Kabul at Work hosted on Sunday Times
Female entrepreneur strikes change at heart of Kabul
A woman risks a million in her quest to relieve the boredom of life after dark in Afghanistan’s dangerous but eager capital city
A young woman with a love of ten-pin bowling has risked $1million of her family’s money to relieve the tedium of life after dark in Afghanistan’s capital.
Since opening in September, Kabul’s first bowling alley, the Strikers, has attracted hundreds of men and women seeking respite from the fear of Taliban attacks and a release from the tensions of everyday life.
Meena Rahmani, 26, who set it up, says she was struck by the boredom of life in the capital when she returned to Afghanistan after fleeing the civil war.
“There’s nothing here… no place to spend an hour in peace of mind,” said Rahmani, whose brother and sister live in London. “The only thing people do in Kabul is go to eat somewhere. When we close at 11 in the evening there’s no one else in the streets.
“In every corner of the town there might be a blast. It’s stressful. So it’s good for us to have fun here and to forget the realities,” said Mukhtar Ahmed, 29, as he prepared to roll a flourescent ball down the alley.
Previously Ahmed would get his after-work kicks by playing table football in his office. But most evenings he’d just “go home and sleep or watch Bollywood soaps on television”.
Rahmani had to struggle against ingrained attitudes towards women in Afghanistan’s patriarchal and conservative society.
The construction workers were astonished that their boss was a woman; the municipality demanded bribes for planning permission; and the shoddy electricity damaged the bowling machines.
“We’ve had to order $10,000 of repairs,” said Rahmani who studied business and media in Pakistan and Canada. “We have to import every single thing, from the kitchen to the bowling parts. Even the shoes come from China.”
The bowling alley costs about $30,000 per month to run so food and drink is expensive. A coffee costs $5 – roughly the average daily wage for an Afghan.
Armed guards pat down players for weapons and explosives behind large steel doors. Militants have twice bombed the popular mall down the road.
