by Howard Faber
“Yes, and may God go with you,” answered Hassan. “Here, you need some money. We don’t want you to be a burden to the pilot.”
“Father, I will repay you when I become a pilot. I’ll make a lot of money, and we’ll have a new house. I promise to be polite and sound like I have a lot of sense. I won’t embarrass our family.”
That afternoon, Ali and Dan flew back to Kabul. Ali asked how long it would take. He remembered the fifteen hour trip by truck he and his dad made to visit the doctor when he was younger. “It will take about an hour. We’ll land at Kabul airport. The plane stays there. That’s where I want you to learn to land the plane. The runway is long and wide. It’s a good place to learn.”
Dan let Ali fly the plane most of the way. When they got over the mountains and flew into the wide valley outside of Kabul, Dan told Ali that this was the place where Alexander the Great had his camp when he was in Afghanistan. Ali remembered studying about Iksander in school. His army came from Greece. There were legends about him leaving soldiers behind in Afghanistan, and their descendants still living there, in Nooristan. That was why some of the Nooristanees had blue eyes and blonde hair.
Dan used the radio to let Kabul airport know they were coming. They told him he had permission and which way to land. When they flew over Kabul, it looked huge, a lot bigger than Sharidure. When they circled in the valley where the airport was, first the airfield looked small, but as they went lower, it started to look pretty big. They only took up the end of the runway when they landed, and Ali wondered why it was so long. After they had driven the plane to their parking place and gotten down from the plane, a huge plane thundered into the air. Ali now saw why the runway was so long. The big plane used a lot of it to take off. There were other planes at the airport. Dan’s little red and white plane was much smaller than any other plane. “That’s all right,” thought Ali. “It’s a plane, and I am learning to be a pilot. Maybe, someday, I can fly one of those bigger planes.”
Later that day, Dan and Ali returned to the Kabul airfield to have Ali try some takeoffs and landings. As usual, they first checked everything on the airplane carefully. They filled up with fuel, got into the plane, and taxied out onto the big runway. Dan radioed to the control tower about taking off and practicing some landings. They radioed back that there was no traffic for several hours, so it was a good time to practice. Compared to the Sharidure runway, this one was huge. The plane lifted easily into the Kabul air. “The plane will take off quicker here than in Sharidure.”
“Why?”
“We are at a lower altitude here, so there is more lift.” This was something new for Ali. Dan explained that it had to do with more air molecules. “You will get used to knowing about how much room you need. You’ll be able to pick out a place on the runway, and to judge about how fast your speed needs to be to take off. Also, use the speedometer. You need to go about one hundred twenty kilometers per hour to get this plane to fly.”
Sure enough, at about one hundred five the tail lifted, and at one hundred twenty the plane began to fly. Dan flew up and around the airport, then began a descent onto the runway. “I’m going to do a touch and go. We’ll touch down briefly, then speed up and go around again. It will save us time and fuel and give you more practice. Now, you take control.”
Ali flew the little plane around the airport, moving into position off the end of the runway that put them landing into the wind. Ali started down, little by little. It was really hard to actually put the plane down on the ground because he was afraid it would land too hard. He didn’t get low enough so Dan told him to just keep flying and fly around and try again. Ali was embarrassed because he didn’t do it right. “Don’t be embarrassed. It’s just a matter of learning it. My first time landing, I did the same thing.” Now Ali felt better. Even Dan had not done it correctly the first time.
This time Ali watched the airfield and his gauges and gradually eased the plane down. The front wheels touched down on the smooth concrete runway. Dan told him to speed up again to take off and do some more practice landings. Each time he got a little better. They did this five times. The last time Dan told him to actually land. He did it perfectly, the front wheels, then as they slowed, the tail wheel, and they taxied over to their parking space. Ali grinned as Dan complimented him on how well he had done.
As he climbed down, two pilots from the Afghan Airlines walked over to talk. They had seen the touch and goes and were surprised to learn it was a young Afghan pilot learning to fly. They said they learned on a similar plane when they joined the Air Force, eventually moved on to small jets, then learned to fly the big passenger planes. Most of their training had been in America, in Texas. They complimented him on his landings. Now he beamed. Maybe he would join the Air Force or even the national airline.
Bondi-Amir • By Don Beiter
When they flew back to Sharidure the next morning, Dan let Ali fly the plane some of the way. He showed Ali some of the landmarks along the way, the city of Bamiyan, the two giant buddhas carved into the cliffs above the city, and the big lakes between Sharidure and Bamiyan. They looked really blue, and he could see how they were like giant steps, one above the other.
