For You, A Thousand Times Over…

Front Cover

If a man has a heart that beats, then two people always reside somewhere within: the child, and the father. Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner, touches both in an enchanting yet shattering way. The story revolves around the protagonist Amir, and traces his journey as a 12-year-old in Afghanistan in the 1970′s, to a 38-year-old in America, and then his venture back to his homeland, devastated by the Russian invasion and now infected with the plague of the Taliban, in order to redeem himself

And redemption comes in the form of Sohrab, the now-orphaned son of Amir’s best friend in childhood, Hassan. Hassan, the servant’s son. No, Hassan, his half-brother. His half-brother whom he betrayed one cold winter morning. His half-brother who will never come back. His half-brother, who’s son gives Amir what he had always craved for: fatherhood. Not just to be a father, but also to understand his own father. Understand he does, finally, but he also must mend the soul of his nephew, and now foster-son, for it is as devastated and shattered as is the country he calls his motherland.

The story is, in a nutshell, the story of Afghanistan. The story of a peaceful country overturned by the selfishness of foreign powers, as well by the greed and delusions of some of its own people. It moves you the way it paints a beautiful picture of the land, and then spatters tar and blood on that canvas. And then you realize, the story is not a work of fiction at all. It is a story which has probably unfolded in Afghanistan an uncountable number of times, albeit in parts. It moves you in a way very few works of modern literature can. And it moves you so much, that when the dark clouds in the story finally fade away and you see light peeping through, you find yourself in tears.

The Kite Runner is not just a book that has deeply touched my soul, but is also a means of redemption for me, for I have sinned too. I have sinned by not keeping a promise I made to the woman I love. A promise that today, I finally have upheld. She said a few days back, that once you break a promise, it becomes very difficult to get the trust back. Such is her nature, that she never forced it upon me, and such is my nature, that I took it for granted. And today, on this wonderful day which marks 20 months to the day we started loving each other, I ask for redemption.

I speak these words to you. To you, the one woman in my life, the one who’s heart beats for me. You have loved me with all your soul, with all the love one can give. And yet, I have failed you. You have made my life beautiful, you have given me a reason to smile on the most dull of days. And yet, I have turned back on my words. I make this modest start towards getting back all that I have lost. Because if I betray my own words to you, there can be no greater sin. But today, I make a start. For you, a thousand times over.