The country [Afghanistan] faces enormous problems. There is a violent insurgency hampering the rule of law and developmental efforts.

But time, it is like charm. You never have as much as you think.

Kabul was very popular with the hippies in the Sixties and Seventies. It was very quiet and peaceful.

After all, life is not a Hindi movie.

Must have been quite the culture shock, going there.” “Yes it was.” Idris doesn’t say that the real culture shock has been in coming back.

I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.

You see, some things I can teach you. Some you learn from books. But there are things that, well, you have to see and feel.