From Kabul to Toronto and Other Places in Between

By Sayeda Habib

The book is about a teenage girl from Kabul, Afghanistan, who has dreams of higher education and making something of herself. Because of the civil war in 1992, her family decided to leave Afghanistan and went to Peshawar, Pakistan.

A few months after they landed in Peshawar, she meets a guy who is visiting his family in Peshawar, but he lives in Toronto. She falls in loves, and within few weeks, she gets married at the age of eighteen. A few months later, she moves to Toronto, Canada, where her husband lives. She gives birth to two boys within two years before she even turns twenty, without planning. During this time, she discovers her husband is not the same man that she fell in love with and that he lives a secret life. Cheating, drinking, smoking, and gambling are part of his lifestyle.

There is a big twist at the end of the book, and also something very significant happens on their way from Kabul to Pakistan, which scars one of her cousins for life.

Basically, the story is a little bit of everythinga drama, a thriller, and a love story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524507909

Sayeda Habib

Sayeda Habib: Sayeda Habib is an accredited life coach and has been working to improve the social and psychological welfare of Muslims since 2005. She has been featured on television in Pakistan, UAE, and the UK and also been a guest on several radio shows, including regional BBC.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

I t was the summer of 1992 in Kabul. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan regime had just collapsed, and it was the beginning of a new era in Afghanistan, one which brought a lot of changes in the way that people live, behave, dress, and express themselves. I was living in my own little world, and I was in my last year of high school, excited to finally graduate and head to university to explore a new and exciting world. But the situation in Kabul was getting worse by the minutes ever since different mujahideen groups took over the central government in April of that year. The city of Kabul became a theatre of conflict between various armed groups.

It was the midsummer holiday. Most high schools were off for two weeks, but I still had one more semester before I graduate. I was in deep thoughts: What if the situation does not get better? I am sure my parents are not going to let me leave home in this situation. That means I am never going to get the university experience. My older sister always told me what a great experience it was! She even once took me with her a couple of years ago to see exactly what she was talking about, and ever since then, I just couldn’t wait to graduate from high school. In a way, it was a sense of freedom and being an adult.

The guys’ high schools were separate from girls’ high schools. We had to wear a black uniform. No makeup and jewelries were allowed, but university was a different story. You could dress any way you like, put on makeup, do your hair with any style you like, and guys and girls were not separated.

I was deep in thought about the whole situation when my mom’s voice shook me up.

Nilofar, Nilo, where is your mind?

Oh, sorry Mom. I didn’t hear you! My mind was somewhere else.

Yeah, I could see that! my mom said in a sarcastic way.

I was hoping she would ask me what was in my mind so I could talk to her about it for a while, but she said, Enough of daydreaming. Come to the kitchen, and help me with dinner preparation. Do I have to tell you every night? You are seventeen years old. You should start learning how to cook. You are not going to be living in this house forever. Someday you are going to be married, and you need to learn how to cook.

I followed her to the kitchen. It was almost 7 PM, and it was getting dark. As usual, there was power outage. Some nights the power would come back late; some nights it wouldn’t. My dad and two younger brothers who were fifteen and twelve were sitting in the living room. My dad was holding a little battery-operated radio and listening to the latest news. He kept shaking his head. My brothers were sitting on the other side of the room, and they were busy playing cards.

I entered the living room with an oil lamp and said hi to my dad.

Put the lamp right there in the middle of the room, he said.

I put it down in the middle of the room so the whole room will get equal light. I went back to the kitchen to help Mom with the dinner. She had cooked rice with beef stew. We went through dinner without anybody saying anything. Dinner was delicious as usual, and there was hardly anything left. I helped Mom with the dishes and made tea for both her and dad. My brothers and I usually wouldn’t like to drink tea at night.

It was almost ten at night, and there was no sign of power. That meant no TV. I said good night to Mom and Dad and went to my room to get ready for bed.

The next day, I really wanted to go hang out with a couple of my girlfriends from school. They were living on the same neighborhood, so I called their homes and arranged for us to meet at one of my girlfriend’s place. Her name was Farida, and we’ve known each other since elementary school. She was my best friend. My other friend’s name was Nargis, and I have known her since first year of high school. In a very short time, we became really good friends.

After I finished my breakfast, I told my mom I was going to Farida’s place to hang out with her and Nargis for the rest of the day and promised her that I would come back before it gets dark.

Dad was about to leave for work. He was working with the Ministry of Education as an office manager but with all the instability of the government. Since mujahideen had taken over, the government was hardly functioning. A lot of time, he would just go and come back home after a few hours of work. My mom, on the other hand, was an elementary school teacher for a neighborhood school, which was only ten minutes walking distance from our home.

