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Stranger to
History: A Son’s Journey through Islamic Lands
The urge to find the person behind a framed photograph at home is strong and Aatish seeks to come to terms with a relationship that began with a whirlwind romance in Delhi in 1980 when Salmaan Taseer came from Pakistan to India to promote his biography of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. His romance with the journalist Tavleen Singh was kept a secret till it could no longer be hidden, but after Aatish was born, his grandparents gave a reception in Delhi for the couple. Salmaan was already married in Lahore and because of his closeness with the Bhuttos he was a prominent figure. Acknowledging a love child was a political problem and Aatish was raised up in Delhi by his grandparents. His narration of childhood incidentsout that he was different when children in Delhi reacted to his peeing, and of, much later, being pinpointed in Pakistan because of his using the Hindi word for "birthday" while carrying out a conversation in Urdu, point to the layers of diversity through which we seek our identity. Aatish’s father is a distant figure, and as a result the quest becomes compelling. He sought to know more about his father from the age of nine, around the same time when Salmaan had lost his father, a famous Urdu poet. An article written by Aatish after 9/11 and its criticism by his father further fuels a desire to search for his identity as the son of a Muslim. Meeting young Muslims in England exposes him to the angst of the dispossessed—those who no longer have to struggle for material success the way their parents did when they immigrated. These people, typically men, however, seek a meaning in their lives through various interpretations of their faith. Aatish’s journey in Islamic lands takes him to the stridently secular Turkey, where he encounters orthodox Isalm in a settlement called Fatih Carsamba. Through his conversations with young evangelical sophists we realise that everything—history, culture, reason—can be subverted for the sake of winning the argument. As he learns the rituals of Islamic prayer from strangers, Aatish sees the immediacy of acceptance that his being the son of a Muslim father gives. However, his steel bangle, the kara of a Sikh, and his "religious strings" from various Hindu and Sufi shrines, strike discordant notes from time to time. The book begins with a description of his journey to Mecca, and being "found out" as "faithless". Aatish is not without faith, rather someone seeking faith. He is also in quest of his father, trying to understand Salmaan’s religion. This is a troubled journey, a travelogue that explores more than the sites and scenes of the places that come up along the way. We start the book as tourists, but by the time Aatish leaves Iran under a cloud, after exploring the hedonistic undercurrents and corrupt underpinnings of a seemingly strict Khomeni’s republic, we are co-explorers in this narration. In Pakistan, Aatish shines—be it in exploring Karachi, travelling in Sind with the Mango King or meeting a Pakistani Hindu, we see layers of realities, prejudices and tyrannical behaviour and resistance to it. In short, a life not unlike the one that we see here. Labels—whether religious, cultural or social— seek to reduce the diversity, intensity and complexity of relationships even as they are convenient. Everything that seems monolithic from afar becomes nuanced as you get to know its details. Blessed are those who have an identity and are comfortable with it. Those who seek it have to find it by coming to terms with extant external realities—and discovering their own selves in this scheme of things. Many seekers are led astray, as they have been by ideologues from time to time. As Aatish takes us along on his journey, we find ourselves occupying a vantage point as the writer travels through time and space in a journey that is both illuminating and interesting.
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Faith
defines relationships. It is often explained as complete trust,
confidence, or reliance and we seek it in close family affiliations,
especially those between parents and siblings. Since long, faith and
religion have been used as synonyms, though there are subtle variances
in emphasis, and their meaning. Aatish Taseer explores Islam, the
faith of his father, even as he seeks a connection with the parent who
had abandoned him soon after conception. The book chronicles this
difficult journey.