The Man-To-Man Oath I Owe My Father

Transcription

1 The Man-To-Man Oath I Owe My Father Middlebury Town Middlebury, Vermont Phone: jaweedhazara2015@gmail.com Facebook Page:

2 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 2 Thursday, Dec. 2004, Kabul, Afghanistan. School is over. The bus costs five Afghani, about 10 cents too pricey. The boy always cycles to school, his bike leaning against the window of his blue classroom after the 40- minute ride. It is a simple shade of green, rusty metal, imported from abroad by his father in a big cardboard box. Not overly attractive, but it does its job. The boy unlocks it and maneuvers out of the school gate, a billboard above sporting the letters Ansari High- School. Across the street stands the big yellow shrine of Shah e du Shamshira, the King of Two Swords in Kabul s poetic Dari language. The main dome is a whimsical shade of light blue, illuminating two minarets standing on the banks of the dried- out Kabul River.

3 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 3 He cycles behind the school to take the road along the Asmaie mountain heights, which stretches from central Kabul towards the west, carving the city in half. Atop the mountain stand numerous TV masts, flooding the homes of three million Kabuli with vital mass media. There are mud houses scattered along the foothills of the mountain, raindrops trickling down the slopes. Like every other Kabuli, the boy calls this place Kohe Television e Kabul, The TV Mountain of Kabul.

4 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 4 After a while, the road home reaches its western side where the boy sees four green domes alongside tall minarets: Sakhi shrine. He has never met a Kabuli who does not venerate this shrine. Historically linked to Ali, the cousin of the Muslim Prophet, Muhammad, known to have been the first child ever to embrace Islam and live a life filled with honesty, strength and glory. Several times, he endangered his own safety to save the Prophet from his rivals among Mecca tribes. Thus the Kabuli believe that the shrine can perform spiritual deeds like granting wishes or healing the sick.

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6 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 6 Surrounding Sakhi is a vast graveyard, which the boy calls The City of Kabul Death. A barren moonscape, endless gravestones hewn from the rock, occasionally encased in cage-like structures to preserve the resting place for posterity. Kabulis want to bury their dead here so that the souls of their loved ones can rest in peace in the hope of receiving blessings from the revered shrine. During the last three decades of war, the number of deaths here has skyrocketed and this place resembles a city of the

7 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 7 Underworld. It is Thursday evening, the time when citizens traditionally gather to pray for blessings and mercy from Allah for those who have passed away. On Thursday evenings, the souls of the dead reunite with their loved ones. The boy must stop by the graveyard because his father Ali was buried last week. Last time he came here with his family, repressing his tears and maintaining a calm, collected exterior for the sake of his siblings. But this time, he is alone. He opens up his heart and the anguish of his loss escapes him. Arriving at one edge of the cemetery, he takes a deep breath and musters his strength, respectfully laying down his bike. He places his hands on his heart and recites a

8 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 8 few short chapters of the Quran to bless every death there. As he walks down the narrow path to his father s final resting place, his eyes water, his heart starts thumping and his feet feel numb, as if he can walk no further. The graveyard is not yet crowded, offering the perfect opportunity to let his tears fall as nobody can see him cry. He remembers weeping only once in public, a few days ago when he heard that his father had been buried after a car crash along the Kabul-Ghazni highway. Since he was seven years old, he has always told himself that he is a man and men do not cry. The December snow will start falling in a few days to herald the arrival of yet another unforgiving Kabul winter. Foreboding dark clouds hover and the death-filled earth is mirrored in the elements. Grey air is trapped between an angry sky and a dead world. The graveyard emits a silent melancholia, feeling to the boy like a desert consumed by blank gravestones. He knows there are many children, men and women buried here, every type of

9 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 9 Kabuli, some murdered in war, some dead of illness, some of old age. After a few minutes he sees a red caged tomb in approximate distance to a solitary tree. He recognizes the new home of his father. The boy had always called him Haji, the title for Muslim men who have embarked at least once on the obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca, the House of God. Once he sees the grave, he remembers to be respectful to the soul of his father, as honorable Islamic tradition requires of a son. He takes a deep breath and wipes away his tears, remembering how his father undertook the very same rituals in life. When he feels ready, the boy picks up a stone, which he scratches on the cement tomb after reciting each verse of the first chapter of the Quran. He repeats the ritual a total of three times. Once done, he holds his hand towards the Sakhi Shrine and looks up into the sky searching for his Khoda, the Dari word for God. He prays:

10 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 10 Khoda jenem, my dearest God, you know well that in life my father was a most devoted Muslim. He always tried his best to altruistically live for the good of others and of humanity. Khoda janem, I urge you, in the name of this holy shrine, rest my father s soul in peace and award him an eternal place in the highest garden of paradise, Jannate-e-Firdaws! Now his eyes are distracted by the stone anchored above the head of his father. Unable to ignore the Arabic and Dari calligraphy carved on the gravestone, he reads it repeatedly, until he feels the words carving ever more deeply into his chest.

11 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 11 In the Name of God, the most Merciful and the most Compassionate, we are all from Khoda and our return is also to Him. This tomb is the solace of the deceased Haji Ali son of Ahmad from Bedra Village, Qarabagh District of Ghazni province. He died in a car crash on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004 on his way from Kabul to Ghazni. May his soul rest in peace and his memory remain glorious. Suddenly, the boy s pain erupts and his tears start flowing. Body shivering, hands clenched in fists, feet heavily pushing against the earth below. His fear of being seen suddenly dissipates and he bursts into tears, a bottomless pit of grief.

12 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 12 Haji janem, I am sorry for everything. I am sorry for trying to kill myself two weeks ago when I failed to jump off the second floor. I am sorry for trying to cut the main blood vessel in my arm to bleed to death. I am sorry for disappointing you after your 14 years of fatherhood. I am sorry for not finding the courage to face you to apologize for shaming you because your son wanted to kill himself. I am sorry Haji, I am sorry Abruptly he realizes that a woman and several children are coming towards him. Khoda jan, bless your deaths. It is almost Friday night. Do you have any Sadaqa, charity, to offer my orphaned children? Their father died many years ago in the war. Tears stain her pale face.

13 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 13 I have no money, he replies sincerely. I only have five Afghani and I have to buy some water to wash my father s grave. One of the orphans comes forward bearing a jug of water. The boy pays him and starts to wipe dust off the tomb. Even if Haji is dead, his son is alive to wash his grave. The widow and the orphans leave. With new determination, the boy reflects. He won t let anyone call him an orphan. He resolves that he will never accept pity because his father will live a strong life through him! He grasps a fistful of earth close to the head of the tomb Khake Mazare Haji, the soil from the new eternal home of his father. He tightens his fist and presses the hallowed soil firmly in his hand to make an oath for eternity to his Haji. He slowly bikes his way out of the graveyard. He knows that Haji s soul now lives on. His body may be anchored to the ground and his bones may disintegrate, but everywhere the boy goes he knows his father watches over him: he lives on through his son, in his blood, and in his flesh.

14 Man- To- Man Oath I Owe My Father 14 I will continue your legacy, your way of life. I will fight for what you fought for since your birth. I will accomplish what you accomplished! I will become everything that you expected me to become. I will be the best son that any father ever wished to leave behind in this world. I will never give up until I prove to you that I am a worthy of being your son! That day when I tugged (made an oath) at a single thing by grasping a fistful of Earth in nature, I found myself attached to the rest of the world. (THE END) Based on True Story Written by : Muhammad Jaweed Hazara