Afghanistan's Gem Hunters | Afghan Scene Magazine - Asia-Africa ...

it allAfghan Scene December 2009 it allAfghan Scene December 2009One busy, busy day in Peshawar, way back in 1995, I wasinterrupted by a phone call from the Swedish Committeefor Afghanistan in Stockholm. The editor of their slickmagazine, Afghanistan Nytt, had the idea that I shouldwrite a column four times a year. “Impossible!” I said, “too much todo.” But he was very charming, and very persistent. So, in desperationto get on with my work, I said, yes. Thus began a project that continuesto this day. Fitting big topics into the limited space allowed has beenan enjoyable challenge, requiring a lot of focus and discipline.When they graciously suggested republishing the collection I wonderedwhat possible interest such old material might have. But these piecesdo seem to provide an interesting perspective on today’s events. Thefollowing excerpts are from a column written in May 1997 duringTaliban times. Few people know Afghanistan better than NANCY HATCH DUPREE who hasjust published a collection of articles about her forty years in the countryNostalgia among Afghans and theirforeign friends fortunate enoughto have shared the excitement ofKabul during the 1960s and 70sis all the more poignant because the effectsof later events still disrupt many lives. Theluminescence of these years ignites memories,but the tales we old-timers have to tell nowseem scarcely credible.The social elites with whom most foreignersassociated in the early 60s were urbane,sophisticated men and women impeccablydressed in European fashions, speaking faultlessEnglish, French and German. We met frequentlyduring busy rounds of official social gatherings,but the glittering Queen’s Birthday Ball at theBritish Embassy marked the peak of the socialseason. We danced the night through untildawn.By the mid-60s, the effects of rapiddevelopment reached deeper into the society asthousands of men and women from all levelsof society returned from training abroad andaccelerated the pace and vitality of the city. Anew constitution promulgated in October 1964and the elections that followed a year laterinspired feelings of greater openness and hopesthat expectations could be fulfilled. Charged32Afghan Scene December 2009www.afghanscene.comwww.afghanscene.comAfghan Scene December 200933