The International Press Centre in Kabul was destroyed by suicide bombers some years ago but has since been rebuilt.
Yesterday a snowstorm had knocked the power out but work was continuing.
A workshop on issues of governance was under way.
The participants were taking an examination on such issues as the writing of applications, basic management, employee relations and departmental attendance.
In the background were portraits of figures from Afghan history.
A room nearby featured a large portrait of Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan.
Crowned in 1933 he reigned for four decades. Deposed in a coup in 1973 he returned to Afghanistan after the ouster of the Taliban and died in 2002.
Nearby were other royal portraits.
The centre’s workers were doing their best to carry on despite the lack of heat and electricity.
They were somewhat crestfallen to learn that I was not Prof Bharat H. Desai, a legal scholar from Delhi: apparently he has been long and eagerly awaited here. But such was their politeness that their disappointment barely showed. Had I been the Professor himself they could not have been more helpful and welcoming.