All Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian
By Nitin Gairola
Last week I took you through a few desert stories written on the sands and stones of Africa and now I turn the page and present the deserts of West Asia (or The Middle East, as this now volatile region is often times called). This is not just an exotic land full of dunes and dust but is a troubled land and has been for over the last 100 years or so. Sadly most of the wars and proxy wars of the world (post 1945) have been fought here.
Even during World War-I (1914-18) it had its share of troubles as the Arabian states were gaining their independence from the Ottoman rule and the British Empire was meddling in foreign affairs at that time, as they always did. This was the time of TE Lawrence or ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ as he was popularly known and Hollywood even made an epic movie by that name. Unless someone has been living in a cave or are in their teens or twenties today, they have probably heard of this 1962 classic and I highly recommend the extended (nearly 4 hour) edition that’s on Netflix. Thankfully, West Asia wasn’t really a theatre of war during the Second World War (1939-45) but the aftermath of WW-II brought about the irrational splitting of nations. These straight lines in the sand and in the minds of people still impact those who call this land their home.
There is always some bad news coming from this direction and when I left for this area on a holiday in 2016, the passport control officer here asked me why I was going into a war zone. I had to inform him that a large portion of it was peaceful too, i.e., countries such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, and the smaller city-states in the Gulf. In this area I saw amazing wonders; the most astounding in my opinion being the ruins of Petra in Jordan. If you have seen the movie ‘Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade’ then you have seen Petra as it came towards the end of this adventure blockbuster. This area is also littered with ancient ruins of the Roman, Greek, Egyptian and Persian civilisations as these ancient worlds met in the ‘Fertile Crescent’ (a name given for the land on the banks of the various life giving rivers just north of the barren Arabia). All this is there besides the deserts that look like some place on Mars. Can I say more as to why I was drawn to this part of Earth?
However, as you know, it is not all roses. We did see the dark side of human nature as well and how it impacts those who just want to live peacefully with their families. In 2016, there was peak stress in nations that were under the strain of incoming war refugees thanks to terror outfits at large in Syria and Iraq. During a 3 hour ride, our vehicle was stopped at least 4-5 times by the local army and the moment we spoke in English they let us go, realising we were just tourists. That moment we understood the tension in the air and I understood what our passport officer was trying to say during departure.
Our time in the desert was magical but as we exited it and started inching northwards, we could see more and more UN refugee camps and security personnel along with their armoured vehicles that I just couldn’t photograph (a bit of a pity really as I couldn’t capture what was really going on there at that time in 2016 AD). We knew things were not normal. All this only made me think just how lucky I am to live in a peaceful nation.
We also saw the better side of people in this very place and had some very poignant experiences that I will carry with me as long as I live. In one of the ancient ruins, we saw school girls dancing to a one-man band, probably to forget about life for a while. In another relatively less impacted town, we had some school girls offer us white roses for peace, knowing that we were (very) rare tourists to these parts. We were just left wondering what all must be going through their minds in their formative years. But they didn’t seem one bit sad about the situation in their country and I was so happy that there was no self-pity. We didn’t show any pity either, and spoke with them as anyone would speak with some lovely children.
But there was one Syrian teenager’s story that was actually very disturbing. He had lost his entire family in the conflict and had eyes as sad as that of the ever-famous and hardly known 12 year old ‘Afghan Girl’ who came on the cover of the 1985 National Geographic. We couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity but we quickly overcame that emotion by actually buying some wares from the kid and paid a disproportionately high amount for it. I silently felt happy about it.
Another conflict here is, of course, the ongoing and seemingly eternal fight between Israel and Palestine. However the truth is that it’s a recent conflict and not an age old war. Their borders today are some of the most heavily patrolled and monitored ones in the world, which give the eerie feeling of a large open air prison. The border I went to was a non-volatile one where a holy river forms the dividing line and you can see devotees dip their feet in the same river, but from opposite sides. Narrow rivers and minds divide the same people here. I just hope this beautiful portion of the world finds its share of peace soon. It’s been a long drought in the deserts of West Asia.
(Nitin Gairola is from Dehradun and has travelled the natural world more than almost any Indian ever. He has set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet, and holds National Geographic conservation certifications. He is also a senior corporate executive in an MNC and, in his early days, used to be a published poet as well. More than anything else, he loves his Himalayan home.)
