’s footsteps” , William mount an expedition to follow in the Venetian’s footsteps” , William
picks up a plan to follow the whole of the Marco Polo route which he picks up a plan to follow the whole of the Marco Polo route which he
claims at the very outset was going to be the first of its kind. Many claims at the very outset was going to be the first of its kind. Many
had, like us, set off in his tracks but no one had ever managed to had, like us, set off in his tracks but no one had ever managed to
complete the journey. … But in the spring of 1986 the opening of the complete the journey. … But in the spring of 1986 the opening of the
Karakoram Highway, the mountain road which links Pakistan with Karakoram Highway, the mountain road which links Pakistan with
China, made it possible for the first time, perhaps since the thirteenth China, made it possible for the first time, perhaps since the thirteenth
century, to plan an overland route between Jerusalem and Xanadu century, to plan an overland route between Jerusalem and Xanadu
and to attempt to carry a phial of Holy Oil from one to the other. The and to attempt to carry a phial of Holy Oil from one to the other. The
war in Afghanistan prevented the whole of Polo’s journey being war in Afghanistan prevented the whole of Polo’s journey being
425
followed but in principle it was now possible to follow almost all of it, followed but in principle it was now possible to follow almost all of it,
and to complete the journey. (Dalrymple In Xanadu 11) Dalrymple and to complete the journey. (Dalrymple In Xanadu 11) Dalrymple
records records
his reflections of the places he visits and the people he meets. He his reflections of the places he visits and the people he meets. He
nicely weaves the narration of his travels sometimes in the serious nicely weaves the narration of his travels sometimes in the serious
Historical research vein and sometimes in comic. The core success Historical research vein and sometimes in comic. The core success
and the interesting part of his book lies in his mastery of enacting and the interesting part of his book lies in his mastery of enacting
dialogue with the local persons and his co-travelers and dialogue with the local persons and his co-travelers and
dramatization of his experiences and the characters with whom he dramatization of his experiences and the characters with whom he
interacts. The entire work revolves round his scheme of following the interacts. The entire work revolves round his scheme of following the
route of Marco Polo and route of Marco Polo and there by issuing his own reactions to the
journey and observations of Polo, 38 verifying the narrations and the
there by details provided by this senior traveler and marking his own
observations on to how the scenario has withstood the course of
issuing his own reactions to the journey and observations of Polo, 38 time and traits of development.
verifying the narrations and the details provided by this senior
traveler and marking his own observations on to how the scenario William remains very sincere to the route of Marco Polo during the
has withstood the course of time and traits of development. course of his travel, however, the political unrest in Iran made them
to adopt certain alteration and they had to deviate from the route
William remains very sincere to the route of Marco Polo during the actually taken by Marco Polo. The journey through the entire route
course of his travel, however, the political unrest in Iran made them as it has been consciously narrated by Dalrymple remains full of
to adopt certain alteration and they had to deviate from the route uncertainty and dangers as they had to travel sometimes as nomads
actually taken by Marco Polo. The journey through the entire route and sometimes as illegal occupants. Dalrymple's narration also
as it has been consciously narrated by Dalrymple remains full of covers the same pattern and situates the trajectory of the central
uncertainty and dangers as they had to travel sometimes as nomads journey. Right from the initial factual interactions with Brother Fabian,
and sometimes as illegal occupants. Dalrymple's narration also the monk.., who seems not to know anything about the expedition of
covers the same pattern and situates the trajectory of the central Marco Polo whose footsteps William has planned to follow, and the
journey. Right from the initial factual interactions with Brother Fabian, history of 'Oil Phial' which stands symbolically travel of Christianity
the monk.., who seems not to know anything about the expedition of (Christian Faith) to the East; to the Palace of Chengis Khan, at the
Marco Polo whose footsteps William has planned to follow, and the same time it also exposes the comic mood of the text which is going
history of 'Oil Phial' which stands symbolically travel of Christianity to be sustained throughout the text: “You say he took this oil east
(Christian Faith) to the East; to the Palace of Chengis Khan, at the with him?” he continued “Yes.” “What did he carry it in?” “I don't
same time it also exposes the comic mood of the text which is going know. A goatskin flask, perhaps.” “He would be a bit old fashioned
to be sustained throughout the text: “You say he took this oil east
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with him?” he continued “Yes.” “What did he carry it in?” “I don't then.” “A bit.” Fabian put the finishing touches to his new wick, put it
know. A goatskin flask, perhaps.” “He would be a bit old fashioned back in the oil then lit it from the one unguttered lamp. “You still want
then.” “A bit.” Fabian put the finishing touches to his new wick, put it some of this oil.” “Please.” I handed him a small plastic Phial. “Not
back in the oil then lit it from the one unguttered lamp. “You still want goatskin.” “No. It comes from the Body Shop in the Covent Garden.”
some of this oil.” “Please.” I handed him a small plastic Phial. “Not (6) Dalrymple slides/skids his narrations from light mood to serious
goatskin.” “No. It comes from the Body Shop in the Covent Garden.” ones in regular jig-jag motions which not only contributes interest to
(6) Dalrymple slides/skids his narrations from light mood to serious the text but it also allows 39 him the opportunity to bring in the local
ones in regular jig-jag motions which not only contributes interest to subjects as well as a varied variety of topics to sustain and cultivate
the text but it also allows 39 him the opportunity to bring in the local interest of the readers with a feeling and curiosity as what next. He
subjects as well as a varied variety of topics to sustain and cultivate takes enough space to narrate the details of Marco Polo's visit of the
interest of the readers with a feeling and curiosity as what next. He Holy Sepulchers and in its lap the History of Jerusalem and the shifts
takes enough space to narrate the details of Marco Polo's visit of the of 'Authorities' on this Holy Town. He also constructs the entire affair
Holy Sepulchers and in its lap the History of Jerusalem and the shifts of initiating and the project with which Marco Polo undertook the
of 'Authorities' on this Holy Town. He also constructs the entire affair whole expedition. He also shares with the readers his 'own'
of initiating and the project with which Marco Polo undertook the attractions towards 'Marco Polo' and tries to convey the fact that
whole expedition. He also shares with the readers his 'own' whatever that is taking shape had its sprouting at a very early stage
attractions towards 'Marco Polo' and tries to convey the fact that of his life: At my primary school we knew all about Marco Polo. He
whatever that is taking shape had its sprouting at a very early stage wore a turban, a stripy robe a bit like a dressing gown and he rode a
of his life: At my primary school we knew all about Marco Polo. He camel with only one hump. The Ladybird book which had this picture
wore a turban, a stripy robe a bit like a dressing gown and he rode a on the cover was the most heavily thumbed book on the school
camel with only one hump. The Ladybird book which had this picture bookshelf. One day, my friends and I put some biscuits in a
on the cover was the most heavily thumbed book on the school handkerchief, tied the handkerchief to a stick and set off to China. It
bookshelf. One day, my friends and I put some biscuits in a was an exhausting walk as there were no camels in Scotland, and by
handkerchief, tied the handkerchief to a stick and set off to China. It tea time we had eaten all our biscuits. There was also the problem
was an exhausting walk as there were no camels in Scotland, and by that we were not absolutely sure where China was. It was beyond
tea time we had eaten all our biscuits. There was also the problem England, of that we were certain, but then we were not absolutely
that we were not absolutely sure where China was. It was beyond sure where England was either. Nonetheless we strode off manfully
England, of that we were certain, but then we were not absolutely towards Haddington were there was a shop. We could ask there, we
sure where England was either. Nonetheless we strode off manfully said. But when it began to get dark we turned around and went home
towards Haddington were there was a shop. We could ask there, we for supper. After consultation we decided to put the plan on the shelf
said. But when it began to get dark we turned around and went home for a while. China could wait. (10-11) The statement of “Childhood
for supper. After consultation we decided to put the plan on the shelf Fascination” for Marco Polo makes another point clear that this
for a while. China could wait. (10-11) The statement of “Childhood particular journey is undertaken with a calculated motive of 'Writing',
Fascination” for Marco Polo makes another point clear that this just as not only following Marco Polo to his route but to come out
427
particular journey is undertaken with a calculated motive of 'Writing', with a BOOK like him too. Having narrated the basic preparations
just as not only following Marco Polo to his route but to come out and the having enumerated the points of the journey being
with a BOOK like him too. Having narrated the basic preparations undertaken, William Dalrymple directly shifts the narrations to his
and the having enumerated the points of the journey being travels made and the proceedings he undertakes with his
undertaken, William Dalrymple directly shifts the narrations to his companion. The pattern, as in many of his other books, here,
travels made and the proceedings he undertakes with his remains that of presenting the day to day expeditions and narration
companion. The pattern, as in many of his other books, here, of whatever comes his way on the daily tracks instead of taking
remains that of presenting the day to day expeditions and narration stance of presenting the whole ‘passing-judgment’ style of
of whatever comes his way on the daily tracks instead of taking narrations, he captures the local people who come in the natural
stance of presenting the whole ‘passing-judgment’ style of contact and how they look at the things he notes them down with his
narrations, he captures the local people who come in the natural own selective measures. The conversation he picks up and
contact and how they look at the things he notes them down with his introduces in the narration provides enough hints as to highlight the
own selective measures. The conversation he picks up and peculiarities and special traits of the regions he is passing through.
introduces in the narration provides enough hints as to highlight the Through the 40 conversation with the Israeli couple, a young Jewish
peculiarities and special traits of the regions he is passing through. soldier and his girlfriend, at the bus stop while waiting in the queue
Through the 40 conversation with the Israeli couple, a young Jewish for the bus to Acre, he pinpoints the typicality of the place and the
soldier and his girlfriend, at the bus stop while waiting in the queue people: They were both tall, brown, well-built and good looking; the
for the bus to Acre, he pinpoints the typicality of the place and the boy ate a packet of crisps, the girl wrapped herself around the boy.
people: They were both tall, brown, well-built and good looking; the Had it not been for the machine guns that bot5h were holding it might
boy ate a packet of crisps, the girl wrapped herself around the boy. have been a homely scene. They were friendly; both were highly
Had it not been for the machine guns that bot5h were holding it might educated and at first seemed liberal and thoroughly reasonable. But
have been a homely scene. They were friendly; both were highly when the conversation turned to Israeli affairs their replies were
educated and at first seemed liberal and thoroughly reasonable. But chilling. When I asked the boy whether he minded policing the West
when the conversation turned to Israeli affairs their replies were Bank and enforcing the illegal occupation of Jordian territory he said
chilling. When I asked the boy whether he minded policing the West that it was not a duty so much as a right, a privilege. The girl agreed.
Bank and enforcing the illegal occupation of Jordian territory he said She complained that in the Israeli army women were trained to use
that it was not a duty so much as a right, a privilege. The girl agreed. rifles and even shown how to drive tanks, but then only given clerical
She complained that in the Israeli army women were trained to use jobs. She said: “What’s the use of being taught to use a gun if you’re
rifles and even shown how to drive tanks, but then only given clerical then not allowed to shoot with it? (18) William also does not miss any
jobs. She said: “What’s the use of being taught to use a gun if you’re opportunity or chance to present his own classified reactions to his
then not allowed to shoot with it? (18) William also does not miss any present lot confrontations of some tanned with his historic opinions
opportunity or chance to present his own classified reactions to his To the proud comment of one Israeli lady at the transformation of the
present lot confrontations of some tanned with his historic opinions dreary and unfertile land into the most luxurious complex. “On the
To the proud comment of one Israeli lady at the transformation of the coast between Haifa and Acre we passed a line of luxury concrete
428
dreary and unfertile land into the most luxurious complex. “On the hotels hung with airy lights and giving onto private beaches occupied
coast between Haifa and Acre we passed a line of luxury concrete by un airs and night clubs. The Israeli woman next to me pointed it
hotels hung with airy lights and giving onto private beaches occupied out proudly. ‘Look’, she said, ‘We have everything!’ not wishing to
by un airs and night clubs. The Israeli woman next to me pointed it give offence I nodded. But thought: ‘No. you’ve taken the oldest
out proudly. ‘Look’, she said, ‘We have everything!’ not wishing to country in the world, one of the great centers of civilization, a kind of
give offence I nodded. But thought: ‘No. you’ve taken the oldest paradise-and you’ve turned it into suburbia’ ” (19). At Acre, not
country in the world, one of the great centers of civilization, a kind of preferring to go and stay in any hotel on financial ground (As William
paradise-and you’ve turned it into suburbia’ ” (19). At Acre, not makes it clear that he had only 600 pound to see him through to
preferring to go and stay in any hotel on financial ground (As William Peking, twelve thousand miles away), they take Hamoudi’s lodging
makes it clear that he had only 600 pound to see him through to place. This sort of preferences prove beneficial not only on the
Peking, twelve thousand miles away), they take Hamoudi’s lodging financial grounds but it also allows them to have a close look at the
place. This sort of preferences prove beneficial not only on the local people as well as their real way of lives. While visiting the
financial grounds but it also allows them to have a close look at the ancient monuments and passing through the streets William
local people as well as their real way of lives. While visiting the constantly thinks of how Marco Polo would have found the place and
ancient monuments and passing through the streets William culture. He mentions: I wondered what Marco must have felt the
constantly thinks of how Marco Polo would have found the place and night before he was due to set off from the relatively familiar world of
culture. He mentions: I wondered what Marco must have felt the the Westernize Crusader Kingdom, into 41 the unknown orient. He
night before he was due to set off from the relatively familiar world of was about the same age as I and presumably of similar in inclination.
the Westernize Crusader Kingdom, into 41 the unknown orient. He Noir was the world we lived in so very different. There was a
was about the same age as I and presumably of similar in inclination. remarkable similarity, for example, between the Crusader Kingdom
Noir was the world we lived in so very different. There was a and the state of Israel. They had similar boundaries, both were ruled
remarkable similarity, for example, between the Crusader Kingdom from Jerusalem, and both were effectively supported by the West.
and the state of Israel. They had similar boundaries, both were ruled (23) These attempts to plant the similarities show his initial attempts
from Jerusalem, and both were effectively supported by the West. to convince his readers about the justification behind the adoption of
(23) These attempts to plant the similarities show his initial attempts the project and latent values resting behind it. It is not that William
to convince his readers about the justification behind the adoption of Dalrymple is the first to take this plan to follow the footstep of any
the project and latent values resting behind it. It is not that William famous traveler and to enact a travel work upon it. This sort of
Dalrymple is the first to take this plan to follow the footstep of any scheme gives double benefit. It offers the traveler with a readymade
famous traveler and to enact a travel work upon it. This sort of route, and an intact scheme of comparing the scenario as to how it
scheme gives double benefit. It offers the traveler with a readymade was before, has it altered as it is documented by the predecessor
route, and an intact scheme of comparing the scenario as to how it and how the cultural heritage has been maintained with value
was before, has it altered as it is documented by the predecessor association or is it all wiped out in the name of new transforming
and how the cultural heritage has been maintained with value changes and infrastructural developments? Throughout the text
association or is it all wiped out in the name of new transforming William, along with his commentary over the regions and cultures he
429
changes and infrastructural developments? Throughout the text visits, goes on bringing in the accounts of Marco Polo presented in
William, along with his commentary over the regions and cultures he his Travels. Commenting on the city set up of the Old Acre, he notes:
visits, goes on bringing in the accounts of Marco Polo presented in It is still essentially a mediaval town and there are few buildings
his Travels. Commenting on the city set up of the Old Acre, he notes: which post- date the Ottoman period. Marco Polo could probably still
It is still essentially a mediaval town and there are few buildings find his way around without too much trouble. The funduq of the
which post- date the Ottoman period. Marco Polo could probably still Italian communes have been rebuilt as Mameluke han, the churches
find his way around without too much trouble. The funduq of the turned into mosques and the mole in the harbor topped with new
Italian communes have been rebuilt as Mameluke han, the churches stone to shelter the fishing boats- but all these occupy the same sites
turned into mosques and the mole in the harbor topped with new and preserve the same dimensions as the Crusader originals. (20)
stone to shelter the fishing boats- but all these occupy the same sites Further furnishing the historical contexts and the scenario of the city
and preserve the same dimensions as the Crusader originals. (20) of Acre while Marco Polo visited it, William quotes the description of
Further furnishing the historical contexts and the scenario of the city the city by one of the Bishops of the city: By the time Polo came
of Acre while Marco Polo visited it, William quotes the description of here, it resembled, in the words of James de Vitry, one its Bishop...
the city by one of the Bishops of the city: By the time Polo came ‘a monster of nine heads, each of which is fighting the other. Nightly
here, it resembled, in the words of James de Vitry, one its Bishop... men are murdered within the city, men are strangled, women poison
‘a monster of nine heads, each of which is fighting the other. Nightly their husbands, whores and drug vendors are prepared to pay high
men are murdered within the city, men are strangled, women poison rents for rooms, so that even priests lease houses to them….’
their husbands, whores and drug vendors are prepared to pay high Surprisingly little has changed. (20) Thus, this comparison scheme
rents for rooms, so that even priests lease houses to them….’ proves fruitful as it provides him with an opportunity to cast visions
Surprisingly little has changed. (20) Thus, this comparison scheme on the contemporary scenario as well as to comment upon it. He
proves fruitful as it provides him with an opportunity to cast visions nicely in a dialogue dramatic version introduces the prevalent tension
on the contemporary scenario as well as to comment upon it. He between 42 the Arabs and the Jews in the city from his conversation
nicely in a dialogue dramatic version introduces the prevalent tension with an Arab Terji (tailor), who invites him to have tea in his shop: We
between 42 the Arabs and the Jews in the city from his conversation live here under an undeclared apartheid. It is just like South Africa.
with an Arab Terji (tailor), who invites him to have tea in his shop: We For the Jews there is democracy. They have freedom of speech,
live here under an undeclared apartheid. It is just like South Africa. they can vote for whichever government they like, can go where they
For the Jews there is democracy. They have freedom of speech, like and talk to whom they like. For us it is different. (24) Along with
they can vote for whichever government they like, can go where they William also goes on hinting the difficulties of the travel and the
like and talk to whom they like. For us it is different. (24) Along with adverse physical conditions they had to go through in the texture of
William also goes on hinting the difficulties of the travel and the the narration. Two The second chapter he opens with how bad he
adverse physical conditions they had to go through in the texture of felt as they entered into the city Latakia, the city across the
the narration. Two The second chapter he opens with how bad he Mediterranean Sea. They arrive here in a liner at about 10 pm. And
felt as they entered into the city Latakia, the city across the struggle their way out of the harbor. Out in the city there was a
Mediterranean Sea. They arrive here in a liner at about 10 pm. And complete mess. Next morning they set out to visit the city called
430
struggle their way out of the harbor. Out in the city there was a Masyaf. Actually the city was not visited by Marco Polo, but in his
complete mess. Next morning they set out to visit the city called Travels Polo has assigned a full length story of “Assassines” a creed
Masyaf. Actually the city was not visited by Marco Polo, but in his of this part. The story relates the grudge between the Nizam-ul- Mulk
Travels Polo has assigned a full length story of “Assassines” a creed and his friend … Arriving in the city of Masyaf, a young student Nizar
of this part. The story relates the grudge between the Nizam-ul- Mulk al-Umar invites them to his house and offers to be their host. At
and his friend … Arriving in the city of Masyaf, a young student Nizar Nizar’s home things are very lovely for William and Laura. They are
al-Umar invites them to his house and offers to be their host. At served delicious food and luxury which was a welcome thing as they
Nizar’s home things are very lovely for William and Laura. They are had not eaten proper food for previous twenty four hours on their
