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Mustafa Rasuli | Photography |
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| Another Holiday | 3/23/2002 | |
| Today was a holiday again. It’s called “Dahi Mahram” 10th of Mahram. I’m not sure exactly what the significance of the holiday is, and I know I should find out, but I believe it has something to do with remembering those that have passed away. I got up around 11PM went to Akbar Jon Kaka’s house and the house was full of people again. I sat there for a while and talked with everyone. Actually it’s more like listened to everybody. Abu Bakr and I went to Jamel’s house and picked him up. We came just in time for lunch. I wasn’t actually hungry, but you can’t say no to an Afghan. Two more guests came in and started talking politics. I stayed quiet for a while, and then jumped into the conversation. They were talking about the history of Afghanistan and the recent events. I was saying that Afghans have an opportunity today to create a new Afghanistan. We have the world and more importantly America behind us. Of course America has it’s own interests, but both Afghanistan and America can benefit from this relationship. We have a lot to learn from America in every way. I want to come back to Afghanistan one day and walk down the streets of Kabul, and feel like I’m in Washington DC. I’m not saying I want to lose the Afghan culture, but I’m saying that we can benefit in every way by being a little more American. The great thing about Afghanistan is that most Afghans adore America. They adore everything American. We drove up to the tomb of Nadir Shah. He was the king of Afghanistan before Zahir Shah. The road was full of people going up and down. We were in a taxi going up the mountain. The graves and small tombs around the tomb of Nadir Shah were all destroyed. The place seemed like a battlefield, well actually it was. All the tombstones had been blown in two, bulletholes were everywhere. 3 feet deep holes in the ground marked where landmines had either been removed or destroyed. These mine holes were everywhere. I walked to the side of the mountain and took a series of panoramic photos. I was kneeling down to take the pictures and from behind me I heard two afghan guys discussing who I was and where I was from. I had a pair of jeans on and a denim jacket, and the famous “pacol” that is from the nuristani tribe. I finally turned around and said I was Afghan. One of the guys smiled and came over and shook my hand. He apologized, and I said no problem. I walked to the tomb of Nadir shah. The large domed tomb was utterly destroyed. Bullets, rockets, grenades, and every imaginable kind of weapon had been used on the tomb. One side of the dome had been blown away. Columns and walls had collapsed. We walked through the tomb and went into the basement. It must have been a sight to see when it was in it’s prime. I took some pictures and we walked towards another tomb down below. We thought it was the tomb of Naibsalar Saib, a respected and known 4 star general of Afghanistan. His name is known by almost all afghans. Anyway we walked over to what we thought was his tomb and I took some more pictures. I can’t wait to develop my photos. Down below on the side of the mountain, there was a huge crowd of people. The tomb of Afghanistan’s Elvis Presly, Ahmad Zahir is there as well as a few Ziahrats, or holy places. It was much like the previous celebrations I talked about, but people were more lively and comfortable at this picnic/party. We walked up the street for a while and then got on a carriage. I sat on the back and watched as we passed by different types of people. People were having fun. I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. Our carriage driver was making jokes as we were going up the mountain. We reached the top, not really the top, but where the carriage stopped and we walked the rest of the way. We were already a fourth of the way up the mountain, and I decided we were going to climb the mountain. I forced Abu Bakr and Jamel to follow me. I had a lot of pull since I was from America and a guest. We walked and walked and walked up the mountain. I realized walking up and looking down why these mountains were a formidable defense. From below you don’t really realize the kind of advantage you have from atop the mountain, but from atop you can see all the nooks and crevices where a couple of people can hide with a great view of what’s below. We climbed another three fourths of the way up and found a rock to rest on. Abu Bakr was exhausted. We sat down and I took more pictures. We sat atop the mountain, talked and ate oranges, throwing the peels down the mountain. There were orange peels everywhere. I sat there and watched from atop the mountain for an hour. I didn’t want to move, I felt like I belonged on the mountains. This was such a rugged place, a rugged life, a rugged people. |
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