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Two Germans who fell in love with the beauty of Sindh

By Fawad Ali Shah

KARACHI: Ibn Al Haytham, the Iraqi Arab scientist who is believed to be one of the early inventers of photography, would have never imagined that his invention would help spread cultural harmony. In fact, no one could imagine that photography would become a profession and it would give birth to a new industry.

It is quite probable that Columbus would have liked to use a modern camera to show his tales of discovering America to Europe, rather than narrating them.

When German writer and musician Peter Pannke visited Karachi for the first time in 1967, he could not have imagined that he would soon fall in love with the landscape and culture of this land.

He stayed in Sindh for a year and when he returned home, he found that he missed the land and that he had developed a deep affection for this country. That affection made him visit the land over and over again.

In 1997, one of his friends, Horst A Friedrichs asked him to show him a glimpse of Karachi, as he had come to love it profoundly. Hence, they both set out on a visit to interior Sindh and that is when the idea of the book, ‘Troubadours of Allah’ came into being.

Both the adventurous young men started their journey from the Indus Valley and captured the essence of Sufi spirituality within the culture, as well as the faces of the devotees, using their cameras.

While Friedrichs would capture different situations via the camera’s eyes, Peter Pannke would give a caption to these, thus the book started. A time came when they weren’t satisfied with all that they had found and wanted to discover more.

Mai Sabhagi, a malang with kajal; a murli player; the Soruz of Karim Baksh Nuri and all the musicians at different shrines were stored in the memory of their modern camera. “We would discuss things, then write a theme and take pictures accordingly,” said Pannke looking back at his journey, adding, “It was a thrilling and fascinating journey. I am in love with this land, so I enjoyed it a lot.”

On Thursday, the Goethe-Institute Karachi exhibited a collection of their photographs. They have now compiled the memories of their journey in the shape of a book, which Pannke claims has been ‘well-received and appreciated in Germany’.

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