A Historic Musical Evening in Kabul Nearly Five Decades Ago as Told by the Kabul Times
PHOTO CAPTION
Mahwash watching one of the amateur singers getting his wrist tied up by Ustad Hashim. The young man holding the harmonium is Assef, one of the best tabla players in town and Ustad Hashim's younger brother.
Caption and photo printed in the article "How are Musicians Initiated?" (Kabul Times, July 11, 1973)
A Historic Musical Evening in Kabul Nearly Five Decades Ago as Told by the Kabul Times
Let's travel to a night in Kabul in early July 1973. The air is mixed with the scent of نسترن wild roses and هل cardamom. This was no ordinary night in Kabul. This is the night when Mahwash, the celebrated "Female Vocalist of the Year" of Radio Kabul, steps onto a different stage, one steeped in the age-old traditions of classical music.
Golalaye Farida, the woman behind the stage named Mahwash, had already charmed her audiences with her voice, a gift first honed five years ago under Hafizullah Kheyal, a seasoned composer and vocalist of Radio Kabul.
But tonight, she and a few other aspiring musical students seek a more profound path of learning, the kind found in the famed musician's quarter of Kharabat, where Ustad Mohammad Hashim, a legend with over 50 compositions to his name by this time, holds court with other ustads.
A symphony of anticipation fills the air in Ustad Mashwash's friend's home. Ustad Hashim's two younger brothers, the dilruba virtuoso Nabi among them, bring life to the room. Among the gathered are vocalists Shah Wali Wali and the "stout" Ahmad Wali, alongside the "ruggedly handsome" composer Nainawaz. Mahwash's husband, a steadfast pillar of support, observes, and their four-year-old daughter absorbs in her play, adding to the unfolding scene.
Dinner, a fragrant feast, was a mere prelude. As Waleh, the Kabul Times' roving eye, later recounts, the air grows thick with a palpable sense of ritual, of history being made. The ceremony begins…
How are Musicians Initiated?
Expert from the July 11, 1973 issue of Kabul Times (written in English)
Mahwash brought to Ustad Hashim a tray containing suit material [cloth for a suit], some cash and candies. She was asked to present it to another Ustad Mohmmad Nabi who accompanies Ustad Hashim on the dilruba.
Ustad Nabi asked Ustad Mashwah, as the custom goes, what was there on the tray. She replied with humility that there were a few unworthy gifts she wanted to present to Ustad Hashim.
He asked again why present these to Ustad Hashim and not to others because there were quite a few ustads in town. She believed Ustad Hashim tops them all as far as his teaching techniques and compositions were concerned. She wanted to be his pupil and learn classical music from him.
Then came another question from Ustad Nabi from which Mashwash was apparently not prepared. Perhaps they do not rehearse the whole ceremony because they like it spontaneous. Ustad Nabi inquired as to how she would behave after initiation.
Mahwash looked blank and after a few moments of hesitation, the word was passed to her husband and he whispered it into her ear. She said she would behave as his daughter should.
Then Ustad Nabi emphasized with enough seriousness the amount of request required by an ustad and the quantity of hard work to be put in by the pupil. Afterwards, he took Mahwash's hand and placed it on the harmonium. Ustad Hashim took a string from the tray and tied it around her wrist. This symbolized that she was his pupil for life, tied up to him through that string.
Almost all the amateur singers extended their hands to be tied up in a similar manner and the smiling Ustad complied with generosity. But he did not utter a word before or after the ceremonies. Perhaps the traditions require that the Ustad should not say anything. That was why the ceremony was conducted by another ustad. And Mahwash passed the tray, serving each with a few candies which symbolizes a sweet future.
But the question is that thousands of her admirers want her to sing popular songs which they are in a position to appreciate classical music. But Mahwash is bent on learning classical music so that one day she may be able to answer questions which may reveal whys and wherefores for her. She believes she has the right to pursue her own interests while her admirers are entitled to their own likes and dislikes. She will sing for them songs that may be hits after mastering the art of singing under an ustad. This sounds quite convincing to me and perhaps her countless admirers will be looking forward to the opportunity.
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Editor's Reflections
Abdul Haq Waleh's prose is a time machine, transporting us to a space in time where tradition and ambition collide. He paints a vivid tableau: the hushed whispers, the scent of instruments, the palpable scene as Kabul's musical elite gather for a pivotal moment. He writes, “Nainawaz was so much carried away by music that the pretty hostess announced a few times that dinner was ready but he did not allow anyone to move.” And this line as well, “Ustad Hashim was playing the ever ready harmonium and the little lady in her black crepe dress was singing one of his compositions.”
Mixed Classes Learning Music
In this rarified space, social boundaries blurred. Mahwash, the middle-class songbird, sought the wisdom of Ustad Hashim, the maestro of Kharabat's musician class. Alongside her, the aristocratic composer Nainawaz defied societal norms. Both songbird and composer shared passion for music transcended class divisions, a testament to art's unifying power. Yet, this mingling was not without risk. Both had faced familial backlash for pursuing their artistic dreams. As the poet Samy Hamed observed years later, this society loved the music but shunned the musicians, a paradox whose shadow did not hover over this historic night.
Mahwash, a woman singing openly, not just on the radio but in public concerts, was a radical shift. Just two decades earlier, female vocalists entered Radio Kabul shrouded in burqas, their voices celebrated, their identities concealed. Mahwash and other female arts defiances signaled a shift in the tectonic plates of a conservative society fully supported by Zahir Shah, the gentlemen monarch. Three years after this historic evening, the Ministry of Culture would bestow the title of "Ustad" upon Mahwash.
Ustad Mohammad Hashim's Influence on Popular Music
Ustad Mohammad Hashim Chishtis (1934-94), the unsung hero of popular music on Radio Kabul, shaped a generation of composers who defined Kabuli pop. He mentored Shah Wali Wali Taranasaz (1927-2007) and Nainawaz (1934-79), whose compositions were the bedrock for vocalists like Ahmad Zahir, Mahwash, Ahmad Wail and many more. A tabla virtuoso from childhood, the elder son of master tabla player Chacha Mahmoud Chishtis, Ustad Hashim’s musical innovations extended beyond tradition, reaching into diverse genres. He famously reimagined a Western guitar, playing it with a river stone, and his legacy extends to the melodies that defined Kabul’s modern sound.
"The Culture of the Coups"
The timing of this musical gathering was eerily prescient. A mere three weeks later, Kabul's fragile peace would shatter, ushering in an era of political upheaval. Daoud Khan’s coup, the first of many to follow, as writer Rahnaward Zaryab noted, would forever alter the course of Kabul’s history. But on that early July night, amidst the scent of wild roses and the promise of music, the future remained unwritten, a melody hanging in the balance.
