Unexpected Gifts
By Mowahid Hussain Shah

 

Finding the familiar in an unfamiliar setting is one of the unexpected surprises of travel.

At the beginning of July, I was in the fabled Greek isle of Corfu. Greece was then in the center of the storm as to whether to remain in the European Union and Eurozone. The cloud of a massive fiscal crisis hovered. But what was surprising was to find a tranquil cricket field right in front of my hotel – with a 22-yard pitch in the middle and a wooden manually-operated scoreboard at the boundary line – a legacy of British colonial rule which has left a residue of still existing cricketing continuity.

Before that there was a brief detour to tiny Slovenia, once a part of Tito’s Yugoslavia, and now an independent, sovereign country, with an Austro-Germanic imprint. I asked the cab driver, a local Slovenian, what he likes the most about his nation. He replied that, for all its limitations, at least the police is not corrupt. This has to be a salutary reminder for all those, particularly in Punjab, who pontificate ad nauseam about good governance without addressing head-on the dread and detestation Punjab police evokes amongst masses.

Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, as yet has no fully functional stand-alone mosque (a mosque is under construction, to be completed in 2016.) I inquired from the hotel concierge whether there was a halal restaurant. To my pleasant surprise, he directed me to “Sarajevo ’84”, 12 Nazaorjeva Ulica, a five -minute walk from the hotel and just off the main market square. When I reached the alley leading to the restaurant, I saw a Pakistani flag fluttering in its lonely glory from a building right atop that restaurant. It was the office of the honorary consul for Pakistan in Slovenia.

While driving through Ljubljana, there were banners everywhere proclaiming the landmark exhibit, “1001 Inventions” which salutes the contributions of Muslim civilization to the West and the world at large.

The exhibit, at Ljubljana’s Exhibition and Convention Center, attracted huge crowds including academics, historians, school teachers, diplomats, and hordes of intently curious and animated school children with special guides providing running commentary on the majesty that once prevailed in the world of Islam. It is a splendid portrayal of Muslim learning. The six -month exhibit, ending on September 30, is anchored by a video introduction by Ben Kingsley, of Ismaili descent, Oscar winner for best actor. (Another film by 1001 Inventions will be released later this year, featuring legendary actor, the late Omar Sharif, in his final performance.)

Commendable about this British-based traveling exhibit was the fact that it was launched by no less a person than the Slovenian Prime Minister, Dr Miro Cerar. In his April 1 speech, he stated that “Islam’s civilization is connected to the very core of European civilization” and that during the period of European stagnation in the Middle Ages, “Islamic civilization took the leading role in many areas.” The exhibit, he emphasized, showcases “just a tiny bit among the inventions and discoveries of Islamic civilizations.”

Travel brings discovery and, with it, the novel exposure to unexpected gifts of empowering self-discovery.