Why are different countries, including the US, India and Pakistan, taking so much interest in Afghanistan? So much has been written on the subject. But today’s article in Al-Jazeerah by an American woman is indeed fascinating. This writer’s story is datelined Kabul.
Jane Stillwater writes under the heading “Pakistan, Afghanistan & Iran: Sibling rivalry rears its ugly head”: “While in Afghanistan, I’m trying to get a handle on what’s going on here. ‘Give it up, Jane. I don’t think even the Afghans themselves have any idea.’ BTW, the residents of Afghanistan are called ‘Afghans’. ‘Afghanis’ is what you call their dollars.
“There are a whole bunch of players in this part of the world and they are all competing with each other. It’s like sibling rivalry in a very large (and dysfunctional) family. Iran, India and Pakistan are like the big brothers and sisters, trying to be the bosses and the know-it-alls.
“Then we got Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics, who are like the little sisters and brothers. And like little brothers and sisters everywhere, they are tired of being ordered around — but are not quite big enough to prevent it from happening.
“What is happening in this area reminds me of my childhood back in the 1950s, in a very conservative Republican town where divorce was a big no-no. ‘If you get divorced,’ my mother’s lawyer told her, ‘you will never be invited to parties again!’ So my mother and father lived in the same two-bedroom house for ten years and didn’t speak to each other…”
This story is a delightful aside reflecting a reporter’s impression from the grassroots, as compared with the profound outpourings of people sitting thousands of miles away.
Do read carefully what Jane Stillwater has to say at the end of her story…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.