Travels in time and space
Irfan Husain
DREAM HOME: One reason why I am delving deep into history is
that my immediate present is such a mess. Although we are back on the
beach in Tangalle, on Sri Lanka’s stunning coast, things are far from
well at our half-finished dream house.
It must be around forty years ago that I read Herodotus’s classic The
Histories. Written over 2,500 years ago, this is the first serious
examination of different cultures and races. Herodotus ventured to the
edges of the known world during his travels, and wrote about Persia,
India and Africa.
Born in explorer Halicarnassus around 485 BC, he travelled
ceaselessly for much of his life. Little is known about him, except that
he spent some time in Athens. His birthplace is now known as Bodrum on
the Aegean coast in modern Turkey.
I visited the little town as it was then in the early Seventies, and
admired the Templar castle it was famous for, apart from being the
supposed birthplace of Hercules. Now it is an overcrowded tourist
attraction where tens of thousands of Europeans descend every year.
I am sure Herodotus would have fled the place even earlier than he
did had he been alive today. Probably he had no greater admirer than
Ryszard Kapuscinski, the Polish journalist and author.
He carried a dog-eared Polish translation of The Histories on his
trips to distant lands, and in his last book published after his death
early this year, he quotes frequently from his Greek predecessor.
Appropriately titled Travels with Herodotus, this is an account of
Kapuscinski’s earliest trips. The Histories opens with these explanatory
words:
“Here are presented the results of the enquiry carried out by
Herodotus of Halicarnassus. The purpose is to prevent the traces of
human events from being erased by time, and to preserve the fame of the
important and remarkable achievements produced by both Greeks and
non-Greeks; among the matters covered is, in particular, the cause of
the hostilities between Greeks and non-Greeks.”
This last is a reference to the long, titanic struggle for supremacy
between the Greeks and the Persians for the domination of the known
world. One of the major conclusions Herodotus draws from his travels and
his study of history is that all empires rise and fall.
Another is that everything is transient; and there are no permanent
friends or enemies. If only Bush had read The Histories, he might have
reconsidered his Iraq policy.
While I had suspected building a house while we were a long distance
away might not be easy, I had not anticipated all the hurdles in the
way.
Apart from our old contractor having let us down badly in terms of
meeting his schedule, apparently he has also been crooked in terms of
quality. So here we are, trying desperately to get the project back on
track. We have appointed a new contractor, and have raised hell with
everybody responsible for supervision.
But the bottom line is that ultimately, there is no substitute for
our presence. But the lady wife has to return to England, and I will
have to make more frequent trips. However, despite our current woes, the
beach is as lovely as ever, and we have no regrets about having launched
this ambitious project.
We normally stay at Manuela’s simple but comfortable cabanas close to
our house, and she has been feeling the economic pain of the sharp drop
in the number of tourists visiting Sri Lanka.
Clearly, the upsurge in the fighting between the Tigers and the army
has put thousands of foreigners off. As Pakistan has learned to its
cost, people travelling on vacation expect security. Having said this,
Tangalle is very far from the frontline, and there are no signs of the
war here.
Last night we threw a party for fifteen, and luckily, Winnie was
around to cook for us. Some loyal readers might recall this eccentric
figure from previous columns. He is wonderful with seafood, and insists
that his ‘secret spices’ are the key to his cooking. A slight figure
with permanently bloodshot eyes, Winnie is drunk more often than not.
Yesterday, I made him promise he would not touch a drop until he had
finished cooking. Luckily, he was true to his word, and made some
wonderful stir-fried prawns for our starter, and then barbecued a
six-kilo surmai to perfection.
His ‘secret spices’ were a subject of much speculation around the
table. Alcoholism is a big problem here. The local arrack is very cheap,
and fishermen hit the bottle hard when they have little else to do,
which is much of the time they are not at sea.
The writer is a freelance columnist
Daily Times, Pakistan
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