Pothohar: Khitta-e-Dil Rubaa / پوٹھوہار : خطۂ دل ربا

by Shahid Siddiqui

پوٹھوہار قدیم تاریخ کے دامن میں ایک ایسا جھلملاتا خطہ ہے جس کی چمک دمک کو زمانے کا اُلٹ پھیر بھی کم نہ کر سکا۔ یہ اونچے نیچے ٹیلوں، سرسبز کھیتوں، شاداب درختوں اور آزاد ہواؤں کا دل رُبا خطہ ہے جہاں ہر موڑ پر تاریخ کے نیلم ومرجان بکھرے ہوئے ہیں۔ میں پوٹھوہار کی انھی سحر انگیز ہواؤں میں پیدا ہوا، یہیں پلا بڑھا اور پھر ہمیشہ کے لیے اس کے حُسن کا اسیر ہو گیا۔ یہ کتاب محض تحریروں کا مجموعہ نہیں بلکہ راولپنڈی اور پوٹھوہار سے میرے عشق اور جنون کا احوال ہے۔ یہ ان گلی، کوچوں، عمارتوں، قلعوں، حویلیوں اور دل بروں کی کہانیاں ہیں جو ہمیشہ میرے ساتھ رہے۔ یہ راولپنڈی اور پوٹھوہار کے ان سربستہ گوشوں کا احوال ہے جن کے طلسم نے مجھے اپنا اسیر بنا لیا اور جنھیں دیکھنے کا تجسس ایک بے انت تلاش میں بدل گیا۔ یہ تاریخ کی کتاب نہیں، ان منظروں کا بیان ہے جنھیں میری آنکھوں نے دیکھا اور جن کا لمس میری روح نے محسوس کیا۔ کہتے ہیں حیرت کا یہ سفر ہے کہ ختم ہی ہونے میں نہیں آتا۔ کتنے ہی اَن دیکھے، اَن چھوئے مقام اپنی بانہیں پھیلائے مجھے اپنی طرف بلا رہے ہیں اور مجھے ان کی پکار پر جانا ہے۔ مجھے پوٹھوہار کے آسمانوں میں بکھرے خوش نما رنگوں کو کشید کرنا ہے۔ ان فضاؤں میں پھیلے طلسمات کو دل و جاں میں اتارنا ہے۔ اس مٹی کے ذروں میں بکھرے تاریخ کے لعل و مرجان کو سمیٹنا ہے۔ یہ پوٹھوہار کی مٹی کا مجھ پر قرض ہے جس کی سحر انگیز فضاؤں نے مجھے پروان چڑھایا اور جس کی مہکتی مٹی میں مجھے ہمیشہ کے لیے سو جانا ہے۔

شاہد صدیقی

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Osama Siddique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pothohar has always intrigued and attracted me. All my life I have driven through it en route to Islamabad and then while circling back to Lahore. On the old Grand Trunk Road as well as the swanky Motorway. Over the years I have lovingly explored its riches - from the mystical and old, tree-covered hill of Tilla Jogian that has attracted recluses and lovers from olden times to the Hindu Shahiya temple of Maloth overlooking the sharp plunge from the Pothohar plateau to the flatness of the Punjab plains below and of Amb surrounded by in the hollow of stark, hills and thickets of thorn trees, to the promontory of Mandara overlooking hilly passes, where medieval geniuses like Al-Biruni boldly extended the frontiers of human knowledge. A land of undulating hills and fields, ravines, gullies and caves, broken ground and fascinating vistas, so amazingly captured in the hunting tales of Sabir Hussain Rajput (in reality the writer and publisher Inayatullah). No wonder it figures prominently in my novel Snuffing Out the Moon. No wonder also that I was immediately attracted to well known academic and scholar Shahid Siddiqui's book which though a compilation of his newspaper columns, has been assembled seamlessly and effectively into a chronicle of and tribute to the place and one of its principal and thriving cities, the once sleepy colonial cantonment town of Rawalpindi.

The book is like a time capsule and essentially impressionistic and nostalgic. Its impressionism and nostalgia are quite evocative as the author fondly recalls the familiar faces, streets and haunts of his childhood and young adulthood. A deep wistfulness and sense of loss often permeates his recollections, as he bemoans a time and place that has irrevocably, and often rather heartlessly, altered. Part memoir, part travelogue, part popular history based on personal memories and research, Pothohar: Khitta-e-Dilruba is an important documentation of an era and place. This is something that we ought to do much more if indeed we have any intent of holding on to and preserving what is precious about our heritage.

The volume is adroitly divided into thematic sections with multiple short and pithy chapters in each. The first chronicles growing up in a Pothohar village and its scenic beauty, surroundings, festivals, harvest rituals, and loving sketches of close family and other affectionate figures from childhood. The second is a tribute Rawalpindi and its various neighborhoods, landmark buildings, main roads, and also prominent inhabitants. Time and again we learn of how the place has changed, not just architecturally but also in terms of the kinds of mood, congregations and entertainments that were available half a century ago. This is an invaluable documentation of the city's urban, topography, character, culture, sociology and beloved history.

