Intezar Hussain: Crossing Landmarks

I am back in Lahore after a whirlwind visit to a number of culturally significant cities in India. For this I am indebted to the Sahitya Academy of India for being kind enough to confer on me its newly introduced Prem Chand Fellowship. This fellowship provided me with the opportunity to interact with various writers in India and to peep into the very many cultures of the land. I am thankful to Dr Gopi Chand Narang in particular, for he, as Chairman of the Academy, chalked out this programme in a meaningful way and took personal interest in its execution.

Now that the programme has concluded, I am astonished to find that within a span of two months I was able to visit nearly 20 cities running from one corner of the country to the other; flying back and forth between the north and the south. However, I do wish I had the time to stay there long enough to get a real feel of India’s many culturally-rich towns and cities. For instance during my stay in Benaras I paid a visit to Sar Nath, where I developed the eagerness to stay and meditate so as to be able to visualise the moments when Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon here after achieving enlightenment. But unfortunately modern times are very much under the spell of speed. In this part of the world, where the bullockcart has now become an ancient mode of transportation, we are condemned to travel in express trains and airplanes. [for more click on the heading]