Lake Qargha to the immediate west of Kabul is a veritable cesspool of all things imaginable -a little like the primordial soup.
Of the non-living variety, the bottom of the lake is awash with pointed rocks, wires, deflated soccer balls, discarded plastic bottle, broken glass bottles with unforgiving sharp edges, silverware and other kitchen/household needs, artificial flowers, items of clothing and footwear, various forms of ordnance and ammunition, dumped vehicles and television sets, assorted printed material, electronics, and the occasional valuable such as watches and jewelry along with many secrets.
Of the living varieties, there is an abundance of organisms thriving on the rich nutrients of the lake’s water which also lends it an overall greenish look. When you wade into the water, the rocks, already round and smooth in texture, are rendered even more slippery by algae growth and plant life, making it hard for one to stand on them. There is sure to be some fish and amphibian life in the depths of the lake away from the shallows, and perhaps the occasional aquatic serpent. Brown crabs of a particularly hostile variety are rumored to roam the lake.
And then there are the other non-living but still organic residues that are dissolved in the lake’s water and make up an integral part of its biodiversity. These are the decomposing or long-decomposed bodies of drowned swimmers (of which there have been many, what with the absence of life-guards and rescue facilities and the nonchalant attitude of the visitors- although all unfortunate incidents are invariably attributed to the supernatural and mystic qualities of the lake), dogs, birds, tree-trunks, watermelon peels, spongy Naan bread, urea, and assorted bodily fluids.
The lake is one of Kabul’s few weekend getaways, and certainly its most accessible and closest. This proximity and the scarcity of other nearby picnic areas, plus the fact that the population of the capital has been bulging cancerously for the past several years only adds to the color, texture, and the molecular diversity and richness of the lake.
The lake may have the unique and dubious distinction of being the only freshwater lake in the world that contains all things except fresh water. As such, there is a possibility that the life forms and the ecosystem supported by the lake are neither of the marine nor the freshwater typologies, but altogether new and perhaps as yet undiscovered.
In point of fact, if the lake is to be stripped of all its living inhabitants and made into an entirely self-contained closed system, given enough time on an evolutionary scale, it could witness the return of life through the many possible combinations and re-combinations of its ingredient molecules, thereby giving rise to the first nucleic acids and thereafter self-replicating chromosomes and mono-cellular organisms.
As such, the lake has an important -albeit unacknowledged- future role to play in the event of a catastrophic collapse of all life-forms on earth as a spawning ground for organic life and a return of the human and other species and the very continuation of earth as a living planet. Because of this, here is a proposal to sanctify the lake Qargha as a mother-ship, a launching-pad, a regrouping ground for future life, including human life, in an ever approaching post-apocalyptic world. This massive and organically rich petri-dish should be given the due attention and respect it deserves, and it should be opened up to the world that will one day owe its life on this planet to the lake.
I am planning to discuss this proposal with the current operators of the lake lest they get any crazy ideas about ‘cleaning’ it up without realizing its existential significance. In fact, once it is opened up to the world, a sanctifying ritual dip by visitors of all races, colors, and creeds should be made mandatory so as to add to the richness of its contents. Further, my plan proposes sealing off the small stream that lets out a couple of cubic feet of its water now, thereby letting valuable ingredients go to waste.
I took my own purifying dip in the lake this past Thursday. Although I jumped in and swam the lake on a dare -which at the time I thought of as a rather stupid thing to do- in retrospect, I am glad it happened. How else would I have realized the vast richness of the lake and its potential promise of life preservation on our green little planet? In fact, in the larger scheme of things at stake above, even the pain in my ears and the burning sensation in my eyes do not bother me anymore.