A Future through Education February 23, 2009

     The shriek of missiles through sandy streets, an endless rain of bullets, constant thunder of bombs exploding in the distance…Afghanistan’s history is still being written in blood. For centuries, ethnic and religious differences have divided this Middle Eastern country. One after another, strong regimes of authoritarian power rise and fall, leaving a violent trail. With each reign, the majority group in Afghanistan manages to hold control by suppressing those whom they feel are inferior. Women and the ethnic minority, the Hazaras, have long suffered this oppression, especially from the recent control by religious extremists, the Taliban. At the hands of the Taliban, Afghanistan’s infrastructure has tumbled, citizens fled the country, people struggle in poverty, and thousands of Afghanis remain illiterate. While the allied forces have driven much of the Taliban out of the country, Afghanistan is in ruins. In The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, author Khaled Hosseini suggests the importance of educating the disenfranchised women and Hazaras for a more stable future in Afghanistan.

     In The Kite Runner, the Hazara people are introduced through the lovable character Hassan. Described as having a “Chinese doll” face, the young Hazara boy exhibits the Mongol-like qualities of this ethnic minority. His characteristic Hazara features of round face, flat nose, and Oriental eyes, set him apart from the ethnic majority controlling Afghanistan, the Pashtuns (Kite 3, 9). While Hassan grew up as a brother to Amir, The Kite Runner’s narrator, Amir was a Pashtun. As a wealthy Pashtun, Amir was granted endless privileges that Hassan was not. Amir grew up in a lavish mansion, Hassan in the servants’ shack (Kite 6). Though the boys learned to crawl together, Amir went to school, and Hassan remained an illiterate servant to Amir’s family. Amir and Hassan played together, but Amir would never admit that Hassan was his friend. After all, Amir rationalized, “he was just a Hazara” (Kite 77).

     The differences in ethnicity and religion between the two groups of people, led to the disenfranchisement of the Hazaras. Phil Zabriskie explains in the National Geographic article “The Outsiders,” that while Hazaras make up one fifth of the country’s population, they “have long been branded outsiders” in Afghanistan (Zabriskie 118). This oppression against the Hazara minority is why Amir becomes educated, yet Hassan is a servant. Amir’s telling opinion from a Pashto view of the situation was merely, “history isn’t easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was a Sunni and he was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing” (Kite 25). Perhaps this perception is why Hazaras have been outcaste for so long.

     When the Taliban came to power, the education system Afghanistan did have crumbled. Not only were Hazaras still denied schooling, but woman, too, were forced out. A Thousand Splendid Suns illustrates the harsh rules the Taliban imposed on Afghani citizens, including: “Girls are forbidden from attending school. All schools for girls will be closed immediately” (Thousand 249). Lack of education adds to the instability of the country. In fact, as Robert J. Barro explains, Afghanistan has one of the lowest statistics for primary school attainment, with an average of 0.8 years for adults. Even worse, women have an even lower rate of education at an average of 0.3 years of formal schooling (Barro 157). While we would like to see a stable, democratic future for the war torn Afghanistan, “…democracy is almost never sustained in a country that has income and education levels as low as those in Afghanistan” (Barro 156). Although the Taliban have recently been ousted, effects of their tumultuous regime are lingering in the broken nation.

     However, Khaled Hosseini gives hope of a brighter future with The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Through the books’ characters, Hosseini expresses the determination of women and Hazaras to obtain an education that is now happening in present day Afghanistan. Even though Hassan, in The Kite Runner, grows up uneducated, he learns to read and write as an adult. Furthermore, he sees the importance of making sure his son, Sohrab, gets the education he wasn’t allowed as a Hazara child (Kite 217). This emphasis on education is seen in many real-life Hazara families. As Zabriskie states, “Even if the school is a tent or a building with no doors or windows, even if the teacher has only a few years of schooling, parents want their kids to study, far more so than elsewhere in the country” (Zabriskie 130). With a newfound importance placed on education, the Hazara children of Afghanistan may be able to help rebuild their country and better resist the possibility of another oppressive government.

     Women are also conveying remarkable resolve to the education they were denied under the Taliban. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Laila grows up in an open minded household. During her childhood and through the brief span of Soviet occupancy in Afghanistan, Laila is a very successful student. Her father, as a teacher, believes education must come first for his daughter. “You can be anything you want,” He tells Laila, “….when this war is over, Afghanistan is going to need you as much as its men, maybe even more” (Thousand 103). Tragically, when the Taliban take over, Laila is forced inside and under a burqa, her education cut short and unused. Even with the threat of torture or death, Laila sends her daughter, Aziza, to an orphanage that teaches girls. As a report from 2003 illustrates, many Afghan women have defied the Taliban and sought an education. After the Taliban burned the classroom tents and went so far as to poison female students, girls returned to school the following day (Einfeld 53). Through such outstanding determination, women will also attain the education needed to rebuild their fallen nation.

     Afghanistan has seen more than its far share of corruption and desolation. But from these uncertain times, Hazaras and women have demonstrated their desire for a better future by means of education. Khaled Hossieni, through The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, beautifully captures the spirit of theses people in their struggle to create a stable future in Afghanistan. With their help, Afghanistan will rise from the ashes and fulfill its potential.

