How two newborns of rival ethnicities became a symbol of peace in Afghanistan.
The Storyteller of Kabul
In a true story that’s far from today’s unflattering experiences in Afghanistan, the author, Khalil Nouri, brings to life the events and circumstances from the late 1800s when an ethnic Pashtun, named Hashim resented the oppression against the minority ethnic Hazaras and Shiites as he showed his moral courage by giving them his helping hand to bring peace and tranquility until he died at the age of 110 in 1962.
In 1932, he offered his sincere benevolence to raise an eight-year-old motherless Hazara boy, named Yawar, whose father; Malik Sayed Mohammad, was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of a child.
Eventually, Yawar grew up to be a man in Hashim’s household and then married to his bride who shared her breast milk for both, her son, Jafar, and Khaled, Hashim's grandson, from an elite Pashtun family whose mother lacked milk.
Despite the risk of adverse consequences that Hashim took to favor a minatory Hazara family and Shiites. Today, however, Yawar’s grandsons and their families happily live in Europe and Canada.
The story is initially narrated by Hashim himself, and after his death Khaled unfolds the remaining events as he grew up with Jafar like brothers in the same house in Kabul.
“Milk for Two” explores the past Afghan generations’ social skills as how a fragile and multiethnic society like Afghanistan was remarkably kept unified by those like Hashim and others for over a century.
Also, “Milk for Two” demonstrates Nouri’s profound understanding of the missing pieces for a vital unification of today’s delicate Afghan society, historical realities and awareness that could positively shape Afghanistan as once it was.
Storytelling was a way to see the world bigger than the one you were looking at, and that had great appeal for me. I think, since that was part of my upbringing, it became part of me, and I wanted to pass it along to my kids and my grandkids. .
About Hashim the main character in "The Storyteller of Kabul."
The gift of storytelling is inherent; it’s something you possess or don’t. Style, however, is partly learned through observation, listening, reading, and practice. Hashim, the main character in "The Storyteller of Kabul," has it all. He was raised in an ancient culture that used the storytelling tradition to pass on memories from one generation to the next. He completely captured the attention and interest of his audience by weaving a narrative that was so engaging, emotionally resonant, and well-crafted that they felt fully immersed in the story, often connecting deeply with the characters and themes. Indeed, Hashim was a potent storyteller.
