By Khaleda Atta
April-Sept. 1999
Lemar-Aftaab
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In early June, a concert was held in tribute to the 20th
anniversary of the birth and death of Ahmad Zahir. He was assassinated
on his birthday, June 14, 1979, allegedly by government agents, although
the numerous rumors and theories still remain unsettled.
The concert, held at Chabot College in Hayward, California, was a
fund-raiser for Children of War and Children's Voice. Tickets were sold
for $25 and all proceeds were split equally between the two non-profit
organizations.
The main organizers of the event were Shafi Sekandari, Katrin Fakiri,
Nilufar Shuja, Hedayat Hamid, Yosef Yawar, Mansoor Aziz, Nabila Massoumi
and Maria Ayar. The concert took almost seven months of planning and was
publicized via distribution of flyers, posters and postcards to Afghan
stores within the San Francisco Bay Area. Other Afghan media were also
used, such as Radio 24 Hours Voice of Afghanistan, Radio Faizee,
Radio Dyaar, Azadi Radio, Sadai Sima TV, Lemar-Aftaab, Ahmadzahir.com.
The main performers included Ustad Asef, Said Omar, Maria Ayar, Khalil Raghib,
Ahmad Walid and Ali Etemadi featuring special
appearances by Ustad Mahwash, Ahmad Shah Alam, Najib Aziz, and Shamim
Khan Kishawarz.
Katrin Fakiri, mainly in charge of tickets and other financial handlings,
commented on the budget of the concert: "We started with no money,
everything was either free or discounted, our funds came mostly from
Children's Voice, Children of War,
and private backing from certain
organizers." From a target budget of under $10,000, the cost amounted to
$8,000. According to Fakiri, the performers for the concert were chosen by
organizers brainstorming a list of more than 20 potential acts,
eventually narrowing it down to five.
The performers put their heart and soul into the concert, turning it
into a great night of entertainment for all to enjoy, regardless of one's
affinity for Ahmad Zahir. The organizers put a tremendous amount of work
into it as well, which showed in all aspects. Fabulous stage decoration was
done by Nilufar Shuja, Katrin Fakiri and others, including huge balloons
spelling out A-h-m-a-d-Z-a-h-i-r in the background with lovely flowers
surrounding the performance area on stage. Ushers lined the passageways
in uniform, directing audiences to their seats. Throughout the concert,
a schedule was set for all to follow. Security, under Mansoor
Aziz, was well organized, allowing only those with passes to get
backstage. However, as much as the event was organized, it still did
not start until over an hour after the original starting time,
due to the untimely arrival of the concert-goers.
The event began with a spiritual Qur'an Sharif reading by 14 year old
Hamed Shuja as the crowd silenced and an aura of respect filled the
auditorium. The concert then moved on into a biographical segment,
through which a documentary-type video of Ahmad Zahir was shown, portraying
thoughtful images of him and his family. A trivia segment was also done
throughout the night in between performances, using live audience
interaction, bringing something new into the Afghan concert scene. Such
facts were given: Ahmad Zahir had a degree in "Taleem o Tarbya"
(Education), he was once "Hounarmand-e-Saal" (Singer of the Year),
he visited numerous locations such as Iran, India, Australia, and
Europe and in his lifetime recorded twenty-two cassettes, where his last
recording song was "Badaha Khalees".
Ustad Asef, a master of the tabla, after sharing with the audience his
personal experiences with Ahmad Zahir, gave a fantastic performance
showing true expertise controlling the tabla. Ustad Asef also gives
private lessons in tabla in Fremont to any interested in learning the
instrument.
Next a performance was given by a sensational new talent, San Francisco
Bay Area resident Maria Ayar, whose beautiful voice left all in awe.
Ayar, who also aided with the organization of the concert, commented, "Ahmad
Zahir is the only singer whose songs I have always been fascinated with,
plus its a good opportunity to do something back [for Afghans]."
Khalil Raghib followed, who began singing at the age of 9 and had worked
with Ahmad Zahir directly for eight years while in Afghanistan. Raghib
had done numerous concerts with Ahmad Zahir, reminiscing eating
tarbooza (watermelon) with him, and recalling Ahmad Zahir as being
very giving to his people, always helping the less fortunate. He enlightened
us with Ahmad Zahir's old songs, taking us back into his days. "Twenty
years later, his music is still alive," said Raghib.
Next was Ahmad Walid, also a new voice from Germany who gave a great,
lively performance. Following him was Ali Ehtemadi, also traveling from
Germany; this young singer shocked all with his leather ensemble when he
began singing a classical ghazal, proving to all how talented he truly
was.
The concert then turned into a talent show where everyone was performing
at their best for the main purpose of paying a tribute to Ahmad Zahir.
