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Surreal glimpses of Sarajevo

  • Posted On: 10th June 2013
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 Sarajevo Saturdays by Maniza Naqvi is an interesting collection of stories of life in post-war Sarajevo. The writer of Mass Transit gives us an intriguing glimpse of everyday life in a city which has been traumatised by conflict.

Ironically, Sarajevo gets its name from Bosnia Serai, the name the Ottomans gave it, a resting place, a stopover for travellers on their way to somewhere else. Serais were a great place for story telling, story sharing and for music and song. But Sarajevo is remembered for war. The Balkan wars of the 1990s coined the term ‘ethnic cleansing’ which is engraved on the conscience of the world.
The writer had the opportunity to go to Bosnia as part of the enterprise to rebuild war-torn communities, to create jobs for demobilised soldiers and people who had lost their livelihoods due to the dismantling of the State, and to reform public institutions so that they would be more efficient in facilitating a market economy. These stories were mostly written on Saturdays in Sarajevo when Maniza Naqvi had the opportunity to spend time with “some of the most interesting and inspiring people that I have ever had the pleasure to meet.”
As Maniza skillfully sketches Sarajevo on paper, the city begins to come alive with its mosques, churches, synagogues, cafés, art galleries and theatres. Its motley collection of eccentrics, musicians, poets, writers, film makers, painters, fighters and rebels give Sarajevo a colour and vibrancy which adds to its irresistible charm.
It is interesting to note that in Sarajevo, international bureaucrats and politicos “long past their sell by date” are rejuvenated and reenergised. They arrive as tired old bureaucrats who no one would spare a passing glance for, but once they have lived here, they leave feeling like movie stars. If that is the sense of importance and limelight foreign bureaucrats receive in Sarajevo, perhaps we should ship our retired bureaucrats there who are busy currying favours with the government.
Sarajevo is so welcoming that most foreigners feel at home in a place that has been wrecked by war. Maniza points out that there is a reason why every foreigner – English, Scottish, Irish, Swedish, Indian, Swiss, Italian, German, Pakistani, Australian, American or Brazilian – who came to Sarajevo wished to stay on. They all found something of themselves here and travellers always need a place to rest – at Serai.
The joie de vivre and strength of character displayed by the characters in Sarajevo Saturdays shocks us out of our sedate and angst ridden lives. Rahima is a doctor who sees death and misery every day in the hospital as she struggles to cope with patients who have been traumatised by the war. When she is asked, “When you save lives, what do you see? The person, or the wound?” She immediately answers, “Always the person. Show me a person who has only known happiness and I will show you a dumb and boring person.”
The language is simple, yet eloquent, and there is no need for fancy words in this narrative which profiles the brave and resilient people of Sarajevo who are trying to piece together the fragments of their lives which have been rent asunder by the war. Sarajevo Saturdays illustrates the strength of the human spirit which can rise like a phoenix from the ashes of war and is of particular significance for readers in Pakistan who are battling conflict and chaos in the quicksand of war.



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