𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲: 𝐀 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐊𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐥

By Taran N Khan

In Shadow city, Taran Khan, toys with the idea of what makes a place one’s home. A Pashtun descendant, she was an audience to her grandfather’s nostalgic intrigue for the land of their ancestors. Her grandfather never lived or even visited Kabul but is intimately familiar with the place through books and Urdu poetry.

(Home) is a fluid idea. It may be where you were born, or it may be a place that claimed you. It may even be a place of imagination, but it where you are whole.

In her expeditions on foot, Khan discovers a city clinging to its glorious, fabled past despite the unfolding ruins everywhere. Interspersed with the current affairs is an insightful history of Afghanistan. From Babur’s fascination with this river-side city to the numerous revolutions that eventually gave way to the rise of the Taliban regime, which was then squashed by the American-led coalition to the democratically elected Karzai government. A society traumatized by perpetual conflict turned to drugs to numb its tumultuous existence.

In the first few pages, the author explores the literature available in Afghanistan. Khan name drops several writers and Urdu poets, such as Muhammed Iqbal. The author also touches upon the Afghani people’s penchant for Bollywood songs, lavish weddings and other such luxuries that restore a sense of normalcy.

Each time I had walked into a salon in Kabul, it had felt like entering a community, or a conspiracy, of desire and pleasure. As a place where women adorned themselves, and appeared as they wished to be seen, it was both something of a sanctuary and something of a minefield.

Taran Khan does a great job of being a mere spectator. She approaches her subjects with sensitivity and is careful not to turn them into stereotypical tropes. Whatever I knew of Kabul was always enveloped in a shroud of conflict and war. This book added additional dimensions of humanity and rich history.