On Kandahar Air Field
Kandahar Air Field is a treat to watch…
Many a times and often, when I flew over the Kandahar International Airport… I was mesmerized to see the expanse of the Kandahar Air Field.
Kandahar Air Field… popularly known as KAF… is the base of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan. Most of the soldiers within the KAF are of either Canadian or American nationality… with sprinkling of other nationalities like British, Dutch and Australian… in fact, all international troops, who come to volatile southern region, are fist brought to KAF for area familiarization and then sent to different provinces like Uruzgan (where a ISAF base is in Tirinkot), Helmand (where a ISAF base is in Lashkargah), or Zabul (where a ISAF base is in Qalat)… and many other forward posts in hinterlands and along Afghanistan-Pakistan borders, which is the transit route for the Taliban.
Apart from the forces, a number of international NGOs also work from the KAF… most prominent among them is USAID.
And then there are number of civilian contractors, who manage the utilities for the international forces… utilities like gymnasium, mortuaries, housekeeping, canteens, shopping malls, construction etc. Now most of these contractors employ people from India, Nepal, Srilanka, Phillipines etc. And I use to think that about 1000 odd Indians were working in KAF, until something happened some ten days ago.
While sitting in my office, I received a distress call from one of the Indians working in KAF. His name was Shiva, working for a contractor called “Copenhagen”, he worked as a supervisor in the company… he told me that two Indians have lost their passports while they were being sent to Kandahar Regional Foreign Office for extension of work permit and visa. And that he required help from me… in this matter.
And then I decided to pay a visit to the Copenhagen contractors in KAF.
Entering KAF is a Herculean task… it is a fortress… an entire township well guarded by layers and layers of Hesco, Texas and Jersey Barriers… and then by a number of security guards, who have guns like one you have never seen… in fact last time on I had a near death experience while trying to enter KAF… when our liaison officer from inside KAF was late to come to receive us… and therefore in exasperation, I came out of my vehicle and tried to walk towards one of the security guards… who upon seeing me pointed his gun towards me and unlocked his gun… one shot and I would have been a history. Firstly, I cursed the security guard but then after that I could understand why he act so funnily… there is always a threat of Body Bound Improvised Explosive Device (popularly known as Suicide Bombers)… lurking in this part of the world.
This time, I told Shiva to be there at the gate in time… so that I do not undergo a near death experience once again. And this time on… Shiva was on time, sparing me from an aiming gun and a feeling that I could have been a history.
Shiva is an intelligent chap… suave and well connected… he not only took me to the Copenhagen Headquarters, where I met a number of Indians and assured them that we would take all necessary steps to solve their problems… he also told me about other companies where Indians are working and facing some or the other problems… and then he made a guesstimate that about 5-6000 Indians are working inside the KAF in different companies… most of them uneducated and face many problems… time and again… I gasped… 6000 and I don’t have an inkling… yeah traveling in this place is a problem… nor they can come out of KAF and neither I can freely go out of my office… but 6000 is too large a number to be callous about.
Shiva also took me to the Asian canteen… which was the biggest dining facility I had seen in my life… could have seated almost 2000 people… serving Asian (mostly Indian) delicacies… life is not all that uncomfortable in Kandahar… I thought. Then he took me to one of the gymnasiums in KAF… amazing… state of the art machines… and people working out like mads… are they here to fight or to party, I thought again… and then to the Shopping Complex… which has Thank God Its Friday… Pizza Hut… Burger King… etc.
Then there is a Super Market… where one gets all kind of things… latest magazines, grocery, cosmetics, books, CDs… you ask and it is there… my head started spinning… this was a different world… it was like as if I had been transported from 12th century to 21st century… I bought ‘The Lost Symbol’ and a copy of ‘Gulistan’ (in English) from there.
KAF is an amazing place to visit… I have seen a lot in life… Reliance Jamnagar Refinery, Smart Village in Cairo, Enron Power Plant in Dabhol, Alang Ship breaking yard… but KAF is something else… and not to forget the advanced weaponry and military vehicles one gets to see in this place… simply out of the world.
While coming out of the KAF, I resolved to reach out to each and every Indian… I had tried this even before… but that was a piece meal approach… driving back I conjured up the idea of starting “Project Milap”, with a team… to register each and every Indian in KAF… and reach them through phones or emails… or even by personal visits…
Today, I registered 100th Indian. I am smiling.
Many a times and often, when I flew over the Kandahar International Airport… I was mesmerized to see the expanse of the Kandahar Air Field.
