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Sir Wilfred Thesiger Remembered
World famous British explorer and travel writer Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesigers best remembered image would be that of him sporting the Arab headdress with his thrice broken nose, crossing the wide Arab desert on a camel.
His images and writings on his journeys across the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Desert are gripping tales of tribal people, cannibals and the thrilling anthropology of the desert.
His friend for over 40 years, Alexander Maitland, is the author of Thesiger’s biography, ‘The Life of the Last Great Explorer’.
Speaking at the Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature (EAIFL), Maitland along with Ian Fairservice, the founder of Motivate Publishing, Dubai, created a link to the adventures of Thesiger that enthralled the audience.
Thesiger said in his own words, that he is “perhaps the last explorer in the tradition of the past” of a world that is lost forever.
Fairservice spoke about Thesiger’s many adventures, and why he chose to explore the Arab deserts.
Wilfred Thesiger was born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. “As a child, he told his mother that he wanted colour and savagery from life. He was perhaps motivated by his upbringing and the abiding love for his birthplace. The images of camels and waterholes, Sudanese tribesmen, typical of the Arabian Desert inspired Thesiger’s travels to a great extent.
“He was a heroic figure and he travelled immensely. After spending years with him, I realised that I knew Thesiger better than I knew members of my family,” said Maitland.
Thesiger’s book ‘Arabian Sands’ was published in 1959. He wished for it to be published in Arabic as well. “He wanted the people whom he was writing about to read what he had written,” said Ian Fairservice.
“But, unfortunately due to some of the content regarding homosexuality, the book was banned,” added Ian. The book is available now in all Arab countries.
Ian Fairservice talked about Thesiger’s interaction with the late President of UAE, Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. “Thesiger had drawn a map of the route to Abu Dhabi, a facsimile of which is printed in his book ‘Crossing the Sands’. When Shaikh Zayed went through the map, he asked him why he had chosen such a long route to Abu Dhabi. “I know a much shorter route,” Shaikh Zayed had said. Thesiger replied, “I was not travelling to get here your Highness, I am just travelling.”
“Thesiger left behind a legacy for his readers, because of the unique impact that the people and place of Arabia left on him,” said Maitland.
Concluding the discussion, Ian cracked the joke that highlighted the humorous side of Thesiger’s writing.
“Once when Thesiger was on his way to Al Ain in a Rolls Royce, the car broke down. After being stuck in the desert he said, ‘at least when a camel breaks down you can eat it!’” said Ian.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com
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