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Amritsar To Lahore: Crossing The Border Between India and Pakistan
"During the course of my journey, many of the people I met in Pakistan and India expressed a curious combination of affection, indifference, and animosity toward their neighbors across the border. . . . The border divides them but it is also a seam that j
250 pages, Paperback
First published August 11, 2000
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About the author
Stephen Alter
45 books63 followersSTEPHEN ALTER is the son of American missionaries to the Himalayas, and was raised in India. The author of seven books for adults, he is the former Writer-in-Residence at MIT, and a recipient of a Fulbright grant. He currently lives in India with his wife, where he is researching his newest book for adults—a behind the scenes look at the world of Bollywood.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 17, 2007
I read this book a while ago... So call me a biased indian, but it is nice to read a book from such an indo-phile :-)
Alter has a very nice writing style - makes for good reads, esp if you are into travelogues / travel writing!
Alter has a very nice writing style - makes for good reads, esp if you are into travelogues / travel writing!
August 26, 2017
As a travelogue can be of many types being spewed from the writer’s own style and mindset, this is a simple and lucid one. He starts from Delhi where peasants have to go through a lot of trauma to get a permit to cross the border. Travelling through Mussoorie, Amritsar and then beyond the border, he also discusses historical significance and a brief life history of regions and cities he passes in the circle of his own thoughts and opinions. His modern day depiction of the old and culturally rich cities like Peshawar and Lahore is simply delightful. He makes special mentions of essays and writing work related to the particular place he is traveling and surroundings of contemporary writers who eventually got lost beneath the many layers of history.
Stephen Alter doesn’t try to complicate his words. Words flow naturally describing his own experience about places and their history. It becomes a much relatable read as it is for all the readers equally because the writer pens down the natural human emotions of displacement and uprooting from their native places. He is a person that has lived in the British India and has witnessed immediate aftermath of independence and partition. This gives him an authoritative approach to information.
However, at some points, the discussion on ‘meaning of border’ from different viewpoint becomes a rhetoric, so does the one on ‘meaning of fight for independence’ after few decades of freedom fight. But it never goes out of point and remains interestingly readable. His learnings & thoughts about the pain of uprooted people from their land and their nending miseries are simply gripping, at some places he quotes the most hard-hitting statements with utmost subtleness and genuinely. A reader cannot easily stop after a first book from Stephen, he has to dig for more because the work is simply impressive and leave an imprint on the heart.
Stephen Alter doesn’t try to complicate his words. Words flow naturally describing his own experience about places and their history. It becomes a much relatable read as it is for all the readers equally because the writer pens down the natural human emotions of displacement and uprooting from their native places. He is a person that has lived in the British India and has witnessed immediate aftermath of independence and partition. This gives him an authoritative approach to information.
However, at some points, the discussion on ‘meaning of border’ from different viewpoint becomes a rhetoric, so does the one on ‘meaning of fight for independence’ after few decades of freedom fight. But it never goes out of point and remains interestingly readable. His learnings & thoughts about the pain of uprooted people from their land and their nending miseries are simply gripping, at some places he quotes the most hard-hitting statements with utmost subtleness and genuinely. A reader cannot easily stop after a first book from Stephen, he has to dig for more because the work is simply impressive and leave an imprint on the heart.
December 20, 2021
Travel is something that tests all our limits of theories, learnings and ideas by opening up experiences that challenge and change one's perception, unlike any book.. Travelogues in that sense are always a window to those experiences and can be very interesting at times.
In this Travelogue, Stephen Alter seems to have followed through an emotional thread of tracing his and his spouses roots and in that process has opened up a window that lets us, readers who read it, to a unique and profound viewpoint on subtlety of Pakistan and India relationships. With his easy and smooth flowing language, he captures our attention for keeps.
Stephen Alter, who is a Son of an early American Missionary to India, Rev.Robert Alter, Cousin of Charismatic late Tom Alter, was born in Mussoorie and an alumni of Woodstock School there. He is passionate about India and particularly about his neck of woods in Himalayan region.
