HOW HE MUST HAVE FELT

Recently I lost a “Near and Dear” One , lost to the reality of life i.e Death . I was aggrieved at the hand of this reality, a detached so to say “emancipated soul” individual like me couldn’t withstand this “irrecoverable loss” . I have seen so many people depart to the eternal abode but never felt similar feeling, a void, a feeling inexplicable, beyond expression. Every time those excruciating feelings were moving up and down within me , my mind used to make a journey to two events which my friend had faced earlier . First let me talk about this friend , ( not sharing his identity since he is a very private person , might not like sharing this in public ) , we have grown together from the early days of our childhood of Malapora ,Srinagar to infatuations at sarwal jammu , to working together at Mira road , Mumbai , to our struggles in liver pool ,United Kingdom . About the two Incident s, he was just in 7th standard when his father passed away, another cruel incident was when he was doing his MBA and his mother passed away . During my recent tumultuous times, when I was mourning the demise of my “near and Dear” one, my mind used to transcend to those times, how he would have felt, how he would have reconciled with those moments of Mourning. It must have been painful, even though I vividly remember how i felt bad during those two events but perhaps now after so many years I can connect, relate and identify what he must have gone. In retrospect, I again want to condole, albeit, with a different feeling. A feeling, which even my thoughts cannot express, let alone talk of Pen. Let those remain sublime, occult, unexpressed... Rgds

My reluctant Journey to Kabul - Story of Snow

First let me give some brief introduction about myself,its not that its required,most of the inhabitants of this Planet Know me.But,still let me do it. Depending on which Language you use ,in English they call me "Snow", in Persian they call me "برف" and in Kashmiri they call me "Sheen". I am usually found in mountains,in some cities found seasonally,and in some rare locations for whole of the Year.Reason I am here,is to share my reluctant journey to a Unique city with a Unique History- My reluctant journey to Kabul.A city with History ,Culture ,birth place of Invaders , and what not .. As I make descend towards Kabul , crossing Hindu Kush mountains ,my reluctance is quite palpable otherwise I am quite happy to show my presence elsewhere even in far away kashmir , where last two Decades have also seen what Kabul has been facing for several Decades. I remember the Era when soviets had not arrived on the scene,it had not become a "ring" for settling Cold War ,internal Fights of mujahedin ,was not part of Strategic Depth , neither was part of Islam v/s west nor war on Terror. It was hunky dory place with Gay Faces. Oh , I really Miss those days ... I am aghast when people, away from this land, want to use it for furthering their arguments, interests ,novels, write ups, narratives, political and religious affiliations.It pains me . Next two years are crucial , I cant make any prophecy but it seems situation will not come back to the Era I aspire for .. I sense , I will have to make these reluctant journeys for some time to come ... an unfortunate witness to the miseries of Afghans -

PS - These photos are of November,2012 and are taken by ZOHRA NAJWA,resident of Kabul.I had met her during my Visit to Kabul