Lalitha AR

Bengaluru, India

Arzu

It was the first time eight-year-old Arzu was on an airplane. She had dreamt about taking her first flight with Baba for a long time, but this journey was nothing as her dream. Her Baba wasn’t with her. He had been killed by ‘them’, at her home in Quchi. Not long after, Ammi and Arzu had managed to reach Kabul airport, where they boarded a flight that would take them to an unknown country, as refugees.

The view outside changed her thoughts. The clouds were clearing, and she could see her country below. From this height she did not see any guns or bombs, she did not hear the weeping of families or the angry cries of the rebels. From above, all she saw was her beautiful Afghanistan. Arzu wished ‘they’ would see her country as she saw it. Maybe when ‘they’ see how wonderful it already is, they would stop fighting to make it a better place, as they claim!

She crossed her heart and made a promise to Baba that she would come back one day and take all of ‘them’ on an airplane. Arzu looked on through her window, hoping that the day would come soon.