THIS has to be said straight off: we carry awful stereotypes in our heads, and our strategy is to expect the worst, unless proven otherwise. So we are easily persuaded by the unsubtle notion that radical Islam has all of the Middle East in its pincer-grip and women must offer visual proof of this: by covering themselves from head to toe. Not wanting to take any chances on a maiden visit to Damascus, one packs any numbers of scarves one could lay hands on, so that no one’s piety may be offended by the sight of a heathen scalp. A stray anecdote from a Syria-returned author, to the effect that Syrian women have to take written permission from their fathers or husbands before travelling abroad, strengthened the premonition.
We were, therefore, pleasantly surprised (if not taken aback) by the young and rather self-assured woman who met us for our first interaction. She was far better turned out — blonde-streaked hair quite uncovered — even in her smart, no-nonsense office attire than any of our Indian women’s press corps.
Tales and damsels
Protected economies have their advantages — Old social structures do not crumble so easily. Syrians still spend their evenings leisurely smoking shisha and simply arguing in the numerous cafés dotting the bylanes of Damascus or Aleppo. Even the old tradition of story telling is intact. In a tiny café opposite an old property where Agatha Christie apparently wrote the first few chapters of The Orient Express, Rashid Al Halak Abo Shadi peddles his craft with much drama and relish. For twenty years, he has been snaring fellow Syrians and stray travellers like us with mesmeric stories of Arab heroism. The other end of the entertainment industry is alive and well too: a very attractive belly dancer, moving in mysterious ways.
Special attention
As the editor-in-chief of Jouhina, a popular lifestyle-and-social issues magazine chain with editions across Syria, Fadia Gibreel, we realised, was a rather useful friend to have in Syria. Thanks to her, we managed to reach people and places that were otherwise out-of-bounds, as an interpreter from the Indian Embassy later assured us. Even at the legendary Umayyad Mosque, where Shia and also Christian pilgrims (because of its links to John the Baptist) come from all over the world, we could sense the special attention being bestowed on us. And, Fadia was no exception that proved the rule.
Mixture of cultures
Intifada, jihad, endless war…that’s the other cluster of notions we carry. Well, Syria seems to have kept itself far better insulated than we have. Despite being practically encircled by strife — Iraq on one side, Beirut to the other, the West Bank just about there — it’s miraculously managed to keep its cities and countryside peaceful. We did hear of a car bomb blast a few miles outside Damascus a few months ago, but it was more a solitary event than the recurring sickness we know from back home. Talk of terrorism destroying the reputation of good Muslims abound, but it has certainly not invaded daily lives. Urban India has nearly forgotten life without frisking and security checks at every gate. Syrians are more or less free of such hassles. Is it the open-arms policy towards refugees and political exiles from other Arab states that’s helped secure the lives of its citizens? Could be. There are nearly 1.3 million Christian and Muslim Iraqis, a larger number of Palestinians and a smaller number of Lebanese refugees in and around Damascus. There is some grumbling about the pressures on infrastructure, especially when it comes to the richer Iraqis, but they don’t grudge them the civic amenities — a group of young Iraqi artists holding a painting exhibition in Damascus felt they were better off in less-expensive Syria. The average Syrian seems to take genuine pride in the country’s plural heritage — old Aramaic kingdoms, the grand Greco-Roman columns of Palmyra, Byzantine-Christian, the labyrinthine Aleppo citadel, and communities on the borderzone of Islam like the Druze and Alawites.
Undivided India
But the greatest surprise was sprung by the Grand Mufti, Dr Ahmad Badr Al Din Hassoun. Talking of ways to recapture the Orient’s spiritual supremacy to end strife in the region, Syria’s highest religious leader suggested that our subcontinent — the undivided India — be reunited under one parliament on the lines of the European Union. Even more startling, he said he has shared his thoughts with both Pakistani and Kashmiri leaders who have visited him. “The idea of Greater India has to be restored to erase the current conflict,” he added. Blaming the British for creating artificial divides and inventing clash-of-civilisation theories to keep ex-colonies drowned in strife, he said, “Why should India not unite? Civilisation gives knowledge and knowledge does not create any clash, ignorance does. The clash, therefore, is of a political nature.” He was subtly drawing a parallel alluding to the concept of Greater Syria, the old Levant.
Indo-Syrian venture
Najah Al-Attar, all auburn hair and formal A-lined skirt, has a few stories of her own. At 76, the Syrian Vice President — Culture, has institutional memory. She has personally known four generations of Indian leaders: Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Atal Behari Vajpayee and now Manmohan Singh. She has one regret. A joint Indo-Syrian archaeological exhibition to showcase two ancient secular civilisations, which she planned with late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, is yet to take place…
santwana.bhattacharya@gmail.com