served delicious food and luxury which was a welcome thing as they journey and were greatly tired too. “The family was welcoming and
had not eaten proper food for previous twenty four hours on their hospitable as only Arabs can be, Laura and I sat on a Sofa and
journey and were greatly tired too. “The family was welcoming and made friendly gestures while the household was paraded before us”
hospitable as only Arabs can be, Laura and I sat on a Sofa and (39). After this “Communal-Dinner” and rest the next day Nizar
made friendly gestures while the household was paraded before us” escorted them to the fortress of Masyaf. At the sight of al-Garb,
(39). After this “Communal-Dinner” and rest the next day Nizar William brings in the discussion of Henry Champagne, who went to
escorted them to the fortress of Masyaf. At the sight of al-Garb, the ‘Old Man’ (the founder of Assassin group) as an envoy from
William brings in the discussion of Henry Champagne, who went to French Crusader, St. Louis, and was gifted some precious
the ‘Old Man’ (the founder of Assassin group) as an envoy from mementoes. Next day they visit the castle of Sheizar. The ruins of
French Crusader, St. Louis, and was gifted some precious the castle are disappointing, but they remind William of one of its
mementoes. Next day they visit the castle of Sheizar. The ruins of castellans, “The urbane and civilized Usamah ibn-Munquid, who
the castle are disappointing, but they remind William of one of its lived a century or so before Polo; but his accounts on the medieval
castellans, “The urbane and civilized Usamah ibn-Munquid, who Middle East are lively and lifelike and put flesh and blood on the dry
lived a century or so before Polo; but his accounts on the medieval bones of the world of Polo’s The Travels ” (43). A curious thing
Middle East are lively and lifelike and put flesh and blood on the dry comes on the surface that their host Nizar has been fascinated and
bones of the world of Polo’s The Travels ” (43). A curious thing attracted towards the great English Literature and avidly follows the
comes on the surface that their host Nizar has been fascinated and discussion of ‘great minds’ on BBC ‘Kaleidoscope’. And some things
attracted towards the great English Literature and avidly follows the he claims to know, and that 43 with authority, more than William
discussion of ‘great minds’ on BBC ‘Kaleidoscope’. And some things himself, but is sheer ignorant about the merits of his own ancient
he claims to know, and that 43 with authority, more than William author and, when inquired by William, shows no enthusiasm to know
himself, but is sheer ignorant about the merits of his own ancient about ….: “I talked to Nizar of Usamah and told him the story of
author and, when inquired by William, shows no enthusiasm to know Majuju brothers whose mills must have stood nearby. He shrugged
about ….: “I talked to Nizar of Usamah and told him the story of his shoulders. “Your English books are full of good things. I am not
Majuju brothers whose mills must have stood nearby. He shrugged understanding why you like so much our Arab writing.” “Usamah is
his shoulders. “Your English books are full of good things. I am not full of good things.” “Not so full as your Henry Fielding. (46) Their
understanding why you like so much our Arab writing.” “Usamah is next destination was Aleppo and they find a ‘talkative’ company of
431
full of good things.” “Not so full as your Henry Fielding. (46) Their Krikor Bekarion, who offers them a lift for ‘company’ in his hired taxi.
next destination was Aleppo and they find a ‘talkative’ company of William puts nice finishing touch to introduce his readers with his
Krikor Bekarion, who offers them a lift for ‘company’ in his hired taxi. new ‘companion’… He had a flattish forehead, thick, curly, black hair
William puts nice finishing touch to introduce his readers with his and a magnificent loo-brush moustache which threatened to engulf
new ‘companion’… He had a flattish forehead, thick, curly, black hair the whole bottom of his face. Krikor Bekarion looked pleased to see
and a magnificent loo-brush moustache which threatened to engulf us. He was a Christian Armenian, he told us, whose family had fled
the whole bottom of his face. Krikor Bekarion looked pleased to see from Erzurum in 1917 during the massacres, and had managed to
us. He was a Christian Armenian, he told us, whose family had fled set to Beirut where they had set up a shoe-making firm. Then in
from Erzurum in 1917 during the massacres, and had managed to 1976 they had been driven out of Beirut and had moved to Aleppo
set to Beirut where they had set up a shoe-making firm. Then in where they started all over again. But Krikor did not like Syria (‘too
1976 they had been driven out of Beirut and had moved to Aleppo much politics, not enough profit), and so had moved to Germany
where they started all over again. But Krikor did not like Syria (‘too where he ran a shady-sounding ‘import/export’ business. Finally he
much politics, not enough profit), and so had moved to Germany had ended up in Athens where he now possessed a restaurant, a
where he ran a shady-sounding ‘import/export’ business. Finally he nightclub, two girlfriends (one Greek and one English-it was she who
had ended up in Athens where he now possessed a restaurant, a wore socks under her sandals) and a Mercedese. He was coming to
nightclub, two girlfriends (one Greek and one English-it was she who Aleppo only briefly, he said, to visit his brother, and was pleased to
wore socks under her sandals) and a Mercedese. He was coming to have us for company. He liked the English, and thought the people of
Aleppo only briefly, he said, to visit his brother, and was pleased to Aleppo both dull and difficult- ‘always they make problems.’ (48-49)
have us for company. He liked the English, and thought the people of The description not only furnishes how the political and social
Aleppo both dull and difficult- ‘always they make problems.’ (48-49) unrests cause great disturbances at the individual levels or to the
The description not only furnishes how the political and social lives of specific groups which become the butt of hatred for the more
unrests cause great disturbances at the individual levels or to the powerful groups, it also adds ethnographical dimensions, the
lives of specific groups which become the butt of hatred for the more economical and social relationships of the local people and the
powerful groups, it also adds ethnographical dimensions, the general characteristics of people of the place they are travelling in.
economical and social relationships of the local people and the the life at Aleppo has two different faces. The Muslims are poorer
general characteristics of people of the place they are travelling in. and they have to lease out their children to work in factories where
the life at Aleppo has two different faces. The Muslims are poorer they are exploited, whereas the Christians like Krikor’s brother enjoy
and they have to lease out their children to work in factories where upper hand with financial capabilities and enjoy full-fledged ‘nightlife’
they are exploited, whereas the Christians like Krikor’s brother enjoy just as in the Western world. The history of Aleppo, as William
upper hand with financial capabilities and enjoy full-fledged ‘nightlife’ narrates, also glimpses the tortures and trepidations. The shifts of
just as in the Western world. The history of Aleppo, as William powers and their painful consequences descending upon the 44
narrates, also glimpses the tortures and trepidations. The shifts of subjects have been the instances of almost all histories, and this one
powers and their painful consequences descending upon the 44 is one more addition: In all the town’s history there are only two
subjects have been the instances of almost all histories, and this one cheering anecdotes. The first tells of the Arabs who captured Aleppo
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is one more addition: In all the town’s history there are only two by dressing up as goats and nibbling their way into the city; the
cheering anecdotes. The first tells of the Arabs who captured Aleppo second concerns Abraham, who is supposed to have milked his cow
by dressing up as goats and nibbling their way into the city; the on the citadel’s summit. It is not much in ten thousand years of
second concerns Abraham, who is supposed to have milked his cow history, especially when the one story ends in a massacre (after the
on the citadel’s summit. It is not much in ten thousand years of Arabs killed the guards and opened the city gates to their friends)
history, especially when the one story ends in a massacre (after the and the other is a legend, and untrue. It is the result of a
Arabs killed the guards and opened the city gates to their friends) misunderstood derivation of the town’s (Arabic) name Haleb, which
and the other is a legend, and untrue. It is the result of a comes not from the Arabic for milk (halib) but a much older word,
misunderstood derivation of the town’s (Arabic) name Haleb, which possibly Assyrian, connected with the mechanics of child abuse.
comes not from the Arabic for milk (halib) but a much older word, (53-54) William thus takes care to narrate much of the locale
possibly Assyrian, connected with the mechanics of child abuse. histories too which account for his sincere research of the minute
(53-54) William thus takes care to narrate much of the locale credits. After having had a good time at Krikor’s brother’s nightclub,
histories too which account for his sincere research of the minute much alcoholism and shock at Krikor’s revelation of keeping fatal
credits. After having had a good time at Krikor’s brother’s nightclub, weapons at hand, they leave for Turkey, with Krikor’s advice in stock
much alcoholism and shock at Krikor’s revelation of keeping fatal with them: “Be careful with the Turks. They are bastards. Evil men.
weapons at hand, they leave for Turkey, with Krikor’s advice in stock Bang! They kill. Rob money. Rape women. Big problem” (58). Three
with them: “Be careful with the Turks. They are bastards. Evil men. Ayas is their first destination in Turkey, where they reach by night
Bang! They kill. Rob money. Rape women. Big problem” (58). Three and go directly to the Beach to sleep in their ‘sleeping bags’. William
Ayas is their first destination in Turkey, where they reach by night brings in the comments of Lord Byron on Turkey, and with that says
and go directly to the Beach to sleep in their ‘sleeping bags’. William much about the people of Turkey: I see not much difference between
brings in the comments of Lord Byron on Turkey, and with that says ourselves and the Turks, save that we have foreskins and they have
much about the people of Turkey: I see not much difference between none, that they have long dresses and we short, and that we talk
ourselves and the Turks, save that we have foreskins and they have much and they little. In England the vices in fashion are whoring and
none, that they have long dresses and we short, and that we talk drinking, in Turkey sodomy and smoking, we prefer a girl and a
much and they little. In England the vices in fashion are whoring and bottle, they a pipe and a pathic. They are sensible people. (63) Later,
drinking, in Turkey sodomy and smoking, we prefer a girl and a while detailing on the Turk men and women, he also seems to
bottle, they a pipe and a pathic. They are sensible people. (63) Later, approve:
while detailing on the Turk men and women, he also seems to
approve: Good looks have been shared out unevenly among the Turks. Their
men are almost all handsome with dark supple skin and strong
Good looks have been shared out unevenly among the Turks. Their features: good bones, sharp eyes and tall, masculine bodies. But the
men are almost all handsome with dark supple skin and strong women sharer their men folk’s pronounce d features in a most
features: good bones, sharp eyes and tall, masculine bodies. But the unflattering way. Very few are beautiful. Their noses are too large,
women sharer their men folk’s pronounce d features in a most their chins too prominent. Baggy wraps conceal pneumatic 45
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unflattering way. Very few are beautiful. Their noses are too large, bodies. Here must lie the reason for the Turks’ easy drift out of
their chins too prominent. Baggy wraps conceal pneumatic 45 heterosexuality. (71)
bodies. Here must lie the reason for the Turks’ easy drift out of
heterosexuality. (71) Having arrived in Turkey and perhaps having followed Marco Polo to
a reasonable distance, the fact that conspicuously draws William’s
Having arrived in Turkey and perhaps having followed Marco Polo to attention is about Marco’s character as well as his greatly praised
a reasonable distance, the fact that conspicuously draws William’s book: “The Travels”; and he passes his own judgment upon Polos.
attention is about Marco’s character as well as his greatly praised He narrates the eventful history of Ayas. (Ayas was not the part of
book: “The Travels”; and he passes his own judgment upon Polos. Turkey when Marco Polo visited it.) Ayas was the place from where
He narrates the eventful history of Ayas. (Ayas was not the part of the Friars whom Polos were to take with them to the courts of the
Turkey when Marco Polo visited it.) Ayas was the place from where great Khans had deserted them in search of safety. The question is
the Friars whom Polos were to take with them to the courts of the the Polos were to take to the court of Kubla Khan “one hundred men
great Khans had deserted them in search of safety. The question is well versed in religion”, what would have made them travel all alone
the Polos were to take to the court of Kubla Khan “one hundred men without the promised crews. William answers his own question with a
well versed in religion”, what would have made them travel all alone single word: “Profit”. (67) William tries to offer the explanation: “Polo
without the promised crews. William answers his own question with a was not the romantic gallant that legend has made him out to be; he
single word: “Profit”. (67) William tries to offer the explanation: “Polo was a hard-headed merchant’s son taking a calculated risk on a
was not the romantic gallant that legend has made him out to be; he potential lucrative expedition” (67). Yes, ‘Lucrative’ Dalrymple
was a hard-headed merchant’s son taking a calculated risk on a presents the evidence by bringing in the facts: Fifteen years later
potential lucrative expedition” (67). Yes, ‘Lucrative’ Dalrymple when they returned to Venice they were rich men (so much so that in
presents the evidence by bringing in the facts: Fifteen years later 1362, nearly one hundred years later, Polo’s descendants were still
when they returned to Venice they were rich men (so much so that in arguing over the ownership of the palace which had been acquired
1362, nearly one hundred years later, Polo’s descendants were still with the profits of their forefather’s china expedition). The Polos
arguing over the ownership of the palace which had been acquired certainly took a gamble when they watched their friars flee back to
with the profits of their forefather’s china expedition). The Polos Acre, and loaded up their caravan for the long land journey to
certainly took a gamble when they watched their friars flee back to Xanadu, but it was a calculated gamble- and it paid off. (68) On the
Acre, and loaded up their caravan for the long land journey to much praised ‘The Travels’ and the glorification of Marco Polo’s
Xanadu, but it was a calculated gamble- and it paid off. (68) On the name as an authority on travel writing and branding in the tourism
much praised ‘The Travels’ and the glorification of Marco Polo’s business, Dalrymple comments: …the book [Polo’s Travels] is
name as an authority on travel writing and branding in the tourism surprisingly dull. Polo did not set out to write an account of his
business, Dalrymple comments: …the book [Polo’s Travels] is travels, despite the name by which it has always been known, nor
surprisingly dull. Polo did not set out to write an account of his did he write a description of a diplomatic expedition originally
travels, despite the name by which it has always been known, nor intended to try to save the Crusader Kingdom. It is not even a
did he write a description of a diplomatic expedition originally general account of the lands he passed through. He says nothing
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intended to try to save the Crusader Kingdom. It is not even a about the sights he saw (he does not even mention the Great Wall of
general account of the lands he passed through. He says nothing China), and he includes very little about Asian social mores (which
about the sights he saw (he does not even mention the Great Wall of might have made really interesting reading). (66-67) 46 Their next
China), and he includes very little about Asian social mores (which destination is Sis. They travel by a tractor between Ayas and Sis. At
might have made really interesting reading). (66-67) 46 Their next the outskirts of Sis his attention is arrested by a makeshift but
destination is Sis. They travel by a tractor between Ayas and Sis. At seemingly permanent residential colony of the ‘Yuruks’. “The
the outskirts of Sis his attention is arrested by a makeshift but Yuruks”, he notes, “are one of the last surviving tribes of Turkomen
seemingly permanent residential colony of the ‘Yuruks’. “The Nomads.” At Rajep’s house, a local youth who happened to be their
Yuruks”, he notes, “are one of the last surviving tribes of Turkomen company and then host, Rajep voices the local tendencies and the
Nomads.” At Rajep’s house, a local youth who happened to be their tension prevalent between the old and the young generation in
company and then host, Rajep voices the local tendencies and the Turkey: “The people here are very conservative, and they are
tension prevalent between the old and the young generation in frightened of progress. There are many- how do I say- fanatics?
Turkey: “The people here are very conservative, and they are They do not like what Attaturk did for this country: creating
frightened of progress. There are many- how do I say- fanatics? Democracy, making industry, freeing women. Many of the old man
They do not like what Attaturk did for this country: creating want their mullahs to rule them, like in Iran” (78). And the nutshell of
Democracy, making industry, freeing women. Many of the old man the national tension is voiced in the regular conversations: “This
want their mullahs to rule them, like in Iran” (78). And the nutshell of country has two problems. One is the mullahs; the other is the
the national tension is voiced in the regular conversations: “This Army—both want to rule the country, to stop democracy” (78). Still
country has two problems. One is the mullahs; the other is the more concerns: “There are gangs, and many killings. Another
Army—both want to rule the country, to stop democracy” (78). Still problem for our country is that the military censor the press: we still
more concerns: “There are gangs, and many killings. Another do not have a serious newspaper” (79). The conversation with the
problem for our country is that the military censor the press: we still senior of the family (Rajep’s Grandfather- Rajep acting as the
do not have a serious newspaper” (79). The conversation with the interpreter) brings out the fact that the majority of Sis population is
senior of the family (Rajep’s Grandfather- Rajep acting as the migrants. Rajep’s family had settled down from Salonica after the
interpreter) brings out the fact that the majority of Sis population is Great War. The Grandfather declines the popular belief that the
migrants. Rajep’s family had settled down from Salonica after the Greeks and the Turks are enemies for centuries. He strongly asserts
Great War. The Grandfather declines the popular belief that the that in Salonica both the communities shared very congenial
Greeks and the Turks are enemies for centuries. He strongly asserts relations and lived in the spirits of fraternity. Despite the huge volume
that in Salonica both the communities shared very congenial of travel writing produced over the last five centuries, travelers’
relations and lived in the spirits of fraternity. Despite the huge volume routes and traces are often tenuous and difficult to decipher, and
of travel writing produced over the last five centuries, travelers’ later travelers and travel writers have been keen to find their
routes and traces are often tenuous and difficult to decipher, and footsteps and to follow them….
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later travelers and travel writers have been keen to find their more often the routes are being retraced in order to mark the
footsteps and to follow them…. historical gap between the two moments and perhaps to throw light
on the earlier work, though the connection with earlier and usually
more often the routes are being retraced in order to mark the better known traveler can also serve as an attractive marketing
historical gap between the two moments and perhaps to throw light device. (Hulme
on the earlier work, though the connection with earlier and usually
better known traveler can also serve as an attractive marketing Travelling 98) Dalrymple constantly brings in the discussion of two
device. (Hulme books: ‘The Travels’ of Marco Polo and Sir Henry Yule’s 1929 edition
of ‘The Travels’. At Seljuk Hotel in Sivas in the early morning, while
Travelling 98) Dalrymple constantly brings in the discussion of two going through the version of Yule’s ‘The Travel’, he feels sure that
books: ‘The Travels’ of Marco Polo and Sir Henry Yule’s 1929 edition Polo had failed to distinguish “the Seljuk and their greatest enemies,
of ‘The Travels’. At Seljuk Hotel in Sivas in the early morning, while still nomadic Turcomen, the ancestors of Yuruks” (Dalrymple Xanadu
going through the version of Yule’s ‘The Travel’, he feels sure that 85). He expresses his doubts on the accuracies of Polo’s account
Polo had failed to distinguish “the Seljuk and their greatest enemies, and Yule’s silence on the historical facts. Here, we find, his expertise
still nomadic Turcomen, the ancestors of Yuruks” (Dalrymple Xanadu on History comes to make this statements 47 and he tries to expose
85). He expresses his doubts on the accuracies of Polo’s account the inaccuracies of the accounts and comments presented by his two
and Yule’s silence on the historical facts. Here, we find, his expertise predecessors on this grounds and again surprisingly draws the
on History comes to make this statements 47 and he tries to expose reader’s attention to the fact that though “Big bazaars, robbers,
the inaccuracies of the accounts and comments presented by his two groups of merchants these are just the sort of things that Polo
predecessors on this grounds and again surprisingly draws the normally commented on, yet for once he is silent on commercial
reader’s attention to the fact that though “Big bazaars, robbers, matters and singles out Sivas not as a treading centre, but as a site
groups of merchants these are just the sort of things that Polo of martyrdom of the glorious Messers Saint Blaise” (87). Thus, the
normally commented on, yet for once he is silent on commercial point of inaccuracy, he raises, is on the grounds of Sivas’s being the
matters and singles out Sivas not as a treading centre, but as a site center of silk and carpet production. Even Sivas was the center of
of martyrdom of the glorious Messers Saint Blaise” (87). Thus, the learning as “Sivas was renowned especially for Shifaiye Medresse--
point of inaccuracy, he raises, is on the grounds of Sivas’s being the the great medical school and mental hospital” (87). He wonders how
center of silk and carpet production. Even Sivas was the center of here things escaped Polo’s observations. Having investigated in
learning as “Sivas was renowned especially for Shifaiye Medresse-- detail on saint Blaise and his vein attempts to find out the location of
the great medical school and mental hospital” (87). He wonders how saint Blaise’s place or tomb in Sivas, William finds out that saint
here things escaped Polo’s observations. Having investigated in Blasie’s monumental church had been devastated during massacre
detail on saint Blaise and his vein attempts to find out the location of of the local Christians and the evacuation of Christianity from the
