The Darknesses of Kabul City; Eid Is for The Rich
“When I sleep at night, I fear tomorrow, and in the morning, when I leave the house with my cart, I fear the night. I’m afraid that I might return home empty-handed with no cash.”
By Rayan Joya
Kaka (Uncle) Nasim had placed four pieces of heavy iron on a cart and moved from the Haji Nowruz intersection station to the Bist-Metereh street station. He would get tired of moving on the way, stopping, and looking around himself. Everyone was wearing new clothes, and regardless of the worries of life and the sadness of bread, they went from house to house celebrating Eid. Everyone was happy and smiling, and they talked loudly together.
Kaka Nasim wiped his sweat with his sleeve, grabbed his cart, and started moving again. When he reached his destination, he lifted the heavy and furious irons very hard from the cart and took them into the warehouse. Then, he took his 20 Afghanis-fare and left. He sat on a station bench, and I sat next to him. I said: “Happy Eid, Kaka Jan!” (Dear Uncle) Kaka Nasim said with a bit of sadness: “Thanks, brother!” But Eid is for the rich.” Nasim took out a red rosary from his pocket and looked around himself. Usually, on the third day of Eid in Kabul, the alleys are full of people with new clothes, looking and walking around and getting busy. But for Kaka Nasim; These Eids are not happy.
The Yesterday
Kaka Nasim, when he was in the second grade of school, the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan, and since then, he has left school and education. At that time, Nasim worked in agriculture at night to prevent hunger and save himself from being killed. During the day, he took cows and sheep to the high mountains of the Punjab district. At that time, the Punjab district of Punjab of Bamiyan was a place, a battleground between Mujahideen fighters and Soviet forces, where many civilian houses were destroyed and abandoned every day due to the conflicts. Nasim immigrated to Iran at age 15 and worked in stone-cutting factories in Isfahan, Iran. He was forcibly deported several times by the police, but he was still gone by smugglers to Iran.
The Today
Kaka Nasim lost his back health in Iran’s stone-cutting factories; His back vertebrae are worn, and he has arthritis. After being unable to work, he came from Iran to Afghanistan and then moved from Punjab to the current city of Kabul. This is precisely when almost three years have passed since the fall of the Republic government.
Thus, Since Kaka Nasim came to Afghanistan from Iran, he has been unemployed and earns 20 to 80 Afs daily with his cart. This is an income for Nasim, who is fighting only to survive. This is not only the current situation and the dire economic situation of today’s Afghanistan citizens, but according to the report of the United Nations Development Department in Afghanistan, the number of poor people under the poverty line under Taliban rule has reached 34 million people by 2023.
Anyway, Kaka Nasim has two daughters and one son. His elder daughter, who has been banned from school, lives at home and draws at home from morning to night. His son is five years old, and he is 54 years old. Nasim is afraid of the coming days in this dark city and says: “When I sleep at night, I fear tomorrow, and in the morning, when I leave the house with my cart, I fear the night. I’m afraid that I might return home empty-handed with no cash.”
