Tuesday Morning with the Sufi Musicians
A couple of days ago Najib and I took a taxi through the early morning traffic to the edge of the huge Kabul bazaar. Piles of cloth, electric irons, immersion heaters, thermo jugs, elastic pant bands, glassware, religious charms, zippers, and all sorts of miscellany were spread out on plastic tarps between the road and the river. The taxi pulled up, we hopped out and wound through the crowds and down a narrow alley over muddy puddles and scrappy litter, down to the dead end where we could hear the Sufi musicians warming up their instruments.
These musicians play in a very small room each Tuesday morning. Before playing, friends gather beforehand for breakfast and prayer. It seems this morning we had arrived late and missed that part – my favorite part, actually. I have only one more Tuesday before leaving and I must make sure Najib comes early enough that we can share this special time with them. Everyone contributes some food, and I purchased special plump-dried fruit from my home near Davis, California just to share.
We discovered the room was packed full of men sitting on the floor waiting for the music. They shuffled and moved aside to make room for us. One of them pointed graciously to a wooden stool for me to sit. Another man then jumped up to get a coat, which he folded to put between me and the hard wood seat. I glanced at the musicians. They were wearing special costumes today; something was going on. Several of them saw me enter and nodded their heads and smiled at me; they knew me from last summer. The harmonium player raised his hand in salute. He had given me advice on purchasing a harmonium last summer.
It turns out the musicians were being filmed for a video documentary to be shown to Afghans living in Europe. The cameraman was interested in my presence. He asked if I would introduce the Sufi group for the video and explain why I was there. I am so honored to be included as though I were a part of that group!