saint Blaise’s place or tomb in Sivas, William finds out that saint place. William then opens the description of Gok Medrese (an
Blasie’s monumental church had been devastated during massacre Islamic college) and refers to the 1597 edition of ‘The life of Timur,
of the local Christians and the evacuation of Christianity from the and the Armenian historian Thomas of Metsope’s description of
436
place. William then opens the description of Gok Medrese (an destruction of Sivas by Timur and his army at the siege of the city.
Islamic college) and refers to the 1597 edition of ‘The life of Timur, His next expedition in Sivas is to find out the sites of ‘Carpet’
and the Armenian historian Thomas of Metsope’s description of production, and driving force here is to prove Yule ‘inaccurate’ as
destruction of Sivas by Timur and his army at the siege of the city. Yule claimed in his footnotes of ‘The Travels’ that the “The Anatolian
His next expedition in Sivas is to find out the sites of ‘Carpet’ carpet manufacturer had died out before 19th Century” (97). It was
production, and driving force here is to prove Yule ‘inaccurate’ as really a tiresome journey on account of the language problem, lack of
Yule claimed in his footnotes of ‘The Travels’ that the “The Anatolian enough information and bad roads and breakdowns in car. “And I
carpet manufacturer had died out before 19th Century” (97). It was remember the village idiot, and the punctures, both of them, and the
really a tiresome journey on account of the language problem, lack of slow, relentless fall down the slop and the impact into the shack at
enough information and bad roads and breakdowns in car. “And I the bottom then the heroic attempts to keep believing in the carpets,
remember the village idiot, and the punctures, both of them, and the ...” (97). After this much of difficulties, to witness the carpet
slow, relentless fall down the slop and the impact into the shack at production was a rare joy for William, a unique sense of triumph
the bottom then the heroic attempts to keep believing in the carpets, makes him announce: “This was certainly small scale production,
...” (97). After this much of difficulties, to witness the carpet even by thirteenth century standards, yet the techniques cannot have
production was a rare joy for William, a unique sense of triumph been any different from those witnessed by Marco Polo. Yule was
makes him announce: “This was certainly small scale production, wrong. It is only on this much reduced scale, Carpet production had
even by thirteenth century standards, yet the techniques cannot have survived in upland of Anatolia” (100). (Emphasis mine) Debbi Lisley
been any different from those witnessed by Marco Polo. Yule was quotes Doleen Messay’s image of ‘historical queue’, and argues:
wrong. It is only on this much reduced scale, Carpet production had ‘What makes travel writing so significant in this respect is its explicit
survived in upland of Anatolia” (100). (Emphasis mine) Debbi Lisley reproduction of the historical queue: travel writers do no choose their
quotes Doleen Messay’s image of ‘historical queue’, and argues: destination simply because the landscape is different, or because it
‘What makes travel writing so significant in this respect is its explicit is located in the other side of the world. They choose destinations
reproduction of the historical queue: travel writers do no choose their that will allow them to go back in time as far away. For Messay the
destination simply because the landscape is different, or because it queue maintained in Western 48 notions of progress and evolution –
is located in the other side of the world. They choose destinations “Which simply implies that the Western World is always in Front of
that will allow them to go back in time as far away. For Messay the the queue.”’ (Lisley 210) With a gesture of making his work more
queue maintained in Western 48 notions of progress and evolution – ‘Accurate’ and filling the slot which Polo has left blank, Dalrymple
“Which simply implies that the Western World is always in Front of here narrates the history of Siva’s as the great center of education
the queue.”’ (Lisley 210) With a gesture of making his work more and presents a detailed notes how medical and mental healing
‘Accurate’ and filling the slot which Polo has left blank, Dalrymple operated in ‘Seljuke Shifaiye Medresse’ of Sivas which incorporated
here narrates the history of Siva’s as the great center of education a rich library which remained accessible for both students and
and presents a detailed notes how medical and mental healing teachers and traces the history of the possible entry of the ‘Islamic
operated in ‘Seljuke Shifaiye Medresse’ of Sivas which incorporated pointed Arcs’ in the European Architectural Designs. Next, his
a rich library which remained accessible for both students and dialogue with local Turkish girl, Kevser, nicely pinpoints the social
437
teachers and traces the history of the possible entry of the ‘Islamic temperament of the Turkish especially Muslim society. With Kevser’s
pointed Arcs’ in the European Architectural Designs. Next, his balanced opinions about life in Germany and here ‘at home’ in Sivas,
dialogue with local Turkish girl, Kevser, nicely pinpoints the social it became clear that the advancement outside the world and
temperament of the Turkish especially Muslim society. With Kevser’s especially of West might be alluring to many local people, still native
balanced opinions about life in Germany and here ‘at home’ in Sivas, ‘air of simplicity’ is powerful enough to make persons like Kevser to
it became clear that the advancement outside the world and get rooted to it. And William’s question regarding the inferior status of
especially of West might be alluring to many local people, still native women in Islamic patriarchal thinking; Kevser makes still one more
‘air of simplicity’ is powerful enough to make persons like Kevser to distinction – that her race is not native of Sivas and they are different
get rooted to it. And William’s question regarding the inferior status of from the rest of Turkey, and that unlike in other groups, the girls
women in Islamic patriarchal thinking; Kevser makes still one more enjoy real freedom in her society. Their next destination is Iran, and
distinction – that her race is not native of Sivas and they are different Laura has donned the ‘enveloping black wraps in an Islamic sort of
from the rest of Turkey, and that unlike in other groups, the girls way’, a preparatory gesture to meet the political social and moral
enjoy real freedom in her society. Their next destination is Iran, and demand of the region they are entering. On the comparative
Laura has donned the ‘enveloping black wraps in an Islamic sort of comfortable journey from Sivas to Erzurum, he refers to the great
way’, a preparatory gesture to meet the political social and moral rivers Euphrates which the train crosses. The truck (lorry) journey
demand of the region they are entering. On the comparative from Erzurum to Dogubayazit is also described interestingly. As they
comfortable journey from Sivas to Erzurum, he refers to the great cross the Arab Nehri, a tributary of Euphrates, the landscape fixes
rivers Euphrates which the train crosses. The truck (lorry) journey William’s observations: “It was a long journey, through wild, upland
from Erzurum to Dogubayazit is also described interestingly. As they country. The ground and the stone was dark, black and volcanic and
cross the Arab Nehri, a tributary of Euphrates, the landscape fixes Yuruks were moving slowly across the planisphere flats, faces cast
William’s observations: “It was a long journey, through wild, upland downwards, gypsy locks tied into buns and pigtails. Some drove
country. The ground and the stone was dark, black and volcanic and cattle ahead of them” (Dalrymple Xanadu 111-112). Four The Fourth
Yuruks were moving slowly across the planisphere flats, faces cast chapter narrates William and Laura’s travel across Iran, from Maku
downwards, gypsy locks tied into buns and pigtails. Some drove to Saveh. On the border posts only, they receive a favourable shock
cattle ahead of them” (Dalrymple Xanadu 111-112). Four The Fourth against their presumptions as Iran being the Islamic country and the
chapter narrates William and Laura’s travel across Iran, from Maku things would be worse; on the contrary, they are received very
to Saveh. On the border posts only, they receive a favourable shock pleasantly.“No, they said there was absolutely no question of being
against their presumptions as Iran being the Islamic country and the put in a bus and driven through the country, nor of being given
things would be worse; on the contrary, they are received very escort. The Islamic Republic of Iran was a free country” (119). 49
pleasantly.“No, they said there was absolutely no question of being Before giving his own comments on Tabriz, the first city of Iran on
put in a bus and driven through the country, nor of being given Polo’s itinerary, William cites Polo’s and Ibn Batuta’s description of
escort. The Islamic Republic of Iran was a free country” (119). 49 Tabriz in their respective works: for Polo, the place was horrible as in
Before giving his own comments on Tabriz, the first city of Iran on its historical context held the expansion of the city owing the Mongol
Polo’s itinerary, William cites Polo’s and Ibn Batuta’s description of conquest, just a single generation before Polo. He asserts the
438
Tabriz in their respective works: for Polo, the place was horrible as in parallel to their visit to the city witnessing the same plight as it did
its historical context held the expansion of the city owing the Mongol when it was visited by Polo, namely the ‘ expansion’ but this time it is
conquest, just a single generation before Polo. He asserts the owing to the recent discovery of natural oil resources within its
parallel to their visit to the city witnessing the same plight as it did territories. “The oil wealth of the sixties or early seventies had
when it was visited by Polo, namely the ‘ expansion’ but this time it is financed a population explosion in the town” (121). His dialogue with
owing to the recent discovery of natural oil resources within its the local Armenian narrates the terrible plight of Armenian
territories. “The oil wealth of the sixties or early seventies had (Christians): “We (the Armenian) are a Cow, a donkey or a camel to
financed a population explosion in the town” (121). His dialogue with them. In Iran we are treated like fourth class citizens. They don’t kill
the local Armenian narrates the terrible plight of Armenian us but they beat us and make us work, using our skills for their ends”
(Christians): “We (the Armenian) are a Cow, a donkey or a camel to (123), and also brood over the hostile and unsympathetic treatment
them. In Iran we are treated like fourth class citizens. They don’t kill from the Government: Well it’s different in Iran now. The Ayatollah
us but they beat us and make us work, using our skills for their ends” does not believe that all men are free or equal. He does not believe
(123), and also brood over the hostile and unsympathetic treatment in human rights. He accepts only the morality of the Koran. For the
from the Government: Well it’s different in Iran now. The Ayatollah first time in modern history a government has built as its bedrock the
does not believe that all men are free or equal. He does not believe idea that all men are in bondage to Allah. That frightens me very
in human rights. He accepts only the morality of the Koran. For the much… (124). At Laura’s command, and having weakly recovered
first time in modern history a government has built as its bedrock the from ‘loose motions’, he goes in search of ‘silk’ the thing which Polo
idea that all men are in bondage to Allah. That frightens me very (referred) mentioned Tabriz famous for. As per information Laura had
much… (124). At Laura’s command, and having weakly recovered collected, silk weaving was done in Osku. William after much
from ‘loose motions’, he goes in search of ‘silk’ the thing which Polo difficulties and language problem succeeded in finding out a ‘Silk
(referred) mentioned Tabriz famous for. As per information Laura had loom’ and ‘Finished dyed silk’ and triumphantly declares “to the
collected, silk weaving was done in Osku. William after much inexpert eye they looked exceptionally fine” (128). Faring a night
difficulties and language problem succeeded in finding out a ‘Silk journey they reach Zanjan and would be heading towards Sultaniya
loom’ and ‘Finished dyed silk’ and triumphantly declares “to the – “now a deserted, crumbling spread of ruins, but once the capital of
inexpert eye they looked exceptionally fine” (128). Faring a night Mongol Persia” (128). He also notes why ‘ Sultaniya’ does not occur
journey they reach Zanjan and would be heading towards Sultaniya in Polo’s account, he traces the history and makes it clear that when
– “now a deserted, crumbling spread of ruins, but once the capital of Polo traveled through the land , the site was still occupied by
Mongol Persia” (128). He also notes why ‘ Sultaniya’ does not occur cornfields as the city was not yet built by Ilkhan Vlijeth, the great ,
in Polo’s account, he traces the history and makes it clear that when great grandson of Ghengis Khan. Here, at the site of ‘Sultaniya’, he
Polo traveled through the land , the site was still occupied by capture on opportunity to describe the chroniclers of the famous
cornfields as the city was not yet built by Ilkhan Vlijeth, the great , historian Rashid-ad- Din. Rashid was the vizir at the court of Ilkhan
great grandson of Ghengis Khan. Here, at the site of ‘Sultaniya’, he Uljetu. He built his suburb ‘Rashiddya’ at Sultaniya. He believed, “It
capture on opportunity to describe the chroniclers of the famous is most important that scholars should be able to work in peace of
historian Rashid-ad- Din. Rashid was the vizir at the court of Ilkhan mind without the harassments of poverty”, and that “there is no
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Uljetu. He built his suburb ‘Rashiddya’ at Sultaniya. He believed, “It greater service than to encourage science and scholarship.” He
is most important that scholars should be able to work in peace of patronized many scholars with such noble thoughts in mind. Ilkhan,
mind without the harassments of poverty”, and that “there is no the Sultan, entrusted Rashid-ad- 50 Din to write the official history of
greater service than to encourage science and scholarship.” He the Mongol conquests. William nicely puts the entire commission:
patronized many scholars with such noble thoughts in mind. Ilkhan, and admits that the ‘History of the Franks’ is the only Islamic work on
the Sultan, entrusted Rashid-ad- 50 Din to write the official history of Europe to be written until the Ottoman period. Still, his Western
the Mongol conquests. William nicely puts the entire commission: Superiority rings and becomes audible when he comments on the
and admits that the ‘History of the Franks’ is the only Islamic work on authenticity of the books: “His sources sometimes let him down (a
Europe to be written until the Ottoman period. Still, his Western papal text misled him into thinking that to Pope was in the habit of
Superiority rings and becomes audible when he comments on the using the bent head and neck of the holy Roman Emperor as a step
authenticity of the books: “His sources sometimes let him down (a to mount his horse), but on the whole it is as reliable as it is unique,
papal text misled him into thinking that to Pope was in the habit of and is full of surprising details he knew, for example, that there were
using the bent head and neck of the holy Roman Emperor as a step no poisonous reptiles in Ireland.” (133). William also notes that in
to mount his horse), but on the whole it is as reliable as it is unique, spite of all measures taken for the preservation of his books by
and is full of surprising details he knew, for example, that there were Rashid – ad –Din, after the death of his patron Sultan Uljetu, he was
no poisonous reptiles in Ireland.” (133). William also notes that in accused of poisoning his former master and was put to death; “His
spite of all measures taken for the preservation of his books by family was disgraced and their estates confiscated. Rashiddya was
Rashid – ad –Din, after the death of his patron Sultan Uljetu, he was looted and burned. All the copies of his works that could be found
accused of poisoning his former master and was put to death; “His were destroyed. Like a Fallen Stalinist, he was airbrushed out of
family was disgraced and their estates confiscated. Rashiddya was history” (134). Still, the copies which survived in neighboring Muslim
looted and burned. All the copies of his works that could be found states’ libraries are, as William admits, “along with Polo’s ‘The
were destroyed. Like a Fallen Stalinist, he was airbrushed out of travels,’ ‘Jami al – Tawarikh’ the main historical source for Mongol
history” (134). Still, the copies which survived in neighboring Muslim Asia. Another interesting thing William notes is the monument at
states’ libraries are, as William admits, “along with Polo’s ‘The Sultania which impressed Robert Byron too. William goes to the
travels,’ ‘Jami al – Tawarikh’ the main historical source for Mongol extent of inferring the Indian Taj and its architecture must have its
Asia. Another interesting thing William notes is the monument at preparatory seeds here in this moment. Already, in 1320, every idea
Sultania which impressed Robert Byron too. William goes to the in the Taj was fully expressed here in the plans East of Tabriz. The
extent of inferring the Indian Taj and its architecture must have its Taj is simply a refinement of Sultaniya; in its essentials it is restating
preparatory seeds here in this moment. Already, in 1320, every idea an idea three hundred years old” (130). Next in the search of the
in the Taj was fully expressed here in the plans East of Tabriz. The Tomb monument of the Magi; he and Laura reach the city of Saveh.
Taj is simply a refinement of Sultaniya; in its essentials it is restating En route to Saveh, William takes time to narrate the story of the
an idea three hundred years old” (130). Next in the search of the Magi, as surprisingly presented by Polo, (because as per his claims
Tomb monument of the Magi; he and Laura reach the city of Saveh. Polo was interested only in mercantile affairs). The version of the
En route to Saveh, William takes time to narrate the story of the Magi story occurs in St. Matthew’s gospel and the version which
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Magi, as surprisingly presented by Polo, (because as per his claims Polo had heard in town of Saveh interest William and offer him the
Polo was interested only in mercantile affairs). The version of the point of research, thus he tries to make sense of it. In Saveh the
Magi story occurs in St. Matthew’s gospel and the version which experience of tracing the roots of the mythical Magi was not exciting.
Polo had heard in town of Saveh interest William and offer him the In search of a taxi, he happens to fall in hand of a policeman, who
point of research, thus he tries to make sense of it. In Saveh the takes him to the station under the suspect of being spy. Ultimately he
experience of tracing the roots of the mythical Magi was not exciting. succeeds in winning confidence and admiration from the officer by
In search of a taxi, he happens to fall in hand of a policeman, who showing his library I- card. After great search, they could not zero the
takes him to the station under the suspect of being spy. Ultimately he spot where the monuments which Polo described stood. Still, he
succeeds in winning confidence and admiration from the officer by concludes with a note that the Magi story needs much scholarly
showing his library I- card. After great search, they could not zero the investigation. 51 Nevertheless, the remarkable story told by Polo
spot where the monuments which Polo described stood. Still, he must at least open the possibility that the visit of the Magi to
concludes with a note that the Magi story needs much scholarly Bethlehem was an historical event, that these Magi came from
investigation. 51 Nevertheless, the remarkable story told by Polo Saveh and that an independent tradition of their visit to Palestine
must at least open the possibility that the visit of the Magi to was maintained in the observatory town from which they set off, and
Bethlehem was an historical event, that these Magi came from in which they were eventually laid to rest. (145) Five From Saveh,
Saveh and that an independent tradition of their visit to Palestine they were to enter into Pakistan- deviating the route of Polo which
was maintained in the observatory town from which they set off, and they would resume from Tashkurgan, the first town in China. Since
in which they were eventually laid to rest. (145) Five From Saveh, they were running very late on their time – scale, as Laura had to
they were to enter into Pakistan- deviating the route of Polo which leave for India, they determined to travel at a stretch one thousand
they would resume from Tashkurgan, the first town in China. Since five hundred kilometers. Secondly as they were not on the ‘silk route’
they were running very late on their time – scale, as Laura had to it was going to be a ‘journey on their own’ It was quite impossible to
leave for India, they determined to travel at a stretch one thousand fare journey sticking to ‘Polo’s route’ in this part of Afghanistan:
five hundred kilometers. Secondly as they were not on the ‘silk route’ “Even if we had had unlimited time it is extremely unlikely that we
it was going to be a ‘journey on their own’ It was quite impossible to would have succeeded in following Marco Polo through the
fare journey sticking to ‘Polo’s route’ in this part of Afghanistan: minefields into Afghanistan, and in the circumstances there was no
“Even if we had had unlimited time it is extremely unlikely that we alternative but to miss out that stretch of his journey and make a long
would have succeeded in following Marco Polo through the detour through Pakistan” (154). From Zahedan, they shared a mini
minefields into Afghanistan, and in the circumstances there was no transit with some Arabs, Ramesh, Nazir and Joe. They reached
alternative but to miss out that stretch of his journey and make a long Tuftan boarder post, which they found ‘easy’ and ‘friendly’ to cross.
detour through Pakistan” (154). From Zahedan, they shared a mini We discussed a price, had our rucksacks checked, paid an additional
transit with some Arabs, Ramesh, Nazir and Joe. They reached ‘departure tax’ and then waited while the guards sent away a Baluchi
Tuftan boarder post, which they found ‘easy’ and ‘friendly’ to cross. tribesman and his goat. It took half an hour to find a key to the border
We discussed a price, had our rucksacks checked, paid an additional gate. At just after seven thirty we walked into Pakistan. (159) From
‘departure tax’ and then waited while the guards sent away a Baluchi Taftan village, they hired a Toyota pickup of a Baluchi young man
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tribesman and his goat. It took half an hour to find a key to the border with the help of Nazir and travelled together up to Quetta – through
gate. At just after seven thirty we walked into Pakistan. (159) From an eventful journey and bad road – they reached Quetta where Nasir
Taftan village, they hired a Toyota pickup of a Baluchi young man and Ramen got dropped and William, Laura and Joe resumed their
with the help of Nazir and travelled together up to Quetta – through journey to Lahore by Train. The overcrowded 15:30 Lahore Mail
an eventful journey and bad road – they reached Quetta where Nasir reminded him of the chaotic ‘Partition’ trains at Quetta, he also
and Ramen got dropped and William, Laura and Joe resumed their enacts the story of his great aunt; a privileged wife of commander of
journey to Lahore by Train. The overcrowded 15:30 Lahore Mail western command, India. After the tiring journey, they reached
reminded him of the chaotic ‘Partition’ trains at Quetta, he also Lahore and at the palatial home of his Cambridge friend, Mazaffar
enacts the story of his great aunt; a privileged wife of commander of Quizilbash. 52 Six After great excursions, and tiring journey, life at
western command, India. After the tiring journey, they reached Mazaffar’s luxurious house with delicious food and all ranges of
