Deh-Mazang
Deh-Mazang is a south-western district of Kabul, the setting for Rasheed's house and the domestic lives of Mariam and later Laila. It is a neighborhood of narrow, unpaved roads, crowded houses sharing common walls, and small, walled yards. The area is marked by poverty: children wear patched shirts and oversized trousers, and women gather at the communal tandoor, their conversations revolving around sick children and lazy husbands. The district is also home to the university and the zoo, but its daily reality is one of struggle and confinement, especially for women.
Location and Description
Rasheed's house is a two-story structure, once painted blue, located in Deh-Mazang. The house has a small, unkempt yard with a well, a toolshed, and a bicycle leaning against the wall. Inside, the living room is sparsely furnished with a pistachio green leather couch, a table, and a cast-iron stove. The house has a narrow, dimly lit hallway upstairs and two bedrooms. The neighborhood itself is characterized by its crowded, unpaved streets, gutters flowing with muddy water, and mounds of flyblown garbage. From the living-room window, one can see the Asmai mountain directly in front, and to the left, the Ali Abad mountain, with the university at its foot. The Shir Darwaza mountain lies behind, and a cannon is fired from it every day at noon.
Life Under Rasheed's Rule
Deh-Mazang is the primary setting for Mariam's marriage to Rasheed, beginning in 1974. Here, Mariam experiences the full weight of Rasheed's control: he forces her to wear a burqa, restricts her movements, and subjects her to physical and emotional abuse. The house becomes a prison, where Mariam's daily life is a cycle of cooking, cleaning, and enduring Rasheed's moods. The neighborhood's communal tandoor is a site of initial terror for Mariam, where she is overwhelmed by the attention of other women, but it also becomes a place where she first encounters Laila's mother, Fariba. The district's proximity to the university and the zoo is a cruel irony, as Mariam is largely confined to the house.
Laila's Arrival and Shared Suffering
After the rocket attack that kills her parents, Laila is brought to Rasheed's house in Deh-Mazang. She is nursed back to health by Mariam and Rasheed, and soon becomes Rasheed's second wife. The house in Deh-Mazang becomes the stage for the complex relationship between Mariam and Laila, initially marked by hostility and jealousy, but gradually evolving into a deep, supportive bond. The district's streets, once familiar to Laila from her childhood, become a dangerous territory under the Taliban, where women are beaten for being alone. The house itself is a site of repeated violence, culminating in Rasheed's murder by Mariam, who kills him to save Laila's life.
Transformation and Legacy
Deh-Mazang is also the setting for the women's failed escape attempt to Pakistan, which ends at the Lahore Gate bus station. After Rasheed's death, Laila and Tariq eventually leave Kabul, but they return to Deh-Mazang after the fall of the Taliban. Laila rents a small two-bedroom house in the same district, with a pomegranate tree and a thicket of sweetbriar bushes. She becomes a teacher at the local orphanage, transforming the space of her former suffering into a place of hope and renewal. The district, once a symbol of confinement, becomes the site of Laila's new life, where she works to rebuild the community and honor Mariam's memory.