Kandahar Air Field… popularly known as KAF… is the base of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan. Most of the soldiers within the KAF are of either Canadian or American nationality… with sprinkling of other nationalities like British, Dutch and Australian… in fact, all international troops, who come to volatile southern region, are fist brought to KAF for area familiarization and then sent to different provinces like Uruzgan (where a ISAF base is in Tirinkot), Helmand (where a ISAF base is in Lashkargah), or Zabul (where a ISAF base is in Qalat)… and many other forward posts in hinterlands and along Afghanistan-Pakistan borders, which is the transit route for the Taliban.
Apart from the forces, a number of international NGOs also work from the KAF… most prominent among them is USAID.
And then there are number of civilian contractors, who manage the utilities for the international forces… utilities like gymnasium, mortuaries, housekeeping, canteens, shopping malls, construction etc. Now most of these contractors employ people from India, Nepal, Srilanka, Phillipines etc. And I use to think that about 1000 odd Indians were working in KAF, until something happened some ten days ago.
While sitting in my office, I received a distress call from one of the Indians working in KAF. His name was Shiva, working for a contractor called “Copenhagen”, he worked as a supervisor in the company… he told me that two Indians have lost their passports while they were being sent to Kandahar Regional Foreign Office for extension of work permit and visa. And that he required help from me… in this matter.
And then I decided to pay a visit to the Copenhagen contractors in KAF.
Entering KAF is a Herculean task… it is a fortress… an entire township well guarded by layers and layers of Hesco, Texas and Jersey Barriers… and then by a number of security guards, who have guns like one you have never seen… in fact last time on I had a near death experience while trying to enter KAF… when our liaison officer from inside KAF was late to come to receive us… and therefore in exasperation, I came out of my vehicle and tried to walk towards one of the security guards… who upon seeing me pointed his gun towards me and unlocked his gun… one shot and I would have been a history. Firstly, I cursed the security guard but then after that I could understand why he act so funnily… there is always a threat of Body Bound Improvised Explosive Device (popularly known as Suicide Bombers)… lurking in this part of the world.
This time, I told Shiva to be there at the gate in time… so that I do not undergo a near death experience once again. And this time on… Shiva was on time, sparing me from an aiming gun and a feeling that I could have been a history.
Shiva is an intelligent chap… suave and well connected… he not only took me to the Copenhagen Headquarters, where I met a number of Indians and assured them that we would take all necessary steps to solve their problems… he also told me about other companies where Indians are working and facing some or the other problems… and then he made a guesstimate that about 5-6000 Indians are working inside the KAF in different companies… most of them uneducated and face many problems… time and again… I gasped… 6000 and I don’t have an inkling… yeah traveling in this place is a problem… nor they can come out of KAF and neither I can freely go out of my office… but 6000 is too large a number to be callous about.
Shiva also took me to the Asian canteen… which was the biggest dining facility I had seen in my life… could have seated almost 2000 people… serving Asian (mostly Indian) delicacies… life is not all that uncomfortable in Kandahar… I thought. Then he took me to one of the gymnasiums in KAF… amazing… state of the art machines… and people working out like mads… are they here to fight or to party, I thought again… and then to the Shopping Complex… which has Thank God Its Friday… Pizza Hut… Burger King… etc.
Then there is a Super Market… where one gets all kind of things… latest magazines, grocery, cosmetics, books, CDs… you ask and it is there… my head started spinning… this was a different world… it was like as if I had been transported from 12th century to 21st century… I bought ‘The Lost Symbol’ and a copy of ‘Gulistan’ (in English) from there.
KAF is an amazing place to visit… I have seen a lot in life… Reliance Jamnagar Refinery, Smart Village in Cairo, Enron Power Plant in Dabhol, Alang Ship breaking yard… but KAF is something else… and not to forget the advanced weaponry and military vehicles one gets to see in this place… simply out of the world.
While coming out of the KAF, I resolved to reach out to each and every Indian… I had tried this even before… but that was a piece meal approach… driving back I conjured up the idea of starting “Project Milap”, with a team… to register each and every Indian in KAF… and reach them through phones or emails… or even by personal visits…
Today, I registered 100th Indian. I am smiling.
3 comments:
Good Going, Pranav!!!
Your "Job" definitely provides an opportunity to make a "Difference" in the lives of so many people .... and could it get any better than helping your own country men in need outside India?
Congratulations and Best Wishes for many more Indians to get registered!
Thanks Shruti!!!
I am proud of you for your initiative of Project Milap. Hope by now the number would have gone up beyond 1000
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