Lahore and at the palatial home of his Cambridge friend, Mazaffar luxurious seemed to give ‘ never to leave this place’ notion. Another
Quizilbash. 52 Six After great excursions, and tiring journey, life at reason, he felt not to leave, was departure of Laura – the stubborn
Mazaffar’s luxurious house with delicious food and all ranges of companion traveler in whose company he simply ‘got propelled’ with
luxurious seemed to give ‘ never to leave this place’ notion. Another all the rest left to her care. Whereas, the new companion was
reason, he felt not to leave, was departure of Laura – the stubborn entirely different or rather opposite to her nature, Louisa was his ex-
companion traveler in whose company he simply ‘got propelled’ with lover now was in love with some other buddy. The last but not least
all the rest left to her care. Whereas, the new companion was was his worries about permission. They had yet to confirm the
entirely different or rather opposite to her nature, Louisa was his ex- permission to travel on the Karakoram Highway and obtain
lover now was in love with some other buddy. The last but not least permission from ‘Brick wall attitude towards the foreigners’ of the
was his worries about permission. They had yet to confirm the Chinese Authorities to cross into China over the Kunjerab pass.
permission to travel on the Karakoram Highway and obtain Before leaving for the Karakoram Highway, William does not miss
permission from ‘Brick wall attitude towards the foreigners’ of the the opportunity to visit the fine Moghul monuments of Lahore which
Chinese Authorities to cross into China over the Kunjerab pass. he qualifies as his favorites viz. Jahangir’s tomb interests him for the
Before leaving for the Karakoram Highway, William does not miss accounts on it he has read and researched as they come from one of
the opportunity to visit the fine Moghul monuments of Lahore which his travel heroes-Tom Coryat. The monument, as reported by Coryat,
he qualifies as his favorites viz. Jahangir’s tomb interests him for the was built by Nur Mahal Jahangir’s favorite Begum –‘A famous beauty
accounts on it he has read and researched as they come from one of and an exceptional and talented woman’. William finds the Tomb
his travel heroes-Tom Coryat. The monument, as reported by Coryat, very interesting and homely too, and description covers every minute
was built by Nur Mahal Jahangir’s favorite Begum –‘A famous beauty details, which William is master of. William briefly and nicely relates
and an exceptional and talented woman’. William finds the Tomb the consequence and fate of Tom Coryat and cites Sir Thomas Roe’s
very interesting and homely too, and description covers every minute opinion that “Tom Coryat’s work would have been most voluminous
details, which William is master of. William briefly and nicely relates work” had he not met his premature end. The battle to get permit
the consequence and fate of Tom Coryat and cites Sir Thomas Roe’s ultimately came to the conclusion that ‘no permission’ was required
opinion that “Tom Coryat’s work would have been most voluminous either to travel on Karakoram Highway or the Kunjerab Pass, since
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work” had he not met his premature end. The battle to get permit Britain, Pakistan and China were friendly nations. The expedition
ultimately came to the conclusion that ‘no permission’ was required thus, gets a new start William and Louisa start a fresh from Lahore to
either to travel on Karakoram Highway or the Kunjerab Pass, since Manshera, a small station at the height of eight thousand feet on the
Britain, Pakistan and China were friendly nations. The expedition Himalaya range. At the night stay, in the ‘self service’ hotel, they
thus, gets a new start William and Louisa start a fresh from Lahore to come to hear weird and wild stories about the cannibalism and
Manshera, a small station at the height of eight thousand feet on the infanticide exercised by the Pathan tribes. In Manshera, he also visit
Himalaya range. At the night stay, in the ‘self service’ hotel, they the site of Maurya emperor Ashoka’s rock edicts and enacts the
come to hear weird and wild stories about the cannibalism and interlude of Ashoka’s regime and gives a long sympathetic account
infanticide exercised by the Pathan tribes. In Manshera, he also visit of James Princep’s toil of translating the Indian script and his
the site of Maurya emperor Ashoka’s rock edicts and enacts the companion and William’s own great grandfather James Pattle’s sad
interlude of Ashoka’s regime and gives a long sympathetic account chronicler and go to bed that night with “our ears still ringing with
of James Princep’s toil of translating the Indian script and his dangers awaiting us up the road in Gilgit and Humza. They travelled
companion and William’s own great grandfather James Pattle’s sad with the road contractor in his car until the car met with a minor
chronicler and go to bed that night with “our ears still ringing with mishap and broke down. Fortunately they came out safe from the
dangers awaiting us up the road in Gilgit and Humza. They travelled accident. They happened to arrive at a government Circuit house
with the road contractor in his car until the car met with a minor meant for the Officers on the inspection on the Highway. 53 Here,
mishap and broke down. Fortunately they came out safe from the having rested for night, William happens to notice the high hill
accident. They happened to arrive at a government Circuit house beyond the river, which, he was informed by the caretaker, was the
meant for the Officers on the inspection on the Highway. 53 Here, famous ‘Pirsar’. He goes up the ‘Pirsar’ alone and attributes his
having rested for night, William happens to notice the high hill climb with Alexander- the great. He claims it completing a circle as
beyond the river, which, he was informed by the caretaker, was the he in recent past visited Alexander’s birth place, and this was last
famous ‘Pirsar’. He goes up the ‘Pirsar’ alone and attributes his point from where Alexander had returned. Witnessing the ‘shin’, he
climb with Alexander- the great. He claims it completing a circle as tries to explain Macedonian’s connection with ‘shin’ and with pride
he in recent past visited Alexander’s birth place, and this was last claims: “it is an interesting thought that I may not have been the first
point from where Alexander had returned. Witnessing the ‘shin’, he Western to be presented with a goat leg by Gujars. It could well be
tries to explain Macedonian’s connection with ‘shin’ and with pride an honor that I unwillingly shared with Alexander the great” (212).
claims: “it is an interesting thought that I may not have been the first Next morning after passing rainy and night, they set out on foot and
Western to be presented with a goat leg by Gujars. It could well be eventually picked up by nine Afghans- in their Datsan truck, who
an honor that I unwillingly shared with Alexander the great” (212). were going to the Chinese border. Through the interactions with
Next morning after passing rainy and night, they set out on foot and them, William brings out that the staunch, orthodox Islam had little
eventually picked up by nine Afghans- in their Datsan truck, who influence on them, rater they were interested in ‘Brothels in
were going to the Chinese border. Through the interactions with “Inglizstan’ (Britain). Only the older one among them seemed loaded
them, William brings out that the staunch, orthodox Islam had little with religious pact. He showed disgusting reaction at Laura’s using
influence on them, rater they were interested in ‘Brothels in ‘Sony Walkman’- as according to him, it was against ‘The Law of
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“Inglizstan’ (Britain). Only the older one among them seemed loaded Islam’ but ironically his obedient sons were fascinated to it, and even
with religious pact. He showed disgusting reaction at Laura’s using tried it when he was asleep’. Here, on the road very interesting
‘Sony Walkman’- as according to him, it was against ‘The Law of incident takes place and William is bold enough to report it which
Islam’ but ironically his obedient sons were fascinated to it, and even issued forth his own buffoonery. On the road, two guards only
tried it when he was asleep’. Here, on the road very interesting demanded his and Luisa’s signatures in the ledger, whereas without
incident takes place and William is bold enough to report it which perceiving the matter he began to react unreasonably and
issued forth his own buffoonery. On the road, two guards only unnecessarily with hi-pitched show off. William nicely describes the
demanded his and Luisa’s signatures in the ledger, whereas without lands and societies which he comes in contact. And like a
perceiving the matter he began to react unreasonably and consummate painter just a line here and a line there, he in brief
unnecessarily with hi-pitched show off. William nicely describes the nicely presents the picture of the society and culture. Hauza valley
lands and societies which he comes in contact. And like a makes its way in this way: The people of Hauza are Isma’ilies. For
consummate painter just a line here and a line there, he in brief generation they lived by robbery and slave trading and they are still
nicely presents the picture of the society and culture. Hauza valley supposed to practice infanticides. They are renowned for their
makes its way in this way: The people of Hauza are Isma’ilies. For longevity and their taste for butter buried in the ground for the one
generation they lived by robbery and slave trading and they are still hundred years. (215) “Never have I seen men who derived so much
supposed to practice infanticides. They are renowned for their enjoyment from the administration of bureaucracy” (216) – these are
longevity and their taste for butter buried in the ground for the one the words with which William reacts to the strict procedures he and
hundred years. (215) “Never have I seen men who derived so much Louisa made to go through at Chinese border post. They reach
enjoyment from the administration of bureaucracy” (216) – these are ‘Tashkurgan’ – the first town in China and it is described on three
the words with which William reacts to the strict procedures he and plains: 1) As the important centre on the silk route 2) Geographical
Louisa made to go through at Chinese border post. They reach description 3) How Polo would have found it. 54 Since, they were
‘Tashkurgan’ – the first town in China and it is described on three back on Polo’s route for the first time since Yazd, William returns to
plains: 1) As the important centre on the silk route 2) Geographical Polo from Tushkurgan, and asserts that ‘Polo would have recognized
description 3) How Polo would have found it. 54 Since, they were only one building in Tushkurgan today i.e. ‘the stone tower’ It is here
back on Polo’s route for the first time since Yazd, William returns to in Tushkurgan the capacity to face the hardships and unfavorable
Polo from Tushkurgan, and asserts that ‘Polo would have recognized circumstances reach to the culmination and this bring out the
only one building in Tushkurgan today i.e. ‘the stone tower’ It is here reflection: “
in Tushkurgan the capacity to face the hardships and unfavorable
circumstances reach to the culmination and this bring out the There are moments in all long journeys when the whole business of
reflection: “ travelling seems utterly futile. One feels homesick, tired and above
all bored. Nothing pleases. Everything palls.
There are moments in all long journeys when the whole business of
travelling seems utterly futile. One feels homesick, tired and above For me this moment came in Tushkurgan” (220). Entering into a
all bored. Nothing pleases. Everything palls. humiliating struggle with the Hazzies, they managed to leave this
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For me this moment came in Tushkurgan” (220). Entering into a place with a notion ‘not to visit it again in life,’ and arrive at ‘Kashgar’.
humiliating struggle with the Hazzies, they managed to leave this Seven At the Chini Bagh, he makes an elaborate search for the
place with a notion ‘not to visit it again in life,’ and arrive at ‘Kashgar’. ‘Victory Model Lavatory’ but in vain, and describes in detail the days
Seven At the Chini Bagh, he makes an elaborate search for the of Macartney. These days witnessed a curious fusion of cultures and
‘Victory Model Lavatory’ but in vain, and describes in detail the days thawing relations among the Englishers and the Russian. But the
of Macartney. These days witnessed a curious fusion of cultures and picture has been thoroughly changed at present. “Muslim Kashgar is
thawing relations among the Englishers and the Russian. But the under assault from Marxist Peking, and the town still bears the scars
picture has been thoroughly changed at present. “Muslim Kashgar is of the Great Proletarian Revolution of late Sixties” (230). In Kashgar,
under assault from Marxist Peking, and the town still bears the scars Mick, ‘a tall, languid Hippy with a spindly body and a baffled
of the Great Proletarian Revolution of late Sixties” (230). In Kashgar, expression’, took them on a tour to Kashgar where they came face to
Mick, ‘a tall, languid Hippy with a spindly body and a baffled face with the local culture, trade and specialties like the
expression’, took them on a tour to Kashgar where they came face to manufactures of Chinese ‘noodles’. On this trip William happens to
face with the local culture, trade and specialties like the meet Salindi a local Muslim youth, who studies at Urumchi
manufactures of Chinese ‘noodles’. On this trip William happens to University. William moved with him, interacted and came to many
meet Salindi a local Muslim youth, who studies at Urumchi (mis) conceptions regarding the West which made their way via
University. William moved with him, interacted and came to many James Bond movies and unscholarly books. William went for
(mis) conceptions regarding the West which made their way via matinee and the next day, he was to visit ‘Nestorian Christians’ in
James Bond movies and unscholarly books. William went for Kashgar, Salindi claimed “that there remained few families of the
matinee and the next day, he was to visit ‘Nestorian Christians’ in sect still practicing ‘Nestorian Christianity’ – a sect which long ago
Kashgar, Salindi claimed “that there remained few families of the got segregated from the main Stream Christianity and was a
sect still practicing ‘Nestorian Christianity’ – a sect which long ago powerful source of influence of Christianity on Changes Khan, but,
got segregated from the main Stream Christianity and was a owing to Louisa’s critical illness, he missed the appointment and
powerful source of influence of Christianity on Changes Khan, but, Salindi left, and William missed an opportunity to bring out the details
owing to Louisa’s critical illness, he missed the appointment and of the ‘sect’ – long thought to have extinct in the course of time. He
Salindi left, and William missed an opportunity to bring out the details also visited the: ‘the ‘Kashgar Sunday Market’. Where they witness
of the ‘sect’ – long thought to have extinct in the course of time. He the local folks enjoying the time of joy: in front of us was a vast field
also visited the: ‘the ‘Kashgar Sunday Market’. Where they witness of swarming humanity cloaked in an enormous haze of risen dust. In
the local folks enjoying the time of joy: in front of us was a vast field its detail the market resembled the weekday bazaar, but the total
of swarming humanity cloaked in an enormous haze of risen dust. In effect was very different. It was a fair and a carnival, a masque and a
its detail the market resembled the weekday bazaar, but the total 55 festival, crowds and noise, smells and treasures, a mirage
effect was very different. It was a fair and a carnival, a masque and a through a dusk of dust. (253) From there, they went to the tomb of
55 festival, crowds and noise, smells and treasures, a mirage Akbar Hoja, and went to bed with a decision to continue their journey
through a dusk of dust. (253) From there, they went to the tomb of into the restricted regions without permission. Through the first
Akbar Hoja, and went to bed with a decision to continue their journey attempt was an utter failure; early morning in the bus-station, they
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into the restricted regions without permission. Through the first were caught by the police- officials, but ‘luckily’ got a lift in an Army
attempt was an utter failure; early morning in the bus-station, they truck to cross the enormous desert of Taklimakan. (In Turkey – it
were caught by the police- officials, but ‘luckily’ got a lift in an Army means ‘go in and you won’t come out’.) This ‘Taklimakan’ desert has
truck to cross the enormous desert of Taklimakan. (In Turkey – it been the cockpit of various & varied talks of weird happenings and
means ‘go in and you won’t come out’.) This ‘Taklimakan’ desert has from the time of ancient, including Polo, the travelers have enacted
been the cockpit of various & varied talks of weird happenings and their own versions of weird tales about this desert, so how can
from the time of ancient, including Polo, the travelers have enacted William be an exception? The difference is only, he himself does not
their own versions of weird tales about this desert, so how can come across any bit of things his predecessors have reported, but he
William be an exception? The difference is only, he himself does not fills the gap by presenting their versions of strange legends of this
come across any bit of things his predecessors have reported, but he region. Arriving in ‘Yarkand’ William notes down Polo’s entry about
fills the gap by presenting their versions of strange legends of this the people of this town. Polo pointed out that the people of this area
region. Arriving in ‘Yarkand’ William notes down Polo’s entry about were plagued by goiter. At present, he observed there were no
the people of this town. Polo pointed out that the people of this area traces of this disease apparently visible in the people around him.
were plagued by goiter. At present, he observed there were no Here, they wanted not to be noticed much but on the contrary, being
traces of this disease apparently visible in the people around him. foreigners and entirely different in physique, they attracted much
Here, they wanted not to be noticed much but on the contrary, being public attention. From Yarkand, they somehow managed to get
foreigners and entirely different in physique, they attracted much another lift – this time it was a cattle-truck, not loaded with cattle but
public attention. From Yarkand, they somehow managed to get persons, up to a ‘han’. Next day before dawn, they searched for a lift
another lift – this time it was a cattle-truck, not loaded with cattle but from Khotan to Keriya, they got a dumper truck, the only option they
persons, up to a ‘han’. Next day before dawn, they searched for a lift had and since there was no vacancy in the drivers’ cabin, had to
from Khotan to Keriya, they got a dumper truck, the only option they occupy their place on the top of pile of coals. It was a tiring and very
had and since there was no vacancy in the drivers’ cabin, had to difficult journey. Stay in Keriya proved much eventful. They were
occupy their place on the top of pile of coals. It was a tiring and very dropped at a caravanserai, and there they ran into the group of
difficult journey. Stay in Keriya proved much eventful. They were officials and the governor of Keriya himself, in the full swing of a
dropped at a caravanserai, and there they ran into the group of jovial party. They learnt that the party was offered to the German
officials and the governor of Keriya himself, in the full swing of a scholars but after some initial hesitation William and Louisa were
jovial party. They learnt that the party was offered to the German ‘adopted’ by the governor along with the Germans. The governor
scholars but after some initial hesitation William and Louisa were himself secured tickets for them to Charchan, but they were noticed
‘adopted’ by the governor along with the Germans. The governor by the Keriya public security Bureau – from whom they literally ran
himself secured tickets for them to Charchan, but they were noticed away, they boarded the dawn bus with the help of Governor’s tickets
by the Keriya public security Bureau – from whom they literally ran and reached Niya, at midnight. They decided to change the vehicle (i
away, they boarded the dawn bus with the help of Governor’s tickets .e. bus, because they knew the Charchan public security must be
and reached Niya, at midnight. They decided to change the vehicle (i looking for them on bus) and once again reached Charchan on the
.e. bus, because they knew the Charchan public security must be pile of coal through a long and tiresome journey: “The next two days
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looking for them on bus) and once again reached Charchan on the were exhausting. The constant worry of being detected, occasional
pile of coal through a long and tiresome journey: “The next two days 56 pangs of hunger and thirst, the physical efforts of digging
were exhausting. The constant worry of being detected, occasional ourselves out of sand dunes, the day time heat and the extreme
56 pangs of hunger and thirst, the physical efforts of digging night-time cold. All these different strains began to take their toll”
ourselves out of sand dunes, the day time heat and the extreme (273). Even after reaching Charchan, the things grew worse: Neither
night-time cold. All these different strains began to take their toll” of us could sleep. A day exposed to the full glare of the desert sun
(273). Even after reaching Charchan, the things grew worse: Neither had given us both bad sunburn, while the night chill was unbearable.
of us could sleep. A day exposed to the full glare of the desert sun We lay awake in our coal grimed clothes, at once burning and
had given us both bad sunburn, while the night chill was unbearable. shivering, a combination that was as unpleasant as it was unusual.
We lay awake in our coal grimed clothes, at once burning and (273) The thing were so aggravated and the journey so tiring and
shivering, a combination that was as unpleasant as it was unusual. horrible that at the Oasis of Charchalik , Luisa announced that she
(273) The thing were so aggravated and the journey so tiring and was quite in capable of going on “ if I spent one more minute in truck
horrible that at the Oasis of Charchalik , Luisa announced that she , she said quietly but very firmly ‘I will die’ ” (274). Thus, they let go
was quite in capable of going on “ if I spent one more minute in truck the truck – and got refreshed and as feared it was here that they
, she said quietly but very firmly ‘I will die’ ” (274). Thus, they let go were discovered by the police and sent back to Peking. Eight The
the truck – and got refreshed and as feared it was here that they last part narrates the journey by train from Keriya to Peking. The
were discovered by the police and sent back to Peking. Eight The train journey makes them confront a new facet of Chinese people
last part narrates the journey by train from Keriya to Peking. The and culture. Dalrymple notes down had Polo arrived in China one
train journey makes them confront a new facet of Chinese people month later on his expedition, he would have met the Khan here in
and culture. Dalrymple notes down had Polo arrived in China one his new capital Khan Balik in Peking and in that sense William his
month later on his expedition, he would have met the Khan here in own expedition would have also got completed. Polo arrived in China
his new capital Khan Balik in Peking and in that sense William his in May and during that time Chengis Khan had been in his famous
own expedition would have also got completed. Polo arrived in China summer palace – Shang Tu, i.e. – Coleridge’s Xanadu. Dalrymple’s
in May and during that time Chengis Khan had been in his famous giving much importance to his female counter parts first ‘Laura’ and
summer palace – Shang Tu, i.e. – Coleridge’s Xanadu. Dalrymple’s ‘Louisa’ perhaps – is an attempt to react to the much debated
giving much importance to his female counter parts first ‘Laura’ and ‘Patriarchal Embossing’ to the travel texts. By assimilating with the
