to or FR str $1 EE ee /50 tv A en fs do rs AFGHAN S NE ISSUE 65 - DECEMBER 2009 Gem hunters The men tapping into Afghanistan’s extraordinary mineral wealth Essential Christmas gifts Kabul’s best Sushi joint reviewed Born Under A Million Shadows Nancy Hatch Dupree on Kabul’s golden era PERSPECTIVE s INSIGHT s PEOPLE s REVIEWS s PICS s LIFE SCENE AFGHAN Afghan Scene December 2009 #ONTENTS )NTRODUCTION Afghan Scene Scene December December 2009 2009 Afghan ISSUE 65 - DECEMBER 2009 Publisher: Afghan Scene Ltd, Wazir Akbar Khan, Kabul, Afghanistan Manager & Editor: Afghan Scene Ltd, Kabul, Afghanistan Design: Kaboora Production Advertising: [email protected] Printer: Emirates Printing Press, Dubai Contact: [email protected] / www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene welcomes the contribution of articles and / or pictures from its readers. Editorial rights reserved. Cover photo: Jason P. Howe 7 )NTRODUCTION 11 #ITY RHYTHMS Acclaimed photographer David Gill meets the rockstar DJ brining new tunes to an old city in his latest installment of Kabul at Work 13 #/6%2 %MERALDS BBC correspondent Martin Patience hikes into the Hindu Kush to meet the men blasting away in Panjshir’s emerald mines 13 20 ,APIS ,AZULI Sophia Swire goes underground to collect the pharaohs’ favourite hue, from the world’s oldest Lapis mine in Badakhshan 26 #HRISTMAS 3PECIAL Scene’s bumper Christmas gift guide, with handmade treats to fill every type of stocking 33 $UPREE THE GOOD OLD DAYS Kabul stalwart Nancy Dupree remembers Kabul in the 1960s complete with cabarets and cocktail bars 42 &ICTION Andrea Busfield shares the first chapter of her best-selling Afghan love story, Born Under a Million Shadows 33 60 "E 3CENE What lock-down? Scene finds black tie balls, garden parties and Thanksgiving feasts aplenty 68 &OOD SCENE NEW sushi restaurant Bentoya gets a glowing thumbs up from Afghan Scene 72 !FGHAN %SSENTIALS All you need to know about where to go in Kabul 76 &AREWELL TO A RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER UN Human Rights sleuth Niko Grubeck on the highs and lows of three years in Afghanistan 68 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 5 &AREWELL scene )NTRODUCTION Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 2010, THE MOST CRUCIAL YEAR SINCE THE LAST ONE T welve months ago we were told 2009 was to be the make-or-break year for Afghanistan. Unfortunately it was mostly break, with an insurgency that strengthened in the south, made inroads into the north and severely tested the resolve of countries providing troops and treasure to the NATO-led effort. Add to that the controversy over the painfully long drawn out election process and the ongoing uneasiness about the government’s legitimacy and it is hard not to conclude that 2009 has been little short of disastrous. Now we are being told that 2010 will in fact be the crucial year for deciding the fate of the eight year project to turn Afghanistan into a stable, democratic state free from the taint of international terrorism. But things are desperate and it is questionable whether the country will be given as much has a year to turn the corner. With western politicians nervously eyeing 00 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com their countries’ electoral schedules things have to start improving very rapidly indeed. The government has supposedly been given just six months to tackle the challenges of corruption and poor governance. Much of this will be maddening to many of Afghan Scene’s readers who know that little can be achieved in any country, let alone Afghanistan, on such a truncated timetable. Gems and semi-precious stones, for example, could become a cornerstone of the Afghan economy, according to development experts (see page 20). But Afghan lapis (not to mention carpets, pomegranates and all therest) will not be taking world markets by storm any time soon. The international community must be patient, and accept that 2011 and the years thereafter will be just as crucial as 2010. [email protected] Afghan Scene December 2009 7 3CENE Team Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 #ONTRIBUTORS Afghan Scene Magazine is proud to showcase work from the best photographers in Afghanistan David Gill is a British writer, photographer and videogrpher focusing on a social documentary and overseas development. His current book project Kabul, a City at Work is a selection over 100 original portraits. web.mac.com/shot2bits/work Harry Cole is a cad and a bounder. A former guards officer in the British army he’s now a raconteur, wit and man about town who juggles security and logistics in between scribbling Scene’s pocket cartoons. Jason P Howe is a British freelance photojournalist who has spent the last eight years specialising in conflict coverage. He is best known for his extensive work on Colombia but he also spent several years in Iraq, documented the 2006 war in Lebanon and has been based in Afghanistan since mid 2007. www.conflictpics.com Almost all of the photographs and cartoons featured in Afghan Scene are available for sale direct from the artists. Most of them are available for commissions, here and elsewhere. If you would like to contribute to Afghan Scene, or if you can’t get hold of a contributor, please contact [email protected]. Just think, a mere 8 years ago we were virtual prisoners under the Taliban 8 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 +ABUL at work +ABUL at work Afghan Afghan Scene Scene December December 2009 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 2OCK AND 2OLL 3UICIDE Kabul’s first rock DJ puts his life on the line says DAVID GILL ROCK THE CASBAH: AJ the DJ at Kabul Rock FM108 | David Gill I n case you didn’t know. There is a war going on in Afghanistan. This is not Obama’s War. This is not the Great Game Part 5. This is a war of culture… a war to win the hearts and minds of the nation’s youth (over 68 per cent of the nation is under 25). Despite the removal of the Taliban eight years ago this is still a very traditional and 10 Afghan Scene December 2009 repressive society. ‘Rock’ is still the music your parents don’t want you to listen to. Few shops sell western music and if they do it’s either Bollywood, Britney Spears or Celine Dion. Kabul Rock - Afghanistan’s first ever rock radio station has just launched and AJ, a 23-year-old presenter, is one of the foot soldiers on the front line, whose aim is to educate the www.afghanscene.com youth, or at least provide them with an option to the relentless diet of unthreatening MOR that is currently being served. AJ rocks up to his interview wearing a T-shirt mocking the Taliban, a regime that banned music and dancing during its five-year reign of fear. When he’s not rocking Afghan ears with music they’ve never heard, (Ice Cube to the Rolling Stones) AJ runs his father’s famous bookstore – Shah Books – the inspiration behind the hit novel The Bookseller of Kabul. “I used to think everyone outside of my way of thinking was an infidel but know I better, music opened my soul and I realized that the people should have the choice to seek out and experience new things,” says AJ. “I am not saying religion is wrong only that people need to realize that Afghans can never be forced to do anything. I just want to help provide them with that choice.” ϻ Kabul, A City at Work is a selection of over 100 original portraits from the capital. Its authors describe it as a window into Kabul’s soul. For more information visit www.web.mac.com/shot2bits/work | www. kabulatwork.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 11 #ARTOON scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Lapis is Afghanistan’s leading full service strategic communications company: Are you (a) for the war; or (b) against it? Not that your views make a blind bit of difference. Lapis Ltd is the PR division of the award-winning Moby Group (MG) - Afghanistan’s leading privately owned and integrated media company, with a strong emphasis on client service and a passion for our clients’ businesses. We are currently recruiting for positions within our small, thriving consultancy for talented and experienced public relations staff who have worked in a recognized agency on corporate accounts, preferably on donorfunded or government projects. You should be comfortable working in a challenging environment. Our client list includes many well-known Afghan and International organizations. Project Managers You will have the ability to manage complex projects and multiple activities simultaneously, in a swiftly changing environment. You will have at least 3 years’ experience and at least one year in a developing or emerging economy. PM experience is essential with some agency and communication background. Media knowledge is an added advantage. Deputy General Manager As the senior manager in Lapis you will supervise a mixed team of national and international staff working on a diverse range of projects. You will have at least 6 years’ experience of managing small teams working for a range of clients, preferably on government or donorfunded contracts. Business development, business planning, strategic communications or public relations agency either for private corporate clients, international or diplomatic organizations, or in military environment is essential. Media exposure and knowledge would be a great advantage. 