Nomads - 1 ... Akbar

1. Akbar

9th December, 1637 Gowhar, Afghanistan:

Chilling winds flowing into the caves of snow covered mountains. Gowhar, which lies in the south west province of Afghanistan was famous for its difficult terrain. It was the only way for people to enter Kabul, from the South West countries.

On the foothills of Gowhar, lived many families. Amongst them was Akbar Pathan's family. Akbar was an old man who had 3 wives. He had 12 sons and 4 daughters from all of his wives. His favourite son was Alam, who was a hard working, handsome guy of 23 years, who was obidient and chaste. His other sons were not upto the mark and were jealous of Alam because of the love and partiality that his father used to do. He was the only one who got hot food with his father. The other family members had to eat food after the duo have completed it. So what was left was their fate. Akbar was strict follower of Islam and implemented on his family members too. Namaaz was compulsory for every member of the family, the one missing it was punished and no food was offered on that day to him/her for that mistake. Hence every member used to make it a point to offer their prayers to avoid their fathers’ wrath.

The village being very remote and hilly caused several problems. There were very less trees for logs of wood and this caused the family members to work hard to get the wood for cooking. Water was also a problem because of scarce to no rainfall. They had to heat up the snow and get the water. The animals that were killed, their meat were eaten as a feast and their skins were used to make shawls. These shawls were sold to local markets so that they get some earnings. Shawls were in great demand by local people as well as the travellers coming to the place, because of the genuineness of the leather in which they were crafted. Only the men of the family were allowed to work and the girls were not allowed to roam out of the house.

Akbar wasn't keeping well for the last 2-3 months. He had grown weak and pale yellow. He tried few herbs but they it didn't work. He used to pray to the almighty for his fast recovery, but it worsened. He was growing weaker and weaker. Now he didn't even have the energy to get up for his prayers. All his sons were taking care of the house and the goats that they had. One day, Alam was returning back with a pile of wood on his head and suddenly his younger brother rushed to him... said "Abba is acting strange, come fast". Alam was stunned for few seconds before the pile of wood fell from his head. He knew his father won't survive much as the deadly disease had taken lives of many in the village. He rushed home to see his father, with the axe in his hand. All the family members had sorrounded the hut and when Alam reached the door. The axe fell from his hand. He saw his father. Dead. As Alam was too close to his father and the most loved one, he was the one who was shattered. It was like some one has taken away his life. The proceedings for the last rituals started. The cemetry was a mile away from their home, opposite direction of the market place. The body was taken to the cemetry. Prayers were chanted and Akbar was given back to the soil he belonged.

Alam was the last one to leave the cemetry. He was shattered and broken, mentally and physically. He ate the minimum food for the next 2 weeks and had grown weak. He went to the cemetry every evening and prayed for his father. He had stopped collecting woods and that also was a concern for the family. Finally every thing got normal and he was getting better as days passed.

Alam was the eldest male of the family now and all the responsibilities were on him. One morning, after the morning prayers, when every one was getting ready for work, Hashim said, "These are the sounds of horses", every one went outside to see the horses marching towards the colony. They rushed into the house to get hold of their swords and shields. In Afghanistan, people have swords for their self defence. They are trained

Hashim was younger to Alam, not that handsome, but he had a girlfriend who lived couple of houses away. Their parents knew it and they were ready for their marriage. Now with the death of Akbar, the marraige was postponed to few months.

The family saw people approaching approaching on their horses, with swords shining in their hands. These swords were not normal, A golden lust was seen from far off too.. and the size was bigger than the usual ones. Their faces were covered with a cloth and finally one of them reached near Akbar's house. "Is Akbar there?", asked the stranger. "No", said Alam, "he is no more". The man got down from his horse, put back the sword in side the case, and said that he was Akbar's friend, from Turkey. He called himself Omar. All the horsemen gathered near their house. Cots were pulled out of the house for them to rest. Water and breakfast was offered to them. Alam and Omar got into conversation and then Alam happened to ask Omar, why he came to Afghanistan. Alam was told that they were warriors of the Turkish King who has ordered them to go for a survey as he wanted to expand his provice from Turkey, spreading through Iran and then enter India through Pakistan. They were not here to harm any one.

By that era, Afghanistan was ruled by a Mughal emperor. This ruler was a good friend of the Turkish King. Hence they decided to invade India and Pakistan. India was famous for the variety of spices it had, also for the repository of gold it possessed. Pakistan was to be invaded for the reason if they had to go back home, they needed some way and Pakistan was the only way that they were aware of. The Khyber Pass was their aim. All this was discussed by Alam and Omar. And finally Omar before leaving asked Alam to join him if he was interested in some quick money, but at the risk of his life. Alam was still in the grief of his father and hence was not able to decide, and he said to him, “I will think about it, not now, may be sometime later”. The conversation ended and Omar went away with his troops. Every one saw him disappearing from their site, soon there was just the dust left and every one was dissolved in those dust particles.