“Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul”

      “Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul”

After reading the book "Deshe Bideshe" by Sayed Mujtaba Ali, I can say that the author has a great sense of humor. At the beginning, he described his journey from Hawra station, which is mainly in India, to Peshawar, and then Peshawar to Jalalabad. He also shared what it feels like to be a Bengali. We will understand his humor level at the very beginning when he convinced a Firingi for a compartment by his English because that compartment was for Europeans. He described how Firingi wanted to share food made by his

wife and then it turned out his and Mujtaba Ali's food was the same and their foods also tasted the same. Later, it was revealed that his wife didn't make those foods; Mujtaba Ali bought them from a hotel. Mujtaba Ali has given a great description of weather in his book. From the train, he saw a sunny field and said that this hot weather is addictive. He also wrote poems about this sunny field and platform in his book. The train was running and the environment was changing from place to place. When the train reached Punjab he noticed the cultural change. An old Sardarji came up to his compartment and they started chatting. Mujtaba Ali learned many things about Punjab and Pathan from that Sardarji. He understood that Pathans can do anything to start gossip. They love chit-chat so much. Mujtaba Ali also realized that Pathans love hospitality very much. Guests are there with everything and they are so generous that they don't allow foreigners money for food. They are not rich but they have a great heart. When the train was near Peshawar, Pathans helped Mujtaba Ali to pack his things because he was too tired. When Mujtaba Ali came to Peshawar a man named Ahmed Ali came to receive him. Here Mujtaba Ali described his experience of staying in Peshawar and the etiquette of Pathans very interestingly. Ahmed Ali was a very popular and cordial police officer. Mujtaba Ali experienced many things in Peshawar. He mentioned some stories that he heard in Peshawar in a very funny way. Also he mentioned the danger of Peshawar. Any time you can get shot if you are not careful and Ahemd Ali told him how it is important to lie on the stomach when something happens. Pathans are mainly independent by nature. They can't tolerate domination and as they are poor some Pathans make a living by robbing others. Mujtaba Ali has described their independent spirit by an incident he heard. Ahmed Ali told him that Pathans don't give space to others when he is on road because they think this is not true independence if he has to spare the road for others. So they often collide with each other, but they never complain even when someone hits them accidentally and they are severely injured. They do normal behavior like nothing happened. Mujtaba Ali also described their dress up specially the turban they wear on their heads. From his work we know that Peshawar has a very high temperature. He described how scorching hot it is there but a light cold breeze blows during the night and Pathans dress up very nicely and go out for a walk. As he mentioned earlier Pathans are very much friendly and they love gossiping, he got this proof in Peshawar. He learned from Ahmed Ali that when Pathans don't get anyone to talk they go to the cobbler and poke nails in their sandals so that they can talk with the cobbler. According to Pathans eating dry bread with friends is much better than eating good food at home. Mujtaba Ali also understood that Pathans consider each other brothers and if something happens to their brother they can do everything to save him. They also want an independent country about themselves where no rules of politics will exist and they will rule that area as their own rules. Mujatba I also argued about Bengali culture and politics with them as they think Bangali always ready to bomb a place. Mujatba Ali learned a lot of things about them. Pathans love hospitality so much that Ahmed Ali didn't want to say goodbye to Mujtaba Ali early. So he delayed and delayed even after Mujtaba Ali requested him to make a ticket for him. After staying seven days in Peshawar, Mujtaba Ali left Peshawar for Kabul and this journey was too hard for him. The weather was insanely hot and the road was not good. The bus he took got punctured in the middle of the road and he tolerated intense heat. He described it as if nature goddesses don't look up in this area. There was not a single blade of grass between the rocks. By the roadside was a large camel carcass. Even vultures didn't come to eat its flesh because of this blazing heat. Their driver was an old Shikh Sardarji. In this bus Mujtaba Ali saw various people of various cultures. Most of them were Kabuli traders with many things of Peshawar. Mujatba Ali couldn't talk much with the driver Sheikh Sardarji because of too much hot weather. Their road was Khyber pass and meanwhile the tire punctured for too much heat and it took half an hour to fix. Mujatba Ali almost lost sense because of this intense heat but Sardarji reminded him that Kabul is cold,green and how he can enjoy cold fresh weather there. Mujtaba Ali also described how hard it is to enter Kabul, you have to show your passport many times. And the passport verification process is too long. When they reached Dakka fort his eyes were soothed because Kabul river was flowing to the left of the fort and on its bank, it made a green strip. That scene wiped all tiredness and pain from his eyes. They had to show their passport in that fort. They had to go to Jalalabad first and then Afghan. The officer of that fort was an educated man and he was so lonely that he was so happy when he saw Mujtaba Ali and started to chat with him. The officer said that he loves the river so much that he thinks the waves of the river want to tell him something. Even when there is pitch dark outside he goes near the bank of the river and lies down there. He also invited Mujatba Ali in winter when weather is much better and he also gave cold juice to Mujatba Ali and his five others companions. Writer understood that the officer doesn't get anyone to talk about why he is too excited about everything. From him Mujatba Ali knew that their driver name is Amar Singh and he is a very daring man but he doesn't like to drive new buses or cars. The officer also predicted how many times they will face punctures and engine failure in his bus and he guessed totally right. Their destination was Jalalabad so they left the fort but a few miles before Jalalabad they had to stop because their driver was night blind. So they stopped to take shelter in an Afghan inn. The inn was too dirty and as there was no water and no rain, it was dirty for a thousand years. Mujtaba Ali described that he almost vomited from the intense smell of the inn. But he still convinced his mind in a funny way and stayed there. Later at night he and one of his companions started to talk about Afghan politics and so on. He also described how unsafe the inn was for them. They spent their night gossiping and short napping. In the morning they started their journey to Jalalabad again. Jalalabad was the winter capital of Kabul. When their bus reached Jalalabad, everyone scattered around without saying anything about when they would return. There Mujatba Ali learned a new thing that people here don't give importance to time that much,they will meet their relatives at Jalalabad and have some fun and then they will come back. At Jalalabad Mujatba Ali saw that there were many kinds of fruits. Most people live on fruits but the main attractions of Jalalabad were outside the city. If someone is interested in geology,if someone is anthropologist they can earn huge knowledge by digging around the city. In Jalalabad there is a village named Hadda, there is everything about ancient culture. After reading this much I think the book is the funnest travel book ever and I enjoyed it a lot by reading the interesting description of various cultures.