Dubai: Indian expat chronicles hometown's history in new book

It is the first detailed account of the Indian city of Amroha in English

Mazhar Farooqui

Published: Fri 27 Oct 2023, 4:17 PM

Last updated: Mon 30 Oct 2023, 9:46 AM

Inam Abidi, a Dubai resident since 2006, wears two hats with equal passion — one as a cloud consultant by profession, and the other as a writer at heart.

His journey as an author reached its culmination earlier this year with the publication of his first book, Making of a Qasba: The Story of Amroha. This achievement marked the realisation of a long-held dream that had been nurtured since his college days.

The book, painstakingly researched over three years, stands as the first comprehensive historical account of the city of Amroha presented in the English language.

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Amroha, Inam’s hometown, is situated in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, renowned for its association with luminaries like Kamal Amrohvi, Jaun Elia, Sadequain, and Jai Krishna Agarwal.

The Qasba of Amroha holds a distinguished status as a prominent Sufi centre, steeped in history and tradition.

Inam said the idea of the book first struck him 2015 when he was researching for an article about Amroha, with the intention of acquainting his children with their ancestral heritage.

“I looked up everywhere, but couldn’t find much in English,” he recalled. “It was then that I recognised the significant gap in English accounts detailing the city's rich history. This realisation spurred me to delve into the project of writing a book."

Over the years, Inam made multiple visits to Amroha, which his family had left in the 1970s when they moved to Lucknow. He engaged in meetings with individuals well-acquainted with the city's heritage, scoured through a multitude of books in various languages including Urdu, Persian, Hindi, and English, and examined numerous YouTube videos.

Along this journey, he encountered a variety of people, from a former senior government official who initially believed he was co-writing the book and subsequently ceased communication when he learned otherwise, to a rickshaw puller who went out of his way to capture images of historical sites within the city and shared them with Inam.

Regarding the most gratifying part of his experience, Inam shared, “I stumbled upon a rare painting of Amroha and became curious about the artist behind it. It turned out he was also a resident of Lucknow. Meeting Jai Krishna Agarwal, a renowned Indian printmaker from Amroha, was a privilege. Despite being in his 80s, he had vivid memories of the city to share with me."

In the world of historical accounts, Inam knew controversies were common. He stated, "As a researcher, one grapples with conflicting accounts and the biases of the ruling elite. It's also challenging to assess past events with contemporary knowledge."

Inam's perspective on technology and history is insightful. He believes that technology streamlines the present and prepares us for the future, while history teaches us invaluable lessons from the past.

One aspect that tinges Inam’s achievement with sadness is the loss of his father, who passed away a year before the book's publication. He reflected, "My father would have been elated."

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