I got to Farida’s house around 11 AM. It was a fifteen-minute walk from my house to hers. We were living in a middle class–family neighborhood, but their house was one of the nicest. Her father was a successful businessman. He was in the import business and owned several stores around the city. Her mom was a homemaker with five kids. She didn’t really need to work, and she wasn’t really doing any house chores since they had a live-in housekeeper.

Farida opened the door and greeted me with hugs and kisses. We have not seen each other for eight days since the beginning of the summer holiday.

Ah Nilo, I missed you so much, Farida told me.

Tell me about it Farida. I missed you, I missed school, I missed our chitchat. It’s so boring. I have been staying home for the past week, cannot even go shopping with everything that has been happening. There’s no TV, no music, nothing. I don’t even know if we can go back to school once the holiday is over!

I doubt it, Nilo. I don’t think my parents will let me go to school in this situation. I don’t even know if schools would open anytime soon.

Don’t say that, Farida. I want to graduate so bad. Only one more semester.

I know dear, but it is what it is, Farida said.

The doorbell made us stop talking. Farida went to get the door, and I couldn’t help hearing Nargis screaming. I ran to the courtyard to greet her too. Nargis just couldn’t help herself from being loud. She was so excited to see us, but then again, she was always loud and the type to laugh easily. We all went back to the living room.

It seemed like no one else was home. I asked Farida, Where are your parents?

My dad went to his office, and my mom is upstairs either in her room or taking a shower.

Farida didn’t have any sisters. She was the only girl. She did have four older brothers, but they were living and studying in India. Farida turned the music really loud in the living room and asked if we want to watch a movie. They had a power generator at home. They were using it for basic things like light, television, radio, and cassette player. That’s why we would always hang out at her place.

We watched an Indian movie, which ran for almost three hours. After that, Farida’s mom asked us to come to the dining room for a late lunch. It was almost 2:30 PM, and we were starving although we had tea with cookies and cakes while we were watching the movie. But still, I was hungry for real food.

The dining table was filled with five different dishes: the usual rice and meat—which pretty much every family would make when they have guests over—and three different side dishes. Farida’s mom filled her plate and went to the family room to eat her food. She wanted to give us some privacy. We went through the lunch without any specific topic to talk about. We were just making small talk and occasionally laughing. The music was loud enough to keep our ears busy. After lunch, we went back to the living room.

Do you guys want to watch another Indian movie? Farida asked.

Nargis and I both replied at the same time, Nooo!

Okay, okay. Let’s just listen to some soft music and have some chitchat, Farida said while changing the cassette.

Good idea! Nargis shouted and laughed. Then she added, I am going to go first! ’Cuz I have some interesting, juicy news to share!

Really? And you kept quiet about it so far! Please do share, Farida asked her anxiously.

I think we are leaving the country in a few weeks! Nargis said.

What! Are you sure? I asked.

Oh, yes. My parents sold pretty much all our household items. Not sure if they can sell the house though ’cuz that takes time, and from what I’ve overheard when my parents were talking, it could be as soon as next month!

Get out! I yelled. That soon!

Looks like it, Nargis answered.

How do you feel about all this? I asked her.

Honestly? I am very excited! The situation in Kabul is getting worse by the minute. We can’t even go out. Every day there is some kind of explosion on the street! We don’t even know if the schools are going to open their doors! Of course, I am going to miss you guys and my other friends; but hopefully, we would stay in touch somehow.

Farida and I were just quiet for a few minutes. We didn’t really know what to say. Finally, I broke the silence and said very convincingly, I am very happy for you, Nargis.

I was happy for her; however, deep down, I was sad that I may never see her again. She was very fun to be around, and I never kept any secret from her and Farida.

I looked at Farida and said to her, Looks like it’s just going to be you and me from now on. Although I knew Farida for a much longer time, we both knew it won’t be the same without Nargis. One will never get bored with her being around.

Farida came closer to me and, while holding my hand, she said in a very low voice, Actually guys, I think my dad is going to send me and mom to India where my brothers live, and he is going to join us later once he sells all his businesses.

My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe my ears. I was going to say something or ask something but choked. I never knew until that moment that I have so much feelings for her! The feeling was familiar! Oh, that’s right. The last time I felt like that was when my sister left the country about sixteen months ago.

My older sister, Aryana, got engaged sixteen months ago to one of my dad’s friend’s son who was living somewhere in USA. We used to go to their house, and they would come to ours. I kinda knew my sister and this guy, Farhad, liked each other; then a few years ago, his dad sent him to Pakistan and from there, to USA for a better future.

A couple of years later, his dad and mom came to our house and asked my parents for my sister’s hands for their son, Farhad. I remembered how excited she was. After all the formality was over came the day that she was leaving home to go and start her life with her husband, but it was miles and miles away. We may never see her again. She had mixed emotions, but I felt very sad and empty which was exactly the same kind of feeling that I had at that time.

