The outgoing Ambassador of India to Ireland, Mr Sandeep Kumar shares a touching account of his life in Afghanistan on diplomatic mission years ago, through his Facebook page. He penned about his years in Afghan during 2005-12 where he witnessed the lives of Afghan nationals, particularly women and children post war.
There he wrote a book titled ‘On Edge,’ about the country and its people. Also being a painter, Mr Kumar added his own series of oil paintings of Afghan women along with text in the book. The book was dedicated to women and children of Afghanistan and the senior diplomat shares his deep and shocking concern over the recent Taliban attacks and power capture in the country. He has shared some of his paintings along with the Facebook post which were titled ‘I am only a Woman,’ portraying Afghan women in different perspectives.
‘The heart aches, but somewhere deep within there is still hope & optimism that brave women & children of Afghanistan will persevere…they shall continue to be our mighty warriors…Earlier achievements will not, shall not, be undone,’ Mr Kumar ends his Facebook post.
You can read the full post here:
‘I worked & lived in Afghanistan, end 2005-12. I wrote a book ‘On Edge’, about the country in making after 3 decades of war, of interaction with real people on ground, stories of their triumphs & travails. At same time, it was v. personal piece about own inner challenges to live new adventures, acquire new experiences, gather new stories, make new memories. I had dedicated the book to women & children of Afghanistan, they were my real heroes. I had supplemented text with series of oil paintings I had done, entitled “I am only a Woman” – of women in burkha, seen from various perspectives. Last in series was of a female police officer in burkha holding a gun, nails painted scarlet, as she wd go out in chase of Taliban. Figuratively, she had taken destiny in her own hands, assumed woman power, become the woman she deserved to be.
I had ended the book with a little boy pointing out to a pink kite wavering in the sky, symbolising dreams of women & children in the country, and rather than being severed, kite keeps soaring higher & higher into sky as far as crinkled eyes cd trace hazy shape into the far distance. I had wanted the book to end on note of optimism.
But I was wrong then. Momentous events of last days have been acutely painful & shocking. After 20 yrs of nation building, focus has sharply returned to rights of women & children. The heart aches, but somewhere deep within there is still hope & optimism that brave women & children of Afghanistan will persevere…they shall continue to be our mighty warriors…Earlier achievements will not, shall not, be undone.’
Note: All images are from Mr Sandeep Kumar’s Facebook Profile.