Well, it is the month of May and I am still using a heavy blanket at night. Till a few days ago, occasional use of room heater was also resorted to, for the cold was really biting. This was especially after a spell of rain with the sky completely overcast. With the sun shining bright though, it is quite warm during the day time – temperature going up to mid twenties – and can seem warmer inside a car. But the moment you enter a building, there is a dramatic drop in temperature. The snow around the distant hills hasn’t melted and till that happens, I guess it will be cool weather. Even afterwards, I am told it doesn’t get terribly hot in Kabul. Highs of 35 deg. are mentioned. And when it rains, boy does the place get slushy ! With the roads being none too good, there are puddles everywhere. People start walking around with Wellingtons in order to protect their shoes.
Kabulis say it hasn’t always been like this. There was a severe drought for the past 4 or 5 years and water wasn’t plentiful. To see the Kabul river flowing today brings great joy to their faces. The snowfall last winter seems to have been particularly heavy. I saw some pictures of the guest house taken in February and there is snow sitting atleast a foot deep on the garden chairs out on the lawn ! I understand vehicles move with chains around the tyres.
On the very next day after my arrival, I got a chance to go upto the snow at a picnic spot near Kabul. Several car washes were going on in the cold mountain stream. We ( that is my local friend Qaseem and I) climbed upto the reaches of the snow. I scooped some, smeared on the face and even ate some to quench the thirst!
There are two main languages in Afghanistan: Dari and Pashtu. The South and East are Pashtu concentrations while the north and west speak Dari, which I am told is not very different from the Farsi of Iran or Tajic of Tajikistan. Given the fact that millions of Afghans have lived in Pakistan for decades during the war, Urdu is easily understood. Thus it is not a problem for Hindi speakers to get around. For instance the staff in the guest house all can speak Urdu. The thought crossed my mind if the Lord didn’t prepare me for this trip decades in advance, by granting us a tenure in Delhi ! Needless to say, my limited Hindi / Urdu is fast improving.
I spoke Tamil for the first time – other than over phone – since my arrival here last Friday (6 May). After the Friday service, I took Qaseem to Delhi Darbar for some Indian food. On the next table were two Tamil looking types. But I couldn’t be sure (some Bengalis and Biharis look similar) till I saw one of them using his hands lavishly to handle his food !
They were from Dubai and were here in town to do some auditing work for UNHCR. And all of us were quite excited about talking freely in Tamil. I gathered there are some Malayalees here (surprise, surprise !) working in the Kabul Bank. But I haven’t run into them so far.
Women are a miserable lot in this country. I mentioned the valley with mountain stream that had attracted hundreds of picnickers on the holiday we were there; the women among them were literally just a handful. To me it was strange that men should leave their women behind, drive up to the hills and have a good time. What do the women back home do in the meanwhile – cook and watch television? Same was the case when we went up to the tomb of king Zahir Shah’s father who was killed about 60 years ago. Lots of people enjoying the fine weather, flying kites, eating ice-cream; yet so few women.
There seem to be two kinds of women, atleast in Kabul. Those who wear the Burka that leaves only a lattice for their eyes and nose and the others who were the Chowdar_that leaves the face uncovered, while covering the hair.
Presumably the latter are the educated, traveled, younger or liberated. Quite of few of this lot is seen at work, where they seem not to have any discomfort working alongside men.
My wife bought me a pair of expensive walking shoes for use during my stay in Kabul. She could have spared herself the expense. I don’t see people going for walks for exercise on a regular basis; the Afghans are not in the habit and it is not safe for the internationals – at least to walk alone. Having said that, I must mention that there is a hill behind this residential area – called Wazir Akbar Khan hill – which offers a fantastic view of the city to climbers. There is a motorable road, but one can also climb straight up without too much difficulty. The security forces have a permanent perch up there to monitor the goings on down below and sometimes the ISAF also takes up position there.
We have been up there a couple of times as a group of Indians and Pakistanis. On the other side of the hill you can see the Kabul airport. The poorer section of the populace also lives there. All around one can see mountains that are still snow capped – it is the month of May. I hear stories of how the Ariana pilots go straight up from the run way clearing the lower range of hills around the airport while the Indian Airlines take a safer, circling approach to both landing and take-off.
- to be continued (D.V)
19 May 2005 Judah