Afghanistan: Youths embrace Euro style
Stylish male teens relax in Kabul.
Issam Ahmed
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN 鈥� Almost eight years after the Taliban were ousted from power, the beginning of a vibrant new youth culture is taking hold in Afghanistan鈥檚 capital city. It鈥檚 most evident in the legions of fashion-conscious youths who seek to throw off the strictures of the Taliban past.
Today鈥檚 hip Kabuli males wear short-sleeved shirts and tight, faded jeans 鈥� ones that often sport many pockets and chains. Long pointy leather shoes are in, as are body building and being clean-shaven. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 like keeping stubble, because during the Taliban times we weren鈥檛 allowed to shave,鈥� says Waleed Amin, an economics student.
Indian cinema is a major influence, says Sayed Ashraf Sadat, deputy editor of the English-language Afghanistan Times. 鈥淲hen Shahrukh Khan [a Bollywood heartthrob] appears wearing tight jeans and red shirts, those items are immediately brought to the market.鈥�
More young women, meanwhile, are shaking off their all-颅encompassing burqas in favor of chic 颅hijabs, head scarves that they allow to cover only half their hair. They wear jackets to match and the same tight, faded jeans.
鈥淲e often come to Kabul now and have picnics on holidays, something we couldn鈥檛 do before,鈥� says Angela Rastaghar of Mazar-e-Sharif, who is accompanied by her fianc茅, Danish, and his sister, Sora, at Kabul鈥檚 verdant Babur Bagh garden.
Bolder youths sneak off for furtive dates in the 鈥渇amily鈥� sections of Kabul鈥檚 fast-food joints, though premarital mixing is still frowned upon by society at large.