‘Louisa’ perhaps – is an attempt to react to the much debated people of the places he travels or ‘stays’, by attempting to be as
‘Patriarchal Embossing’ to the travel texts. By assimilating with the much ‘local’ – William tries to overcome the blame of the superior-
people of the places he travels or ‘stays’, by attempting to be as centric treatment of the narration often put on the western travel
much ‘local’ – William tries to overcome the blame of the superior- writers especially in the post colonial differences i.e. “Contemporary
centric treatment of the narration often put on the western travel travel writers certainly recognize how the forces of globalization have
writers especially in the post colonial differences i.e. “Contemporary changed cultural encounters forever. Some respond by reviving
travel writers certainly recognize how the forces of globalization have matrices of colonialism and patriarchy and foregrounding cultural
changed cultural encounters forever. Some respond by reviving differences (i. e ‘they’ are still different from ‘us’)” (Lisle 75). Other
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matrices of colonialism and patriarchy and foregrounding cultural travel writers seek to manage cultural differences – to locate, place
differences (i. e ‘they’ are still different from ‘us’)” (Lisle 75). Other and administer it within a framework of universal norms.
travel writers seek to manage cultural differences – to locate, place Cosmopolitan Travel Writers seek out difference in order to welcome
and administer it within a framework of universal norms. it, include it and celebrate it : it doesn’t matter if ‘ they’ are different
Cosmopolitan Travel Writers seek out difference in order to welcome from ‘us’, as long as ‘ we’ – and that means everyone – can join
it, include it and celebrate it : it doesn’t matter if ‘ they’ are different together and celebrate those difference. In Peking for the last
from ‘us’, as long as ‘ we’ – and that means everyone – can join attempt to 57 accomplish their expedition, William and Louisa act
together and celebrate those difference. In Peking for the last hectically. Before they left china forever to rejoin heir college term
attempt to 57 accomplish their expedition, William and Louisa act once again, they had five days in stocks. Their calculation counted
hectically. Before they left china forever to rejoin heir college term two days of journey from Peking to Duolon – the nearest town to the
once again, they had five days in stocks. Their calculation counted ruins and two days back – thus they were felt with only one day
two days of journey from Peking to Duolon – the nearest town to the spare to complete the journey to the ruins of Xanadu only on the
ruins and two days back – thus they were felt with only one day condition if everything went as per their plans. They had only the
spare to complete the journey to the ruins of Xanadu only on the Bushell’s article as their guide. Dalrymple here, attributes the
condition if everything went as per their plans. They had only the discovery of Xanadu ruins to the physician at British legation in
Bushell’s article as their guide. Dalrymple here, attributes the Peking, Dr. S.W. Bushell, According to him, if he & Louisa succeeded
discovery of Xanadu ruins to the physician at British legation in in reading the sign- board – “Prohibited area for the foreigners” –
Peking, Dr. S.W. Bushell, According to him, if he & Louisa succeeded then also they would be the first Europeans to witness the ruins for
in reading the sign- board – “Prohibited area for the foreigners” – over a century. They manage to get up to Chengde, the old Jehol,
then also they would be the first Europeans to witness the ruins for site of the summer palace of the Manchu dynasty, by train and had
over a century. They manage to get up to Chengde, the old Jehol, got a hotel for accommodation. From there, they got a lift in a truck to
site of the summer palace of the Manchu dynasty, by train and had reach Zheng Lan Qi. It happened to be a small town. According to
got a hotel for accommodation. From there, they got a lift in a truck to their plan, they were five miles close to their destination. But the
reach Zheng Lan Qi. It happened to be a small town. According to things were not to go according to their own planning. In the morning
their plan, they were five miles close to their destination. But the as they were getting ready to stroll on the last patch of their journey,
things were not to go according to their own planning. In the morning the door was knocked and to their astonishments there were Mongol
as they were getting ready to stroll on the last patch of their journey, Public Security Guards. They instantly understood they were under
the door was knocked and to their astonishments there were Mongol arrest and there was no way left but would be deported to Peking.
Public Security Guards. They instantly understood they were under “The idea of travelling twelve thousand miles, only to be detained
arrest and there was no way left but would be deported to Peking. and deported five miles from our destination was too much to bear”
“The idea of travelling twelve thousand miles, only to be detained (296). Somehow, perhaps from the efforts of the interpreter teacher
and deported five miles from our destination was too much to bear” couple, the local Party cadre was brought in to the matter, and they
(296). Somehow, perhaps from the efforts of the interpreter teacher were taken to the site of 108; the court of Kubla Khan. It was really a
couple, the local Party cadre was brought in to the matter, and they great surprise to them. “We had travelled twelve thousand miles to
448
were taken to the site of 108; the court of Kubla Khan. It was really a get to this spot. We stood at the base of the ramp leading up to the
great surprise to them. “We had travelled twelve thousand miles to throne dais. Here, seven hundred and eleven years before, Marco
get to this spot. We stood at the base of the ramp leading up to the Polo had also stood at the end of his outward journey” (299).
throne dais. Here, seven hundred and eleven years before, Marco Together they recite the lines of ‘In Xanadu’, the famous poem of
Polo had also stood at the end of his outward journey” (299). Samuel Coleridge, only to earn the reaction from the accompanying
Together they recite the lines of ‘In Xanadu’, the famous poem of Mongols that “English people are very, very bonkers” (300). The title
Samuel Coleridge, only to earn the reaction from the accompanying of the book “In Xanadu: A Quest'' instantly brings to our mind an
Mongols that “English people are very, very bonkers” (300). The title image of the author's meticulous travelling expeditions. Dalrymple
of the book “In Xanadu: A Quest'' instantly brings to our mind an delineates his experiences on the entire trip as a Cambridge student
image of the author's meticulous travelling expeditions. Dalrymple with highly educated upper- class mentality, constantly consulting the
delineates his experiences on the entire trip as a Cambridge student previous Travel–Accounts and enters into an incessant exercise of
with highly educated upper- class mentality, constantly consulting the drawing comparisons between the landscapes represented in the
previous Travel–Accounts and enters into an incessant exercise of texts of his predecessors and how he finds it as and when he himself
drawing comparisons between the landscapes represented in the visits them. His tonal bent constantly tries to trace the Colonial upper
texts of his predecessors and how he finds it as and when he himself hand. The characterization of the central figure, the narrator, is also
visits them. His tonal bent constantly tries to trace the Colonial upper done very strategically to emboss the upper- 58 class; well-educated
hand. The characterization of the central figure, the narrator, is also youth maintaining an evaluative gaze on the comparatively
done very strategically to emboss the upper- 58 class; well-educated 'backward' and 'developing' East. The analysis of this three facet
youth maintaining an evaluative gaze on the comparatively persona of Dalrymple is rightly done by Dorgelo in his doctoral thesis
'backward' and 'developing' East. The analysis of this three facet as “
persona of Dalrymple is rightly done by Dorgelo
There are up to three Dalrymple figures involved in each text: the
in his doctoral thesis as “There are up to three Dalrymple figures central, autobiographical character, the narrator, and finally the
involved in each text: the central, autobiographical character, the author / public figure....
narrator, and finally the author / public figure....
and the iterations of the autobiographical character as
and the iterations of the autobiographical character as "William" (Dorgelo Thesis). Dorgelo asserts giving the point of
"William" (Dorgelo Thesis). Dorgelo asserts giving the point of Edward Said's argument, “Orientalism is premised on exteriority, that
Edward Said's argument, “Orientalism is premised on exteriority, that is, on the fact that the Orientalist, poet or scholar, makes the Orient
is, on the fact that the Orientalist, poet or scholar, makes the Orient speak, describes the Orient, renders its mysteries plain for and to the
speak, describes the Orient, renders its mysteries plain for and to the West”, in that case, In Xanadu is a nostalgic tribute to past European
West”, in that case, In Xanadu is a nostalgic tribute to past European travel to and writing about the Orient, and a central component of the
travel to and writing about the Orient, and a central component of the protagonist’s characterisation is this unspoken relationship with
protagonist’s characterisation is this unspoken relationship with Orientalism. In essence Dalrymple studies the people and places he
449
Orientalism. In essence Dalrymple studies the people and places he comes across and comments on their way of life, occupations and
comes across and comments on their way of life, occupations and typicality and works to trace differences and all this he does with a
typicality and works to trace differences and all this he does with a hypothetical western audience in mind. The common similes he uses
hypothetical western audience in mind. The common similes he uses to convey and to drive the points home all are drawn from the
to convey and to drive the points home all are drawn from the western familiarities which are enough to convince the subconscious
western familiarities which are enough to convince the subconscious currents while the creative exercise is on. Travel writing has been
currents while the creative exercise is on. Travel writing has been labelled for its treatment and adoption of ‘Patriarchal’ and ‘Anglo-
labelled for its treatment and adoption of ‘Patriarchal’ and ‘Anglo- centric’ interweaving. Many critics have argued that the ‘Narrative
centric’ interweaving. Many critics have argued that the ‘Narrative Voice’ of the most of the texts of travel writings often tries to establish
Voice’ of the most of the texts of travel writings often tries to establish this masculine superiority in seemingly conscious tonal varieties or
this masculine superiority in seemingly conscious tonal varieties or sometimes the process goes on at the sub-conscious levels.
sometimes the process goes on at the sub-conscious levels. Dalrymple’s giving much importance to his female counterparts first
Dalrymple’s giving much importance to his female counterparts first Laura and then Louisa is perhaps his attempt to eliminate this sorts
Laura and then Louisa is perhaps his attempt to eliminate this sorts of blames from his texts, “It must be obvious to anyone who reads
of blames from his texts, “It must be obvious to anyone who reads this book that I owe an enormous debt to two people without whom
this book that I owe an enormous debt to two people without whom the whole enterprise could never have got off the ground. I dedicate
the whole enterprise could never have got off the ground. I dedicate this book with love and apologies to Laura and Louisa” (Dalrymple In
this book with love and apologies to Laura and Louisa” (Dalrymple In Xanadu Forward), still their involvement in the composition of the
Xanadu Forward), still their involvement in the composition of the things and selection of the issues does not play a vital role, and it is
things and selection of the issues does not play a vital role, and it is never issued or hinted by the author whether any of his companions
never issued or hinted by the author whether any of his companions maintains log book and ultimately intends to write down or publish a
maintains log book and ultimately intends to write down or publish a book or paper on the same trip. Similarly, by assimilating with the
book or paper on the same trip. Similarly, by assimilating with the people of the places he travels or ‘stays’ and trying to maintain
people of the places he travels or ‘stays’ and trying to maintain proficiencies in the local languages and to partake in the very one to
proficiencies in the local languages and to partake in the very one to one daily routine of the local public life, Dalrymple seems to make
one daily routine of the local public life, Dalrymple seems to make conscious efforts to keep his works free from being stamped as the
conscious efforts to keep his works free from being stamped as the works written with super ordinate temperament. Dorgelo rightly
works written with super ordinate temperament. Dorgelo rightly observes in his thesis, “...through his public appearances, wardrobe
observes in his thesis, “...through his public appearances, wardrobe and the arguments he makes, Dalrymple seeks to collapse the 59
and the arguments he makes, Dalrymple seeks to collapse the 59 distance between author, narrator, central character and public
distance between author, narrator, central character and public persona” (20). It is also not that Dalrymple is proficient in all local and
persona” (20). It is also not that Dalrymple is proficient in all local and vernacular languages and does not suffer from the limitations of
vernacular languages and does not suffer from the limitations of language barriers, still, as a writer, as he confesses to Peter Hulme
language barriers, still, as a writer, as he confesses to Peter Hulme in the Interview that, it is sometimes better to push the translator or
450
in the Interview that, it is sometimes better to push the translator or the interpreters in side and present the experience as just a firsthand
the interpreters in side and present the experience as just a firsthand one. (Interview with Peter Hulme) Debbie Lisle in The Global Politics
one. (Interview with Peter Hulme) Debbie Lisle in The Global Politics of Contemporary Travel Writing justly analyses the different
of Contemporary Travel Writing justly analyses the different approaches adopted by the contemporary travel writers:
approaches adopted by the contemporary travel writers: “Contemporary travel writers certainly recognize how the forces of
“Contemporary travel writers certainly recognize how the forces of globalization have changed cultural encounters forever. Some
globalization have changed cultural encounters forever. Some respond by reviving matrices of colonialism and patriarchy and
respond by reviving matrices of colonialism and patriarchy and foregrounding cultural differences (i.e. ‘they’ are still different from
foregrounding cultural differences (i.e. ‘they’ are still different from ‘us’). Unhappy with the colonial and the patriarchal tone of that
‘us’). Unhappy with the colonial and the patriarchal tone of that project, other travel writers seek to manage cultural differences – to
project, other travel writers seek to manage cultural differences – to locate, place and administer it within a framework of universal norms.
locate, place and administer it within a framework of universal norms. Cosmopolitan travel writers seek out difference in order to welcome
Cosmopolitan travel writers seek out difference in order to welcome it, include it and celebrate it: it doesn’t matter if ‘they’ are different
it, include it and celebrate it: it doesn’t matter if ‘they’ are different from ‘us’, as long as ‘we’ --- and th at makes everyone --- can join
from ‘us’, as long as ‘we’ --- and th at makes everyone --- can join together and celebrate those differences” (Lisle 75). All throughout
together and celebrate those differences” (Lisle 75). All throughout the book and in the presentation of the journey and encounter
the book and in the presentation of the journey and encounter accounts, Dalrymple maintains a sort of decency. Though he is
accounts, Dalrymple maintains a sort of decency. Though he is young graduate student and travels with young and beautiful ladies,
young graduate student and travels with young and beautiful ladies, his advances never acquire sexual tinge. In their travels throughout
his advances never acquire sexual tinge. In their travels throughout the Turkish Empire William and Laura had to act as a married
the Turkish Empire William and Laura had to act as a married couple, still there is no trace of physical attraction. Instead William
couple, still there is no trace of physical attraction. Instead William feels a kind of guardian pressure from Laura. When he was suffering
feels a kind of guardian pressure from Laura. When he was suffering from the loose motion at Anatolia and wants to rest still more, Laura
from the loose motion at Anatolia and wants to rest still more, Laura comes from her mission and directs him to go to the village side and
comes from her mission and directs him to go to the village side and to look for the carpet makers, William complaints about his health,
to look for the carpet makers, William complaints about his health, even at the time of departure too, Laura commands him to get ready
even at the time of departure too, Laura commands him to get ready instructing him to take and not to take certain food. But the same
instructing him to take and not to take certain food. But the same child like William becomes different in the company of Louisa. Here
child like William becomes different in the company of Louisa. Here he starts taking lead of the expedition as now his companion is quite
he starts taking lead of the expedition as now his companion is quite lazy and he is senior and experienced in the expedition. Louisa
lazy and he is senior and experienced in the expedition. Louisa whom he calls Lou out of previous affinities, joins him from Karachi
whom he calls Lou out of previous affinities, joins him from Karachi and then onwards they continue their journey together. There are
and then onwards they continue their journey together. There are many places where William makes reference that he was Lou’s ex-
many places where William makes reference that he was Lou’s ex- boyfriend and feels jealous of her present boy-friend. At one place he
451
boyfriend and feels jealous of her present boy-friend. At one place he cannot help admiring Louisa’s physical charms, and for the first time
cannot help admiring Louisa’s physical charms, and for the first time seems losing control on his decent gentlemanly narrations: “As I
seems losing control on his decent gentlemanly narrations: “As I talked to her I took in her neat figure. She had 60 such intelligent
talked to her I took in her neat figure. She had 60 such intelligent curves” (203). And at the last phase of the journey, being sheer
curves” (203). And at the last phase of the journey, being sheer helpless and in the great state of low spirits he resorts to use an ‘F’
helpless and in the great state of low spirits he resorts to use an ‘F’ word. Another important thing is William’s jovial flow of narratives. He
word. Another important thing is William’s jovial flow of narratives. He stuffs the narrations through his peculiar sense of humour.
stuffs the narrations through his peculiar sense of humour. Sometimes there are joyful instances of the natives’ enthusiasm of
Sometimes there are joyful instances of the natives’ enthusiasm of talking in English and through improper or uncertain use of the words
talking in English and through improper or uncertain use of the words or nativised pronunciation of English words help him cut jokes. (At
or nativised pronunciation of English words help him cut jokes. (At Pakistan border bottom, in turkey socks, at carpet place village) The
Pakistan border bottom, in turkey socks, at carpet place village) The overall impression of the book as a travel book can be summed up
overall impression of the book as a travel book can be summed up as it takes the reader within it and sways him/her with its narratives
as it takes the reader within it and sways him/her with its narratives and brings him/her face to face with what the author encounters in
and brings him/her face to face with what the author encounters in the first person singular narrative. It also envelops within its scope
the first person singular narrative. It also envelops within its scope the local as well as the historical issues which directly or indirectly
the local as well as the historical issues which directly or indirectly affect the local public life and through these details the readers are
affect the local public life and through these details the readers are benefited to have a wider scope to understand the culture and the
benefited to have a wider scope to understand the culture and the way of life which otherwise they would never have been able to
way of life which otherwise they would never have been able to access without leaving their own home. The places which the author
access without leaving their own home. The places which the author visits are decently and elaborately described with the author’s
visits are decently and elaborately described with the author’s consummate skills of narrative art. Sometimes the scene or the
consummate skills of narrative art. Sometimes the scene or the persons whom the author meets or deals in are put on pages with
persons whom the author meets or deals in are put on pages with just in outline words and in the fashion of a caricature artist the whole
just in outline words and in the fashion of a caricature artist the whole scene or the person comes alive before the eye or vision of the
scene or the person comes alive before the eye or vision of the reader and gives him/her an impression that he/she were personally
reader and gives him/her an impression that he/she were personally present there. For this the writer sometimes resorts to the narrative
present there. For this the writer sometimes resorts to the narrative descriptions and sometimes with a line or two of direct dialogues
descriptions and sometimes with a line or two of direct dialogues would sufficiently project what pictorial effects he wants to strike.
would sufficiently project what pictorial effects he wants to strike. More precisely, the readers have a brand new interpretation and
More precisely, the readers have a brand new interpretation and scholarly comments on the accounts of Marco Polo which William
scholarly comments on the accounts of Marco Polo which William Dalrymple has taken as the foundation of his travels. Because as he
Dalrymple has taken as the foundation of his travels. Because as he studies and re studies ‘Travels’ for his explorations his understanding
452
studies and re studies ‘Travels’ for his explorations his understanding about it develops and it makes it way in the book thus, it benefits the
about it develops and it makes it way in the book thus, it benefits the reader from the historic purviews. 61 Works Cited
reader from the historic purviews. 61 Works Cited
Coleridge, S.T. Kubla Khan. London: Bodleian Library, 1816. Print.
Dalrymple,
Williams. In Xanadu. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1989.
Williams. In Xanadu.
Print ---. Interview with Tim Youngs. Studies in Travel Writing 9
New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1989. Print ---. Interview with Tim (2005): 37-63.
Youngs. Studies in Travel Writing 9 (2005): 37-63.
Print.
Print.
Cambridge
Cambridge
Companion to Travel Writing.
Companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Young.
Cambridge Ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Young. Cambridge
U U P, 2002. Print.
P, 2002. Print. Lisle, Debbie. The Global politics of contemporary Travel Writing.
New York:
Lisle, Debbie. The Global politics of contemporary Travel Writing.
New York: Cambridge U P. 2006.
Print. Modern Language Association. The MLA Handbook for Writers of

