Up on the hill there are a couple of abandoned Russian Armoured Personnel Carrriers. I climbed on one of them and had my picture taken. But as it always happens in such situations, the picture got corrupted. So, there is no photographic evidence yet of my conquering Soviet Russia ! (wait a minute; photo found!)
There is also a huge swimming pool atop the hill;I don’t quite know how they filled it up but the Russians were apparently having a good time. Today, the pool floor serves as a mini foot-ball field for local youngsters.
The last time we were on the hill, suddenly there was a flurry of activity among the Afghan soldiers up there. It turned out that Dostum had decided to take a walk. Those who followed the painful events in recent Afghan history would know that General Dostum is one of the war lords who kept changing sides. He stands charged with fairly nasty human rights abuses, but these days he seems to have acquired some sort of respectability and lives a luxurious life – having exchanged his trade mark horse for a multiple horsepower Mercedes Benz – just over looking the hill. Needless to say, he is always surrounded by guards.
Well, the security guards fanned out in all directions upon the hill and we were gently advised to change directions. But according to my Indian friends, he is a quite a friendly soul, his murderous past notwithstanding. They were talking of a photo opportunity with him and I was wondering if I would get a picture comparable to the one in which I am seen together with Cambodia’s Hun Sen – another reformed criminal (but I am not really sure if either man is really reformed). But as it happened, Dostum came close but turned away.
(credit:patriotoutfitthailand.com)
One can meet a lot of interesting people in the guest house. The other day, when I went down to the basement dining room for my morning coffee, my back-support belt triggered a conversation with a gentleman. He started talking of a friend in Australia with a back problem. I wondered if he too was Australian but it turned out he was from Croatia who has been in Afghanistan for three years. Earlier, he had also worked in East Timor. When he knew my nationality, he mentioned that he and his wife had just done a tour of India – complete with the Palace on Wheels. When I remarked that the treatment must have been royal, he said it was but the people involved are spoiling the whole experience. Demand for tips at every turn, after paying a price that is supposedly all-inclusive. He also mentioned that together with him in the tour were Spanish Hoteliers and people like that who know the hospitality business; while they could vouchsafe for the genuineness of an experience that connects with a past glory, they were put off by having to pay exorbitant prices for liquor and stuff available elsewhere for much less. Well, I hope “Incredible India” learns its lessons! (or is this part of the “incredible” package?)
Yesterday while I was having my breakfast alone in the dining hall, in walked the MI6 type. I know I did not mention him earlier; this is an Afghan from Ghasni province ( remember Ghasni Mohammed from our history books, a byword for perseverance – I imagine it is the same territory) whispered to be in the pay roll of the British government. Whenever he stays in the guest house he does so with an entourage of personal guards. I have heard of some of his activities but it is best to leave them unreported in a e-mailed communication. Any way, he walked in. I had earlier never gone beyond “hullo” with him but this time we talked. He said he works with the ministry. Since I already knew which one, I kept quiet rather than follow up with the entirely natural “which one?” But I also thought he might have a cover but later during the conversation, he was quite open about his connections with the Defence Ministry. Obviously, I did not probe into the full range of his work. By the way, he speaks English with a mix of British and American accents. You have no doubt noted that I haven’t given his name and I am not going to; as a matter of fact I didn’t get it properly and just as well.
There are two others I could mention. A gentleman who has lived in the States for 30 years and is returning only the second time to his homeland and a lady who speaks mostly in Dhari and says she lives in Germany ( I haven’t figured her out. She doesn’t look German; may be of Afghan origin but I did not get the details. There is a language problem – my proficiency in German and Urdu and hers in English and Urdu being roughly of the same small order). I was trying out German with her and she was answering me mostly in Urdu. Meanwhile, the gentleman kept very quiet and I thought that he either had a language problem or did not want to engage in conversation. It turned out I was wrong on both counts. That’s when I learnt that he lived in the States.
He gave me his views and perspectives on the current Afghan scenario referencing it with a bit of history. You could quiet easily detect the pain he feels as he talks of his country and all that she has undergone. He came here to settle property matters but is staying on a little longer than planned as he has started to help out some needy countrymen.
24 May 2005 – Judah
– to be continued (D.V)