00 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com Interested applicants please forward your CV and covering letter to [email protected] www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 Lapis is a Moby Group Company – “engaging, educating and entertaining Afghanistan since 2002” &EATURE scene &EATURE scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 )NSIDE !FGHANISTANS EMERALD MINES Armed only with a back copy of the Guardian MARTIN PATIENCE set off in search of emeralds in the high Panjshir I t all felt a bit ominous. With a rucksack packed with five litres of water I was struggling my way up the Hindu Kush mountain range, thousands of feet above sea-level. Behind me was a man carrying a yellow sack - a yellow sack packed with explosives, that is. And then on the way up the narrow path, I spotted three or four 14 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com green Islamic flags marking a gravestone. What happened there, I wondered. Well, it seemed that someone had been taking a rest - his last as it turned out - when he was struck by a rock fall. But the reason for all the pain and highaltitude panting was simple: we were heading to the emerald mines. Afghan Scene December 2009 15 &EATURE scene &EATURE scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 CHAI TIME: A team of miners enjoy a well deserved break after hours under ground | Jason P Howe The journey had started three hours earlier in the village of Kheng. It was the kind of place that seemed strange even by Afghan standards. Most of the shops were a neat row of shipping containers. And almost everyone seemed to have slips of white paper they would unwrap for you to reveal emeralds. The stones weren’t dazzling; in fact, they looked like dull shards of glass. They only shine after they are cut and polished. But for the few hundred villagers of Kheng - it meant money - and lots of it. The source of that wealth, the mines, was above the snowline. 16 Afghan Scene December 2009 At first, there wasn’t a lot to look at - apart from flying stones that hurtled their way down the slopes. But once you had caught your breath, and looked closer, you saw it for what it was: a frontier post perched high on a mountain. Parts of the mountain were like Swiss cheese - burrowed with mineshafts. About 300 men worked up here - living in caves, or, if they were lucky, in mud houses. Some stayed up here for weeks on end. They worked in teams - miners, diggers, explosive experts, cooks, and suppliers. They shared the profits of any emeralds that were found. You could buy in as part of a syndicate - and www.afghanscene.com GEM RUSH: Men hunting for emeralds in the high Panjshir | Jason P Howe provide, say, a donkey-load of rice which would guarantee you a share. But you needed luck in this place if you wanted to get rich. Mohammed, the manager of one of the mines, told me that he had seen people work for 10 years and find absolutely nothing. And then he had seen people mining for two weeks walking away with a haul of the precious stones. More worryingly, Mohammed told me that 30 miners had been killed or seriously injured by explosions or fumes in the mineshafts in the past 10 years. Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t a great deal of science or safety considerations when it came to mining here. At the entrance to one www.afghanscene.com HEAVY DUTY: Lacking specialist equipment, miners make do with DIY equipment | Jason P Howe Afghan Scene December 2009 17 &EATURE scene &EATURE scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 of the operational mines, four miners, looking like sooty moles, appeared to be enjoying the daylight after hours of darkness. Armed only with a torch, I walked into their gloom. I was forced to scramble up steep inclines. The air quality got worse and worse the further I went. It felt like walking into a smoker’s lung. After walking for a few minutes, the noise of a drill started echoing through the rough-cut tunnel. There were two young men. They packed the drilled hole with explosives scooped out of a plastic bag. And then fitted it with a charge. I didn’t fancy hanging about to see the explosion going off. So I made the hastiest turn of my life and half-stumbled down the mineshaft, trying to mind my head and trying not to drop my torch. I then shouted at Mahfouz - the BBC’s everpatient producer - that we needed to stick together - it’s very dangerous! We can’t be messing about at times like this. A few seconds later he arrived - face puffing - and calmly said: “Martin you’re going the wrong way.” When the explosions went off - I wasn’t actually out of the mine. Instead, I was at a so-called “safe” distance. I didn’t really hear very much - it was so loud - I just felt a rush of dust passing over my face and then my ears popped. LAMP LIGHT: Gloomy conditions in a tunnel hundreds of meters long | Jason P Howe After the dust and my nerves started to settle, I asked one of the miners how he felt when he saw an emerald. He told me that he forgot the hardship and fatigue of a year’s work. He then motioned to go back up the shaft to see whether the explosion had hit a seam of emeralds. But I decided not to take him up on the offer. To be perfectly honest, I’d had enough for one day - emeralds or no emeralds. ϻ Martin Patience is the BBC reporter in Kabul and previously spent four years in the Middle East. He doesn’t wear jewelry. COMING UP FOR AIR: A miner leaves the tunnel after a long shift at the emerald face | Jason P Howe 18 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 19 ,APIS scene ,APIS scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 4HE 0HARAOHS FAVOURITE HUES SOPHIA SWIRE explains how a stone that the ancient Egyptians valued more highly that gold could transform the country F or thousands of years the world has got its best quality Lapis Lazuli from the ancient mines of Badakhshan. Since Neolithic times lapis, as well as rubies, spinel and sphene, have been carried over thousands of miles by man, mule and camel and distributed throughout the ancient Near East into Mesopotamia, Ur and Egypt, and eastwards to India. The bright blue stone from Afghanistan’s northernmost province can now be found in 20 Afghan Scene December 2009 historic collections around the world, including the British Crown Jewels, the Taj Mahal and the Imperial Jewels in Russia. The lapis in the mask of Tutankhamun (1361-1352 BC) is thought to have come from the Khuran-wa-Munjan mines in Badakhshan. Almost all the stone-carved scarab beetles, excavated from his tomb, were fashioned from lapis. In ancient Egpyt lapis was paid in tribute to the pharaohs and was regarded as more www.afghanscene.com valuable than gold. Queen Cleopatra had it ground down to powder and used it as eyeshadow. In 1271 Marco Polo wrote of the mountains of Badakhshan, “in which are found veins of lapis lazuli, the stone which yields the azure colour. It is the finest in the world.” Seven centuries later, Lord Elphinstone, wrote of the “Badakhshan ridge” containing “many valuable mines of silver, lapis lazuli, iron and antimony. Whole cliffs of lapis lazuli, however, overhang www.afghanscene.com the river of Kaushkaur, between Chitral, and the Euoszye.” The lapis from Badakhshan has always been recognized as the world’s finest. