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Saregama in Dari and Pashto

BANGALORE: When one thinks of a musical stint abroad, Afghanistan is the last country one would want to go to.

But that is where young Hindustani vocalist Omkarnath Havaldar’s sojourn took him.

This 24-year-old Bangalorean is back from the war-torn country and says that the magic of music can at times rise above even life and death.

Ever since he returned after a teaching stint there, he has been getting emails from his students asking him to return for another round.

“I do hope I get the chance,” beams Omkarnath, showing an email from 14-year-old Waheedi, an upcoming vocalist and violin player in Kabul.

Omkarnath was part of a three-member team of artistes which recently visited the Afghan capital to teach music students.

The team was led by tabla maestro Samir Chatterjee, and the other member was a pianist from Kazakhstan, Ekaterina Mihailova.

Their visit was part of an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) to promote the musical rights of the Afghan people.

“Gun-toting security personnel were everywhere. Venturing out was at the risk of getting shot,” Omkarnath recalls.

So his stay in Afghanistan was restricted to teaching music, barring a public concert with Pt. Chatterjee and local Afghan musicians.

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