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Pathar Alpathar
115 pages, Unknown Binding
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About the author
Upendranath Ashk
25 books12 followersUpendra Nath Ashk is acclaimed as one of the most controversial authors of the Hindi–Urdu tradition. He has written over a hundred books in almost all genres of literature. His magnum opus, Girti Deewaaren, written in seven volumes, is hailed as an epic of Indian middle- class life. Ashk has been widely translated. He was the first Hindi dramatist to receive the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1965. He also received the Soviet Land Nehru Award (1972) and Iqbal Award (1996).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 14, 2016
A short and layered tale of a poor Kashmiri tourist guide Hasandeen, this one packs a punch. To the gut. I found it specially thought provoking for couple of reasons.
One is that coming from a middle class background, many of the behavioral traits of visiting family were all too familiar. The struggle to conduct a trip within the limited budget is real. Only this time, I was seeing it from the other side.
Second related reason was the recent Cambodia trip where we found ourselves pondering about the practice of tipping. Cambodia being a poor country, many information sources online exhort people to tip generously when visiting. It seemed to me that this way of thinking while compassionate, is driven by the assumption that tourists are necessarily wealthy. Or to be a good tourist, you have to be wealthy. But I am a big fan of Rahul Sankrityayan who considers travelling to be the primary duty of every human being. One travels, not to bring foreign currency or money to a country or place. One travels to bear witness to this world and its people. Rest is incidental.
In that light, Hasandeen's harking back to the past when British would visit Gulmarg and spend generously, annoyed me. I understand where he is coming from but I still felt sympathetic to the Khanna family on this account.
Anything that makes you think so much, must be good. No? :-)
One is that coming from a middle class background, many of the behavioral traits of visiting family were all too familiar. The struggle to conduct a trip within the limited budget is real. Only this time, I was seeing it from the other side.
Second related reason was the recent Cambodia trip where we found ourselves pondering about the practice of tipping. Cambodia being a poor country, many information sources online exhort people to tip generously when visiting. It seemed to me that this way of thinking while compassionate, is driven by the assumption that tourists are necessarily wealthy. Or to be a good tourist, you have to be wealthy. But I am a big fan of Rahul Sankrityayan who considers travelling to be the primary duty of every human being. One travels, not to bring foreign currency or money to a country or place. One travels to bear witness to this world and its people. Rest is incidental.
In that light, Hasandeen's harking back to the past when British would visit Gulmarg and spend generously, annoyed me. I understand where he is coming from but I still felt sympathetic to the Khanna family on this account.
Anything that makes you think so much, must be good. No? :-)
Displaying 1 of 1 review