Works Cited
Barro, Robert J. “Authoritarianism Is the Best System for Afghanistan.” Afghanistan Current Controversies. Ed. Jann Einfeld. New York: Greenhaven, 2005. 156-157.
Einfeld, Jann, ed. Afghanistan Current Controversies. New York: Greenhaven, 2005. 53.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003.
Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. New York: Riverhead, 2007.
Zabriskie, Phil. “The Outsiders.” National Geographic Feb. 2008: 114-135.

Sources
Barro, Robert J. “Authoritarianism Is the Best System for Afghanistan.” Afghanistan Current Controversies. Ed. Jann Einfeld. New York: Greenhaven, 2005. 156-157.
Einfeld, Jann, ed. Afghanistan Current Controversies. New York: Greenhaven, 2005. 53.
Emadi, Hafizullah. Culture and Customs of Afghanistan. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2005. 9.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003.
Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. New York: Riverhead, 2007.
Masooda, Jalal. “Remarks at the 49th Session of the UN Commission of Status of Women, March 2005.” Afghanistan Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. John Woodward. New York: Greenhaven, 2006. 59-60.
Shavarini, Mitra K. and Wendy R. Robison. Women and Education in Iran and Afghanistan. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2005.
Zabriskie, Phil. “The Outsiders.” National Geographic Feb. 2008: 114-135.

Nirvana in a Nutshell: Revisited and Revised February 20, 2009

          “Everything is necessary, everything needs only my agreement, my assent, my loving understanding; then all is well with me and nothing can harm me.” Siddhartha, having finally attained his Enlightenment, explains the love in everything to his childhood friend, Govinda (Hesse 144). It is through Hermann Hesse’s mind-opening novel Siddhartha that we can come to the conclusion that reaching the ultimate Nirvana is possible while still experiencing all the joys life includes. In our modern world, it is not necessary to follow a strict monastic way of life excluding outside experiences to reach Enlightenment. With support from Hesse’s Siddhartha, background from Dr. Walpola Rahula’s What the Buddha Taught, and my own personal perspective, I offer this philosophy: Indeed, it is entirely possible to attain Enlightenment while involved in a deep and passionate relationship.

          Several months ago, after reading Siddhartha for the first time, I came to the complete opposite conclusion. I had just experienced the breakup of a two year, wonderfully passionate relationship merely days before I first addressed this topic. Needless to say, my perception was skewed. The suffering I was feeling clouded my insight, illustrating dukkha, the First Noble Truth Buddha preached. As Buddhist monk Walpola Rahula explains in What the Buddha Taught, “dukkha in the First Noble Truth contains, quite obviously, the ordinary meaning of ‘suffering,’ but in addition it also includes deeper ideas such as ‘imperfection,’ ‘impermanence’ (Rahula 17).” The Buddha says to rid oneself of dukkha (earthy impermanence) and follow his Eightfold Path to attain Nirvana. After gaining some distance and much understanding, I find it very important to readdress the issue of dukkha that Siddhartha also faces on his journey.

          On his search for Enlightenment, Siddhartha tries on many different personas. He begins as a rich Brahman’s son, runs away to become a traveling holy man (samana), falls in love with the enchanting Kamala, and finally ends up a rich, gambling businessman. This can all be thought of as dukkha, impermanent states of being that are not truly one’s self. So it may seem that the Buddha was right. Siddhartha does not reach Nirvana by fully immersing himself in daily activities, regardless of his occupation. Yet the conclusion of Siddhartha’s story finds something very different. Siddhartha attains Enlightenment with the ultimate realization that all his experiences are One and thus understanding the importance of every event in his life. Siddhartha tells Govinda of his experiences and their vitality, “I learned… that it was necessary for me to sin, that I needed lust, that I had to strive for poverty and experience nausea and the depths of despair in order to learn not to resist them, in order to learn to love the world…to love it and be glad to belong to it (Hesse 144).” Without dukkha, he would not have understood that everything and every experience deserves love as they are all the same.

          Although the Buddha preferred his monks to live away from society so that they may focus on their spirituality and not be caught up in dukkha, Siddhartha shows that we need to experience the world in order to love it. “[The Buddha] forbade us to bind ourselves to earthly love,” Buddhist monk Govinda tells Siddhartha (Hesse 147). However, not allowing oneself to enjoy the world, with all its ups and downs, makes life pointless and shallow. Interpersonal relationships create a deeper sense of self, more so than spirituality that lacks foundation. It is through relationships (sexual and otherwise) that we as humans develop and grow. I realize now that I had to know the suffering of an ended relationship, because it kept my growth from stalling and made me a better human being. But I also had to enjoy the love of that relationship, because it gave my life more depth. I believe that each life we live provides us with opportunities to grow. It is not a false sense of self we are developing (dukkha), but a better foundation of who we are so that we may better understand the world. This understanding of the world, as Siddhartha explains, is how one reaches Enlightenment, “I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, but to be able to regard our world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect” (Hesse 147).