The narration starts with him returning to Landour, to his family Home after some years away from India and his deep felt homing instincts to that place even after so many Years. It is exactly that emotion, that he traces and expands on all those who were impacted by the Partition on both sides of the border. In trying to trace the roots of his family's past footprints in Lahore and that of his wife’s in Abbottabad, he presents emotions of so many people who are living with the past scars of the Partition. In doing so he throws open a contemporary view of relation between the two young nations, their contrasts and possible similarities.
While opening the narration, he falls into a familiar trap of stereotyping the Muslims in India as if all of them were one mass, were intent on moving to Pakistan but were not able to, while in reality he is only referring to those in the Northern part of India, particularly those around the line of Partition who opted to move.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒏𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆-𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅.”
However, that does not seem to impact the objective as he moves forward with his narration. For those who don’t get to see the other side of the border, especially for people like me in the Southern part of India, for whom partition is only something that we stumble across in our history texts, this narration interspaced with insightful recollection & references from serious authors belonging to both India and Pakistan, present and past, offer a rare experience and learning.
Some years back, some apparently well meaning individuals from India, led by notable Journalist Kuldip Nayar, went on to hold a series of Candle marches to the Atari / Wagah border in sync with similar souls from the other side. It drew a big swell of people in India, who accompanied him in that supposedly noble goal of promoting Brotherhood between India and Pakistan which surprised even the organisers. However, it was a damp squib when there was very little reciprocation from the other side of the Border. Except for those notables and organisers who had planned it out with Nayar on the Pakistan Side, not many takers were there from the general public of Pakistan
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india...
While the organisers then learned from that experience and tried improving it in the subsequent years, that one particular incident served the purpose for the hardliners in India to sell their narrative to a wider audience about the "Pakistanis who are inherently malignant towards Indians". For those of the section which looked at it with a lot of hopes, it was completely unexplainable and a big let down.
Alter, who took up this travel and wrote this soon after that debacle, however, offers a very insightful observation presented out of experiences during this trip.
"𝑨𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑬𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 — 𝒂 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 — 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓."
Identity always is a sensitive topic. Human societies thrive on the basis of identity, both real and imagined. Over the time the lines were redrawn a number of times and people have intermingled so much that there is no single characteristic that is holding these concepts of identity anymore. There is no Scientifically finite definition for any of these identities that exist in the world. However, race, religion, class identities are always flowing and cutting people across, solely by the virtue of their emotions.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒊𝒏 1947 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒕, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑰𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.”
People who want friendly relations with India in Pakistan, don't support the so-called good Samaritans from India because there is a basic disconnect of identities.
While the Indians in their well meaning enthusiasm, present a basic tone and rhetoric that conveys a picture to the public in Pakistan that they want to reject the border and thereby the partition. For Pakistanis, it is a question of identity. That is the reality of partition, which cannot be wished away.
In that sense they don’t see a fundamental difference between a extremist who wants to build a “Akhand Bharath” and the Passive good samaritan who wants to forget the partition as a bad dream. That is a powerful observation about the identity and subtlety we don't see in the cacophony of noises which are against and for normal relations with Pakistan, on this side of the border!
So the way forward lies in respecting each other and acknowledging the identities - that would mean also the baggage those identities bring with them - rather than empty rhetoric and jingoism.
In the end the anecdote quoted from Time magazine Sums up the conundrum very clearly.
“𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝑹𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒅𝒊𝒆’𝒔 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒅𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆: 𝑭. 𝑺. 𝑨𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒛𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏, 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝑳𝒂𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓. ‘𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏?’ 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓. 𝑨𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒛𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏, 55, 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏. ‘𝑶𝒉, 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂-𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆,’ 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒚. ‘𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏,’ 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒓, ‘𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒊?’ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚.”
In this Travelogue, Stephen Alter seems to have followed through an emotional thread of tracing his and his spouses roots and in that process has opened up a window that lets us, readers who read it, to a unique and profound viewpoint on subtlety of Pakistan and India relationships. With his easy and smooth flowing language, he captures our attention for keeps.
Stephen Alter, who is a Son of an early American Missionary to India, Rev.Robert Alter, Cousin of Charismatic late Tom Alter, was born in Mussoorie and an alumni of Woodstock School there. He is passionate about India and particularly about his neck of woods in Himalayan region.
