Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time...

The Kite Runner: The book and the movie

I will ask for a good book to someone who reads and by that I mean not read a newspaper or a article once in a while. Someone, who has an intellectual taste about books, the real books. It is still fresh in my mind since the time I started and finished reading this book, the book that has not only touched many hearts but has drawn attention of renowned news papers and writers that they were bound to read and speak about it. I heard a lot about this book and not from one or two people but many other sources. It seemed everyone knew about this book and the movie then except me.

The book is about a Afghani guy named Amir Jan, as they call him with love. He lost his mother and so did Hassan, their servant's son. Hassan's mother, a beauty known in Kabul, ran with other man after giving birth to him since she could not connect herself with Hassan's father, Ali. Amir and Hassan played togther, stayed together besides being nursed by the same female. Hassan's loyalty towards his Agha, a word used as a title of respect, could not be questioned. Hassan could do anything for Amir and he did end up paying for his loyalty and generosity towards Amir one evening. Amir could really not do anything because of the way he was. His father used to say "A man who can not stand for himself, can not stand for anything in his life".

Amir avoided situations where he had to confront anyone. Even then when he had to express his desire to become a writer to his father in his childhood. Hassan on the other hand, was a brave lad. He even made enemies with Assef, a notorious tall and fair boy with dark eyes. A boy who lived a lavish life with all his father's money and enjoyed scaring and bullying kids around. "I will target your eye with my slingshot and you will be called Blind Assef", Hassan said to Assef once. Ofcourse, Hassan had to pay for what he said and how he shooed away Assef and his accomplices one fine evening of the day when they were returning from the place up the hill. The place where they both Amir and Hassan sat everyday. A place where Hassan used to listen to Amir's stories and carve their name on the pomegranate tree "Amir and Hassan, the kings of Kabul".

Life was going smooth until one day, the day that changed the course of lives of both friends. The day which was imprinted in Amir's memories like an engraving on the stone. The day that departed the two friends, the then friends. Life never stops for anyone, the rule is to keep moving and so did they. During the Taliban invasion in Afghanistan, Amir went to America with his father few years after Hassan left for his village with Ali, never to come back. Amir, just like any other immigrant to US got used to the life and culture of America. Not to mention, his father had no other option. But he still had the dust that he had collected before going to Pakistan, illegally.

Life was going on, Amir and his father were making a living somehow until one day he found Soraya Jan. The love that finally came to him unknowingly. His father went for khastegari, to my understanding this is a ritual that elders perform to ask for a girl's hand. "What do you see?", she asked, not allowed to look into the mirror kept in front of them on the day of their marriage. "I see rest of my life" he answered.

Phone rings, "Hello"

"Amir Jan"

"Rahim Khan"

"You need to come here Amir Jan"

Sometimes you have to do things even if you DO NOT want to. This happens to every individual on the face of this earth. He did the same. Seeing Rahim Khan, his father's friend rather say he was Amir's best friend after Hassan, who listened to even what Amir never said in his childhood, who gave Amir the love and attention that he longed for from his father, someone who read his stories and said "Bravo". The word meant more than his expensive toys to him. "Bravo" encouraged him to write more stories. To respect his relation with Rahim Khan, Amir flew to pay him a visit only to find out Hassan and his wife are both dead, leaving a son behind. The son who was taken by the goons who called themselves religious leaders. This group wanted power and hence tortured every human soul in their vicinity. Hassan's son was one of them. He was a victim of child molestation.

It was now when Amir decided to bring Hassan's son back with him to United States. The later part of the story reveals not only to readers but to Amir himself, how strong he was, that how he could have made a change had he stood up for Hassan. It's never too late, hence Amir took a stand and fought for Hassan's son with the group. Amir's quest to do justice to his friendship with Hassan changed him into someone his father always hoped to see in him.

Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time. It was long awaited spring for Amir and it did eventually come changing the lives of people around him. Only if his father was still alive to see the change. The story really touched my heart and to this date it is one of the best books I ever read.

I highly recommend people to read this book. A small blog about it will not do any justice to how well it is written and narrated.

Enjoy Reading!!! And do leave your feedback.