Book review: Will the real Mr Khalid please stand up

The book’s title and the author’s claim that he was always fascinated with Guru Nanak (so much so that he was labelled as a Sikh by his friends and family) put me in a strange state of mind — how to view the book? Who has actually written it — a travel writer, an anthropologist, a historian or a devotee?

Haroon Khalid, who had been on spiritual journeys in the past like in the book In Search of Shiva, decides to discover Guru Nanak by walking his path (only in the spatial sense, not the spiritual), and in the process, comes face-to-face with a number of issues some spiritual and some not-so-spiritual.

Walking with Nanak can be viewed from three aspects: the author’s travels to different gurudwaras and places associated with Guru Nanak, author’s account of Janamsakhis or stories of the miracles performed by Guru Nanak and the author’s narration of fictionalized version of Guru Nanak’s life. There seems to be no sync among the three sections. Where the fiction ends and the real journey begins is difficult to comprehend. The writer should have curbed the desire to present the entire Sikh history, that too, in a forced manner. Had he concentrated on Guru Nanak, justifying the title as well, the result would have been a well-researched book, full of anthropological insights. But alas, in the present world of “Buy One, Get Three Free”, we, the readers, end up having a khichdi of spiritual quest, misuse of shrines, fictional accounts, politicisation of religion, Islamic fundamentalism, Pakistani educational system, Punjabi language, and what not!

Was Guru Nanak an ordinary man elevated to the status of a spiritual guru or was he a messenger of God? The search for the answer seems to be the central theme of the book. In his discovery of Nanak the son, Nanak the father, Nanak the poet and Nanak the wanderer, Mr Khalid and his mentor Iqbal Qaiser, to whom the book is dedicated, seemingly conclude that “Nanak was an ordinary man but a genius as a poet”. Nanak’s encounters with Babur, Malik Bhago, etc., are dismissed as “later constructions to give Guru Nanak a larger-than-life stature”. The author emphatically argues, “If this incident (meeting between Nanak and Babur) actually took place, Babur failed to mention it in his diary Baburnama”. If there is no mention of Guru Nanak it is not evidence that Babur did not know him. Babur had not reported many things as historians have observed over the years. The author seriously needs to revise his knowledge of history. The book is replete with factual errors like the work Twarikh Guru Khalsa by Giani Gian Singh is mentioned as Tarikh Guru Khalsa by Bhai Lakha Singh (p.177).

Despite many flaws, the honest intentions and hard work of the author are evident. I hope the book would propel the Sikh community to take note of the neglected gurdwaras in Pakistan — like the dilapidated Gurudwara Rori Sahib which has the graffiti “Allahu Akbar” at its entrance; Gurdwara Sachkhand on the verge of becoming a Muslim shrine; the gurdwara in Makhdoom Pur Pahuran converted into a school with pictures of Jinnah and Allama Iqbal; and the gurudwara in Mandi Bahauddin occupied by a police inspector and being run as a brothel, and many more.

In this journey, Mr Khalid raises a number of questions that the “self-proclaimed” representatives of religion need to ponder over. The book has beautiful photographs of the gurudwaras, shrines, tombs and stirring references to Gurbani. It also has shades of wit and humour. Sample this: “Ghaffar (who has written a book on the history of Kanganpur) did not argue back, not because he was convinced but because by now tea had arrived (p.147).

But the chapter, “The Legend” which deals with the history of Gurdwara Panja Sahib, proves to be the real gem. The gurudwara is one of the most holy places of Sikhism because of the presence of a rock believed to have the handprint of Guru Nanak imprinted on it. The author asserts that the handprint is of Kamma, a Muslim mason. Not once is this presented as a part of multiple histories but is described as the only fact and that too, without any historical proof! Dear Haroon Khalid, though the “cultural warriors” already have Padmavatis and Jallikattus to rescue it is advisable to get your facts right. And one last question (or rather a challenge): Can you take the same liberties and write about Prophet Muhammad, the man, in the same way you have written about Guru Nanak?

Kulbir Kaur teaches sociology at Shyama Prasad Mukherji College, Delhi University