That night, I couldn’t sleep for hours. I was preoccupied with my thoughts. Everything seemed so surreal. I may never see Farida and Nargis again! Would I ever get used to that? I don’t even know if schools were going to open again. That means no graduation, no university!

CHAPTER TWO

T he next morning, I was in a deep sleep when my mom’s voice woke me up.

Nilo, wake up. It’s almost 9 AM.

I opened my eyes and asked, What time did you say it was?

Nine o’clock.

Oh! I said.

Yeah. Get up. Your uncle’s family is coming today for lunch. You have to help me with cooking and all.

It was Friday, the weekend, and my dad was home. It was very normal for us to have guests over for lunch! If not, then we would go to somebody’s house for lunch. That’s how we usually spent our weekend.

I forced myself to get out of bed. Everyone already had breakfast. My dad and my brothers had left to go get grocery, and my mom was in the kitchen. Preparing food was a struggle with no electricity in those days. We had a couple of those Primus stoves which we were using for cooking. I had a quick breakfast: just a cup of tea and flat bread with some homemade jam.

Then I started brooming the family room and the living room and cleaning up the furniture in the living room. The living room door was usually kept closed. We would only clean it if there was any guest coming over to visit. The entire living room floor was covered by a black and red handmade area rug, and there was a three-piece beige furniture with a couple of wooden coffee tables. I cleaned the tables and furniture to make sure that they were not dusty since we were hardly using that room.

My dad and brothers were back from the market. We would usually buy groceries on a daily basis since the refrigerator was useless without electricity, and the vegetables and fruits would go rotten very quickly. I washed the vegetables and fruits, and made the salad. My mom did all the cooking. I might have helped her here and there, but I didn’t really knew how to cook.

It was around 11:30 in the morning when the doorbell rang. My brother opened the door. It was my uncle with his wife, two daughters, and son. Both daughters were also going to high school. One was eighteen and one was sixteen. I was very happy to see them after almost two weeks. I knew we had a lot to talk about and catch up on.

We all gathered in the living room and chatted about everything that has been happening for the past few months and how the situation was getting unstable in the city.

The schools are definitely not going to start tomorrow, my uncle said while looking at me and his daughters. I know you guys are disappointed especially you two, he added while pointing at me and his older daughter Faria, but this is the reality. There is nothing we can do.

My dad just nodded his head and added, Even if the schools do start tomorrow, I am not sure if I want Nilofar to go! Every day there is some kind of explosion happening around the city!

But Dad, how long do you think we can continue living like this? Eventually, we have to start our normal lives again. Whatever the situation might be, we have to get used to it and live our lives, but we cannot be prisoners in our own homes, I said to my dad.

Nilo, dear, I know it’s hard for you guys to stay home all day; but for now, that is the safest thing. But I will make a decision about our future! That’s why your uncle is here today so we can talk and make a decision to see what we can do for you guys. Let’s have lunch first.

We had lunch at around 12:30 in the afternoon. My mom had made rice with meat stew and two side dishes. I set up the dining table with eight plates even though there were ten of us because our dining table was only for eight people. We would only use the dining table when we had guests over. My brothers and my cousin took their food in the living room and decided to eat there.

We went through lunch quickly. Everyone seemed very hungry. After lunch, I helped Mom with the dishes. My cousins and my aunt helped us as well. I also prepared the afternoon tea. My dad asked us to leave him and my uncle alone in the living room for a while.

My brothers and one of my cousins went outside in the courtyard. My other two cousins and I went into my room, and my mom and aunt went to the family room.

What kind of decision do you think they are going to make about our future? Faria asked.

I think they are going to arrange our marriages to some guys from abroad! Farima said sarcastically.

You are crazy. My dad will never do that to me, I said to Farima.

He did it to your sister, Aryana!

Oh, no. That was different. First of all, Aryana was twenty at that time, and she really liked Farhad. Also, we knew his family from a long time ago.

Faria interrupted us and said, I think I know what they are going to do!

Really? What? Tell us, I asked.

We might be leaving the country soon just like everyone else! Faria said while sipping her tea.

You think? I asked her with surprise.

Yes, I am pretty sure. I overheard when Mom and Dad talked about it the other night, Faria said.

I sighed and said, Perhaps, it might be the best for us at this time. After all, if there is no school and we can’t even go out, eventually, we would be bored to death staying at home and doing nothing. I have read almost every novel in my dad’s little library.

You are right, Nilo Jan. It might be the best for us at this point. Faria agreed with me.

For the rest of the day, we just talked about random things like music, TV shows, guys, clothing, makeup, and such just