Winds of change

Its 18 of August today. Its a different country of what it was a few days back. You know that the Taliban were going to takeover the country but nobody predicted the pace that it went. There are many factors that may contribute to this but I will not really comment on it. There are many opinions in the cyberspace on why it has happened the way it is now. 

The only thing that I can share at the moment is, in my place everything is going back to normal. Normal in the sense of the livelihood, shops are open, markets are as usual noisy, schools and universities resumed their sessions. However you can sense the caution as people are waiting what will be in store for them. The previous government of 1996-2001 comes back into mind with the restrictions and things that they did. Most Afghans had bitter memories of such. 

Perhaps what is giving hope at the moment is how the changeover of the government went. MAybe for the first time since many many years that it went peaceful. Of course there were casualties in the battles of the big cities before 15th but it is not as bloody as how it was with the latest takeovers in the past few decade. 

We had our scare 1 day after the country takeover in Kabul. The Taliban who took over the city announced in a panic mode urging everybody to go home and close the shops. The Talibs left their post and assembled in the main government offices occupied the previous day preparing to defend it. It was rumoured that maybe the city would be under attack by the special forces. There was panic in the air. People were crying and scared especially of the loved ones they left at home. It was very nervy with the continuous sound of rifle shot in the air for alarming purposes. We were into our contingency plan of worst case scenario and getting ready to occupy our saferoom.

There was more sense of all parties on the risk and benefits of such action. Multiple elders went to negotiate and brokered a peaceful outcome of this. The convoy never reached town and we were all very relieved. Me? Yup probably the first time I felt a bit tachycardic and worried. 

But What am I really worried about? Dunno really and it is interesting when I start exploring what I felt the other day. To say that I am afraid of death? not really honestly. To me its god's will and up to him of where and when it can be. Anytime really anywhere. Even in the best of securities and situation.

The press conference yesterday gave a glimpse of how Taliban reckon they would want to be perceived as. It was all about reassurance of all questions that come into mind. We can only hope for the best in this country. They have suffered enough, it is time to rebuild it properly and it needs a lot of willpower from all to unite together in this fascinating magical land.