Zahid Munir Amir’s new book, Suqraat Ka Des, as suggested by the title, is a travelogue. Amir, an incredibly prolific writer, is not confined to any one sub-discipline. His fertile pen has produced poetry, criticism, literary essays, biographies and now, a travelogue.

Travelling, essentially as a mode of sharpening his scholarly insights, is a passion for Zahid that he is instilling in his children too. On his trip to Greece, his son accompanied him. Together they explored the wellspring from where the Western civilisation sprouted, at least heuristically. The title of the book shows the author’s fondness for the legendary Greek philosopher Socrates, but he devotes ample space to two other greats, Plato, and Aristotle. The prime objective of visiting Athens was an attempt to identify the spot where Socrates used to hold his conversations with the youth. It was this spot that saw the birth of the Socratic method of unraveling complex objects by travelling from the simple to the problematic. However, before venturing on to the content and the style of the author, it seems pertinent to shed light on the genre of travelogue, which encompasses several disciplines like literature, history, anthropology, sociology, geography and geology to name a few. Travelling has been considered mandatory for scholars and academics. A travelogue is a truthful account of an individual’s experiences travelling, usually told in past tense and in first person. Etymology of the word travelogue supposedly comes from a combination of the two words trave and monologue. In turn, the word monologue comes from the Greek words monos (alone) and logos (speech, word). A travelogue is therefore, in its most basic form, a spoken or written account of an individual’s experiences of travelling, which usually appears in past tense, in first person, and with some verisimilitude. Because a travelogue aims to be a true account of an individual’s experiences of travelling, descriptions of what the traveller sees, hears, tastes, smells and feels in the external world form essential components of travel writing. Needless to assert, thoughts, feelings, and reflections are important parts of the experiences. Therefore, descriptions of a traveller’s inner world are an integral part of the travelogue. As already described, notes and observations on history, society and culture are common features of travelogues.

A travelogue is a truthful account of an individual’s experiences travelling, usually told in past tense and in first person. Etymology of the word travelogue supposedly comes from a combination of the two words travel and monologue.

Early examples of travel literature include Pausanias’ Description of Greece in the 2nd Century CE, Safarnama of Nasir Khusraw (1003-1077), Journey Through Wales (1191), Description of Wales (1194) by Gerald of Wales, and travel journals of Ibn Jubayr (1145–1214), particularly Safarnama-i-Hajj and Ibn Battuta (1304–1377), both of which recorded travels across the known world in detail. The travel genre was a common genre in medieval Arabic literature. In the 18th Century England, travel literature mainly consisted of maritime diaries. Almost every famous writer wrote travel literature in some form. Captain James Cook’s diaries (1784) were the equivalent of today’s best-sellers. Alexander von Humboldt’s Personal narrative of travels to the equinoctial regions of America, during the years 1799–1804, originally published in French, was translated to several languages and influenced later naturalists, including Charles Darwin. In Pakistan Ibne Insha instilled humour in his travelogues which made his writing a treat for the reader. Mustansar Hussain Tarar is another laureate who has explored that genre quite extensively. The fascinating aspect of Tarar’s travelogues is the literary context of the locations that he travels to. Zahid Munir’s style is markedly different. For example he puts in his book, a good deal of poetry, quotations and verses from the Holy Book.

Suqraat Ka Des is a 288-page travelogue in which 158 pages are devoted to the author’s explorations with his son, Huzaifa. The rest of the book consists of speeches, messages from the Pakistani ambassador and other dignitaries. A large number of photos adorn the book which is marvellously published by Kalm Foundation International. One thing I missed in this book were references and allusions to the literature as the author himself is laureates par excellence. Homer, Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles should have been mentioned in exhaustive details. Amir’s writing style is fascinating and to me. He is a great storyteller in the post Ashfaq Ahmad era, a real dastan go.

The writer is a professor in the faculty of Liberal Arts at the Beaconhouse National    University, Lahore