'I've found a second home here'
Osama is no more now. The US has taken revenge for 9/11 attack. But I fear about its repercussions on Afghanistan. I don’t want my country to fall into trouble once again for someone else’s mistake,” says Noorulhaq Amany, a second year BCA student at Acharya Institute, who believes India can play a prominent role in restoring peace in Afghanistan.
Noorulhaq came to India for education through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations under a government scholarship. Like him, many young Afghans have been studying in Indian colleges across the country. “I came here to learn computer applications and english, for which India is very good. Afghan parents consider India a safe place to send their children for education. When I came here for the first time, I felt the same. Here, no one is bothered about my place of origin, ethnicity, caste and creed. I am one among many who have found a second home in the City,” he says.
Noorulhaq is from Kunduz province in Northern Afghanistan which is relatively peaceful compared to southern and eastern regions of the country. Coming from a war-torn country, he finds Bangalore a perfect place to live in. “Sometimes I miss my family members. Otherwise, I have no complaints about the City. I know, the City has its own flaws but here we need not live under the constant threat of bombs and shells unlike the violence-hit regions of my country. Moreover, the weather is good and young people have lot of job opportunities,” he says.
Like many Afghans, he too is a die-hard fan of Bollywood movies. Shah Rukh, Salman and Amitabh Bachchan are his favourite actors. “Bollywood movies are so popular in our country that almost every theatre features Hindi movies. But what surprises me is that Kannada, Tamil and Telugu movies are more popular than Hindi films in Bangalore.
However, whenever there is a good Bollywood release, I go to Mantri or Garuda Mall to watch a movie along with my friends. I like the Iranian cuisine in restaurants on Brigade and M G Road. I like kabab and chicken but here the taste is different. I like the bananas as well and thankfully, here too, I get them cheap like in Afghanistan. My college is far from the City centre, so I can’t go out all the time. At such times, I play football in the college grounds,” he says.
Noorulhaq likes India and says it has been an all-weather friend of Afghanistan for so many years. “People here have so many misconceptions about Afghanistan. But the situation is not like that. Like Indians, majority of Afghans are peace-loving. Many Bangaloreans who are engineers, doctors and humanitarian workers, are involved in the re-construction process of my country. So, I am thankful to this city for nurturing my talents, dreams and also for contributing in the development of Afghanistan.”