The third section is dedicated to Rawalpindi's educational institutions - the famous schools and colleges where the author studies and subsequently taught, including Gordon College, Sir Syed College and Asghar Mall College. Indeed a hallmark of the book is its highlighting of places of learning that had achieved excellence and that boasted inspirational teachers, educational leaders, intellectuals and mentors. This too is invaluable in a milieu where more so than ever before, books, learning, intellectual discourse and teaching need to be showcased and highlighted. In the same vein, the fourth section particularly focuses on the famous Gordon College, Rawalpindi and some of its iconic educational leaders. As a teacher myself I found it very informative and inspirational to learn more about highly respected teachers of yore and their approaches and pedagogies.

For me perhaps the most moving part of the book is its fifth section that dwells on various sons and daughters of the soil who hailed from this region but whom the violent turns of history parted from their ancestral homes. Many of them never overcame that severance and pined for the lost homestead, at times capturing the deeply felt sentiment in sublime verse, most prominently the brilliant and distinctive poet and Gulzar. Madan Mohan, Shilendar, Sunil Dat, Anand Bakhshi, Meena Kumari, and Balraj Sahni, all appear in their pages, with fond but misty memories of childhood years spent in the magical realm of Pothohar. The author often traces their footsteps and visits their ancestral homes and streets, which brings additional poignance to his exploration of how time alters and erases the best of associations.

The sixth section is also fascinating as it explores briefly the lives of some of the jewels of the land. Sufis, mystics, poets, martyrs, revolutionaries and men of letters like Shah Murad, Baba Fazal Kalyami, Mian Muhammad Bakhsh who wrote the sublime Punjabi poem Saif-ul-Mulook, the first Nishan-e-Haider awardee Captain Muhammad Sarwar Shaheed, Dada Amer Haider, Fateh Muhammad Malik, Baqi Siddiqi, Rasheed Amjad, Yousaf Hassan and the visionary founder of Book Corner Jhelum Shahid Hameed.

The final section provides childhood recollections, brief histories and vivid contemporary descriptions of majestic Pothohar structures and places, such as the ancient university of Taxila, the forts at Rohtas, Attock and Rawat, the sacred Hindu temples of Katas, the Buddhist stupa at Toop Manikwala, the labyrinthine salt mines of Khewa, as well as two interesting passages on Shahab-ud-din Ghauri's last night in the region and the rebellion in the hill station of Murree against colonial overlords. This is a section rich in information and descriptions. For a future edition one hopes that Shahid Siddiqui sahib may also want to consider including chapters on Till Jogian, Mandira, Hindu Shahi temples and the Soan Valley with Kallar Kahar, Takht-e-Babri, Kenhatti Gardens, and many other points of historical and natural interest.

The author employs a readable, everyday style of writing which makes this a very accessible book for the ordinary reader. His imagery is richly visual and evocative. There are subtle twists, turns of phrase, conceits, and structural techniques that he uses to make his narrative wistful and nostalgic. His keen interest in and vast knowledge of Hindustani popular music, the lives of artists, writers and singers, world literature and local lore allow him to intersperse his narrative with interesting tidbits, anecdotes and asides. In this remembrance of things lost one can at times wonder whether all that is being bemoaned was worth preserving or indeed whether anything that has replaced it is actually more valuable and worthwhile. But then this is a personal journey - both without and within - and the ultimate arbiter of what was lost and what was gained is the author alone. The pattern made by the rays of the orange sun, through the filigree of leaves of overhead trees, on a given afternoon, in a village courtyard, with the hum of family voices in the backdrop, the light breeze, and the joyous birdsong, is not something that can be reduced to any analytical calculus or utilitarian mathematics. It is life, as experienced and felt. As it has passed and then receded irretrievably. Only the one who underwent all this, and others who can relate it, can sense its true worth. But yes for that you need to be a romantic and a poet at heart.

I have always maintained that the visual is inextricably knit with the textual. As always, Book Corner Jhelum is sensitive to that in how this book has been aesthetically produced. To mention one instance, the front end paper of the book has the photograph of a misty, cloudy roofscape of old RawalpIndi from the rooftop of the historical Soojan Singh Haveli, in various shades of blue. That image in itself transports one to distant, cold, winter mornings and the mystery and promise of narrow, winding, semi-dark lanes with their various hotspots of food, light and the warmth and buzz of human company.

This is a book that would appeal to anyone who likes to recollect the past, has a sense of romance, and enjoys memoirs. At the same time it has value as a cultural and social history. It is a must for anyone who hails from Pothohar, or even more importantly, whether he or she hails from it or not, is blessed to have paused to look at and cherish its variegated beauty.