Modern Language Association. The MLA Handbook for Writers of 2009. Print.
2009. Print. Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage-Random, 1979. Print.
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Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage-Random, 1979. Print.

62 63
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VII VIII VII VIII
Travel is not something new to us. It is a fascinating part of human Travel is not something new to us. It is a fascinating part of human
life. The human history is a history of travel. Man had to travel from life. The human history is a history of travel. Man had to travel from
place to place either in order to fulfill his basic needs or to retain his place to place either in order to fulfill his basic needs or to retain his
existence from time immemorial. Even it won’t be an exaggeration to existence from time immemorial. Even it won’t be an exaggeration to
claim that today’s modern-developed-world has turned into reality as claim that today’s modern-developed-world has turned into reality as
a result of man’s tendencies of traveling. Travel is one of the a result of man’s tendencies of traveling. Travel is one of the
indispensable activities of human life. Whether one travels to foreign indispensable activities of human life. Whether one travels to foreign
lands or just across the city, it is a journey, and from the journeying lands or just across the city, it is a journey, and from the journeying
one shapes oneself, history and the stories one tells. one shapes oneself, history and the stories
Traveling expands the circumference of horizons of knowledge and one tells.

insight of any human being. It not only brings different cultures and
cultural heritages closer but also induces understanding and social Traveling expands the circumference of horizons of knowledge and
integrity. In ancient times the apparent purposes behind any travel insight of any human being. It not only brings different cultures and
were either that of religious- i.e. Pilgrimage or that of Trades and cultural heritages closer but also induces understanding and social
Business. But with the advancement of time, the intentions have integrity. In ancient times the apparent purposes behind any travel
changed. Now, people travel to understand different cultures, for joy, were either that of religious- i.e. Pilgrimage or that of Trades and
for change, for reducing stress. Even one travels for literary, political Business. But with the advancement of time, the intentions have
or economic reasons. A tendency to travel for the sake of travel, just changed. Now, people travel to understand different cultures, for joy,
wander without any defined purpose, is also found in some persons. for change, for reducing stress. Even one travels for literary, political
It is noticed that, in the ancient times the ecclesiastical personalities or economic reasons. A tendency to travel for the sake of travel, just
traveled from place to place with a view to spreading the scopes and
horizons of their specific religious beliefs and attract people of other wander without any defined purpose, is also found in some persons.
religions towards their own. With these motives many Christian It is noticed that, in the ancient times the ecclesiastical personalities
missionaries ransacked all over the world. Same is the case with the traveled from place to place with a view to spreading the scopes and
Buddhist Lamas and the Jain Monks. The purposes of European, horizons of their specific religious beliefs and attract people of other
Japanese, Chinese and Mughal travellers were different. It is very religions towards their own. With these motives many Christian
famous that travelers like Columbus, Vasco-De-Gama, Fahiyan, missionaries ransacked all over the world. Same is the case with the
Hue-en- Sang, Itsing, Alberuni, Ibn Batutta, Marco Polo, even Indian Buddhist Lamas and the Jain Monks. The purposes of European,
455
saints like Swami Vivekananda, Shankracharya, Swami Ramtirth, Japanese, Chinese and Mughal travellers were different. It is very
etc. have travelled for different purposes. Such TRAVELERS, who famous that travelers like Columbus, Vasco-De-Gama, Fahiyan,
have got the creative bent and ability to mould their experiences with Hue-en- Sang, Itsing, Alberuni, Ibn Batutta, Marco Polo, even Indian
due amount of fictional creativity give account of their journeys in saints like Swami Vivekananda, Shankracharya, Swami Ramtirth,
artistic vein and this gives shape to what can be termed as ‘Travel etc. have travelled for different purposes. Such TRAVELERS, who
Literature’ – i.e. Travel writing of literary value. have got the creative bent and ability to mould their experiences with
due amount of fictional creativity give account of their journeys in
Travel writing remains a loosely defined body of literature and the artistic vein and this gives shape to what can be termed as ‘Travel
general assumptions about it would be that Travel writing is a factual, Literature’ – i.e. Travel writing of literary value.
first – person account of a journey undertaken by the author.
Whereas, in reality as a form of literature it involves absorption of Travel writing remains a loosely defined body of literature and the
differing narrative style and genres, the writer’s captioning of the general assumptions about it would be that Travel writing is a factual,
issues, attachment, etc. and hence, it can be regarded as a relatively first – person account of a journey undertaken by the author.
open-ended and versatile form of literature. William Dalrymple, born Whereas, in reality as a form of literature it involves absorption of
in Scotland and living in India, has proved his merits as a competent differing narrative style and genres, the writer’s captioning of the
History and Travel writer of the present day. He captured the issues, attachment, etc. and hence, it can be regarded as a relatively
attention of the literary world with his first book ‘In Xanadu’ in open-ended and versatile form of literature. William Dalrymple, born
nineteen ninety, which won him Yorkshire Post Award, an award for in Scotland and living in India, has proved his merits as a competent
the best first work and was also short-listed for John Llewllyn History and Travel writer of the present day. He captured the
Rhysine Memorial Prize. According to him, “Traveling to places is attention of the literary world with his first book ‘In Xanadu’ in
merely a starting point for an intellectual journey through past nineteen ninety, which won him Yorkshire Post Award, an award for
civilizations and cultures.” The Researcher has pursued the subject the best first work and was also short-listed for John Llewllyn
and brought forth the critical, analytical and literary significance of Rhysine Memorial Prize. According to him, “Traveling to places is
travel literature with reference to travel writing of William Dalrymple. merely a starting point for an intellectual journey through past
The study will be greatly IX helpful for literary perusal of travel civilizations and cultures.” The Researcher has pursued the subject
literature, to understand the focus of the author understudy, Viz. and brought forth the critical, analytical and literary significance of
William Dalrymple. Chapter 1: “Introduction” (I) Travel Literature: The travel literature with reference to travel writing of William Dalrymple.
first chapter Introduction focuses on basic conception, part and role The study will be greatly IX helpful for literary perusal of travel
of ‘travel’ in the development of human civilization, the presentation literature, to understand the focus of the author understudy, Viz.
of panoramic history of travel literature and the modern scenario of William Dalrymple. Chapter 1: “Introduction” (I) Travel Literature: The
Travel writing. It also introduces the author, William Dalrymple. One first chapter Introduction focuses on basic conception, part and role
of the many ways that human beings have bound themselves to of ‘travel’ in the development of human civilization, the presentation
each other and have attempted to bridge culture and geographic of panoramic history of travel literature and the modern scenario of
distances is through ‘travel.’ ‘Travel’ has greatly and deeply Travel writing. It also introduces the author, William Dalrymple. One
456
influenced the developments of human civilization. Eric Leed of the many ways that human beings have bound themselves to
comments “Recorded history-the history of civilization- is a story of each other and have attempted to bridge culture and geographic
mobilities, migration, settlements, of the adaption of human groups to distances is through ‘travel.’ ‘Travel’ has greatly and deeply
place and their integration into topography, the creation of ‘homes’.” influenced the developments of human civilization. Eric Leed
The religion, the integral part of human life, also inspires ‘travels’-just comments “Recorded history-the history of civilization- is a story of
as the tradition of ‘pilgrimage’ is a secure- step for these who seek mobilities, migration, settlements, of the adaption of human groups to
salvation .The ‘traveler’s tale, ‘travel’ ,’travelogue’, -is as old as place and their integration into topography, the creation of ‘homes’.”
fiction itself. Earliest extant writing fairly represents ‘travel’ – as a The religion, the integral part of human life, also inspires ‘travels’-just
form of heroic adventure. In the western extant writings, as the tradition of ‘pilgrimage’ is a secure- step for these who seek
salvation .The ‘traveler’s tale, ‘travel’ ,’travelogue’, -is as old as
the earliest stories, composed in Egypt during twelfth dynasty, a fiction itself. Earliest extant writing fairly represents ‘travel’ – as a
thousand years before ‘Odyssey’ form of heroic adventure. In the western extant writings, the earliest
stories, composed in Egypt during twelfth dynasty, a thousand years
is a story of ship wrecked sailor alone on a marvelous island. The before ‘Odyssey’ is a story of ship wrecked sailor alone on a
biblical and classical traditions are also rich in examples of travel marvelous island. The biblical and classical traditions are also rich in
writing, literal and symbolic- Exodius , the punishment of Cain, the examples of travel writing, literal and symbolic- Exodius , the
Argonaut , the Aneid , etc .In Indian mythology too, ‘travel’ has punishment of Cain, the Argonaut , the Aneid , etc .In Indian
secured important place. The Vedic texts, the Ramayana, the mythology too, ‘travel’ has secured important place. The Vedic texts,
Mahabharata, the Purans all these are replete with accounts of travel the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Purans all these are replete
in which the protagonist undertake journey to the unknown lands. with accounts of travel in which the protagonist undertake journey to
From the Ancient ones, the modern conceptions have developed in the unknown lands. From the Ancient ones, the modern conceptions
exactly different directions. In the ancient times, ‘travel’ was taken as have developed in exactly different directions. In the ancient times,
a painful chain of unexpected circumstances, as a curse, as a dome ‘travel’ was taken as a painful chain of unexpected circumstances, as
of sufferings. Today- ‘travel writing’ encompasses all kinds of a curse, as a dome of sufferings. Today- ‘travel writing’ encompasses
accounts- Scientific travels, Voyages of exploration and discovery, all kinds of accounts- Scientific travels, Voyages of exploration and
description of foreign manners. It has equaled and excelled in discovery, description of foreign manners. It has equaled and
popularity as well as in quality as an independent body of literature. excelled in popularity as well as in quality as an independent body of
The general assumptions about it would be that “Travel writing is a literature. The general assumptions about it would be that “Travel
factual, first – person account of a journey undertaken by the author.” writing is a factual, first – person account of a journey undertaken by
Whereas, in reality as a form of literature it involves absorption of the author.” Whereas, in reality as a form of literature it involves
differing narrative style and genres, the writer’s captioning absorption of differing narrative style and genres, the writer’s
captioning
of the issues, attachment, etc. After an in-depth study of the various
critical approaches to the travel writing and having concentrated on of the issues, attachment, etc. After
several popular travel texts, the researcher has pinpointed certain
457
salient key-features of travel writing, which to a greater or lesser an in-depth study of the various critical approaches to the travel
degree operate in the composition of the travel narratives ( writing and having concentrated on several popular travel texts, the
researcher has pinpointed certain salient key-features of travel
II) Life and Works of William Dalrymple William Dalrymple (born 20 writing, which to a greater or lesser degree operate in the
March 1965 in Scotland) is an award winning historian and travel composition of
writer, as well as a distinguished broadcaster, critic, art historian,
foreign correspondent. Dalrymple was born William Hamilton- the travel narratives (
Dalrymple, the son of Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple,10th baronet, a
cousin of Virginia Woolf. II) Life and Works of William Dalrymple William Dalrymple (born 20
March 1965 in Scotland) is an award winning historian and travel
He was educated at Ampleforth College and Trinity College, writer, as well as a distinguished broadcaster, critic, art historian,
Cambridge, where he was first a history exhibitioner and then senior foreign correspondent. Dalrymple was born William Hamilton-
history scholar. Dalrymple, the son of Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple,10th baronet, a
cousin of Virginia Woolf.
Dalrymple, who has lived in New Delhi on and off since 1989
He was educated at Ampleforth College and Trinity College,
is married to the artist Olivia Fraser and has three children, Ibby, Cambridge, where he was first a history exhibitioner and then senior
Sam, and Adam, history scholar.
and a cockatoo called X Albinia. The South Asia correspondent of Dalrymple, who has lived in New Delhi on and off since 1989
the New Statesman since 2004, he is a fellow of the Royal Asiatic
Society and the Royal Society of Literature Dalrymple's interests is married to the artist Olivia Fraser and has three children, Ibby,
include India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Middle East Mughal rule, Sam, and Adam,
the Muslim Traditions, Hinduism, Budhdhism, Jainism, and Clash of
religions in the Middle East regions. All of his seven books have won and a cockatoo called X Albinia. The South Asia correspondent of
major literary prizes, as have his radio and television documentaries. the New Statesman since 2004, he is a fellow of the Royal Asiatic
His first three were travel books based on his journeys in the Middle Society and the Royal Society of Literature Dalrymple's interests
East, India and Central Asia. His early influences included the travel include India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Middle East Mughal rule,
writers such as Robert Byron, Eric Newby, and Bruce Chatwin. More the Muslim Traditions, Hinduism, Budhdhism, Jainism, and Clash of
recently, Dalrymple has published a book of essays about South religions in the Middle East regions. All of his seven books have won
Asia, and two award-winning histories of the interaction between the major literary prizes, as have his radio and television documentaries.
British and the Mughals between the eighteenth and mid nineteenth His first three were travel books based on his journeys in the Middle
century. His books have been translated into more than 30 East, India and Central Asia. His early influences included the travel
languages. Chapter 2: In Xanadu: This chapter covers the critical writers such as Robert Byron, Eric Newby, and Bruce Chatwin. More
evaluation of In Xanadu; the first book of William Dalrymple. It was recently, Dalrymple has published a book of essays about South
458
published in 1989 when the author was in his early twenties. It traces Asia, and two award-winning histories of the interaction between the
the path taken by Marco Polo from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre British and the Mughals between the eighteenth and mid nineteenth
in Jerusalem to the site of Shang-tu, famed as Xanadu in English century. His books have been translated into more than 30
literature, in Inner Mongolia, China. William Dalrymple took a vial of languages. Chapter 2: In Xanadu: This chapter covers the critical
holy oil from the burning lamps of the Holy Sepulchre, which he is to evaluation of In Xanadu; the first book of William Dalrymple. It was
transport to Shang-tu (Xanadu), the summer seat of the King Kublai published in 1989 when the author was in his early twenties. It traces
Khan. He traverses this journey via the silk route, which Marco Polo the path taken by Marco Polo from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
was supposed to have passed. The author has recorded in Jerusalem to the site of Shang-tu, famed as Xanadu in English
literature, in Inner Mongolia, China. William Dalrymple took a vial of
his reflections of the places he visits and the people he meets. He holy oil from the burning lamps of the Holy Sepulchre, which he is to
nicely weaves the narration of his travels sometimes in the serious transport to Shang-tu (Xanadu), the summer seat of the King Kublai
Historical research vein and sometimes in comic. The core success Khan. He traverses this journey via the silk route, which Marco Polo
and the interesting part of his book lies in his mastery of enacting was supposed to have passed. The author has recorded
dialogue with the local persons and his co-travelers and
dramatization of his experiences and the characters with whom he his reflections of the places he visits and the people he meets. He
interacts. The entire work revolves round his scheme of following the nicely weaves the narration of his travels sometimes in the serious
route of Marco Polo and thereby issuing his own reactions to the Historical research vein and sometimes in comic. The core success
journey and observations of Polo, verifying the narrations and the and the interesting part of his book lies in his mastery of enacting
details provided by this senior traveler and marking his own dialogue with the local persons and his co-travelers and
observations on to how the scenario has withstood the course of dramatization of his experiences and the characters with whom he
time and traits of development. interacts. The entire work revolves round his scheme of following the
route of Marco Polo and
Chapter 3: City of Djinns: This chapter covers the critical evaluation
of City of Djinns (1994) by thereby
William Dalrymple. City of Djinns is a unique sort of travel book. issuing his own reactions to the journey and observations of Polo,
Generally travel books narrate the routes and travelling places and verifying the narrations and the details provided by this senior
the writer’s own reflections on such travels. But, the City of Djinns traveler and marking his own observations on to how the scenario
stands apart in the sense that it records Dalrymple’s year long stay has withstood the course of time and traits of development.
at this Historic city – which stomachs within it, like the layers of
onion, layers of historic developments and destructions, adding Chapter 3: City of Djinns: This chapter covers the critical evaluation
tastes to the Indian History but at the same time bringing gush of of City of Djinns (1994) by William Dalrymple.
tears in one’s eyes too. William Dalrymple claims it to be ‘the story of
one year in Delhi’. He describes the city as the 'most complicated City of Djinns is a unique sort of travel book. Generally travel books
city he knows'. Dalrymple had visited Delhi when he was of narrate the routes and travelling places and the writer’s own
459
seventeen and was instantly under its spell. His initial attraction and reflections on such travels. But, the City of Djinns stands apart in the
wonder stricken reactions gradually matured into serious research sense that it records Dalrymple’s year long stay at this Historic city –
stuff. He says in prologue: “Moreover - I soon discovered – (Delhi) which stomachs within it, like the layers of onion, layers of historic
developments and destructions, adding tastes to the Indian History
possessed a bottomless seam of stories, tales receding far beyond but at the same time bringing gush of tears in one’s eyes too. William
history, deep into the cavernous chambers of myth and legend". [ Dalrymple claims it to be ‘the story of one year in Delhi’. He
describes the city as the 'most complicated city he knows'. Dalrymple
Pp.08, City of Djinns] XI William Dalrymple records his quest of the had visited Delhi when he was of seventeen and was instantly under
Historic Developments of this city and in the course of it he nicely its spell. His initial attraction and wonder stricken reactions gradually
captures his encounters with a variety of people which range from a matured into serious research stuff. He says in
Sufi, a Taxi-Driver, Government officials, a clan of Anglo-Indians who
have made India their home with their numberless grudges for ‘new prologue: “
civilization’ emerging in Delhi, and India at large’.
Moreover - I soon discovered – (Delhi) possessed a bottomless
Chapter 4: From the Holy Mountain: This chapter covers the critical seam of stories,
evaluation of
tales receding far beyond history, deep into the cavernous chambers
From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium of myth and
(1997)
legend". [Pp.08, City of Djinns] XI William Dalrymple records his
by William Dalrymple. This book is again schemed to follow in the quest of the Historic Developments of this city and in the course of it
footstep of the famous historic Figure. This time it is the great he nicely captures his encounters with a variety of people which
Byzantine Saint Moschos and range from a Sufi, a Taxi-Driver, Government officials, a clan of
Anglo-Indians who have made India their home with their
his disciple Sophronious, the sophist. numberless grudges for ‘new civilization’ emerging in Delhi, and
India at large’.
John Moschos’s “The Spiritual Meadows” provides the prime
inspiration to William Dalrymple to explore the parts of the Middle Chapter 4: From the Holy Mountain: This chapter covers the critical
East and he tries to have the glimpses of John Moschos’s world of evaluation of From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of
Byzantium. Byzantium (1997) by William Dalrymple. This book is again schemed
to follow in the footstep of the famous historic Figure. This time it is
The visit, vista and encounters of John Moschos and William the great Byzantine Saint Moschos and
Dalrymple in this world stand far apart. The experiences and
presentations of both the travelers have polar differences as at time his disciple Sophronious, the sophist. John Moschos’s “The Spiritual
of Moschos visit, the Byzantium was full of bustling Christian Meadows” provides the prime inspiration to William Dalrymple to
460
communities, glorifying Churches, renowned Monasteries, but after explore the parts of the Middle East and he tries to have the
hundreds of years, at the time of William’s visit, the scenario has lost glimpses of John Moschos’s world of Byzantium.
the tinge of Christianity altogether, and what remains has been in the
state of decline and decay and the remains can be said to have The visit, vista and encounters of John Moschos and William
survived only through the chance of fortune ---abandoned/deserted Dalrymple in this world stand far apart. The experiences and
Churches, depeopled Monasteries waiting their destruction and a presentations of both the travelers have polar differences as at time
few Christian communities with palpating hearts uncertain about their of Moschos visit, the Byzantium was full of bustling Christian
security. Now, it is only a Muslim world ruling supreme the Middle communities, glorifying Churches, renowned Monasteries, but after
East and constantly trying to drive the left over Christians out of the hundreds of years, at the time of William’s visit, the scenario has lost
region by hook or crook. The struggle of Christian cult to hold on to the tinge of Christianity altogether, and what remains has been in the
their roots seems yielding to the socio-political forces engineered state of decline and decay and the remains can be said to have
only in the favour of one particular group at the cost of the other. To survived only through the chance of fortune ---abandoned/deserted
be more precise, the decline and disturbances started well at the Churches, depeopled Monasteries waiting their destruction and a
time of Moschos’ travels and are captured in his accounts too few Christian communities with palpating hearts uncertain about their
security. Now, it is only a Muslim world ruling supreme the Middle
and the traces of it are found Moschos’ pronouncements. What East and constantly trying to drive the left over Christians out of the
William witnesses is the culmination of all atrocities to the Christians region by hook or crook. The struggle of Christian cult to hold on to
in the very lands where it first originated. their roots seems yielding to the socio-political forces engineered
only in the favour of one particular group at the cost of the other. To
The Christian population was either crumbled and suffocated through be more precise, the decline and disturbances started well at the
consciously calculated policies or time of Moschos’ travels and are captured in his accounts too
they and the traces of it are found Moschos’ pronouncements. What

