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Sometimes you just don’t grow up.  It might be apparent, and not happen very often, but on occasion you are catapulted back into being a child and laughing uproariously and uncontrollably at stuff you haven’t laughed at since you were maybe four or five. You discover that your puerile sense of humour you were sure…
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Rahim Walizada designed Afghan carpets with a modern twist and serious artistic flare, and I was completely captivated from the first moment I wondered into his effortlessly cool and sophisticated shop called Nomad in Kabul. While Rahim had low-key charm and charisma, his cousin, who ran the shop on the Kolola Pushta Road, was surly…
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As it happens I found myself in Kabul on Valentine’s day.  Rahim Walizada had recently transformed a derelict spot into the Design Centre with his magic artistic touch.  In the middle of the capital this well-known Afghan designer had created a cool vibe at a place that served as both a venue for brunch and…
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“Sometimes I ask myself if it was my destiny to be born in a country where I, a woman, am considered no better than an animal. Then I answer myself that it is our responsibility as women to change the situation. No one is responsible for our rights except us. This idea gave me the…
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Things always look different from the ground. Mention Kabul and immediately people think of it being the most dangerous city in the world.  Many of us lived totally normal lives without any security, which is one of the reasons I decided to write Dispatches, to explore a time and place that is already disappearing. In…
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This week Malala Yousafzai became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which she shared with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian children’s rights activist. Malala catapulted to global fame after being shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan two years ago, the result of campaigning for a female education. She is a…
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