Troubled Pilgrimage: Passage to Pakistan

by Balwant Bhaneja

Troubled Pilgrimage: A Passage to Pakistan is about a journey by the author, a retired Canadian diplomat, who is visiting his ancestral land of Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan, the first visit since he was five. Bhaneja’s Hindu family had to leave their homeland following the Partition of the Indian subcontinent in August 1947.

The author’s journey begins at the Birla House in New Delhi, India where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist over sixty years ago, from where he travels into Pakistan during the troubled and violent spring of 2006. The reader is taken through bustling Islamabad, the back streets of the author’s birthplace Lahore, and to the more remote, and mysterious towns of Sukkur, Rohiri, and Shikarpur in Upper Sindh, the ancestral land from which he and his family were exiled. After revelations about his past, his nation and his people he returns to Delhi for an audience with the “Refugee” Prime Minister I.K. Gujral.

The trans-cultural narrative deals with the universal theme of displacement and how it impacts mind and psyche of those involved. It is a thoughtful work about how our multiple identities shape and get played out in a globalized world. What makes some to leave their homelands while others to stay on despite fears and uncertainties of impending future?

Genres: Biography Memoir, Travel, Pakistan, Nonfiction

140 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2013

About the author

Balwant Bhaneja was born in Lahore and left India in 1965 for Canada. The author of five books, he has written widely on politics, science and arts. His recent works include a collaboration with Indian playwright Vijay Tendulkar, entitled Two Plays: The Cyclist and His Fifth Woman (2006) published by Oxford University Press (India), and Quest for Gandhi: A Nonkilling Journey (2011) published by the Center of Global Nonkilling, Honolulu, Hawaii. Bhaneja’s short fiction has appeared in South Asian periodicals and his plays have been produced by the BBC World Service and Toronto’s Maya Theatre at Harbourfront. He lives in Ottawa.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very beautifully simple, clean and humbly written book of one man, a Canadian Hindu exile, who journeys back the land his birth, Pakistan. A search for identity, reconciliation, and the ultimate accomplishment of filial piety.

[Fadillah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I've heard of Sindhi but i dont know the details of the community. Bhaneja or the author is tracing back his Sindhi heritage throughout his journey in Pakistan. He's leaving the country when he was young and decided to come back to search what's left behind ; his past, family, relatives and the motherland. The writing style is raw and unfiltered. I felt like the book is too short hence i gave it 4 stars.