Pepper Fragrance
A Self-Ethnographic Account of a Journey to Pakistan’s Balochistan ProvinceCompiled by: Mahdieh Palizban
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad
2025-11-18
“Before the trip, I Googled Quetta, Pakistan. All it gave me—top to bottom—were news of bombings and terrorist operations. I blamed it on Persian-language limitations. Who could have imagined that I would spend a whole day and night traveling and sharing meals with a smuggler?! It never crossed my mind that Pakistan’s security police would start chasing me, and that bombs would explode around me every single night as if it were some routine ritual.”
This is how Pepper Fragrance, written by Mohammad-Ali Jafari, begins. It recounts a journey to Quetta, Pakistan during the days leading up to Arbaeen. Despite the shared border, Iranians have very little information or vivid imagery about Pakistan. Thus, this narrative and travelogue helps fill this gap and introduces readers to the Shia communities of Pakistan.
The book contains 17 chapters. Some are only one or two pages long, while others are more extended. The first four chapters describe how the journey starts and the route taken before reaching the city of Quetta. The later chapters focus on discovering the city and attempting to communicate with the people. The prose and tone of the book have two styles: in the early chapters, subtle humor flows through the narrative as the author describes the entire journey and its scenes with gentle wit. This humor softens the harshness of the travel conditions for the reader and transforms the dangerous circumstances into an engaging experience. The narrator also pays close attention to preserving the local dialect and tries to keep and clarify regional words as much as possible. Many chapter titles are based on local language.
The chapter titles are as follows:
Last-Boss Khan, Blood-Red Gaze, Shirt-Shaking, Tayyar Taftan, The Honorable Profession of Smuggling, Wandering on Alamdar Street, Grief and Salutation, Hair-Tugging Over Hair, Quetta’s Cosmologist, Unique Friend, Ronaldinho-Style Move, Mullah’s Mystic, Bewitching Nightingale, Hey? Accessible Microbe, Swift-Flowing Soul of Pakistan, Quetta Cable, The True King.
Despite the unfamiliar theme and tense atmosphere, the book’s tone is direct and unpretentious, making it an easy read. It avoids unnecessary detail and excessive prelude. The author’s viewpoint is relatively neutral, striving simply to narrate the situation. He never misses an opportunity to talk to people or learn about their culture and lifestyle, trying to discover something in every encounter.
The title of the book reflects the lifestyle of the local people. Throughout the narrative, the distinct way of life in this region is described. The narrator tries to come as close as possible to the everyday lives of the locals, to experience it firsthand, and even welcomes difficult situations—from wearing local clothing to learning words and expressions used in conversation.
The humor present in the early chapters gradually fades in the sections focused on reporting life in Quetta. The narrator’s voice also becomes somewhat more subdued. Although he tries to interact with people, due to sensitive conditions and the activities of the Shia community, most of his interactions end up being with clerics from Quetta’s Islamic seminary. Many of these individuals have spent time in Iran, and some of their activities carry political undertones. The narrative touches on historical events and crises that Shia communities have faced in past decades, including tensions with the government. The city’s charged and sensitive environment, and the surveillance imposed on Shias, give the trip a political and security-laden tone. This sense of surveillance intensifies over time until the journey abruptly ends.
Some chapters offer detailed accounts of meeting individuals and learning about their lives and work. Because of the region’s heavy security atmosphere, the ethnographic richness present in the early chapters—during the journey to Quetta—does not continue, and the travelogue shifts into reports of visits to religious centers. In these sections, the narrator speaks with several prominent Shia clerics of Pakistani Balochistan and describes their affinity for the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Two chapters provide a more detailed description of the conditions faced by Arbaeen pilgrims: one describes the lodging and waiting area for pilgrims from various cities who must stay in Quetta for days before heading toward Iran. Another chapter recounts a conversation with the leader of a caravan, detailing what pilgrims endure during this annual journey.
Despite strict monitoring of the narrator’s presence and movements in the city, the narrative includes photographs that help bring the atmosphere and individuals to life. The narrator’s approach to people is empathetic, equal, and brotherly; he does not emphasize shortcomings or differences and avoids excessive judgment. Pepper Fragrance reminds readers of the presence of a community living next door to Iran—one that, despite cultural differences and distinct ways of life, shares religious ties and a common language for communication, yet has remained largely unseen under the heavy shadow of sectarian sensitivity.
Pepper Fragrance was published in 2025 by Soore-ye-Mehr [publication] in 208 pages, paperback (octavo size).
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