Soon they entered the valley of Sharidure. Dan turned to line up the plane with the small airfield. It looked tiny, even as they got closer to the lower end that looked out over the cliff. Dan reminded Ali he couldn’t cut too much power, or the plane would fall. This was a much harder landing site than the huge Kabul airport. After Dan lined up the plane and brought it close to the end of the runway, he told Ali to take the landing. Ali was ready but nervous. Dan was also ready to take over if needed. He didn’t need to. Ali eased the front wheels down and kept it online up the hill. The hill helped the plane slow down. Ali’s heart was racing. “Bisyar khoub (Very good).” Dan smiled as he said it.
***
Winter in Sharidure came quickly and lasted a long time, about six months. There was lots of snow. Usually the doctors went back to Kabul for the winter, but this winter, one of them stayed, the man.
Doctor Hagel went to Ali’s house to tell Ali to be up at the airfield at ten. Dan was flying in some medicine and other supplies. The road was closed, so the plane was the only way. Ali thought about the snow on the runway. “Doctor Hagel, how can I clear the snow off the runway? Dan can’t land in that much snow.”
“Don’t worry. He has skis on the plane, so he can land on the snow.”
“What are skis?”
“They are long pieces of wood he puts on with the wheels. They keep the plane on top of the snow. You’ll see when he lands.”
Ali went up the hill above Sharidure to help Dan when he landed and to see these things called skis. Sure enough, Ali heard the now familiar sound of the little plane coming up the valley. He thought of how nothing else could get to Sharidure through the snow and how easily the plane could just fly over it. He watched Dan line up to land, then ease down on the bottom of the runway. The skis hung down where the front and back wheels usually were. When Dan got closer, Ali could see the wheels were still there, and they actually stuck out a little lower than the skis. If there was no snow, like maybe was the case in Kabul, the wheels would be used for landing. Now this was something really smart. He had a new word, “skis.”
Ali helped Dan unload the medicine and supplies. He
wondered how they were going to carry all of the things down to town. From one side of the plane, Dan unstrapped another thing Ali had never seen, a sled. “This is how we are going to get the supplies down to town.” He began to load the boxes on the sled. Dan also put some smaller skis on his feet. He moved around a bit, sort of sliding and walking on the skis. He looped a rope around his shoulder and began pulling the sled along the road that led up to the airfield. Ali thought there were lots of things to learn about the world. “Ali, when we get down to town, maybe you will want to try these skis.”
The next time Dan came with the plane, Ali used those skis to get up to the airfield, pulling the sled behind him. He practiced a lot with Doctor Hagel, who helped him learn to ski. The skis and the sled were the source of a lot of fun for Ali and for the children of Sharidure. Everyone wanted a ride on the sled. Ali’s dad studied the sled and made several for families. He tried to make skis, but they didn’t work as well as the skis Dan brought.
Dan had a surprise for Ali, another pair of skis because Doctor Hagel radioed Dan about how much Ali liked to ski. Now, Ali and Doctor Hagel could ski together, and it would be more fun for both of them.
Chapter Six
Russians in Sharidure
“Those planes aren’t Afghan.” Ali was working with his dad. Now that he was nineteen, he was helping Hassan more and more at their carpentry shop. Five planes had just flown over, zooming down the valley, flying low and fast. Ali heard them and looked out of the window just in time to see them. “They were military fighters, and they didn’t have our Air Force symbol on the tail. I wonder where they were from.” He didn’t have to wait long to find out. Over the radio came the message that the Russian army was going to help the Afghan army, and that the Russian people were going to help all of Afghanistan.
“I didn’t know we needed any help.” Hassan heard rumors for the last month about how the Russians were coming, and now, it was true. “Maybe they won’t come to our town.” He hoped that was true. Ali went to the teahouse to ask about the radio message. He wasn’t the only one. The place was packed. There were lots of questions and not many answers. Everyone was wondering what it meant for them. That evening Hassan got a call from his cousin in Kabul. He asked about the Russians. The answers were sobering. There were lots of Russian soldiers, lots of tanks, lots of military planes. President Daoud and his family had been killed. There was a new Afghan president. Cars and trucks were stopped and searched. The Russians were coming through the Salang Tunnel on the road from the north toward Kabul. The Russians had built that road and tunnel. Now, they were using it.
The first changes were at Bamiyan that spring when the snow melted from the high passes. Several Russian officers and about 50 Russian soldiers joined the Afghan soldiers at the fort. They didn’t get far out of Bamiyan, usually patrolling in jeeps, just watching. People were afraid of them and avoided them. The first serious opposition to the Russians came when the principals of the schools told parents that the children had new teachers and that there was a new curriculum, one that was written by the Russians. That made it seem that the Russians were helping the Afghans.
There was also to be no teaching of the Koran in school. The Sharidure principals hoped these changes wouldn’t come there. Afghans have always held education in high regard and taken their religion very seriously. They didn’t like either of the proposed changes to their schools. They would not support this. There was a meeting at the school about what to do.