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Russian Czars sourced top quality lapis to fashion into Faberge eggs, and other objets d’art, preferring it to the spotted lazurite that they mined on the shores of Lake Baikal. For millennia mining techniques barely changed with miners working in appalling Afghan Scene December 2009 21 ,APIS scene ,APIS scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 NOT SO SAFE: A length of wood holds up a tunnel conditions by burrowing horizontally into the mountains and then down vertical shafts with ‘supportive’ structures built from debris, branches and twigs. The situation became a little more organised in the 1970s with greater government involvement, but the situation today is still characterised by poor techniques, little training and dangerous working conditions. Although the precious stone and gems industry provided an important source of revenue during the recent years of war with the Soviet Union and then the Taliban, the business is a fraction of its former self. In 2008, total (legal) exports of all products from Afghanistan were just over $600m. If proper support is provided, within five years the gemstone industry alone could export over $300m a year. The country is currently exploiting only a fraction of the potential of this sector. There is almost no “value added” in Afghanistan. Most cutting, polishing, jewellery manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing, takes 22 Afghan Scene December 2009 place outside Afghanistan, which is a significant loss for the country, as processing and polishing can add up to 40 per cent to the value of uncut stones, with finished jewellery adding a further 20 per cent and direct to market retail sales a further 60 per cent. Miners are currently making very little return on capital and effort employed, sometimes mining for months at a time and finding nothing. A concerted effort is underway to map untapped mineral resources in Badakhshan and help local people in a number of ways to make more out of their natural resources. The Rupani Foundation and GTZ are among the aid organisations currently active in the province supporting gem-cutting training. And the Aga Khan Development Network is exploring ways to upgrade Afghanistan’s gemstone sector by restoring the “mines to market” value chain, through a combination of improved training courses, equipment supply, publicprivate partnerships, export market linkages, strengthened industry infrastructure and private sector associations. Such strategies could help to boost profits for the industry by over 120 per cent. Using a country’s natural resources and the locals’ own skills to break cycles of poverty makes perfect development sense, but there is a huge amount that has to be done first. The University of Kabul and Kabul Polytechnic run rudimentary mining courses with poor facilities and no laboratory. They are begging for teachers and for basic equipment such as microscopes. International funds need to be invested in teacher-training, better university-level mining departments, technical on-site training for miners. Training www.afghanscene.com STICKS AND STONES: Lapis miners working in difficult conditions in gemmology, gem-cutting and jewellery is required in all mining regions to bring the value-added back to the communities that most need it, and create employment for thousands more Afghan men and women. Gemstone mining and associated businesses have the potential to bring sustainable income to men and women in rural areas that are currently vulnerable to extreme poverty. The veteran Afghan gem-hunter Gary Bowersox estimated that for every mine job created in Afghanistan, up to 90 additional jobs could be created to support the value chain. Even half of this would have an enormous impact on economic growth in Badakshan and across the country. ϻ Sophia Swire is an independent business development consultant who has been living in Kabul for the past 2 years (and working in the region for 20). She set up the Jewellery and Gem-Cutting school at Turquoise Mountain, developed a national gemstone strategy for USAID (DAI-ASMED) and is currently working with the Aga Khan Foundation on a value-chain analysis for Badakshan’s lapis resources www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 23 &AREWELL scene &AREWELL scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 00 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 00 'IFT scene 'IFT scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 YOUR FAVOURITE 3#%.%3 5.-)33!",% #(2)34-!3 ')&4 '5)$% AFRO BEAD RINGS ($5 each) by SILK ROAD at the GALLERIA 26 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com P rices range from $5 to $500, and there’s not a carpet in sight. With one eye on your baggage allowance, we’ve got everything from baby-burqas to haute couture, teddy bears to beaded tops, earrings to essential oils - and most of it’s available under one roof (with secure parking). First stop for the hurried Christmas shopper has to be Gangina, a few hundred metres from City Centre or the UNICA Guesthouse, it’s a collection of boutique stores with everything from overcoats to embroidered coasters, carved wooden cabinets and culturally sensitive clothes. Expect to pay a small premium for the sensation of a western shop, something resembling service and, almost uniquely in Afghanistan, the chance to spend a fortune without sipping copious amounts of green tea while arguing about the price. Here you will also find fantastic Afghan-made designer womenswear and accessories from Tarsian & Blinkley. The first such company on the scene, T&B have been around since 2003 and now have the largest and most sophisticated array of handembroidered goods in town. Not only are the clothes beautiful, they also provide much needed cash for the women who sew them, many of who also have a major role in creating the company’s unique designs. In fact, the best thing about handing over the greenbacks, is it’s all guilt free. Almost all of the merchants in Gangina are supporting Afghan craftsmen and seamstresses. It’s fairtrade without the branding. And that’s also true of Silk Road at the Galleria. Opposite the Park Palace Guesthouse and on the same street as the Wakhan Cafe, Silk road products are handmade by some of the poorest men and women in Bamiyan. But for those of you stuck behind the wires it’s bad taste Bagram t-shirts (available at Nato bases all over Afghanistan) and OEF mugs to match. ϻ www.afghanscene.com HAND MADE AFGHAN TEDDY BEARS (from $15) by SILK ROAD at the GALLERIA ESSENTIAL OILS & POT POURRI by GULESTAN at GANGINA: Made from rose petals, cedar wood and bitter orange blossoms in Nangahar. 5ml Cedar & Neroli oil ($20), 2ml Rose Oil ($40), Rose Bud Pot Pourri ($10) CHAPAN PATTERN BUCKET HAT ($10) by SILK ROAD at the GALLERIA Afghan Scene December 2009 27 'IFT scene 'IFT scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 LADIES’ WOOL & ANTIQUE SILK EMBROIDERED OVERCOAT ($500) by ZARIF DESIGNS at GANGINA PURPLE & GOLD EMBROIDERED PAISLEY SILK SHIRT ($120) by TARSIAN & BLINKLEY at GANGINA EMBROIDERED SILK SCARF ($35) by SILK ROAD at the GALLERIA PAKOOLS ($5) by ZARDOZI at GANGINA: No Afghan shopping trip is complete without the traditional Chitrali cap. A must-have gift for any first Kabul Christmas EMBROIDERED SANDALS ($25) by SILK ROAD at the GALLERIA 28 Afghan Scene December 2009 RED EMBROIDERED COAT ($100) by SILK ROAD at the GALLERIA www.afghanscene.com UZBEK WOOLLEN BOOTIES ($10) from HADYA GALLERY www.afghanscene.com MINI BURQAS (from $5)by ZARDOZI at GANGINA: Babyburqas ideal for covering bottles, available in universal blue, white, red, black, yellow and green. Scene’s Verdict: Novel twist on an iconic image of Afghanistan. A good light-hearted gift. BABY ALPACA HANDWARMERS ($20) by ZARDOZI at GANGINA: Knitted in Jalalabad. Available in various wools and colours UZBEK GLOVES ($5) from HADYA GALLERY at GANGINA: Available in various sizes and colours Afghan Scene December 2009 29 'IFT scene 'IFT scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 SILK POST-IT NOTE HOLDER ($8) by ZARDOZI at GANGINA: Available in three sizes and various colours, bound in turban silk. SILVER & LAPIS EARRINGS ($13) from HERAT WOVEN & EMBROIDERED PURSE ($8) by SILK ROAD at the GALLERIA EMBROIDERED PURSE ($9) by ZARDOZI at GANGINA: Part of a hand woven range including shoulder bags, pencil cases, jewellery bags and compacts. LAPIS BRACELET WITH SILVER CLASP ($10) from HERAT WOVEN PENCIL CASE ($10) by SILK ROAD at the GALLERIA 30 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 31 3CENE it all 3CENE it all Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 O ne busy, busy day in Peshawar, way back in 1995, I was interrupted by a phone call from the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan in Stockholm. The editor of their slick magazine, Afghanistan Nytt, had the idea that I should write a column four times a year. “Impossible!” I said, “too much to do.” But he was very charming, and very persistent. So, in desperation to get on with my work, I said, yes. Thus began a project that continues to this day. Fitting big topics into the limited space allowed has been an enjoyable challenge, requiring a lot of focus and discipline. When they graciously suggested republishing the collection I wondered what possible interest such old material might have. But these pieces do seem to provide an interesting perspective on today’s events. The following excerpts are from a column written in May 1997 during Taliban times. !FGHANISTAN OVER A CUP OF TEA Few people know Afghanistan better than NANCY HATCH DUPREE who has just published a collection of articles