There is no chance to restore the past; but maybe to compensate it!

A couple of weeks ago, the idea of a group weblog came to my mind. I wanted to create a place where everyone, from students and even faculties, can write there about Afghanistan. Initially, I wanted to name it something like AUAF Student Review or AUAF Student Commentary, however, when I talked to some people about the idea, although, they welcomed the idea of such a group weblog, but they advised me not to pick a name with AUAF... abbreviation. Because, we would thus go under the authority of the university and have to adhere to their policies because our blogs might have somehow represented the university. I didn't want that. So, I picked another name that does not have such an implication.

In one of my courses, in this semester, we watched a documentary film named, "Lost Treasures of Afghanistan." It was about Dr. Tarzi, an Afghan-French Archeologist, who have come to Bamyan to find the Sleeping Buddha, that exist somewhere between the two destroyed Buddha, according to some historical documents. That part did not, though, interest me. The way Dr. Tarzi was expressing his emotions about the two destroyed Buddha and the gravity of the disaster, inspired me. Dr. Tarzi, as an educated and informed Afghan, can well understand what we have lost, and like a kid with dried drops of tear on his face, kneeling down, is searching and digging the ground to find a trace of the Sleeping Buddha. He knows well he can't restore the past, but he hopes he can compensate the past.

This movie made me to name the group weblog, "The Buddha's Empty Place," as a horrible past in front of us, the Afghans, to always remember and keep in mind the disastrous consequences of our radicalism. The Buddha's empty place is indeed representing the three decades in the history of Afghanistan. By choosing such a name for this weblog, I want to go for the "hope," Dr. Tarzi believes in. I want to create an environment Afghan students (another "hope") can, far from hatred, resentment, and tumult, can sit and think.

To pay or not to pay

Read "Dave Morin Argues Information Is More Valuable When You Pay For It. He’s Wrong."