DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME!
Reader's Digest India|June 2022
Staying in Kabul meant death for this Afghan journalist. A US naval officer and a reporter were ready to help her flee the Taliban-if she could make it to the airplane
Fatema Hosseini with Kim Hjelmgaard and Kelley Benham French
DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME!

THE DAY KABUL FELL

FATEMA HOSSEINI: It seems impossible that civilization can be knocked back a few decades in an afternoon, that life as you know it can collapse before lunch, but it did.

Sunday morning, 15 August 2021, began like most any other day. I picked up warm naan from the bakery and headed to the office in my usual jeans, dress, scarf, and sneakers. The streets were crowded. Hundreds of vendors spilled into the road hawking vegetables and fruits over loudspeakers: "Apple! Melon! Mango!" I weaved through their carts among women in colourful dresses. Kabul must be one of the loudest cities on earth.

I passed my favourite restaurant, Taj Begum, always brimming with hookah mist and laughter. It is named for an Afghan warrior princess and owned by the fiercest woman in Kabul. She drives through the streets shouting at the other drivers, nearly all of them men.

In the office of the Etilaat-e-Roz news agency where I work, phones were ringing as the Taliban advanced toward Kabul, on the cusp of taking over the government.

My mother called me, crying. "Put on your long dress. The Taliban are everywhere." She, my father, my brother, and my baby sister were staying in my small apartment after the Taliban had ransacked their home in Herat. She was now scared for me. I should have been, too. I was 27, a bad Muslim, as far as the Taliban might be concerned: an educated single woman who asked too many questions and rarely wore a hijab, a veil that covers the hair, neck and shoulders. I was a working journalist, a member of the oppressed Shi'a Hazara ethnic group, daughter of an Afghan national soldier. To a Taliban fighter heady with new power, silencing my voice would be a golden step on the stairway to paradise.

"Mom, it's OK. My dress is not that short!"

She started shouting. "You're not listening to me!"

Esta historia es de la edición June 2022 de Reader's Digest India.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición June 2022 de Reader's Digest India.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE READER'S DIGEST INDIAVer todo
25 Lessons That Last A Lifetime
Reader's Digest India

25 Lessons That Last A Lifetime

Suggestions about life are a little like lottery tickets: You may collect a lot of them, but they rarely pay off. Yet if you are truly lucky, you receive a few words of wisdom that inspire you forever. That's called hitting the jackpot

time-read
10+ minutos  |
July 2024
A Symphony Of Irritation
Reader's Digest India

A Symphony Of Irritation

In the 2022 film Tár, Cate Blanchett played a conductor who was affected by misophonia—an acute sensitivity to certain sounds. For Lydia Tár, Blanchett’s character, the clicking of a pen or the beat of a metronome was enough to drive her to distraction.

time-read
3 minutos  |
July 2024
Is Poverty Alleviation Truly Possible?
Reader's Digest India

Is Poverty Alleviation Truly Possible?

We ask economist and Nobel laureate Esther Duflo

time-read
4 minutos  |
July 2024
Who's Getting Colon Cancer
Reader's Digest India

Who's Getting Colon Cancer

With rates rising among younger people, testing should start sooner

time-read
3 minutos  |
July 2024
The Alpha Dog
Reader's Digest India

The Alpha Dog

To rescue lost animals, she climbs into places most of us avoid

time-read
3 minutos  |
July 2024
Let's Say Yes!
Reader's Digest India

Let's Say Yes!

What started out as a way to get my son to try new foods opened up a world of adventure for my family

time-read
3 minutos  |
July 2024
Hey Dad, Can You Help Me Return the Picasso I Stole?
Reader's Digest India

Hey Dad, Can You Help Me Return the Picasso I Stole?

A painting went missing in 1969, then turned up at a museums doorstep. No one knew how or why—until now

time-read
8 minutos  |
July 2024
Band of Survivors
Reader's Digest India

Band of Survivors

Armed with his drum kit, a Holocaust survivor fights anti-Semitism one musical note at a time

time-read
10 minutos  |
July 2024
A Race Well-Limped
Reader's Digest India

A Race Well-Limped

A reluctant runner’s key to keeping high spirits? Low expectations

time-read
5 minutos  |
July 2024
THE Beauty Queens OF AL DHAFRA
Reader's Digest India

THE Beauty Queens OF AL DHAFRA

Welcome to Al Dhafra’s camel beauty pageant, where the competition is tough

time-read
3 minutos  |
July 2024