So close and yet so far

The worst suicide bombing in the last 6 years hits Kabul

It was 8.12 am when I heard the "boom". I briefly looked up from my PC - 'that was a bomb, I'm sure' I thought and then turned my attention back to my e-mails.

It was a bomb indeed as it turned out - right in the centre of town, at the main bus terminal, near the Police headquarters. 25 people dead.

Yet I didn't give it a further thought at that minute, only 1 hour later did I call Ahmad to check if he was alright. He went to work late that day and hadn't even heard of the explosion yet.

And here's the funny part - what is it that makes us straight away continue with our life here?

Dispite such incidents happening so close to us, they still don't affect us, our daily routine. We go to work, we return and in our immediate surroundings everything is peaceful and promising. This, I believe, is the reason why we can't really grasp and realise that 25 people were just blown to bits. It doesn't gel.  

That same afternoon when I came home I sat on my balcony to enjoy the setting sun and gentle breeze which was blowing. I watched the green trees sway in the wind and watched ths shadows of the setting sun creep up television mountain. which is in plain view from my house. I went downstairs to tell my "chaokidor" to clean off the paint stains from my bathroom floor tomorrow, he suggested that we buy a table tennis plate for the terrace "It's only some 500 Afs".

Birds were chirping, school children leaving the nearby school with the usual noisy chatter - the sky was blue and everything was normal.

 "Oblivious!" I hear you say, but what are we supposed to do? We must soldier on, try our utmost to reverse the trends. On days like this I look at Amir Sahibs photos longer than on other days - how can we give up when he never did?