about her forty years in the country +ABUL 2EMEMBERED N ostalgia among Afghans and their foreign friends fortunate enough to have shared the excitement of Kabul during the 1960s and 70s is all the more poignant because the effects of later events still disrupt many lives. The luminescence of these years ignites memories, but the tales we old-timers have to tell now seem scarcely credible. The social elites with whom most foreigners associated in the early 60s were urbane, sophisticated men and women impeccably dressed in European fashions, speaking faultless English, French and German. We met frequently 32 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com during busy rounds of official social gatherings, but the glittering Queen’s Birthday Ball at the British Embassy marked the peak of the social season. We danced the night through until dawn. By the mid-60s, the effects of rapid development reached deeper into the society as thousands of men and women from all levels of society returned from training abroad and accelerated the pace and vitality of the city. A new constitution promulgated in October 1964 and the elections that followed a year later inspired feelings of greater openness and hopes that expectations could be fulfilled. Charged Afghan Scene December 2009 33 3CENE it all 3CENE it all Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 with a sense of confidence, young men and women moved quickly in novel innovative directions with fresh enthusiasm. Suddenly we had a choice of Afghan, Italian, German, French and Chinese cuisine, served with superb Czech beer, or, if you preferred, Afghan wine from a newly opened Italian winery. Restaurant interiors were tastefully decorated to match the provenance of their menus. A posh establishment using Afghan architectural designs and specializing in regional Afghan dishes was especially popular among young Afghan couples. The pianist at the Nuristani cocktail lounge drew many loyal customers. There were snack and pizza bars, ice-cream parlors, a jazz club, bars, cabarets, tennis, golf and riding clubs, a ski lodge and a bowling alley. At a dimly-lit nightclub where the walls were hung with scarlet and gold brocade, couples twisted happily to the latest western hits; elsewhere one sat on Afghan carpets and supped on Afghan delicacies while Kabul’s stellar musicians played in the background. Kabul’s nightlife continued brisk late into the evening. Swelling the patrons of these entertainments were swarms of tourists, until then a rarity. Waves of hippies stocking up on Afghanistan’s much prized marijuana went on east in search of gurus in Nepal and Goa, passing carloads of Pakistanis coming west to enjoy Kabul’s fine weather, its shops crammed with luxury imports from all over the world, a shopping paradise, and - not least - lengthy showings of films from India. By 1969, of the more than 63,000 tourists recorded, 26,000 came from Pakistan. Hotels were soon built to cater to these tourists. 34 Afghan Scene December 2009 A luxury hilltop hotel offered spectacular views from its elegant fifth-floor restaurant; its terrace swimming pool was graced by Kabul’s social elites attired in bikinis. The bikini-clad Afghan ladies were admittedly an exception. Most families still preferred to relax at day-long picnics in gardens dotted around the city, outings which highlight all our memories. Nevertheless, by the early 70s families from the burgeoning middle class began to hold weddings in modest downtown hotels at which men and women mixed freely, dancing to live bands late into the night. Elsewhere women were highly visible. They worked in every office and in numbers of factories, filled the classrooms at Kabul University, and school girls crowded the sidewalks as schools for girls expanded. Scores of fashionable boutiques and hair styling salons owned and operated by women opened throughout Shahr-i-Naw’s residential section. Women were prominent speakers at countless week-long international seminars celebrating the anniversaries of famous poets, writers and thinkers. Periodic art exhibitions and poetry readings were always wellattended, as were the daring productions put on at the Kabul Theatre. Desire Under the Elms held the city enthralled for weeks. At Afghan Films, actresses gave powerful performances in productions ranging from historical spectaculars to tragedies with gripping social statements. It is thus possible to look back at all this western modernity and think of Kabul as a vibrant city full of fun, forgetting that there was a darker side. While some families www.afghanscene.com BAKSHEESH: An old school traffic policemen in the days before ubiquitous bribes www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 35 3CENE it all 3CENE it all Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 women, the left and the right, became a familiar sight snaking through the streets of Kabul from 1965 onwards. The provinces reflected little of Kabul’s intensely westernized lifestyle, nor did the westernized Kabuli deign to countenance values cherished in the countryside. Kabul sat isolated and estranged. Hardly any old-timers remain and the rural conservatives whose laws prevail today are determined to cleanse the city of what they consider its morally degraded ways. The iridescent bubble of memories has burst asunder, leaving a murky residue from which a new Kabul must be moulded. ϻ TRAFFIC CIRCLE: The Ministry of Planning on Pashtunistan Square, 1973 found it possible to build modern homes in the recently developed suburbs, a good portion of the capital’s middle class still lived in the noisome Old City, in crowded extended-family households lacking basic amenities such as electricity, piped water, and sanitation. Social disparities were starkly evident; Kabul was still a divided city. And while it is unquestionable that individuals now enjoyed greater personal freedoms, Afghans in general were not encouraged to socialise with foreigners unless their work gave them reason to do so. Foreign 36 Afghan Scene December 2009 homes were kept under constant surveillance, servants reported on comings and goings and informants mingled with guests at all social gatherings. The euphoria occasioned by the fresh experiments in democracy came to be tempered by disillusionment; an intensified mood of militancy developed that led to an increase in political activity. Leftist groups formed to demand further instant changes; conservatives, notably religious leaders, issued dire warnings that the society was headed toward moral collapse. Marching demonstrators including www.afghanscene.com LITTLE AND LARGE: Nancy with book editor Markus Håkansson of the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan www.afghanscene.com Nancy Hatch Dupree first came to Kabul in the 1962 as a wife of a US diplomat. In her nearly fifty years living in both Kabul and Peshawar, she remarried, wrote a series of authoritative books on the ancient history and culture of Afghanistan and helped to preserve hundreds of thousands of precious documents written by aid workers over the decades. To her Afghan and international friends she is known affectionately as “the grandmother of Afghanistan”. Afghan Scene December 2009 37 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 "OOK scene "OOK scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 9OUR LIFE THROUGH THE EYES OF AN !FGHAN BOY Kabul chart-buster ANDREA BUSFIELD shares the first chapter of her best-selling novel Born Under A Million Shadows in Scene’s unmissable Christmas Gift Guide M y name is Fawad and my mother tells me I was born under the shadow of the Taliban. Because she said no more, I imagined her stepping out of the sunshine and into the dark; crouching in a corner to protect the stomach that was hiding me, whilst a man with a stick watched over us, ready to beat me into the world. But then I grew up and I realized I wasn’t the only one born under this shadow. There was my cousin Jahid, for one, and the girl Jamilla – we all worked the foreigners on Chicken Street together – and there was also my best friend, Spandi. Before I knew him, Spandi’s face was 42 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 43 "OOK scene "OOK scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Osama had a house in Kabul where he made hundreds of children with his forty wives. America hated bin Laden. They came to Afghanistan to kill him. eaten by sand flies, giving him the one-year sore that left a mark as big as a fist on his cheek. He didn’t care though, and neither did we, and while the rest of us were at school he sold spand to fat westerners which is why, even though his name was Abdullah, we called him Spandi. Yes, all of us were born during the time of the Taliban, but I only ever heard my mother talk of them as men making shadows so I guess if she’d ever learnt to write she might have been a poet. Instead, and as Allah willed it, she swept the floors of the rich for a handful of afs that she hid in her clothes and guarded through the night. ‘There are thieves everywhere,’ she would hiss, an angry whisper that tied the points of her eyebrows together. And, of course, she was right. I was one of them. At the time, none of us thought of it as stealing. As Jahid explained, because he knew about such things, ‘It’s the moral distribution of wealth.’ ‘Sharing money,’ added Jamilla. ‘We have nothing, they have everything, but they are too greedy to help poor people like us, as it is written in the Holy Quran, so we must help them be good. In a way, they are paying for our help. They just don’t know that they’re doing it.’ 44 Afghan Scene December 2009 Of course, not all the foreigners paid for our ‘help’ with closed eyes. Some of them actually gave us money – sometimes happily, sometimes out of shame, sometimes just to make us go away, which doesn’t really work because one group is quickly replaced by another when dollars are walking the street. But it was fun. Born under a shadow or not, me, Jahid, Jamilla and Spandi spent our days in the sun, distributing the wealth of those who’d come to help us. ‘It’s called reconstruction,’ Jahid informed us one day as we sat on the kerb waiting for a 4×4 to jump on. ‘The foreigners are here because they bombed our country to kill the Taliban and now they have to build it again. The World Parliament made the order.’ ‘But why did they want to kill the Taliban?’ ‘Because they were friends with the Arabs and their king Osama bin Laden had a house in Kabul where he made hundreds of children with his forty wives. America hated bin Laden, and they knew he was f@#$ing his wives so hard he would one day have an army of thousands, maybe millions, so they blew up a palace in their own country and blamed it on him. Then they came to Afghanistan to kill him, his wives, his children and all of his friends. It’s called politics, Fawad.’ www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 45 "OOK scene "OOK scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 We weren’t rich like those in Wazir Akbar Khan, Fawad, but we were happy. Now we don’t even own a tree from which we can hang ourselves. Jahid was probably the most educated boy I’d ever known. He always read the newspapers we found thrown away in the street and he was older than the rest of us, although how much older nobody knows. We don’t celebrate birthdays in Afghanistan; we only remember victories and death. Jahid was also the best thief I’d ever known. Some days he would come away with handfuls of dollars, taken from the pocket of some foreigner as us smaller kids annoyed them to the point of tears. But if I was born under a shadow, Jahid was surely born under the full gaze of the devil himself because the truth was he was incredibly ugly. His teeth were stumpy smudges of brown and one of his eyes danced to its own tune, rolling in its socket like a marble in a box. He also had a leg so lazy that he had to force it into line with the other. ‘He’s a dirty little thief,’ my mother would say. But she rarely had a kind word to say about anyone in her sister’s family. ‘You keep away from him . . . filling your head with such nonsense.’ How my mother actually thought I could keep away from Jahid was anyone’s guess. But this is a common problem with adults: they ask for the impossible and then make your life a misery when you can’t obey 46 Afghan Scene December 2009 them. The fact is I lived under the same roof as Jahid, along with his fat cow of a mother, his donkey of a father and two more of their dirtyfaced children, Wahid and Obaidullah. ‘All boys,’ my uncle would declare proudly. ‘And all ugly,’ my mother would mutter under her chaddar, giving me a wink as she did so because it was us against them and although we had nothing at least our eyes looked in the same direction. Together, all seven of us shared four small rooms and a hole in the yard. Not easy, then, to keep away from cousin Jahid as my mother demanded. It was an order President Karzai would have had problems fulfilling. However, my mother was never one for explaining so she never told me how I should keep my distance. In fact, for a while my mother was never one for talking full stop. On very rare occasions she would look up from her sewing to talk about the house we had once owned in Paghman. I was born there but we fled before the pictures had time to plant themselves in my head. So I found my memories with the words of my mother, watching www.afghanscene.com her eyes grow wide with pride as she described painted rooms lined with thick cushions of the deepest red; curtains covering glass windows; a kitchen so clean you could eat your food from the floor; and a garden full of yellow roses. ‘We weren’t rich like those in Wazir Akbar Khan, Fawad, but we were happy,’ she would tell me. ‘Of course that was long before the Taliban came. Now look at us! We don’t even own a tree from which we can hang ourselves.’ I was no expert, but it was pretty clear my mother was depressed. She never talked about the family we had lost, only the building that had once hidden us – and not very effectively as it turned out. However, sometimes at night I would hear her whisper my sister’s name. She would then reach for me, pulling me closer to her body. And that’s how I knew she loved me. On those occasions, lying almost as one on the cushions we sat on during the day, I’d be burning to talk. I’d feel the words crowding in my head, waiting to spill from my mouth. I wanted to know everything; about my father, about my brothers, about Mina. I was desperate to know them, to have them come alive in the words of my www.afghanscene.com mother. But she only ever whispered my sister’s name, and like a coward I kept quiet because I was afraid that if I spoke I would break the spell and she would roll away from me. By daylight, my mother would be gone from my side, already awake and pulling on her burqa. As she left the house she would bark a list of orders that always started with ‘go to school’ and ended with ‘keep away from Jahid’. In the main these were orders I tried to follow out of respect for my mother – in Afghanistan our mothers are worth more than all the gold that hides in the basement of the President’s palace – but it wasn’t easy. And though I knew she wouldn’t beat me if I disobeyed her, unlike Jahid’s father who seemed to think he had a God-given right to hit me in the face on any day the sun came up, she would have that look in her eyes, a disappointed stare I Afghan Scene December 2009 47 "OOK scene "OOK scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 They were mainly tall men with big guns, metal jackets and bowl-shaped helmets strapped to their heads suspected had been there from the day I crept out of the shadow. I am only a boy, but I recognized our life was difficult. Of course, it had always been the same for me, I knew no different. But my mother, with her memories of deep-red cushions and yellow roses, was trapped by a past I had little knowledge of so I spent most of my days on the outside of her prison, looking in. It had been like this for as long as I could clearly remember, yet I like to think she was happy once; laughing with my father by the clear waters of Qagha Lake, her green eyes – the eyes I have inherited – smiling with love, her small hands, soft and clean, playing with the hem of a golden veil. My mother was once very beautiful – that’s what my aunt told me in a surprising burst of talking. But then the shadow fell, and although she never said so, I guessed my mother blamed me. I was a reminder of a past that had dragged her into the flowerless hell that was her sister’s house, and from what I could tell, my mother hated her sister even more than she hated the Taliban. ‘She’s just jealous!’ my mother once screamed, loud enough for my aunt to hear in the next room. ‘She’s always been jealous – jealous of my ways, of the fact that I married an educated man, of our once happy life . . . and I long got over apologizing for it. If Allah blessed her with the face of a burst watermelon and a 48 Afghan Scene December 2009 body to match it is not my fault! ‘They’re women, they’re born that way,’ Jahid told me one afternoon as we escaped once again from the screams and insults flying around the house to steal from the foreigners in the centre of town. ‘They are never happier than when they are fighting with each other. When you are older you will understand more. Women are complicated, that’s what my father says.’ And maybe Jahid was right. But the argument that had just taken place had more to do with money than being women. My aunt wanted us to pay rent, but we could barely afford the clothes on our backs and the food in our bellies. The few afs mother earned from cleaning houses along with the dollars I picked up in the street were all we had. ‘Maybe if you gave a little more of your dollars to your mother she wouldn’t be so angry with my mother,’ I suggested, which was obviously the wrong thing to suggest because Jahid punched me hard in the head. ‘Look, you little bastard, my mother gave your mother a roof when you had no place to stay. Coming to our home begging like gypsy filth, forcing us to give up our room and put food in your idle f@#$ing bellies. How do you think we felt? If we weren’t good Muslims your mother would be pimping your a#$ to every f@#$ing homo who passed by. In fact, you want to help? Go pimp your own f@#$ing a#$! www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 49 "OOK scene "OOK scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 My aunt wanted us to pay rent, but we could barely afford the clothes on our backs and the food in our bellies Pretty boy like you should make enough afs to keep the women happy.’ ‘Yeah?’ I spat back. ‘And maybe they’d pay just as much money to keep the donkey’s ass that’s your face away from them!’ And with that I ran off, leaving my cousin shouting curses about camels and C%$#@s in my direction while dragging his dead leg in fury behind him. That day I ran from Jahid until I thought my legs would die. By the time I reached Cinema Park I could barely breathe, and I realized I was crying – for my mother and for my cousin. I had been cruel. I knew that. I understood why he was saving his money, why he buried it under the wall when he thought no one was looking. He wanted a wife. ‘One day I will be married to the most beautiful woman in Afghanistan,’ he always bragged. ‘You wait. You’ll see.’ And that’s why he needed the money, because with a face like his he’d have to come up with a hell of a dowry to make that dream come true. It’s not even as if he could rely on the force of his personality to win over a wife. He had the foulest mouth I had ever heard, even more so than the National Police who cluttered the city’s roundabouts, barking curses and demanding bribes, even from crippled beggars. In fact, the only other thing that could have saved Jahid was school, where he’d shown an unlikely talent. He threw himself into his learning as only a boy with no friends can do. But then the 50 Afghan Scene December 2009 torment and the beatings he took day after day finally drove him away and he became increasingly hard. My country can be a tough place to live in if you’re poor, but it’s even tougher if you’re poor and ugly. And now Jahid was like stone; a stone that knows he will never find a woman who will willingly marry him, but whose father might agree for the right price. ‘Come on, Fawad, let’s go to Chicken Street.’ Through my tears I saw Jamilla standing before me, the sun throwing an angel’s light around her body. She was small, like me. And she was pretty. Jamilla reached for my hand and I dragged myself up from the ground to stand by her side, wiping my face dry on the sleeves of my clothes. ‘Jahid,’ I said by way of explanation. Jamilla nodded. She didn’t talk much, but I guessed she would grow into that if Jahid was right about the ways of women. Jamilla was my main rival on Chicken Street. She cleaned up with the foreign men who melted under the gaze of her big brown eyes while I cleaned up with the women who fell in love with my big green eyes. We were a good team whose pickings pretty much depended on who was passing by, so if we found ourselves working on the same day we would split our money. Fridays were the best, though. It was a holiday, there was no school, no work, and the www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 51 "OOK scene "OOK scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 foreigners would come, stepping out of their Land Cruisers to trawl Kabul’s tourist area for souvenirs of ‘war-torn’ Afghanistan: jewellery boxes made of lapis lazuli; silver imported from Pakistan; guns and knives apparently dating back to the Anglo-Afghan wars; pakouls; patus, blankets, carpets, wall hangings, bright-coloured scarves and blue burqas. Of course, if they walked twenty minutes into the heaving mess of Kabul’s river bazaar they would find all these items for half the price, but the foreigners were either too scared or too lazy to make the journey – and too rich to care about the extra dollars that would feed most of our families for a week. Still, as Jahid noted, their laziness was good for business, and Chicken Street was their Mecca. Along with the aid workers, now and again we would see white-faced soldiers hunched over the counters of stores selling silver, looking at rings and bracelets for the wives they’d left behind in their own countries. They were mainly tall men with big guns, metal jackets and bowl-shaped helmets strapped to their heads. They came in groups of four or five and one would always stand guard in the street as the others did their shopping, watching out for suicide bombers. ‘America good!’ we would shout – a trick that always earned us a couple of dollars. Money in hand, we would then move away, further down the street, just in case there were 52 Afghan Scene December 2009 actually suicide bombers around. Most of the other foreigners, though, were less interested in America so we used different tactics to win their dollars, following them as they weaved their way from shop to shop yelling out all the English we could remember. ‘Hello, mister! Hello, missus! How are you? I am your bodyguard! No, come this way, I find you good price.’ And we would take their hands and drag them to a store where we could earn a few afs’ commission. Most of us were on the payroll of four or more shopkeepers, but only if we brought in customers. Therefore, if the foreigners didn’t bend to our thinking, we would follow them into stores, tutting and shaking our heads in pretend concern, but carefully out of sight of the owners. ‘No, missus, he is thief, very bad price. Come, I show you good price.’ We would then lead them to the shops that paid us, telling the owners of the figure given by one of their rivals so that he could begin his bargaining at a lower but still profitable price. Meanwhile, as the foreigners argued a few extra dollars away, the old women who also worked the street but knew no English would descend, hovering in shop doorways to reach out with their dirty hands, grab at elbows and cry into their burqas. They all come from the same family, but the foreigners don’t know this and as woman after woman would come to break down in tears pleading for money for her sick, dying baby, this would usually be the point when it became too much for the westerners www.afghanscene.com and they would climb back into their cars, trying to avoid our eyes as their drivers sped them away from our poverty and back to their privileged lives. However, as the Land Cruisers screeched out of Chicken Street and into the gridlocked traffic of Shahr-e Naw, Spandi would appear to tap his black fingers on their windows and hold out the bitter, smoking tin of herbs that we call ‘spand’, the smell of which was so unbelievably foul it was said to chase away evil spirits. Without doubt this was the worst of all our jobs because the smoke gets in your hair and your eyes and your chest and you end up looking like death. But the money is pretty OK because even if the tourists aren’t superstitious it’s hard to ignore a boy at a car window whose scarred face is the colour of ash. However, on a good day in Chicken Street we didn’t need to hustle. The foreign women would happily hand over their bags as they struggled with headscarves they had yet to grow used to, and I would carry their shopping until they called it a day, sometimes earning five dollars for my trouble. Jamilla would smile prettily and get the same for carrying nothing. ‘And what is your name?’ the women would ask slowly. Pretty white faces with smiling red lips. ‘Fawad,’ I would tell them. ‘Your English is very good. Do you go to school?’ ‘Yes. School. Every day. I like very much.’ And it was true, we all went to school – even the girls if their fathers let them – but the days were short and the holidays long with months off in the winter and summer when it became too cold or too hot to study. However, the English we learnt came only from the street. It was easy to pick up and the foreigners liked to teach us. And even if Jahid was correct and they did come to bomb our country and rebuild it again, I quite liked the foreigners with their sweaty white faces and fat pockets – which was just as well really, because that day I returned to my aunt’s house to be told we were going to live with three of them. ϻ Andrea Busfield came to Afghanistan in 2001 and left in 2008. A former editor of Afghan Scene Magazine, she is currently working on her second novel, Aphrodite’s War. Born Under a Million Shadows stormed into the UK bestseller list when it was published earlier this year and has already been translated into 18 languages. Available on amazon. www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 53 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 0ARTY scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Be scene Share your event or party pics with Aghan Scene. email [email protected] SANTA KLAUSS: Emilie gets Christmassy with the Italian Mr Klauss BEANIE SCENE: Covered-up Candice with former film reviewer Havanna Marking Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com GAELIC LADIES: Embassy favourites Caitlin and Siobhan remember their Pilgrim Fathers ROOKIE BROOKIE: ABC Nick and new in town Tory MP Brooks at a Thanksgiving feast Afghan Scene December 2009 57 0ARTY scene 0ARTY scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 AZURE THING: Brit dips Adelaide and Gary DOING BIRD: DFID girl Gemma and look dapper at the American embassy ball Colonel Terry at the Marine’s Embassy Ball FINAL LINE UP: Engineer Wadood, Maqsood, Tamim, Remi, Atiq and Wadood at Maqsood’s leaving day 58 Afghan Scene December 2009 MAUVERS AND SHAKERS: Beeb man Boone with pruple haired TV girl Tiggy at a BBC dinner MEDICINE MEN: Silver fox JD makes his Scene debut watching Joannie feed George their magic stew www.afghanscene.com COY STORY: Kabul honey Jackie and poseur Andrew North at the BBC party ON ANAND: Non-stop scoop machine Anand MATT-ER OF TASTE?: Oxfam Ashley at GNC’s Gopal at Ambassador Eikenberry’s roof top seasonal stew night JOKE’S ON TWO: Michelle and Nick and George’s Halloween bash KICKER: Legal eagle Marike fireside at L’Atmosphere www.afghanscene.com TWO IN THE HAND: Celebrity chef’s Waqil and Timur with their Thanksgiving birds Afghan Scene December 2009 59 0ARTY scene 0ARTY scene Afghan Scene Scene December December 2009 2009 Afghan Afghan Scene Scene December December 2009 2009 Afghan FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Aleem tells the world he’s mission critical, in the days before the lock down PICTURE THIS: Top snappers Adam and Paula at Tamim’s Good Tmes lunch 60 Afghan Scene Scene December December 2009 2009 Afghan KIM AGAIN?: Indy man Kim Sengupta with Times photographer Peter Nicholls at L’Atmosphere KUSH ME QUICK: Kabul lovelies Kushbu and Lianne at the GNC seasonal stew night BARRIE-STIR: Sauce pot Sophie Barrie hugs Big Si at her emotional farewell www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com BEL AIRS: Kabul buddies Belinda and Kim at Tamim’s Good Times lunch MCNAUGHTY: UNAMA’s press man Dan McNorton sets the record straight at a private soiree MOVERS AND BAKERS: Beeb legend Lyse Doucet with mum to be Aryn Baker, at the Good Times garden party TAMI’S MALLET: Super host Tamim with a croquet mallet at his Good Time’s garden party OCEAN’S A HEART: Mr and Mrs Erik and Erin Pacific at the Good Times garden party TREASURE PETS: US treasury sec Stuart with super pooch Tootsie at the garden party www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene Scene December December 2009 2009 Afghan 61 0ARTY scene 0ARTY scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 PHONE SICK: Journo Josh keeps the office sweet at the Good Times garden party TETE MATES: Fancoise and Herve share a fireside moment at L’Atmo 62 Afghan Scene December 2009 GETTING FRISKY: Latmo doorman and Esmat size up life AMAN’D & DANGEROUS: Aman and Matteo at Timur’s Thanksgiving feast TURBO ROOSTER: Game bird Constance and Seb Turbot at a Thanksgiving turkey supper www.afghanscene.com ARE YOU BEING SERVED?: Latmo legend Pir Mohammad posing at the bar FORT-UNE FAVOURS THE FIXERS: Journo Noor poses in front of Herat’s old forts DAZ FRIGHT: Security man Daz with his missus Helen at Sophie’s farewell www.afghanscene.com BUMP AND RHIND: Scene favourites Ali Rhind with filmmaker Sam French at Sophie’s farewell SHAWLY HOT: Dr Thalia and TMF’s Joannie all scarved up at L’Atmophere Afghan Scene December 2009 63 &OOD scene &OOD scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Yo, Sushi! OUT OF HARAM’S WAY: Seafood tempura style at Silk Road Kabul I t has long been one of the culinary oddities of Afghanistan that to get really good Sushi you have to go all the way to Bamiyan and stay at Hotel Silk Road. The intrepid Japanese journalist, who first came to the country in 1993, set the place up in 2007 for travellers who want to see one of the wonders of Afghanistan in reasonable comfort. Visitors now flock to her hotel to stay in beautifully appointed rooms with wonderful views across the Bamiyan valley to the giant Buddha niches in the cliff face opposite. Not only can Hiromi and her Afghan husband boast the country’s best (and only) boutique hotel, she also oversees one of Afghanistan’s finest kitchens which serves up excellent Japanese, Indian and western food in the Silk Road’s immaculately clean dining room. At long last Kabul has a proper sushi restaurant but AFGHAN SCENE warns diners to book ahead to avoid disappointment Bentoya, Galleria, Kolola Pushta, opposite Dutch Embassy, next to Wakhan Cafe Phone number: +93-(0)798-405486 64 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Both Laura Bush and President Karzai have enjoyed lunches at the hotel whilst on whistle stop tours of Bamiyan. But with winter putting the hotel into hibernation, Hiromi and some of her trusted staff have decamped to Kabul to set up the latest wing of an expanding empire that also includes a handicrafts business. Sushi enthusiasts can now sample from the small but perfectly formed menu whilst inspecting some of those handicraft wares, which include bags and rather stylish hats made out of kilims and chapans. The food comes with rice, miso soup and the main event, whether it is the excellent chicken teriyaki, seafood tempura or Hiromi’s special vegetable curry made with an ingenious mixture of Japanese and Indian spices. Afghan Scene December 2009 65 Hit target &OOD scene &AREWELL scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 the with message! your GOURM-AID: Hotelier and super chef Hiromi uses business to help the poor Everything is spotlessly clean and presented with a thoroughly Japanese attention to detail – Hiromi makes regular trips out of Afghanistan just to stock up on seaweed and other vital sushi ingredients. And the prices are all amazingly reasonable given how expensive a mediocre lunch can be in so many of Kabul’s other restaurants. Most dishes are either $10 or $15. The Bentoya Restaurant – to give it it’s full name – is just one of five enterprises operating out of a charming old house in Kulola-Pushta which many years ago was once owned by the mayor of Kabul. Launched in mid-November as The Galleria, the five shops sell calligraphy, clothes, carpets and handicrafts – as well as the fantastic sushi. But there is no risk of having too much 66 Afghan Scene December 2009 Have you considered advertising in Afghanistan's leading magazine aimed at the expat community and key business decision makers? With over 8,000 copies distributed free of charge, Afghan Scene keeps those working in Afghanistan and new comers to the country informed on recent developments with articles and reviews from leading writers. of a good thing at Bentoya – there are just four tables in the small eating area which would struggle to accommodate more than fourteen people. Hiromi, who as well as running a hotel, a handicraft business and doing her day job reporting for the Koyoto News, says she is in no hurry to expand. While some extra tables may be added outside in the summer, she intends to keep numbers down for the time being. She says the only way to guarantee you will be able to eat is to phone ahead to book a precious place for lunch (or order takeaway for dinner). So, even though you don’t have to go to Bamiyan any more, gourmet sushi is set to remain a rare treat in Kabul. ϻ www.afghanscene.com For full details email [email protected] www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com 25 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 &AREWELL scene &AREWELL scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 AfghanITT Limited is a SMB Cisco Select *LY[PÄLK Partner in Afghanistan so you can be sure of getting genuine Cisco equipment with standard warranty and a host of V[OLYILULÄ[Z )LULÄ[Z[V^VYRPUN^P[O:4)*PZJV:LSLJ[*LY[PÄLK7HY[ULYSPRL(MNOHU0;T: Value: Our JLY[PÄJH[PVU will ensure your needs are M\SÄSSLK through an emphasis on KLSP]LYPUN]HS\LHKKLKZLY]PJLZMVY[OL:4)THYRL[ Proven technical expertise: AfghanITT is a Cisco *LY[PÄLK Partner with sales and technical expertise in switching, routing, security and wireless solutions for :4)J\Z[VTLYZHSSV^PUN[OLT[VKLSP]LY[OLUL^ZVS\[PVUZ`V\KLTHUK Focus on customer satisfaction: With access to the same online customer Focus satisfaction evaluation tools Cisco uses to evaluate its own performance, we can identify strLUN[OZHUKKL]LSVW[HYNL[LKWSHUZ[VZLY]L`V\YULLKZ Learn how Cisco is helping transform businesses. 