About this ebook
In this wonderful paean to Guru Nanak, Khalid describes his travels across the length and breadth of Pakistan as he visits the many gurdwaras and other locales associated with the saint, delving into their history and musing about their place and significance in a Muslim country. But this book is not merely a story about gurdwaras, it is also a re-telling of the story of Nanak the son, the poet, the wanderer, the father, the friend. Sifting through the stories of his miracles and poetry, we emerge with a picture of Nanak the man.
Also exploring the histories of all the subsequent Gurus after Nanak, the book traces the story of how an unorganized spiritual movement evolved into the institutionalized Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh. Through the journeys of all the Gurus, the book describes how Nanak the poet became Guru Nanak the saint.
About the author
Haroon Khalid has an academic background in anthropology. He got his undergraduate degree from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in social sciences with a focus on anthropology and history, and his graduate degree in anthropology from the University of Toronto. He has been a freelance journalist since 2008 and has written over 350 articles for numerous publications, including Al Jazeera, CBC, MacLean's, Scroll. in, Wire.in, TRT World, Himal, Dawn, News and Express Tribune. He has travelled extensively around Pakistan and has written about minority rights, folk traditions, the politicization of history and heritage, nationalism and identity, and several other topics. Haroon is the author of four books-A White Trail (2013), In Search of Shiva (2015), Walking with Nanak (2016) and Imagining Lahore (2018). He has also written two short non-fiction books: Beyond the Other (2016) and The Enigma of Pakistani Identity (2017). In his work, Haroon explores fluid identities, traditions and religious practices that challenge the notion of exclusivist identities, which defines communities in South Asia today. His writings have been translated into many languages, including Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati and Italian. He is based in Toronto, Canada.
