Sharbat Gula -----The Search for Faith

IC—814, Mr.Katyal and Masood Azhar still stay green in our memories. Qandahar, of course has puranic ties with our land. Now and then, it has always been the instrument of opposite. The reason for the then opposition is immaterial in the present condition but the now reason is more of a hegemonic drama by the more arrogant ruthless powers of the world.
The land of the tribe Avghana as referred to by Varahamihira in Brhat samhita, has always been a land of war. This was supposedly one of the main regions of Aryan settlements. Afghanistan has always served as the buffer region between the Persian Empire and the empires in India. For the most part, it was a part of the greater Persian Empire. It was at this place most of the battles have taken place. The land might know every single horse of Alexander, Gengis Khan, Babar, the Persians and the Indians by name.
“Alexander is great; Gengis is brutal-----same pinch!”---Another lesson from western history.
Later in the day came the weird but the most common fascination: The fascination towards the ideas of Marx. This is the fact that is totally shrouded, the egoism in communism. Capitalism is business as in USA but communism is not business as in soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Cold War, as it was called, it was really cold: cold blooded murder of innocent people. And Afghanistan fell in the Star Wars chapter. The then Commies invaded to support the Parchamies favoring communist rule in Afghanistan.
Here comes Uncle Sam’s all important Charlie Wilson’s war. The movie is worth watching.
The famous American game starts here. The game originally belonged to the British. After second world was, though the British ended on the winning side, they were heavily indebted to USA. So they gave their game for adoption as a payment of their debt. The game is the famous “divide and rule”. World’s most feared word is starting to get fostered in safe hands, Mujahideens. A simple message from Carter to Obama, “Our life is simply a reflection of our actions”. No wonder, the “Americans” voted for Osama for deStalinization. The wonder is still at large.
12 + 1 for Pandavas and 14 for Ram, what is it for Sharbat Gula? So far 17,Nobody has the answer for how many more?
Gandhi needed a non violence to take the Indian struggle to the world community; Dalai Llama needs Buddhist peace speech for world recognition of Tibet; Mandela needed a Robben Island to bring to light the apartheid in Africa, but just a photo of Sharbat Gula spoke to the world about Afghanistan.
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
But a Microchip geek says,” A picture is worth a thousand words but occupies three thousand times more space!”

Sharbat Gula is the famous NGC magazine front cover afghan girl. Steve McCurry was surprised to even find her after 17 years: 13 - 30. All her life she has fled the carpets that destroyed the villages, the Kalashnikovs and Remingtons that netted the civilians and lived as refugee. The first photo fetched her great fame of which she is totally ignorant. I just could not believe it when I saw her second photo the first time. Later I was able to make out, it was the same girl atrophied due to the brutal and the savage world around her: Cheeks drained, eyes still green tinted but lackluster and void of life. Her eyes speak volumes about what she has gone through. Civil wars, strict laws, poor health, unsteady economy, selfish foreign powers, unreliable national leaders, a nation at war being constantly trampled down and a family to take ambitious care: She is an unsung hero and no matter what she is an icon.
Her face today stands for the face of the whole nation, Afghanistan. The miseries of the people are reflected in her face. You know her answer when asked about her life? “It was good under the Taliban.”
So, who spoiled her feeling of content? A tacit but obvious answer.
Can she forget the past? Some may say yes some may say no. But when people ask you to forget the past, what does it exactly mean? Be it something very good or bad, the intensity can never take it away. Suppose you try, what else is there to remember? Control over this highly jinxed process is something the evolution has not seen so far, for god-fearing ones creation is not that easy yet. The truth is that selective control of memory could be termed as the seventh sense which at least humans are devoid of. Something like in Ghajini would not work either. Automatic Amnesia or temporary memory loss could land you on the other side like in the movie. People with voluntary selection of amnesia are being hired for lead roles in high budget movies in all kinds of woods. Even huge stresses seem to be futile and fade away. Well, the keyboard is missing “Delete” and “Backspace”. It’s a practically no win situation either.
But what will the Gulas erase even if the process is selective? What is there to remember?.............

The following is an excerpt from the cover story by Cathy Newman about the Afghan girl:
How, she was asked, had she survived?
The answer came wrapped in unshakable certitude.
"It was," said Sharbat Gula, "the will of God."

Will the Sun ever shine in the land of Pashtuns? Hamid Karzai and Karim Khan, can they do the magic?