William witnesses is the culmination of all atrocities to the Christians
immigrated to the safer parts of the earth to save themselves from in the very lands where it first originated.
the atrocious treatments from the powerful forces in the entire region
of the Middle-East. The beginning of the process of the decadence of The Christian population was either crumbled and suffocated through
Christianity which Moschos witnessed during his journeys, William consciously calculated policies or they immigrated to the safer parts
finds it on the verge of its completion. of the earth to save themselves from the atrocious treatments from
the powerful forces in the entire region of the Middle-East. The
Chapter 5: The Age of Kali: This chapter discusses Dalrymple’s beginning of the process of the decadence of Christianity which
fourth book, The Age of Kali. With this book he once again comes to Moschos witnessed during his journeys, William finds it on the verge
the subject of India. It was published in 1998 and is a collection of of its completion.
essays collected through almost a decade of travel around the Indian
subcontinent. The book encompasses many controversial subjects
461
such as Sati, the caste wars in India, political corruption and Chapter 5: The Age of Kali: This chapter discusses Dalrymple’s
terrorism. It was released in India renamed as At the Court of the fourth book, The Age of Kali. With this book he once again comes to
Fish-Eyed Goddess i.e. the Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai. He the subject of India. It was published in 1998 and is a collection of
describes the various changes that have undergone since essays collected through almost a decade of travel around the Indian
independence and the also the cultural heritage being retained by subcontinent. The book encompasses many controversial subjects
the people since ancient times. such as Sati, the caste wars in India, political corruption and
terrorism. It was released in India renamed as At the Court of the
Being a traveler, journalist and Historian the varied and eerie things Fish-Eyed Goddess i.e. the Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai. He
about this part of the globe attracts him. And the outcome of his toil describes the various changes that have undergone since
on the socio-political conditions of these XII Asian nations is –this independence and the also the cultural heritage being retained by
collection of essays. the people since ancient times.
On witnessing the bloodshed violence spread throughout the Being a traveler, journalist and Historian the varied and eerie things
subcontinent, he states, he feels convinced that the Age of Kali has about this part of the globe attracts him. And the outcome of his toil
in reality cuffed the human race here, and made them thirsty of each on the socio-political conditions of these XII Asian nations is –this
other’s blood- no matter whatever is the ground. Be it social, political collection of essays.
or the religious, or on the grounds of morality, status or family feuds,
the human race seems on the dagger drawing stance. Tolerance and On witnessing the bloodshed violence spread throughout the
broad- mindedness are no longer in the index of human virtues, subcontinent, he states, he feels convinced that the Age of Kali has
rather they are considered to be the attributes of weakness in the in reality cuffed the human race here, and made them thirsty of each
social arena. Man finds himself entangled with his own fellow people other’s blood- no matter whatever is the ground. Be it social, political
and he feels he has to struggle hard to get what, he thinks, is or the religious, or on the grounds of morality, status or family feuds,
essential for his well- being and happiness. The weakest points of the human race seems on the dagger drawing stance. Tolerance and
Democracy have got surfaced and the reins of power have been broad- mindedness are no longer in the index of human virtues,
grabbed by the persons with criminal backgrounds..... The rather they are considered to be the attributes of weakness in the
social arena. Man finds himself entangled with his own fellow people
book covers the and he feels he has to struggle hard to get what, he thinks, is
essential for his well- being and happiness. The weakest points of
author's meetings with Benazir Bhutto, cricketer Imran Khan, his Democracy have got surfaced and the reins of power have been
interview of author Shobha De and Baba Seghal as symbols of grabbed by the persons with criminal backgrounds.....
modern India. Dalrymple covers Sri Lanka just as the IPKF is pulling
out of the country. He also visits Reunion, an island in the Indian The
Ocean which is an overseas department of France. Chapter 6:
book covers the author's meetings with Benazir Bhutto, cricketer
Nine Lives: Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India Imran Khan, his interview of author Shobha De and Baba Seghal as
462
is again a new experiment of William Dalrymple in the genre of symbols of modern India. Dalrymple covers Sri Lanka just as the
Travel Writing. During his stay and travels in India, Dalrymple has IPKF is pulling out of the country. He also visits Reunion, an island in
come across a lot many characters. But out of them, he picks up the Indian Ocean which is an overseas department of France.
Nine special characters on the grounds of their special religious cult Chapter 6:
and practice of austere life on the rules of it. The characters include
a Jain Nun, A Devadasi, A Theyyam Dancer, a Budhhist Monk, a Nine Lives: Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India
Sufi Qualander, a Bronze Idol Maker, a nomadic Epic Singer, Baul
Singers and the curers of the Skulls from Kolkatta,, is again a new experiment of William Dalrymple in the genre of
Travel Writing. During his stay and travels in India, Dalrymple has
In many of his interviews, news paper articles and in public meetings come across a lot many characters. But out of them, he picks up
as a part of Nine special characters on the grounds of their special religious cult
and practice of austere life on the rules of it. The characters include
the promotion of his ‘Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern a Jain Nun, A Devadasi, A Theyyam Dancer, a Budhhist Monk, a
India’, William Dalrymple Sufi Qualander, a Bronze Idol Maker, a nomadic Epic Singer, Baul
Singers and the curers of the Skulls from Kolkatta,,
clearly mentions that he has adopted a new scheme in this book.
And he has been favourably received on this plain too. In his column In many of his interviews, news paper articles and in public meetings
in the Guardian, in connection to his scheme of narratives in Nine as a part of the promotion of his ‘
Lives, he asserts, “I decided to adopt a quite different form. When In
Xanadu was published at the end of the 80s, travel writing tended to Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India’, William Dalrymple
highlight the narrator: his adventures were the subject; the people he
met were often reduced to objects in the background. I have tried to clearly mentions that he has adopted a new scheme in this book.
invert this, and keep the narrator in the shadows, so bringing the And he has been favourably received on this plain too. In his column
lives of the people I have met to the fore and placing their stories in the Guardian, in connection to his scheme of narratives in Nine
centre stage”. Lives, he asserts, “I decided to adopt a quite different form. When In
Xanadu was published at the end of the 80s, travel writing tended to
Chapter 7: Conclusion: The chapter finally examines critically and highlight the narrator: his adventures were the subject; the people he
analyses comparatively the writings of William Dalrymple with the met were often reduced to objects in the background. I have tried to
general conceptions of travel literature. It also analyses as to what invert this, and keep the narrator in the shadows, so bringing the
extent his travel writing touches the issues of modern civilizations as lives of the people I have met to the fore and placing their stories
the pieces of creative literature. It also establishes how indigenous centre stage”.
critical/ theoretical tools of criticism can give us a fruitful reading of
travel writings of William Dalrymple. Chapter 7: Conclusion: The chapter finally examines critically and
analyses comparatively the writings of William Dalrymple with the
general conceptions of travel literature. It also analyses as to what
463
In all the books studied, the researcher has found that William extent his travel writing touches the issues of modern civilizations as
Dalrymple has carefully interwoven his personal reflections, the pieces of creative literature. It also establishes how indigenous
memoirs, historical facts which he collects through his toiling through critical/ theoretical tools of criticism can give us a fruitful reading of
different Archives, personal or Institutional libraries, interviews of the travel writings of William Dalrymple.
natives who command the authority in the area of knowledge of the
topics/issues under focus, references to the earlier travel accounts In all the books studied, the researcher has found that William
along with his journey and encounters with the local people and Dalrymple has carefully interwoven his personal reflections,
culture. He constitutes a very jovial and free narrative with sparkles memoirs, historical facts which he collects through his toiling through
of humour and informative cubes. Close perusal of the texts gives us different Archives, personal or Institutional libraries, interviews of the
an idea that William XIII Dalrymple has carefully developed his natives who command the authority in the area of knowledge of the
persona in the narrative who is the centre or the hero of his narrative. topics/issues under focus, references to the earlier travel accounts
His along with his journey and encounters with the local people and
culture. He constitutes a very jovial and free narrative with sparkles
first book, In Xanadu has been framed upon the readymade route of of humour and informative cubes. Close perusal of the texts gives us
the historic traveler, Marco Polo and his silk route from Jerusalem to an idea that William XIII Dalrymple has carefully developed his
ShangTu in China. The scheme of traveling on such a readymade persona in the narrative who is the centre or the hero of his narrative.
route gives the travel writer two privileges; firstly, as he is travelling in His
the footsteps of the senior, more popular traveler whose travel texts
are well- known, he gets a route and the destination. Secondly, it first book, In Xanadu has been framed upon the readymade route of
gives him the opportunity to look into the measures of the cultural the historic traveler, Marco Polo and his silk route from Jerusalem to
developments from the view points of ‘then’ and ‘now’; the latent ShangTu in China. The scheme of traveling on such a readymade
theme of his travels as to compare and contrast and validate the route gives the travel writer two privileges; firstly, as he is travelling in
previous version of the journey. His second book, City of Djinns the footsteps of the senior, more popular traveler whose travel texts
documents his travel in residence in the city. It covers the span of are well- known, he gets a route and the destination. Secondly, it
one year stay of the writer in the city and presents the tale of the city. gives him the opportunity to look into the measures of the cultural
The scheme here is that of historical excavation of the facts that developments from the view points of ‘then’ and ‘now’; the latent
have contributed greatly to the development of the city. As the author theme of his travels as to compare and contrast and validate the
keeps travelling among the recesses of the city, he comes across the previous version of the journey. His second book, City of Djinns
various facets of the city which he brings in his narration documents his travel in residence in the city. It covers the span of
interweaving the past and the present scenario. His third book, From one year stay of the writer in the city and presents the tale of the city.
the Holy Mountain again follows the framework of following the The scheme here is that of historical excavation of the facts that
footsteps of the historic and famous traveler. This time he travels in have contributed greatly to the development of the city. As the author
the central Asian territories. He follows the footsteps of the great keeps travelling among the recesses of the city, he comes across the
Gregorian Saint Moschos and documents along with the present day various facets of the city which he brings in his narration
464
ethnographic scenario, the process of wiping out of the Christianity interweaving the past and the present scenario. His third book, From
from its very origin place which initiated in the time of Moschos which the Holy Mountain again follows the framework of following the
Moschos noted in his book Spiritual Meadows. William here notes footsteps of the historic and famous traveler. This time he travels in
that the process which Moschos saw initiated has reached to its the central Asian territories. He follows the footsteps of the great
culmination and he himself with pains found the wild play of atrocities Gregorian Saint Moschos and documents along with the present day
exercised on the left over groups of Christian faith. The Age of Kali ethnographic scenario, the process of wiping out of the Christianity
and Nine Lives focus on the Indian subcontinent. In The Age of Kali from its very origin place which initiated in the time of Moschos which
he presents the socio-political issues of India, Sri Lanka and Moschos noted in his book Spiritual Meadows. William here notes
Pakistan whereas in Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern that the process which Moschos saw initiated has reached to its
India, he presents the accounts of some nine ecclesiastical culmination and he himself with pains found the wild play of atrocities
personalities who belong to different spiritual practices practiced in exercised on the left over groups of Christian faith. The Age of Kali
India and takes an exercise to understand how faith and the spiritual and Nine Lives focus on the Indian subcontinent. In The Age of Kali
practices have retained their effectiveness and remained in terms he presents the socio-political issues of India, Sri Lanka and
with India’s switching over to the modernistic western-centric Pakistan whereas in Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern
developments. On the whole William has emerged as a luminous India, he presents the accounts of some nine ecclesiastical
star on the literary horizons who works meticulously on the projects personalities who belong to different spiritual practices practiced in
on his hand, tries to get to the original sources of the first hand India and takes an exercise to understand how faith and the spiritual
knowledge and tries to contribute to the literary world with his practices have retained their effectiveness and remained in terms
meritorious and best-selling stuff of travel narratives. 1 % with India’s switching over to the modernistic western-centric
developments. On the whole William has emerged as a luminous
star on the literary horizons who works meticulously on the projects
on his hand, tries to get to the original sources of the first hand
knowledge and tries to contribute to the literary world with his
meritorious and best-selling stuff of travel narratives.
465
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9: 13_bibliography.pdf 100% 9: 13_bibliography.pdf 100%
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---. From the Holy Mountain. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1997. Print. ---. From the Holy Mountain. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1997. Print.
---. The Age of Kali. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1998. Print. ---. Nine ---. The Age of Kali. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1998. Print. ---. Nine
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Instances from: 04_Travelogue on my research voyage.pdf
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IV V Whatever the task one wants to accomplish on the earth, it can IV V Whatever the task one wants to accomplish on the earth, it can
never be materialized without the divine inspiration and graces. The never be materialized without the divine inspiration and graces. The
Supreme Will of the Goddess Saraswati (Muse) and blessings of Supreme Will of the Goddess Saraswati (Muse) and blessings of
one’s Parents induce one to initiate the dream projects in one’s life. one’s Parents induce one to initiate the dream projects in one’s life.
In addition to this; the feather touch of the scholarly learning of the In addition to this; the feather touch of the scholarly learning of the
teacher-supervisor who always keeps the path illuminated means a teacher-supervisor who always keeps the path illuminated means a
lot. Not only this, the atmosphere one works in acts no less than lot. Not only this, the atmosphere one works in acts no less than
divine graces, be it HOME or Work-Place. In my case all this divine graces, be it HOME or Work-Place. In my case all this
elements have clubbed their hands and the result is nothing but the elements have clubbed their hands and the result is nothing but the
accomplished task of the voyage in the area of Travel Literature. For accomplished task of the voyage in the area of Travel Literature. For
years together I hatched a desire to initiate something in the form of years together I hatched a desire to initiate something in the form of
empirical Research. My Father’s voracious reading even after his empirical Research. My Father’s voracious reading even after his
retirement from the job of a Primary Teacher and his dreams to see retirement from the job of a Primary Teacher and his dreams to see
us acquiring the highest possible degrees in the Higher Education us acquiring the highest possible degrees in the Higher Education
has always inspired me to undertake a task in the field of research. has always inspired me to undertake a task in the field of research.
Literature studies and teaching of it for at least a decade in my Literature studies and teaching of it for at least a decade in my
career made me realize the vastness and infinite possibilities in this career made me realize the vastness and infinite possibilities in this
realm of gold. Sometimes drama, sometimes fiction, some other time realm of gold. Sometimes drama, sometimes fiction, some other time
non-fiction riveted my attention. More or less I found myself close to non-fiction riveted my attention. More or less I found myself close to
Indian English creative writings. Still nothing took any tangible shape. Indian English creative writings. Still nothing took any tangible shape.
I kept on turning stones of possibilities upside down. At such juncture I kept on turning stones of possibilities upside down. At such juncture
of mental exercise to determine the direction of my research voyage, of mental exercise to determine the direction of my research voyage,
I happened to come across one book, Nine Lives: A search of sacred I happened to come across one book, Nine Lives: A search of sacred
in Modern India. Just going through its initial pages and the captions in Modern India. Just going through its initial pages and the captions
by the reviewers on the blurb of it made me interested in the author; by the reviewers on the blurb of it made me interested in the author;
William Dalrymple. I was interested in travel writing and had read William Dalrymple. I was interested in travel writing and had read
some books of travel in Gujarati, this opened up a new horizon of some books of travel in Gujarati, this opened up a new horizon of
interest for me. But still, there was no concrete design-map or interest for me. But still, there was no concrete design-map or
itinerary upon which I must ocean the sail. This fog was cleared itinerary upon which I must ocean the sail. This fog was cleared
when a magic twist took me to my Supervisor sir, Dr. Jagdish Joshi. when a magic twist took me to my Supervisor sir, Dr. Jagdish Joshi.
In the very first meeting after my shy and hesitant approach and in In the very first meeting after my shy and hesitant approach and in
475
tottered confidence on being asked about my interest, when I told tottered confidence on being asked about my interest, when I told
him about my topic and the writer of my choice; his confident smile him about my topic and the writer of my choice; his confident smile
and beckoning that the topic was worth concentrating rejuvenated and beckoning that the topic was worth concentrating rejuvenated
the flickering flame of my gradually weakening confidence. He sent the flickering flame of my gradually weakening confidence. He sent
me some authentic reading materials and provided me with the me some authentic reading materials and provided me with the
proper insights as how to frame the research hypothesis, what proper insights as how to frame the research hypothesis, what
methodologies and some dos and don’ts of the research methodologies and some dos and don’ts of the research
temperament. In most cases, I have heard my friends relating their temperament. In most cases, I have heard my friends relating their
research experiences; in them almost majority of them have never research experiences; in them almost majority of them have never
been even introduced to the family of their supervisor. In some if been even introduced to the family of their supervisor. In some if
there were any interactions, it might be on the nodding bases or on there were any interactions, it might be on the nodding bases or on
superficial level. But in my case, not only my sir, but his entire family superficial level. But in my case, not only my sir, but his entire family
takes VI interest in me and my research. How can I forget the takes VI interest in me and my research. How can I forget the
delicious dishes I had dined at his place not as a guest or an outsider delicious dishes I had dined at his place not as a guest or an outsider
but as the one of the family members…? My journey, thus initiated but as the one of the family members…? My journey, thus initiated
under Respected Jagdish sir’s assuring umbrella of ‘Let us Grow under Respected Jagdish sir’s assuring umbrella of ‘Let us Grow
Together’, in the realm of Travel Writing found many new shores of Together’, in the realm of Travel Writing found many new shores of
understanding and new information. The challenges were not easy. understanding and new information. The challenges were not easy.
My new job demanded much attention and grounding efforts. Yet, the My new job demanded much attention and grounding efforts. Yet, the
Authorities of Gujarat Vidyapith permitted me to keep up my voyage Authorities of Gujarat Vidyapith permitted me to keep up my voyage
of Research. For their inspiring support my humble gratitude is due of Research. For their inspiring support my humble gratitude is due
for Dr. Sudarshan Iyengar sir, Dr. Rajendra Khimani sir, and special for Dr. Sudarshan Iyengar sir, Dr. Rajendra Khimani sir, and special
thanks to Dr. Anamik Shah sir. At home my better half (Deepa) and thanks to Dr. Anamik Shah sir. At home my better half (Deepa) and
dear daughter (Ayushi) sacrificed their hours, days, weeks, months dear daughter (Ayushi) sacrificed their hours, days, weeks, months
and years which they deserved to spend on the real routes of and years which they deserved to spend on the real routes of
journeys, tours and trips. But my being on this travels of Travel journeys, tours and trips. But my being on this travels of Travel
Writing, they managed their time watching TV, Movies alone. Friends Writing, they managed their time watching TV, Movies alone. Friends
(Dr. Utpal Patel, Dr. N.K.Patel, Dr. Mahesh Bhatt, Dr Chetan Joshi, (Dr. Utpal Patel, Dr. N.K.Patel, Dr. Mahesh Bhatt, Dr Chetan Joshi,
Dr. Sunil Shah, Dr. Kaushik Patel and Amarendra) kept inspiring and Dr. Sunil Shah, Dr. Kaushik Patel and Amarendra) kept inspiring and
supporting. My dear ones be it my brother (Gaurang) or brother-in- supporting. My dear ones be it my brother (Gaurang) or brother-in-
law (Umang) too have their share of credit by not demanding me at law (Umang) too have their share of credit by not demanding me at
every odd ceremony. Persons like Dr. Kanaiyalal Nayak, Motibhai every odd ceremony. Persons like Dr. Kanaiyalal Nayak, Motibhai
Devu, Dr. Rajendra Joshi, Milan Bhatt and Manoj Prajapati deserve a Devu, Dr. Rajendra Joshi, Milan Bhatt and Manoj Prajapati deserve a
special space and place being the never failing supports in any form. special space and place being the never failing supports in any form.
476
I must also thank some of my favourite students, to name Hiren I must also thank some of my favourite students, to name Hiren
Maheta, Nimesh Abasana, Kuntal Muththa, for their support. Things Maheta, Nimesh Abasana, Kuntal Muththa, for their support. Things
start evolving the moment they acquire a concrete shape and start evolving the moment they acquire a concrete shape and
formula. My insights also grew likewise. The more I read, the better formula. My insights also grew likewise. The more I read, the better
my visions keep developing in the realm of travel writing and make my visions keep developing in the realm of travel writing and make
me realize that it is a vast corpus of writing. It has evolved in all the me realize that it is a vast corpus of writing. It has evolved in all the
corners of the earth in one form or another in almost all the corners of the earth in one form or another in almost all the
languages. And it would never be an exaggeration to claim that at languages. And it would never be an exaggeration to claim that at
the root of almost all the disciplines of learning; man’s travelling the root of almost all the disciplines of learning; man’s travelling
motives and the reporting the avenues of his travels back home has motives and the reporting the avenues of his travels back home has
played a vital and massive role. played a vital and massive role.
477