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PARTNER Select *LY[PÄLK 58 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 59 %SSENTIAL scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan %SSENTIALS 7HERE TO STAY WHERE TO EAT WHERE TO 3HOP !ND HOW TO PAY FOR IT !FGHAN 3CENE -AKING ,IFE %ASIER Hotels and Guesthouses Restaurants Kabul Serena Hotel Froshgah Street www.serenahotels.com Tel: 0799 654 000 Delivery Easyfood Delivers from any restaurant to your home www.easyfood.af Tel: 0796 555 000, 0796 555 001 Safi Landmark Hotel & Suites Charahi Ansari www.safilandmarkhotelsuites.com Tel: 0202 203 131 The Inter Continental Hotel Baghe Bala Road www.intercontinentalkabul.com Tel: 0202 201 321 Gandamack Lodge Sherpur Square www.gandamacklodge.co.uk Tel: 0700 276 937 Mustafa Hotel Charahi Sadarat www.mustafahotel.com Tel: 070 276 021 Heetal Plaza Hotel Street 14, Wazir Akbar Khan www.heetal.com Tel: 0799 167 824, 0799 159 697 UNICA Guest House Kolola Pushta, opposite Royal Mattress Tel: 0797 676 357 The International Club Haji Yaqoob Square, Street 3, Shar-e Naw. Tel: 0774 763 858 Golden Star Hotel Charrhay Haji Yaqoob, Shar-e Naw. www.kabulgoldenstarhotel.com Tel: 0799 333 088, 0799 557 281 Roshan Hotel Charaye Turabaz Khan, Shar-e Naw. Tel: 0799 335 424 72 AfghanScene SceneDecember December2009 2009 Afghan Afghan Rumi Qala-e Fatullah Main Rd, between Streets 5 & 6 Tel: 0799 557 021 Sufi Muslim Street, Shar-e Naw www.sufi.com.af Tel: 0774 212 256, 0700 210 651 Herat Restaurant Shar-e Naw, main road, Diagonally opposite Cinema Park Khosha Restaurant Above the Golden Star Hotel. Tel: 0799 888 999 Mixed/Western The Lounge Lane 2, left, off Street 15, Wazir Akbar Khan. Tel: 0796 174 718, 0700 037 634 Fat Man/What-a-Burger Cafe Wazir Akbar Khan, main road, On the bend near Masoud Circle Tel: 0700 298 301, 0777 151 510 L’Atmosphere Street 4, Taimani Tel: 0798 224 982, 0798 413 872 Flower Street Café Street 2, Qala-e Fatullah. Tel: 0700 293 124, 0799 356 319 Supermarkets, Grocers & Butchers Le Bistro One street up from Chicken Street, Behind the MOI, Shar-e Naw Tel: 0799-598852 Italian/Pizza Everest Pizza Street 10, Wazir Akbar Khan www.everestpizza.com Tel: 0700 263 636, 0779 317 979 Boccaccio Street 10, Wazir Akbar Khan Tel: 0799 200 600 Red Hot Sizzlin’ Steakhouse District 16, Macroyan 1, Nader Hill Area Tel: 0799 733 468 Bella Italia Street 14, Wazir Akbar Khan Tel: 0799 600 666 Spinneys Wazir Akbar Khan, opposite British Embassy Le Pelican Cafe du Kabul Darulaman Road, almost opposite the Russian Embassy. Bright orange guard box. Springfield Restaurant Lane 3, Street 15,Wazir Akbar Khan Tel: 0799 001 520 Finest Wazir Akbar Khan Roundabout Cabul Coffeehouse & Café Street 6, on the left, Qale-e Fatullah Tel: 0752 005 275 Tex Mex La Cantina Third left off Butcher St, Shar-e Naw Tel: 0798 271 915 Lebanese Taverne du Liban Street 15, Lane 3, Wazir Akbar Khan Tel: 0799 828 376 The Grill Street 15, Wazir Akbar Khan. Tel: 0799 818 283, 0799 792 879 Cedar House Behind Kabul City Centre, Shar-e Naw Tel: 0799-121412 Turkish Istanbul Main road, on the left, between Massoud Circle Jalalabad Road Roundabout. Tel: 0799-407818 Iranian Shandiz Pakistan Embassy Street, off Street 14 Wazir Akbar Khan Tel: 0799-342928 www.afghanscene.com Indian Namaste Street 15, Wazir Akbar Khan, Between lanes 2 and 3 on the right. Tel: 0772 011 120 A-One Bottom of Shar-e Naw Park Chelsea Shar-e Naw main road, opposite Kabul Bank Fat Man Forest Wazir Akbar Khan, main road. Enyat Modern Butcher Qala-e Fatullah main road, Near street four Delhi Darbar Shar-e Naw, close to UK Sports Tel: 0799 324 899 ATMs Anar Restaurant Lane 3, Street 14, Wazir Akbar Khan Tel: 0799 567 291 AIB Main Office, Opposite Camp Eggers (AIB) Chinese Golden Key Seafood Restaurant Lane 4, Street 13, Wazir Akbar Khan. Tel: 0799 002 800, 0799 343 319 Kabul City Centre, Shar-e Naw (AIB AIB Shar-e Naw Branch, next to Chelsea Supermarket (AIB) HQ ISAF, Outside Cianos Pizzeria, US Embassy Street (AIB) KAIA Military Airbase, Outside Cianos Pizzeria, Airport (AIB) Thai Mai Thai House 38, Lane 2, Street 15, Wazir Akbar Khan Tel:0796 423 040 Finest Supermarket, Wazir Akbar Khan (AIB) Korean New World Between Charayi Haji Yacub and Charayi Ansari, on the right. Shar-e Naw. Tel: 0799 199 509 Standard Chartered Branch, Street 10, Wazir Akbar Khan (Standard Chartered) www.afghanscene.com World Bank Guard Hut, Street 15 Wazir Akbar Khan (Standard Chartered) Want to get on the Afghan Essentials list of places to eat and sleep? Contact [email protected] Afghan Scene December 2009 India’s first and only undisputed leader in the field of Power Backup Solutions Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 RUNS ANYTHING JUST ANYTIME Power Back -up Solution for Commercial, Industrial & Residential use. • Inverters Range : 2.5kVA to 100kVA • Home UPS Digital : 250VA to 400VA Pure Sine Wave : 600VA to 3.5kVA • Line Interactive UPS Range : 600VA to 3kVA • Online UPS Range : 1 kVA to 500 kVA • Solar Products Sine Wave Inverters, Solar Charge Controller, Power Conditioning Unit, Solar Panels • Battery Sealed Maintenance Free 7.2Ah to 200Ah • Power Protection System 6 AMP/250VAC 16AMP/250VAC • Battery Charger & Equalizer • Stabilizers • Emergency Lights Su-Kam wins ‘Innovation for India 2008’ award Winner of “National Award for Quality products 2006” Awarded “SECTORAL AWARD 2006-07” for excellence in Export Asia Trade and Commodities Ltd. Showroom: Charahi Shahid, Ehsan Tower, Ground Floor, Shar-e-naw, Kabul. Afghanistan. Afghan Scene December [email protected] E-mail: [email protected], Cell: 0799 855 845, 0786 125 315, 0799 314 513 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 &AREWELL scene &AREWELL scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 LOVING COUPLE: Nikolaus and Riona share a moment &AREWELL TO 5RUZGAN Human rights worker NIKOLAUS GRUBECK looks back on his time in Afghanistan 76 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com SHADY CHARACTER: Nik and one of his interlocutors Best of times? Worst of times? Traveling around Afghanistan as a tourist with my father when he came out to visit me. And every time an i-Gourmet package arrived in Uruzgan around a month after I ordered it who would have though that over-ripe cheese could ever be so exciting! Investigating Taliban attacks on civilians, some of the testimony was deeply distressing. I particularly remember one interview with an old man in Kunar: He had watched his son being executed by the Taliban. The son was a student across the border and had come back to visit www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 77 &AREWELL scene Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 friends and family. His father showed me his picture and explained how the boy had made the mistake of visiting an American base “as a tourist”, to get soft drinks and candy. On that day we interviewed around 10 other families, all of whom had similar stories to tell. our compound is being rocketed or whether the Dutch are on the range and haven’t told us again. Favourite place in Afghanistan? Spending lots of time with the AIHRC Special Investigations Team, having endless cups of shin-chai. The luxury of so many good friends living in close proximity. And of course getting stuck in random places, playing Scrabble and rationing provisions. Lots of places actually. Dragon Valley in Bamyan at sunset for beautiful scenery; the Bistro in Kabul for Sunday brunch; the Governor’s rooftop terrace in Tirin Kot for star-/ drone gazing; L’Atmo for the autumn bonfires & gossip; Spera district in Khost for being as remote as anywhere I visited in Afghanistan; and the UNHAS flight out for white sand beaches & cocktails. What will you miss the least? What happens next? Air quality in Kabul; malfunctioning bukharis; getting stuck at Kandahar Air Field; hearing random explosions and not knowing whether I’m living in London now, qualifying as a barrister and will then start with a chambers that specializes in human rights related work. ϻ What will you miss the most? WHITE OUT: Human rights man braves the elements in Khost 78 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com www.afghanscene.com Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 Afghan Scene December 2009 www.afghanscene.com
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