by blood, we are immersed in love of you.
the youth lose their heads for your sake.
i come to you and my heart finds rest.
away from you, grief clings to my heart like a snake.
i forget the throne of delhi
when I remember the mountain tops of my afghan land.
if i must choose between the world and you,
i shall not hesitate to claim your barren deserts as my own

—ahmad shah durrani

“Ancient Afghanistan—at the crossroads of major trade routes and the focus of invasions by great powers and nomadic migrations—was home to some of the most complex, rich, and original civilizations on the continent of Asia. This exhibition will celebrate the unique role of Afghanistan as a center for both the reception of diverse cultural elements and the creation of original styles of art that combine multiple stylistic materials—such as the Hellenized examples from the second-century B.C. city of Aï Khanum, the array of trade goods found in the first-century city of Begram, and the astonishing nomadic gold found in the hoard at Tillya Tepe, which also dates to the first century. It will also commemorate the heroic rescue of the heritage of one of the world’s great civilizations, whose precious treasures were thought to have been destroyed. Among the highlights of the exhibition will be gold vessels from the Tepe Fullol hoard; superb works and architectural elements from Aï Khanum; Indian-style sculptural masterpieces in ivory, plaster medallions, and Roman glass from Begram; and extraordinary turquoise-encrusted gold jewelry and ornaments from the tombs at Tillya Tepe.”

i may be biased but i think this is going to be an amazing exhibit. thanks for the heads up, melissa…

kudos to whomever designed the poster…

i haven’t been to the region since i was kid. the last time i visited, that bastard dictator, zia ul-haq, was president. he has much to answer for the current situation in pakistan and afghanistan. a general under zulfikar ali bhutto, benazir’s beloved father, haq (who incidentally shares a last name with my mother’s side of the family but is not a relation) overthrew bhutto, had him summarily executed and took control of the country for more than 11 years. during that time, he helped a nation that was progressing, albeit slowly, get mired in the heartbreaking afghan-soviet conflict, brought about the rise of the ISI, pakistan’s answer to the CIA, and aided the birth of taliban-like groups in both afghanistan and pakistan. these things have contributed to so much of the strife in afghanistan and pakistan. may he rot in hell.

haq also spent millions funding the kashmiri conflict. i am a pakistani-born afghan but i don’t think india or pakistan should have control of the region. while it was intended to be dispensed to pakistan after the partition of 1947 because of its predominantly muslim population, it’s been more than 50 years since then and the two nuclear powers can’t seem to come to a compromise. i have always believed that kashmir is for the kashmiris and never more so than now.

i didn’t know how my recent trip to azad jammu and kashmir would pan out. while i expected natural beauty—from waterfalls to what the norwegians call fjords to majestic peaks—and wonderful, hopeful people, what i didn’t expect was a tortuous four-hour drive from islamabad that had me clinging to my seat as the hired driver, naseem khan, traversed his way up the mountain on a two-lane road littered with more than a dozen landslides.

was i going to be a landslide victim? stay tuned to find out…