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14 Plagiarism Report

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URKUND

Urkund Analysis Result

Sources included in the report:

Instances where selected sources appear:

0: 04_Travelogue on my research voyage.pdf 100%

0: 05_Executive summery.pdf 100%

From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium (1997)

his disciple Sophronious, the sophist.

book covers the

Nine Lives: Nine Lives: In Search of Sacred in Modern India

0: 06_chapter 1.pdf 100%

c 2 Chapter 1 “To wander is to get education.” – Goethe

City of Djinns, The Age of Kali, and Nine Lives,

Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India,

Ibby, Sam and Adam.

Porecha, Maitri. A World Gone By Through the Eyes of William Dalrymple.). 33

Works Cited “Biography Of William Dalrymple.”williamdalrymple.uk.com, Date.

Brihadakaranya Upanishad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brihadaranyaka_Upanishad. Web.

http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/the-british-didnt- conquer-india-51402, 21/11/2041] ---.

Hulme, Peter. “Travelling to Write.”

Iyer, Pico, (Why WE Travel) http://www.salon.com/writer/pico_iyer/

Kerridge, Richard. “Ecology of Desire and

Katha. 2003. Print.

Sherman, Williams. “Stirring And Searching.”

0: 07_chapter 2.pdf 100%

In Xanadu: A Quest In Xanadu: A Quest is a debut creation of William Dalrymple as he rises as a

Hulme, Peter. “Travelling to Write”,

Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage-Random, 1979. Print. 62 63

0: 08_chapter 3.pdf 100%

From the Holy Mountain

Melman, Billie. “The Middle East/ Arabia ‘The Cradle of Islam’”.

Companion to Travel Writing. Ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Young.

Shortt, Rupert. Chrstinofobia. Rider. 2012. Print. 95 96

0: 09_chapter 4.pdf 100%

City of Djinns ------------------ ------------------ ----------------- ------------------ ----------------- ---------------

Moreover - I soon discovered – (Delhi)

Dalrymple City of Djinns Prologue)

seeks to solve this enigmatic temperament of the city:

Anglo-Saxon England and Italy until 19 th century they were given

singing castrato roles in opera as well as in the Vatican Sistine choir.

they rose to power as Chamberlains, Governors and even Generals.

nothing could be said in Delhi without Aurangzeb coming to hear of it.’(197). he

and uttered the words vile with hatred. “

Roshanara Begum was overjoyed at the end of Dara and

Dalrymple notes the magnificent structure of

It is made of horn and its aim is straight. The

Delhi, the suburb of Hauz Khas was to the Savants.

The practice, thus, in course of time, passed through different races,

practicing the century-long

Byzantine medicine in Delhi, [and they appear to do thriving business,

William notes] describing one such medical compartment, he writes:

According to Shykh, the first step of Sufism was not related to

History witnessed a devastating episode as people faced unprecedented hardships, a great

he was a contemporary of Abraham who left Babel alongside the Patriarch.

Some believe him to be

He lived on an island or a green carpet in the heart of the sea. ?

on the back of a large fish. ? In Sindh, he was

But the very following year,

Post-Orientalism and the Past-Colonial in William Dalrymple’s Travel Histories’:

Mongolkar, Manohar. A Bend In Ganges. London: Pon Books ltd. 1967.

0: 10_chapter 5.pdf 100%

The Age of Kali Indian Travel & Encounters

Dalrymple, William, The Age of Kali, Penguin Books, 1998.

Mahatma Gandhi, “Young India”, Aug. 26, 1926, 302.