Here’s what happened the other day … Every day, in the room we train in, I hear drums playing, horns blowing and people jamming. Yesterday I took it upon myself to investigate the source of this funkiness. So I walked the halls of the fine arts building at Kabul University. I was stopped on one staircase by some heavenly rabab playing. Coming from where, I didn’t know. It was magical and lovely to just stand there and listen.
The music stopped and I slowly moved on, letting the sights and sounds take me wherever they desired. I then found myself stopped at another staircase to take a photo of the ceiling. Light coming in and forming geometric shape upon shape.
As I finished taking photos of the light and shape, I turned to find a lovely young man in a snazzy suit standing next to me. He was smiling and I smiled back. (As a woman you’re not really supposed to do that, but I forget.) He then speaks to me in Dari, which I understand SO LITTLE of .. but somehow we understood each other.
It turns out he’s a rabab player and saw me listening to him practice, as I stood on the staircase. He invites me to his practice room and proceeds to play a little for me. The short video was supposed to be below but my connection can’t even support a tiny video. Monireh, our co-director from Herat, says in her life she was only once able to upload a video successfully!!
Well, the video was just a short bit where the same musical phrase repeated, but it was such a sweet encounter and reminded me, yet again, that I have nothing to fear. Listening to others with an open heart always brings about understanding and closeness – despite everything that may “seem” to be in the way.
Love K