The changes weren’t long in coming. A new principal and several new teachers were sent from Kabul, people that no one in Sharidure knew. They brought a new curriculum, a better one according to them. Soon the word was out that the children were being taught how great the Russians were and how awful the previous Afghan leaders had been. The children were told at home how that wasn’t true but to be careful not to say anything about it at school. At the teahouse and in homes around Sharidure people began to talk about having their own schools. Shireen was asked to be a teacher, and Ali thought he might be a teacher, too. Hassan volunteered his home as the school.
***
The secret school went into action the next week. At first, only ten children came, either after or before their half day of government school. Ali watched how Shireen taught, mostly thinking how patient she was with the children. In time, the number of students grew, and Ali began with the older children in a second room. Although the school was a secret, someone must have said something or overheard someone talking about it, because the new principal made a visit to Hassan at his carpenter’s shop.
He asked Hassan about a school in his home. Hassan didn’t want to lie, so he said, “Why do you think I have a school in my home?”
Carpenter Shop • By Howard Faber
“I have ways. Is it true?”
Hassan thought quickly. “If you think so, why don’t you come to my home tonight and see.” One of Hassan’s friends was in the back of the shop and quietly left out the back door. He ran to Hassan’s home to warn Ali and Shireen. They dismissed the students for the day and scrambled to rearrange the rooms and hide the books and paper and any evidence of a school.
The principal realized it would be very rude to demand to see the home immediately, but he insisted he wanted to see for himself. After all, he represented the new government, and Hassan was only a small person in this pitiful little town. He had not seen Hassan’s friend go out the back door.
Hassan was trapped and feared for his children’s safety. He offered the visitor some tea, hoping to find a way to delay him. The principal said, “No thank you.” To refuse once was polite. Hassan offered again. It was polite to offer a second time. The principal refused again, still culturally correct. Both he and Hassan knew the rules of this cultural game, and to refuse a third time is very rude. Hassan asked again, “Would you like some tea?”
The principal wavered. He was still a stranger in this town, and he was under orders to try to gain acceptance. However, he considered himself to be superior to this illiterate villager. He also was more than a little angry about the possibility of there being a secret school. How dare these Hazara have their own school? The anger overcame the orders to be polite. “Stop stalling. You claim to have nothing to hide. Where is your home?”
Hassan’s mind was racing about how to explain the school to the principal, but he could think of nothing. He thought about Shireen and Ali and feared for their safety. Maybe he could say it was his idea, and he made them teach. After all, he was the father, and they were supposed to do what he said.
He knocked loudly at he door. “The principal is here for a visit.” He was hoping to give them some bit of warning.
The principal pushed past Hassan into the home. He was sure he would catch whoever it was that dared to have their own school. He was embarrassed to find only a woman, probably the carpenter’s wife, and a young woman, both preparing a meal. He walked into another room, looking for signs of a school. He even looked under the leeoffs (padded mats on the floor). He noticed one other room. “What’s in there?” he asked, brusquely. He knew how rude this intrusion was into someone’s home. To even think to ask more was past the bounds of this or anyone’s culture.
Hassan thought surely now they would be found out. He didn’t know where Ali was or how Shireen and students would not be in the middle
of lessons. His heart was racing. Ali and all the students must be in that room. Shireen boldly walked between the principal and the door to the other room. He could see she was not afraid of him. He was surprised a woman would dare to intervene. She didn’t actually say anything, just motioned him to look inside. He hesitated, then went through the door into an empty room. Again there were a few shelves, leeoffs lining the room, and nothing else. Shireen noticed there was a teacher edition of one of their textbooks on a shelf. She tried not to look again, hoping the principal wouldn’t notice.
He turned and came back into the main room. He had been so sure he was going to catch and stop this secret school. Now, he was thinking how to get out of this embarrassing situation, although he still thought the school was here. “Excuse me for this intrusion into your home. I had specific information that classes were being held here.” He got a bit braver. “I know you have had classes. I don’t know how you managed to get rid of the evidence. Just know you will be watched.” With that last chilling statement, he left.
Ali heard all of the conversation because he and a few children were on the flat roof of the house. The children left, one by one, so as not to arouse suspicion, each carrying her or his book. Ali told them not to return to these classes until he or Shireen talked to their parents.
When Ali returned to the room where Hassan and Ali were talking, he looked at Shireen, then his father, then over to his mother, who witnessed all of the earlier events. Hassan was the first to speak. “It’s not safe to continue the classes. We will all be arrested or worse.”
Mariam, Shireen and Ali’s mother, was very angry. “I won’t have some stranger come barging into my house, looking around, threatening my family. How dare he? Who does he think he is?”