The narration starts with him returning to Landour, to his family Home after some years away from India and his deep felt homing instincts to that place even after so many Years. It is exactly that emotion, that he traces and expands on all those who were impacted by the Partition on both sides of the border. In trying to trace the roots of his family's past footprints in Lahore and that of his wife’s in Abbottabad, he presents emotions of so many people who are living with the past scars of the Partition. In doing so he throws open a contemporary view of relation between the two young nations, their contrasts and possible similarities.
While opening the narration, he falls into a familiar trap of stereotyping the Muslims in India as if all of them were one mass, were intent on moving to Pakistan but were not able to, while in reality he is only referring to those in the Northern part of India, particularly those around the line of Partition who opted to move.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒏𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆-𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅.”
However, that does not seem to impact the objective as he moves forward with his narration. For those who don’t get to see the other side of the border, especially for people like me in the Southern part of India, for whom partition is only something that we stumble across in our history texts, this narration interspaced with insightful recollection & references from serious authors belonging to both India and Pakistan, present and past, offer a rare experience and learning.
Some years back, some apparently well meaning individuals from India, led by notable Journalist Kuldip Nayar, went on to hold a series of Candle marches to the Atari / Wagah border in sync with similar souls from the other side. It drew a big swell of people in India, who accompanied him in that supposedly noble goal of promoting Brotherhood between India and Pakistan which surprised even the organisers. However, it was a damp squib when there was very little reciprocation from the other side of the Border. Except for those notables and organisers who had planned it out with Nayar on the Pakistan Side, not many takers were there from the general public of Pakistan
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india...
While the organisers then learned from that experience and tried improving it in the subsequent years, that one particular incident served the purpose for the hardliners in India to sell their narrative to a wider audience about the "Pakistanis who are inherently malignant towards Indians". For those of the section which looked at it with a lot of hopes, it was completely unexplainable and a big let down.
Alter, who took up this travel and wrote this soon after that debacle, however, offers a very insightful observation presented out of experiences during this trip.
"𝑨𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑬𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 — 𝒂 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 — 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓."
Identity always is a sensitive topic. Human societies thrive on the basis of identity, both real and imagined. Over the time the lines were redrawn a number of times and people have intermingled so much that there is no single characteristic that is holding these concepts of identity anymore. There is no Scientifically finite definition for any of these identities that exist in the world. However, race, religion, class identities are always flowing and cutting people across, solely by the virtue of their emotions.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒊𝒏 1947 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒕, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑰𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.”
People who want friendly relations with India in Pakistan, don't support the so-called good Samaritans from India because there is a basic disconnect of identities.
While the Indians in their well meaning enthusiasm, present a basic tone and rhetoric that conveys a picture to the public in Pakistan that they want to reject the border and thereby the partition. For Pakistanis, it is a question of identity. That is the reality of partition, which cannot be wished away.
In that sense they don’t see a fundamental difference between a extremist who wants to build a “Akhand Bharath” and the Passive good samaritan who wants to forget the partition as a bad dream. That is a powerful observation about the identity and subtlety we don't see in the cacophony of noises which are against and for normal relations with Pakistan, on this side of the border!
So the way forward lies in respecting each other and acknowledging the identities - that would mean also the baggage those identities bring with them - rather than empty rhetoric and jingoism.
In the end the anecdote quoted from Time magazine Sums up the conundrum very clearly.
“𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝑹𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒅𝒊𝒆’𝒔 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒅𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆: 𝑭. 𝑺. 𝑨𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒛𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏, 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝑳𝒂𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓. ‘𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏?’ 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓. 𝑨𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒛𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏, 55, 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏. ‘𝑶𝒉, 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂-𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆,’ 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒚. ‘𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏,’ 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒓, ‘𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒊?’ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚.”
September 10, 2020
A not so conventional travelogue that underscores the notion of religion playing the role of a spoilsport for the otherwise amity in general people across these contiguous borders share. The facade of religious fervor people usually tend to brood about does, indeed, screen off the paradoxical congruity in culture and every day way of life people in these 02 nations do stick to.. An eye-opener sort of a travelogue would be the least to say of this book.
