The Kite Runner tells the tale of friendship between 2 most unlikely individuals; a Hazara and a Sunni (Hazara being the de facto lower caste have been treated under decades of resentment, discrimination and abuse, all the more friendship). We see two boys growing up together, sharing their childhood, finding solace in each other, 1 being the master, the other the loyal servant but more often than not, as friends and even brothers. Finally being torn apart by feelings of insecurity, envy, cowardice and inevitably, their social status.
Besides the plot, readers were introduced to the cultures of Afghanistan; Buzkashi (similar to polo but hitting a goat carcass instead) and Gudiparan Bazi (kite-flying) as well as the historical background from the early invasion of the Soviet union in the 1970s to the emergence of the Mujahideen factions and of coz, the Talibans.
There were a lot of things that moved me in this book, the unwavering loyalty of the servant; "For you, a thousand times over", how ironic it is that the more you have, the less you become, the ties between father and son and an account or a glimpse into the life of the people of Afghanistan, past and present. What angers me is the inhumane treatment of human towards another human. Does skin colour or ethnicity matters so much? Does what your fore fathers did necessarily have to impact on the relationship between the present humankind? Is the history not there to learn and improve on but rather what we see is a continuation of what that shouldn't have been. I might be oversimplying things, afterall these are big issues and big problems but how I do wish that sometimes, people can just see each other as well people.
I was fortunate to attend a fund-raising event organized by a friend who wants to raise awareness and funds for the Invisible Women of Afghanistan. Most would have heard of the worst that these women had been undergoing but few would have known how to react or how to help but my friend and her sisters pooled together their resources and organized a night of great Afghan food, music and more importantly, advocacy and raising the money for this issue.
The event was very successful, the food was splendid. It was held in Nights of Kabul, an authentic Afghan restaurant which is a short walk from the Oakleigh station. The food is genuinely very tasty and it offers live Afghan music which I believe added a bit more spice to the food :) My lousy camera phone does this place no justice but do check it out if you are interested.
www.nightsofkabul.com.au
Will put up proper video of the rubab and tabla performance soon. The tabla was played by tapping the fingers and palms on the instrument but what's really special is that when the person is playing, he's actually tapping out the lyrics of the song so for someone who knows the song, he or she knows exactly what the song is about without any words having to be said. One of the songs played was about the end of winter when the fields blossom again and lovers will walk through the field hand in hand.
There was also a guest speaker, Carmela Baranowska, the film-maker of Taliban Country, a documentary on the oppression of the American troops towards the locals in Afghanistan (you wonder whether it will ever end) and a representative from Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), an independent organization fighting for human rights and social justice for the women of Afghanistan. One of the outcome of RAWA is Malalai Joya, who became the first women voted into the parliament only to be suspended by her fellow parliamentarians because she outrightly spoke the truth about the condition of her country and the plight of her people if the country is to fall into the hands of the high clergy members and fundamentalist leaders yet again.
I also had the rare opportunity to try on a Burqa (more photos later). The holes at the front were soo small, it was a wonder that I can actually see through it at all. The top part of the Burqa is really tight, I thought it just didn't fit me, I do have a big head but later on, I found out that everyone felt the same. It might be designed in such a way that when women wear it, it was meant to make them feel repressive. It is actually a very beautiful and intricate piece of clothing but the fact that women are being forced to wear it, how it restrict not only their movement but their freedom makes it so repulsive. I could not imagine having to wear it 24/7, everytime, everywhere and the truth is there is nothing in the Quran that impose the need for this treatment of women.
I was also very grateful for the fact that I had the chance to meet the real life characters of the book, not Amir or Hassan, but the people who did live through the war, the people who had no choice but to escape, to seek refuge in other countries under such extreme conditions, only to be held in detention centres for years when they thought they reached their haven. It is amazing looking across the table at someone who has been through so much but at the same time, they seemed so normal, speaking with such humility and matter of factly of what happened. It is amazing looking at the scars on their hands from their kite-flying days when I have just been reading about it 2 days ago, how Khaled Hosseini was describing in order to win the battle of the longest surviving kite, the kite-flyer held on tightly to the strings which cut through their skin and leave them with the scars that will be paraded when school starts, a testimony of the success that they had.
When I was reading the Kite Runner, I was adamant not to put down the book til I finish reading it although it was nearly 5 am and I had work the next day, I wanted to know the ending, a good one preferably. And when I did finish, I realize this is far from the ending, not for the real people of Afghanistan. For most, this is only the beginning, the beginning of a long, long journey.
We, living in our perfect lil bubble, never to have seen any real life crisis of this world, where do we stand?
Ps: For anyone who's interested in watching the Taliban Country, Invisible Women will be holding a fund-raising screening, so do let me know if you're interested!
