A ‘sartorial switch’ to wearing wedding gowns (instead of traditional lehenga cholis) may be stirring the headlines in India today but in Afghanistan it is surprisingly common. All along the pavements of Kabul and the Kabul City Centre mall, fashionable high-end shops display a variety of chic and modern evening gowns, ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 30,000 equivalent in Afghan currency. The obvious questions that crop up in the mind of a visitor are: Do brides really wear these dresses? Can they even afford them considering the fledgling economy?  

However, these gowns are worn during the wedding ceremonies quite regularly. Different colours for different occasions. "But the locals don't buy them. They simply hire them for the different days and return them when the festivities are over," informs Qazi, a resident of Kabul. "They usually wear a green gown on the occasion of henna or may be peach one, but everyone wears a white one on the wedding day," he adds. 

A picture of this war-ravaged country and its complicated history may have become clearer in recent times with  best-selling writer Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns as it traces   protagonist Mariam's journey through the two decades of struggle in Afghanistan, but nothing prepares one for the surprises actually in store in the post-Taliban Afghanistan. 

Most of it essentially relates to how we perceive the life of the women in a burqa. Pathetic, dull, confining and restricting? Muslim women here, as we understand, are extremely conservative in their public appearance and are not meant to show any part of their bodies. Our idea of them being very poor further accentuates the impression of their being lost in some old-fashioned, obsolete, traditional world. But this is far from the truth.

What we do not know is that their traditional clothes are, in fact, far more westernised than an average Indian's.The poor Afghanis tucked away in the mountain may not dress as nattily as the town girls but compared to their compatriots in India they look surprisingly smart in their westernised attire.

Abreast of changes

Even when dressed modestly in loose-fitting clothes, their dresses are  directly influenced by Iranian, Middle Eastern, and Tashkent outfits. Women here wear long skirts and trousers with ankle-length skirts over them with smart looking coats and jackets to go on top. Though black salwar kameez with a white dupatta, is the official school uniform all over the country, at home they prefer wrap-arounds and long skirts. The scarf or chador they wear to cover their heads at all times as per Islamic traditions only make them look more elegant. The "Chaderi" or burqa is used like an overcoat that is worn only while travelling outside. The sartorial surprises do not end here. If one has to experience what a satellite culture can do to any society, no matter how remote it is, then Afghnistan is the place to visit.

No electricity

Faizabad, the capital of Badakshan (the northern most province of Afghanistan), lying towards the north of the Hindukush, has a  terrain that is mostly inaccessible and inhospitable —  the reason why it managed to escape the onslaught of the Taliban rule altogether. It remained under the control of the United Front for the longest time thus enjoying a period of  comparative peace. Many of the 27 districts of this province are so remote that they are still inaccessible by vehicle in the winters. Darwaz and Kahan still have no roads connecting them to the provincial capital of Faizabad. The places one could reach are through surly terrains and it is stressful to travel even in a land cruiser. For the local people,   the preferred mode of transport is the donkey. Badakshan also has no electricity (as in many places in Afghanistan) and relies mostly on firewood for fuel, which is getting scarcer by the day. 

With limited telephone and radio communication one would imagine its one million-odd population to be absolutely clueless about the outside world, living in some forgotten ghetto of an antiquated lifestyle. But to your utter astonishment, you learn how cheap Chinese diesel generators satellite connections, dish antennas and mobile phones have swamped these far-flung places and kept even the most lost-looking soul in the remote corners surprisingly abreast of modern changes around the world.

Women’s fashion

This is reflected in women's fashion as well. Granted that their ethnic mix of Tajik, Uzbek and Turks make them more affiliated to Central Asia  and therefore  more open minded. But even then, you little  expect that beneath their burqas the women sport red fur jackets, white pearl-studded polo necks, fancy black leather coats, dainty stockings and  matching handbags and mobiles. Most of these are easily available in the local market of Faizabad at reasonable rates and not smuggled across the borders. A denim jacket may come for Rs 500 in Indian money and the red fur coat will be in that same range.

Zulia, a local journalist from Faizabad, is the perfect epitome of a woman who is more than just chic. Once inside the safety of the four walls of her office, out goes her burqa. As she gets busy with the day's work (looking very professional and yet ravishing in a long denim jacket and a pair of matching stretched jeans) she extends her pen drive and asks, "Do you think you can give me a copy of the Microsoft publisher? I desperately need it to design the magazine I have to edit for Badakshan Development Forum." In  a way, her fashionable appearance speaks of a new attitudinal change among women in Afghanistan.

Trans World Features