Cairo to Luxor: A glimpse into post-revolutionary Egypt

First impressions
On reaching Cairo the first sighting was that of a chaotic airport, in stark contrast to its practised counterpart in Dubai. There was an air of nostalgia about the city, as I sat in the cab which took me from the airport to the hotel. Cairo appeared to belong to a bygone era, as we see it in the movies of the seventies; architecturally diverse, with a vibrant and warm feeling to it; peopled with assertive young individuals, particularly energetic young women in chic western garbs along with modest hijabs, gesticulating amidst the mayhem that is Cairo traffic. The city elicits myriad emotions: of clinging on to a glorious past, of the old and middle aged elite in their Parisian labels, Tahrir, Ramses and the adjoining squares with tanks and barriers and then the young and carefree looking forward to change. The sight of the river Nile; majestic yet unassuming; evoked images of an innocent longing, frozen in time or perhaps epitomising economic inadequacy.

Moving away from Cairo to the suburbs was an experience in itself. It reinforced the belief that it is imperative to explore the chosen country of study and even more important to look beyond the capital city. As one progressed from Cairo to Giza, monstrous constructions with few inhabitants became the norm. The infrastructure was abysmal. One could sense the economic downturn. The silver lining lay in the warmth and simplicity of the people. With no intentions of romanticizing poverty, one could not help but appreciate the lack of arrogance, the abundance of sincerity and honesty all around. Trust came easily and fear disappeared instantaneously. Both Cairo, which is architecturally very exciting and the suburbs, with not much to display, had one thing in common, the buildings were not painted/whitewashed, they displayed a dusty, brown façade, especially in the suburbs where many were not plastered as well. Brick constructions were what one got to see in abundance. For someone living in the suburbs of Calcutta it certainly felt like home. The imperfections were reassuring.

Old Cairo was sheer magic, a city which did not equate development with gigantic malls. The mosques did not appear to have been constructed to look picture-perfect, they looked more like places of worship, open and inclusive/incorporating, approachable and not majestic, very ordinary, very human like the city itself and its people. A city with graffiti, erased graffiti, and freshly written ones, a city with a 26th July (marking the day King Farouk left the country after the 23rd July revolution in 1952) street and a 6th of October (marking the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, which was fought by the coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel from October 6 to 25, 1973) street in the suburbs.  A city with boundaries on all sides to protect the capital but never giving a fortified feeling, Cairo just could not be exclusive, isolated; it is as if almost always a city with a view.

Alexander’s Alexandria (founded around a tiny ancient Egyptian town c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great) was a four hour drive from Cairo, marked by beautiful vineyards, the not so beautiful industrial spaces and mammoth gated communities. The city itself had me searching for an apt description; an amalgam of sorts, Egyptian both Byzantine & Islamic, as well as Graeco-Roman; Pompey’s pillar of the Ptolemaic era peeping out of a quintessential contemporary Egyptian open cafe where Shisha/Hukka enjoys a place of pride; besides the colossal Bibliotheca Alexandrina celebrating and rekindling the brilliance of the ancient Library of Alexandria, lost in antiquity. King Farouk’s palace facing the stunning blue Mediterranean sea epitomized the city’s lack of a distinct identity with its assorted architectural lay out. The Israel in me looked for a piece of Tel Aviv in it. However, the trams and the yellow cabs were reassuring as the Calcutta in me found a home away from home.

Luxor, a little jewel situated on upper/southern Egypt by the banks of the river Nile, which in its full splendour bestows upon the region the bounty of green fields. Once the queen of the Nile cruise; post revolution, Luxor presented a picture of desolation, evoking a feeling of pathos and melancholy, personified by its magnificent monuments; the Valley of Kings &Queens, and the Temples of Karnak and Luxor. Nonetheless the petite beauty exhibited a spirit of resilience as it welcomed its few visitors with warmth rarely felt and gratitude seldom expressed. She came across as a survivor as did this amazing nation.

The last day in Cairo was a Friday, the sacred day of the Muslims; the sounds of Adhan resonated in the air as an incredible, emotionally exhausting week in Masr came to an end.

Afterthoughts

The man on the street, at the individual level appears to be experiencing a sense of empowerment, of being a force to be reckoned with, deftly represented by the ubiquitous university campuses with their ceaseless and explicit (albeit, at times volatile) articulation of political opinions typified by the politically and socially entrenched Al-Azhar network, a crucial element in the state-religion complex.  Egypt, post Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood appears to be at a chaotic juncture where discontent could provide opportunity spaces for certain disruptive Islamist clusters to re-emerge, although these groups are contending with organizational challenges possibly to avert a recurrence of the insurgencies of the “nineteen-nineties.” The opposition and the military may arrive at a conclusion that they have unqualified acquiescence from the people to supress Islamist movements and disregard them from the political process; this process in itself could initiate a vehement response from Islamist groups who apprehend the prospect and plausibility of encountering similar subjugation as experienced under previous regimes. Egypt continues to be in a post-revolutionary flux.

Priya Singh

03.03.2019

*As a Fellow at the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, the author undertook an academic excursion to Egypt in the month of October 2013. The piece has been previously published in the Newsletter of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies.