Afghan students practise sitar in hiding, take online lessons from Doon couple

Dehradun: When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Afghan National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul ceased to exist — its students and faculty scattered, most fleeing the country.

But in Herat and Kabul, a few students of Dehradun-based sitarists Pt Abhishek Adhikary and his wife Murchana Adhikary are still playing, in secret, with carpets pressed against windows and doors to muffle the sound.The Adhikarys had joined ANIM in 2012, where they taught Indian classical music, both instrumental and theory, to Afghan students, including girls. They left Afghanistan in 2019 due to personal reasons.

They planned to return, but Covid-19 and the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 forced them to drop the plan.“After Kabul fell and the institute relocated to Portugal, we stayed in touch with our students and continued teaching them online, including those still in Afghanistan. Last year, we went to Portugal to teach displaced students. But for those who could not leave Afghanistan, practising music is risky,” Pt Adhikary told TOI.

He said some of his students in Afghanistan contact him over social media for online lessons and to share updates about their well-being.“They remain under constant fear as music is banned under the Taliban regime. There have been instances where musical instruments were destroyed and musicians punished. Many musicians have been forced to take up menial jobs to survive,” Adhikary said. Those who still practise music have devised ways to avoid being heard.“I used to play harmonium and tambur and practise Indian classical vocals at ANIM. Now, whenever I sing, I do it in a low voice inside my room, with windows and doors covered with thick carpets to make it as soundproof as possible. My instruments are hidden near my house. If the Taliban find them, I don’t know what will happen to me,” said Farhad, 25, one of the couple’s students from Herat. His full name has been withheld for security reasons.Murchana said her years in Afghanistan showed her how deeply Afghans loved classical music. “We have performed in different parts of the world, but the love Afghans have for pure classical music is unparalleled. They appreciate the original form of music, not just modern fusion. That is one reason we continue teaching them,” she told TOI, adding that they will be meeting their students in Portugal in June and July.The couple’s student Gulalai, 27, among Afghanistan’s first female sitarists, now lives in New York.

“I wanted to learn music and they paved the way for me. I have performed across the world because of both my ustaads. I still bother them to refine my art and learn something new,” she said.Another student, Sabir, 25, who lives in Kabul, said ‘music is the only thing that offers him peace amid the turbulent times’ in his country. “I started learning sarod in 2011 and trained under the Adhikarys at ANIM for over six years. I still stay in touch with them to talk about life and music.

Sometimes, I practise at home after covering my room with carpets and play softly, pressing the strings quickly after strumming to suppress the sound.

But I will not stop playing. It is the only thing that gives peace to my soul, even if briefly,” he said.Ustad Ramin Saqizada, 37, who learnt rubab from the couple and now lives in Germany, said his father, a musician in Afghanistan, still longs to play before an audience.“His love for music is so profound that he asked me to send 200 euros so he could buy a mobile phone just to watch videos of Pt Ravi Shankar online. Much of the credit for keeping my love for music alive goes to the Adhikarys, with whom I now share a personal bond,” Saqizada said.