January 2, 2023
I picked up this book on a whim on a year end vacation at the hill town of Landour - which is the home of the author Stephen Alter . Like most Indians , there is a deep sense of curiosity as well as regret for what lies across the border , in a sense echoed by the authors journey from Amritsar to Lahore and back . Punctuated by couplets from Faiz , Ahmad Raza and more genteel post partition authors who mourned the loss of a united homeland as much as the destruction and uprooting of a people - it leaves a sense of lingering wistfulness . For the question of what if ? The author says that the difference between the Indian and Pakistani perspective of the border is very fundamental - the Pakistanis see it as a defining feature of their identity while the Indian side sees it as a historical regret that should be erased . You feel the authors goosebumps as he looks at maps from the 1920s where the Frontier Mail went from Bombay to Peshawar unbroken by a border or routes that went from Murree straight to Kashmir . Little anecdotes like that of Minoo Bhandara - one of the few Parsi Pakistanis ( owner of Murree breweries , the only brewer of Pakistan) are what make this book a little gem 💎
May 30, 2021
Fabulous book! I give a 5 star rating only to books written by Paul Theroux, Pico Iyer and a couple of others. That's the reason I have given this book a 4 star rating. This is travel writing at it's best. I am surprised that the book has not won any literary prizes. The writing is of prize-winning calibre.
I just wish that the author had made the effort to meet, converse and perhaps visit the houses of some Hindus, while he was travelling through Pakistan. It was probably not a priority for the author, since he is an American. But it's a missed opportunity since Indian passport holders will not be able to replicate the author's journey.
I just wish that the author had made the effort to meet, converse and perhaps visit the houses of some Hindus, while he was travelling through Pakistan. It was probably not a priority for the author, since he is an American. But it's a missed opportunity since Indian passport holders will not be able to replicate the author's journey.
June 11, 2022
Simply put this one is a breezy travelogue the author captures as he travels from India to Pakistan and then back set in 1997-98. He is very conscious about noticing the similarities and differences as he hops between the borders and also presents some interesting anecdotes while doing the same.
This isn’t a history lesson, nor is Stephan Alter trying to preach or present any particular point of view. It is what it is - travelogue, but an interesting one from the Asian stand point. Decent read.
August 15, 2015
Pretty good, especially if you're into events and places in that part of the world. It's a good intro/reminder about the tribulations of Partition, and the repercussions into modern life on the two sides of the border. The author also especially highlights the difference between land and air travel, and how different it is for foreigners (easy) and natives (difficult). In several chapters, he comments about the artificiality of border. I agree. (BTW, I got the book from my second cousin, who selected it from the bookshelf of my mother's late cousin, who grew up in that part of the world pre-partition, spoke Hindi, and returned for visits several time. She chose it for me knowing that I visited NW India in 2013 and plan to return in 2016.)
July 7, 2013
Amritsar to Lahore is an excellent, descriptive and historical part memoir part travelogue. The Indian born American starts his journey from the historic city of Delhi, passing through various cities and towns of historical significance to reach Peshawar and returns through the Grand Trunk road- once the lifeline od undivided subcontinent. A must read for all travel readers as well as those looking to spend some time appreciating the common culture and heritage of people from both sides of the border.
January 3, 2013
Smartly interspersed with passages by Indian and Pakistani authors about concepts of nationalism and local identity and marked along the way with insightful and relevant historical run-downs, Alter writes clearly, directly, and with an open and patient heart and eye.
December 18, 2013
A wonderfully nuanced book which is not only an engaging travelogue but also an incisive history of the subcontinent's recent past with valuable insights in the psyche of both peoples who inhabit it... eminently readable
June 5, 2016
A decent travelogue..A bit similar to two other books on my shelf, Rahul Bhattacharya's Pundits from Pakistan and William Dalrymple's In Xanadu, in scope. Captures the sights, sounds and tastes of the other side of the GT Road.
July 7, 2024
Detailed review here - https://www.anuradhagoyal.com/amritsa...
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