Ustad Mahwash told stories of Ahmad Zahir and how once again he helped
out the less fortunate in his days. Then came Ahmad Shah Alam, a former
theater head in Afghanistan and dear friend of Ahmad Zahir since
childhood. After sharing his comical stories of
experiences with Ahmad Zahir, he left us with a powerful final
statement, "Ahmad Zahir jawedan bood, jawedan hast, was kha'hat jawedan
mand!" (Ahmad Zahir was eternal, is eternal, and will remain eternal!) as
applause filled the room.
Said Omar of Virginia (Washington DC Metropolitan Area) gave a
full-hearted live and energetic performance and had the back of the
auditorium up and dancing. Said Omar began singing at the age of eleven
and commented on how glad he was to be doing a good deed while making
others happy. In comparing Ahmad Zahir's music to today's new
artists, Said Omar commented, "His passion was to please
himself, nowadays singers sing what people like and want to hear, which
overtakes the essence of the quality of the music. His lyrics are deep,
as compared to Sufis, spiritual. Nowadays it's gone, we've got to provide
people with lyrics they understand, which is [once again] bringing down
the quality of our music." Said Omar has recently released a CD.
All in all, it was a night of fun, family-oriented
entertainment. Just knowing that the funds would be feeding the
mouths of our hungry brothers and sisters living in Pakistan
should have been enough reason to come enjoy the night of remembrance.
Ahmad Zahir truly was an outstanding performer of his
time. Yet amazingly, only an estimated 300-400 tickets were sold out of
1,500 seats available in the auditorium. The low turnout to many was not
a surprise, especially since there happened to be a concert for the Indian
performer Ameetah Bachan that same night. "We expected more people to
come but the crowd was [definitely] there and felt, they supported us
all the way," commented Hedayat Hamid, a backstage worker/financial
contributor to the concert. Mansoor Aziz, who aside from security handling
also worked backstage, stated, "It's their loss not ours...they didn't
think we could pull it off."
Shafi Sekandari, one of the main organizers, who along with Nilufar
Shuja initiated the whole concert project, commented, "People didn't have
faith in us, they thought the young [people] couldn't do as good a job."
Sekandari came up with the idea of the concert as a response to the
touching video made by Najib Aziz, founder of Children of War. In the
video, one encounters the day to day conditions that Afghans of the
refugee camps of Peshawar go through to survive. Najib Aziz makes trips two
to three times a year to the camps, and has been doing so for the past
nine years. $54,000 was taken in his last trip alone, dispersed to the
needy, used to purchase more than 400 tents, create schools, etc. He
currently resides in Northern Virginia with his wife and young children.
The other concert beneficiary was Fremont, California's Children's
Voice, headed by Shamim Khan Kishawarz. This newly formed non-profit
organization, registered in 1998, has seven main directors along with
about 20 volunteers. Children's Voice is specifically geared
toward funding education for Afghan children in Pakistan and even trying
to set up schools in Kabul itself. Funds raised are used to buy school
supplies and compensate teachers. Kishawarz herself is an electrical
engineer in Silicon Valley. Her organization is currently hosting a
special project entitled "Sponsor a Child" where for $20 a month, aid is
sent to the kids either directly or through the schools they attend.
According to Kishawarz, the kids themselves are required to pay fees to
pay for rent of the school as well as the teacher's salaries, often
doing jobs such as rug weaving or vegetable selling to help pay for them. As
to the concert, she stated, "[it was] a great opportunity for
a fund-raising event, we sponsored some of the expenses...but regarding
the low turnout...things pass, we'll survive."
One would think that with the rising population of Afghans within the
San Francisco Bay Area would come the heightening of compassion for our
fellow Afghans. But all things aside, as the cliche' goes, "better late than
never..."
It is never too late to help out, even if it means simply passing the
word along to others that there are existing relief organizations out there.
The Ahmad Zahir tribute concert proved to be a success, as was clearly
seen through the smiles on people's faces as they exited the auditorium,
proving once again that sometimes emotional gratuity is the best kind.
As Kishawarz stated, "things will pass, we'll survive." The question
remains, can the survival of hungry children in the camps afford to
have us keep letting things pass? Ahmad Zahir, as told time and again, was a
caring, giving and loving person of his time. The commemoration of
Ahmad Zahir through this concert was meant to fulfill one of his many
wishes and hopes of continuing his philanthropy.
All of the organizers of the concert deserve a great amount of
recognition for their self-less deeds to Ahmad Zahir, the less fortunate
Afghans abroad, and to the entire Afghan community for shedding light on how
important a man Ahmad Zahir truly was. Yet today, in his absence, we are
only left to imagine whether Ahmad Zahir's soul, in their acts of
kindness, was touched or saddened?
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