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Journalism of Courage
When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, it changed the lives of citizens. Music found no space under the Taliban rule as they imposed a harsh interpretation of the Islamic law.
A musician from Afghanistan, who used to play the violin, had to leave his beloved instrument behind when he fled the country to reach the US. A stranger then coordinated to give him a 110-year-old antique violin and also documented his story on Twitter.
Latif Nasser, a writer and co-host at Radiolab, shared how last year, a co-worker randomly asked him to hand deliver an antique violin across the country. Last May, he went to a work retreat in upstate New York and a sound designer on his show pulled him aside and asked him for a favour.
The sound designer, Jeremy S Bloom, had heard through a friend about an Afghan violinist who had just escaped from Kabul and settled in LA, where Nasser lives. Bloom wanted to give him a beautiful 110-year-old violin that he used to play.
When Nasser got home, he tried to coordinate the delivery of the violin via WhatsApp but it took weeks. They eventually found a time for a drop off. Nasser pulled up to his house and he was waiting outside. He was way younger than he had expected. In his mid-20s, he seemed shy but was immensely grateful.
His name was Ali (aka @ALIESMAHI). He reached the US a few months prior under one of those Special Immigrant Visas. The reason he fled was because of the Taliban who despises musicians and has even killed them in the past.
Ali told Nasser he was alone in LA as he had no family and friends. He lived in a tiny house with four roommates, who mostly speak Spanish, while he doesn’t. He only had a phone but no computer, car or money and just a few clothes. He just ate eggs for every meal. Ali told him he worked part time and had no control over his shift timings, that’s why it was hard for them to arrange a meeting.
Ali worked in the stockroom of a major clothing company store and a little tablet told him what boxes to move and timed him. It was a physical, stressful and lonely job, he said.
Nasser handed him his gift, the violin, but couldn’t stop thinking about him. He invited him home for dinner a few nights later.
When he came home, Nasser and his wife cooked him a meal and he told them his story. He was a celebrity in Afghanistan, the violinist for the on-screen backup band for their version of American Idol, called Afghan Star. It was the number one show in the country and he did it for five seasons. “Most people in Afghanistan know my face,” he said.
In 2013 he even toured the US. Played at the Carnegie Hall in NYC, the Kennedy Centre in DC, the New England Conservatory in Boston. He also toured East Africa but he always returned to Kabul as it was his home, where he loved to study and play music.
“That all stopped when the Taliban took back over. He took all the musical instruments and sheet music in his house and burned it. He was about to burn his violin too, but stopped short. He just couldn’t bear to do it. So he hid it,” Nasser wrote further.
When it was time to escape, he was worried about being stopped and searched at Taliban checkpoints so he left his violin behind. It took him a year or so to get to the US and he barely played violin that whole time.
After that dinner, Nasser invited him over every week. Sometimes he would show them old clips and sometimes he would bring his violin. The first thing he played for them was Despacito.
Nasser managed to get him an immigration lawyer, a laptop, some clothes, a few rounds of groceries, and a few decent meals.
Since then, Ali has done much more for himself. He got a green card, a driver’s license, a bank account and a car. He got a more stable job at a big downtown hotel as a food expeditor, preparing room service trays.
However, while he is grateful for his job and sends every penny he saves to his family in Kabul, he still yearns to study music at The Juilliard School, Berklee College of Music or New England Conservatory.
Nasser also posted photos with Ali as they celebrated his one-year anniversary in the US. Nasser wants to raise money for him so that he can continue the violin lessons that he had to stop for two years.
In the end, Nasser also posted a video of Ali playing the antique violin that he was gifted at his house.
