''Deshe Bideshe'' ( bn, দেশে বিদেশে) is the first book and one of the most famous works of Bengali author, journalist, travel enthusiast, academician, scholar and linguist Syed Mujtaba Ali. The book describes his experience on his stay in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

from 1927 to 1929 and was originally published serially during 1948 in the Indian weekly magazine '' Desh'', New Age Publishers Pvt. Ltd. of Kolkata published it in book form the same year. An English translation by Nazes Afroz, the former BBC executive editor of South and Central Asia, was published by

Speaking Tiger Books Speaking Tiger Books (informally Speaking Tiger) is an independent publishing and book distribution company based in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 2014 by Ravi Singh and Manas Saikia, former heads of Penguin India and Cambridge University ...

as ''In a Land Far from Home'' in 2015. The book was shortlisted for the Raymond

Crossword Book Award The Crossword Book Award (formerly known as the Crossword Book Award (1998–2003), the Hutch Crossword Book Award (2004–07), the Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2008–10), the Economist Crossword Book Award (2011–13), Raymond & Crossword Bo ...

2016.

Plot

Syed Mujtaba Ali stayed in Kabul for one and a half year to work as a teacher and described his experience in Afghanistan in the book. The book shows his keen observations but written with a sense of humor.

Characters

Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan ( Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1 ...

* Bacha-e-Saqao (

Habibullah Kalakani Habibullah also spelled Habib Ullah, Habibollah, Habeeb-Allah etc. ( ar, حَبِيْبَُ ٱلله), is a male Muslim given name meaning in ''Beloved of God'', stemming from the male form of the name Habib. It may refer to: People *Raja Sir C ...

) * Muhammed * Bolshov * Ahmed Ali * Amar Singh Bulani (Sardarji/Sikh Driver) * Dost Muhammad * Abdur Rahman *

Inayatullah Khan Inayatullah Khan (Pashto/Dari: ), (20 October 1888 – 12 August 1946) was the King of Afghanistan for three days in January 1929. He was the son of former Afghan Emir, Habibullah Khan. Inayatullah's brief reign ended with his abdication. I ...

References

External links

*{{cite web , url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25361045-in-a-land-far-from-home , title=In a Land Far from Home: A Bengali in Afghanistan , website=goodreads 1948 non-fiction books Bengali-language books Books about Afghanistan Travelogues Autobiographies Indian non-fiction books Indian travel books Indian autobiographies Indian Bengali-language novels