“The word nostalgia is derived from the Greek words Nostos, meaning return home, and algos, meaning pain. It refers to a feeling of pleasure and slight sadness when one thinks of one’s past life. There’s no escape from nostalgia. We often get hit by nostalgia when we visit — in real life or memory — the hometown where we grew up, our old school and college, our old friends, an old forgotten letter, or a photograph.”
Dr. Munawar Aziz
Comparing the present with the past—often unfavorably—was once considered a mental illness, especially in the 17th century. However, it is now recognized as a normal phenomenon. Nostalgia may feel particularly intense when one is alone or going through difficult times.
Born in the Peshawar Cantt area and going through various stages of life—schooling, playing in streets and parks, watching movies in cinema houses, and ultimately qualifying as a doctor and serving in Lady Reading Hospital—meant living in that city for almost three decades. All those years, I lived a short distance from my school and the streets leading to my house, yet it never occurred to me to visit my school, college, or the streets near my home.
Having bid farewell to the city to go abroad and subsequently settling in Abbottabad for quite some time now, I often feel an urge to visit my hometown of my early days.
Nostalgic feelings are universal, reminding us of simpler times—perhaps carefree summer afternoons, the excitement of receiving handwritten letters, or the sound of a loved one’s laughter. In today’s fast-paced world, nostalgia provides comfort. It allows us to escape momentarily, revisiting the warmth of home-cooked meals, childhood cartoons, or the friendships that shaped us.
While technology constantly evolves, many find solace in reviving old traditions—playing cassette tapes, listening to records (on gramophones, radiograms, or even Walkmans), or watching classic films.
However, nostalgia isn’t just about longing for the past; it also influences the present. It helps us appreciate where we came from and shapes our identity. Ultimately, nostalgia is a powerful bridge between the past and present. It reminds us that while time moves forward, the memories we hold dear remain timeless, offering comfort, inspiration, and a sense of belonging.
After recently visiting the city of my dreams, seeing my old school and college buildings, and walking the streets of my childhood, I found myself deeply saddened. Everything that had existed in my dreams was shattered—changed. I felt like a stranger in the very places where I had once been happy and thriving.
The lesson I have learned is this: Do not revisit the places where you spent your early days. Instead, keep them alive in your memories, to be cherished.
- Dr. Munawar Aziz
Abbottabad, Pakistan.
aziz.munawar@gmail.com
A very emotionally moving article . Indeed, nostalgia has a strange hold on the human psyche . We can look at it from the positive or negative angles; but the writer Virginia Woolf really expressed it accurately when she said that “Our [nostalgic] past has a strong hold on us; it’s like a barbed wire , no matter how hard we struggle against it, it will always prick us and hold some part of us”.