Homebound: A life less ordinary

Abdul Qayum talks about his travels to Spain and his chance encounter with Sufism

GILGIT: The tourism sector in Gilgit–Baltistan is at a low ebb. Ever since the 2013 attack on a base camp in Nanga Parbat, the decline has been consistent.  Thousands of people affiliated with the business in the region have been rendered unemployed. Many of them have been forced to shift gears and explore other avenues to earn a living.  

Abdul Qayum is among the courageous few who decided to stay put and persevere. Over the years, he has not allowed himself to be discouraged by failure and still hopes for a better future. Be it obstinacy or an unwillingness to give up, Qayum’s journey has been his sole companion and – when the need arises – his only weapon of choice.

Wheel of fortune spins

Now in his 60s, he recalls his chance association with tourism with nostalgia. In the early 1970s, a Spanish national, Flip Volege, visited Gilgit. Qayum served as his driver and showed him around the region. During this period, he shared his desire to settle in Europe with Volege. Much to Qayum’s surprise, the foreigner was more than willing to help his tour guide out.



“He arranged for my visa and ticket and I flew to Barcelona via London and Amsterdam as an excited 21-year-old,” Qayum said. He worked at Volege’s house for two-and-a-half years. He received £20 as his initial monthly salary which rose to £250. “My salary was more than an average worker’s,” he said. “I was quite fortunate. However, this feeling of not being a free man nagged me.”

In the decade he spent in Spain, Qayum managed to learn Spanish and make a durable connection with people in the country. He travelled to France and Germany on several occasions and mastered the art of marketing and exports.

“However, I failed to find inner peace away from home,” he said. “I returned to G-B in 1983 and opened my own hotel and tour guide service called Xama.”

A chance encounter

After his return to Pakistan, Qayum found the missing link in his life. He visited shrines of saints across the country.

“It was at the shrines that I gained direct spiritual contact with the Creator,” Qayum said. He claimed that he was always drawn to Sufism but started practicing it after his return. At first, Qayum’s beliefs made him stick out as a sore thumb among his family members and neighbours.

“I shared the ideology with my friends in the West and they were equally inclined towards it,” he added.

Qayum also discovered a shrine in Gilgit which was about 750 years old. “When I went there for the first time, I found it to be nothing less than a garbage store,” he said.



“However, with monetary and moral support from a German friend, I managed to build a roof and walls around the shrine. My German friend visited the place and sent me $300 for its repair and construction.”

Coming full circle

Even though Qayum never visited Europe again, his friends make frequent trips to Pakistan. Apart from his six children, Qayum has a “spiritual grandson” in Spain who dotes on him. A Spanish couple visited Qayum’s hotel in Gilgit before the birth of their child. They consider Qayum to be his grandfather.

“My grandson refuses to go to his parents when he visits me here,” Qayum said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th,  2015.