Ankur Mahajan - Life Beyond Bullets: Memoir of Life in Rural Afghanistan and West Africa

Life Beyond Bullets

Life Beyond Bullets

A Memoir of Life in Rural Afghanistan and West Africa

Ankur Mahajan

Basically, we are all the same human beings with the same potential to be a good human being or a bad human being. The important thing is to realize the positive side and try to increase that; realize the negative side and try to reduce. Thats the way.

Dalai Lama XIV

Disclaimer

The objective of this following memoir is to educate and inform the readers. It is strictly based on the personal experiences of the author and should not be in any way considered as a representation to the author's employer, organization, committee, any Government, group, or individual. The events and conversations in this book have been set down to the best of the authors ability. All accounts are true to the a uthors knowledge.

The author holds no responsibility on how youll use the information provided or what youll do with them. Any content from this book cannot be copied or sold. The reports documented in this memoir are drawn from the experiences of the author, a young man who visited the countries between 2009-2017. The thoughts, opinions, and impressions expressed should not be considered a generalization of the described cultures. They are personal impressions, not meant to disrespect anyone.

All copyright goes to Ankur Mahajan, the author of the book.

Life Beyond Bullets

Memoir of life in rural Afghanistan and West Africa

Copyright 2021 Ankur Mahajan.

Published 2021 by AEPL Publishers

This publication is designed to provide competent and reliable information regarding the subject matter covered.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including scanning, photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN: 978-1-7773871-3-6 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-7773871-2-9 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-1-7773871-1-2 (E-Book)

W: www.lifebeyondbullets.com

E:

Book interior formatting by Abdul Rehman Qureshi

Book cover design by PJCreative

Book edits by Hassan Adesokan

First printing edition 2021.

Dedication

Dedicated to my parents, family, friends, and all children orphaned by war.

I received some of my greatest inspiration and motivation to write this book about ten years ago. It was the day I first visited an orphanage for physically-challenged kids in Uzbekistan. That day, I was so moved that I planned to start a project that would help kids with disabilities in similar circumstances. I later realized that the plight of other kids like them in other war-torn countries was much greater. Nevertheless, they say that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So, the net royalties of $10,000 from this project will assist NGOs working with these kids.

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riting a book about something very important to you can be a surreal process. This publication bears the hands of many, and I appreciate them in no small measures. I am overwhelmed in all humbleness, and pleased to acknowledge my depth of gratitude to all those who have helped me put down these ideas.

Foremost, I give thanks to Lord God Almighty, for protection and perennial guidance. I thank my deceased grandfather, Krishan Lal, and my grandmother, Nirmal Gupta, who showed me the true worth of hard work. Their wise words, encouragement, and an enormous amount of faith in me shaped me into the person I am today.

I am also forever indebted to my parents, Parveen and Rekha Mahajan, who bore me, raised me, supported me, taught me, and loved me unwaveringly. It was under their watchful eye that I gained so much drive and an ability to tackle challenges head-on. Their unflinching courage and conviction have always been an inspiration for me. I equally thank my sisters, Punita and Parul, who have always given me tremendous encouragement and unconditional support through all of these years.

I am immensely thankful to all of my former academic teachers, sports coaches, and other mentors who taught me valuable lessons at various stages throughout my life. My sincere gratitude for their guidance, and for how they instilled confidence and optimism in me. I must thank my first judo teacher Vinod Sharma from Janak Judo Club for pushing me beyond my capacity as a six-year-old with severe asthma.

Some special words of gratitude go to my friends scattered around the world, who have always been a major source of support to me when things get tiring and discouraging. There are so many of them, but I want them to know that I thank each and every one for their thoughts, well-wishes/prayers, phone calls, e-mails, texts, and visits. Particularly helpful to me during this time were Angad, Varun, Nisha and Simran.

Finally, I am extremely grateful to the various organizations and colleagues that I met during global living. To all of the individuals I had the opportunity to lead, to be led by, or to watch their leadership from afar, I say thank you for being the inspiration and foundation for Life Beyond Bullets. They all taught me valuable life lessons, and it should go without saying that, without these people, I would not be the person I am today.

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he book addresses the cross-cultural, political, gender, economic, and religious issues of war zones and the least developed nations where I spent many years of my life. My utmost desire is to show the world a picture of these communities with concerns added throughout on ways of fitting in and gaining acceptance and recognition from the resident population.

From the start to the end, I emphasize how people live in these parts of the world and the lifestyle you can expect as a foreigner. Concurrently, I discuss the development ideologies, everyday life, general observations, as well as the dating and marriage culture of these communities. The importance of religion and the complicated issues of health and politics are all documented here, too. I equally highlight the dangers that the locals, several foreigners, and people like myself have faced in a bid to survive in these communities. I also discuss lessons I learned about reintegrating into my own society after returning from various development missions in dangerous and less-developed locales.

Through this book, I hope that my readers will understand the cultural difficulties of immigrants and refugees from places like those I discuss here, and support them as they arrive in and adapt to more economically developed countries.

Having lived in developing and war-torn countries for many years, I critically dug into my experiences and have shared how life looks in these parts of the world. As you are about to find out, this book goes beyond the conventional war and development books that depicts the challenges and realities of everyday life, a long distance from the diplomatic and media bubbles most people are familiar with. Hence the title, Life Beyond Bullets.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1
The Background

C

uriosity is a strange state of mind that strikes everybody. It is an instinctive urge that sprinkles in your heart and begins to grow in different dimensions. It is something that makes us fall prey to various situations.

Considered an intellectual virtue, it has spurred the greatest inventions and solutions of all time. Depending on who you ask, curiosity has led people to a different point in their lives. The instant you start acting on curiosity, youll often find yourself in an absolutely inescapable labyrinth. You are bound to have one of two reactions: fear or excitement. How a person reacts, shows just how much of a hold curiosity has over them.