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Taloqan – The Colorful Mondays

Welcome to Taloqan “First it was the culture, then it mixed with the religion” – Sa’dat The city of Taloqan is the capital of the Takhar province, one of Afghanistan northern provinces. Takhar was part of the Qataghan province which once comprised the nowadays provinces of Kunduz, Takhar and Baghlan. Taloqan is hot in summer although compared to Kunduz, it’s much cooler. The city is dusty, but the smoothly paved road which connected the sleepy provincial capital to Kabul promised its brighter future. The city has somehow a strong link with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Unlike other cities in Afghanistan, the roads in Taloqan has clear name and road signs, and many of the main road signs in the town center are backgrounded with Iranian flag, and signed “Afghanistan and Iran”. Some of the roads have quite Iranian smell, like the “Ayatollah Khomeini” St. Some other main roads are Hafez St., and as in all other cities in Afghanistan, the “Ahmad Shah Massoud” St. [read more]

July 23, 2006 // 0 Comments

Lahore – A Peshawar boy in Anarkali

April 29, 2006 The culinary capital of Lahore, Anarkali Food Street He was very young, I suggested that he was only 11 years old. His name is Waseed, a Pathan boy from Peshawar. He comes everyday to Anarkali, with his little treasure: a weight scale. Oh, plus some thick papers for him to sit on. “How old are you?” “Between 10 and 15” But it’s a big range. He doesnt know his own age. Waseed didnt know English. Even his Urdu was limited. I tried to communicate with Farsi, but he knew nothing. He was not from Afghanistan anyway, but his homeland was just next to the Farsi speaking country. He sat on the padestrian path of the food street of Anarkali, Lahore, waiting for customers. Every time a curious fellow tried to weigh on his little scale, he get 2 Rs. He was very young. “You dont go to school?” “No” “Where are your parents?” “In Peshawar”. Peshawar is a city 10 hours away from Lahore by the public bus. The [read more]

April 29, 2006 // 0 Comments