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American Morning

The Wedding Singer, Kabul Style

Aired January 03, 2002 - 08:55   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Residents of Kabul, Afghanistan are finding new freedoms with the Taliban on the run there.

Jason Bellini is in Afghanistan's capital, where many traditions are being restored, and among them, the tradition of the wedding singer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(AFGHAN MUSIC)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nurther Somati (ph) is the wedding singer. His was a profession gone out of style the last five years. Under the Taliban, singing music was as illegal as prostitution. Perhaps less harshly punished, but a no-no, nonetheless.

(on camera): What did you do at weddings during the Taliban?

NURTHER SOMATI, AFGHAN WEDDING SINGER: Our people were quiet.

BELLINI: No dancing?

SOMATI: No dancing. No music. Just people were quiet and nothing else.

BELLINI (voice-over): Nurther sings the traditional tunes the older generation still remembers, and the younger generation claps and dances to, even if they don't yet know the words.

Before going any further, you may be wondering, if this is a wedding, where are the women? What kind of wedding is this, anyway? Turns out the weddings in Afghanistan, the most traditional ones, are sex segregated affairs.

(on camera): All the men dance in one party and then all the women dance in another party?

SOMATI: Yes. Women dance at another party.

BELLINI (voice-over): This wedding party is more the equivalent of the bachelor party in western culture, though with a lesser chance of it getting out of hand. This groom will have a second party the next day, in another province a few hours from Kabul, where his bride's family lives.

There, rings will be exchanged and men and women will be together in one room. I'm told there will be music, but the real celebration is the one here, officiated by the wedding singer.

(on camera): The wedding singer put up this freshly painted sign just over a week ago, that says, "The office of musicians, now open for business." Here's the wedding singer himself. Hey, there.

He shut down his business about five years ago. Now he's developing a whole new base of clients. They operate out of this metal shed. It is actually a storage container from Russian times.

(voice-over): During the Taliban regime, Nurther took his band to Pakistan.

"I came back here to serve the people. The Taliban tried to defeat the traditions of our people," Nurther say. "We came back after the Taliban to restart them."

When I met Nurther and crew, they had, at that point, only performed for one wedding since reopening. Then a client came knocking, a man whose son was getting married. He wanted traditional local music and heard that here was where he could find it. Nurther and his band had a gig. The deal struck, the date set.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we'll be there, 9:00 Sunday. All right.

NURTHER: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

BELLINI (on camera): I'm told the party doesn't start until the music starts, and that's because neighbor will hear the music playing and know that it's time to come to the wedding.

(voice-over): Gradually, they arrive. By noon, the party was hopping. Then came lunch and then more dancing. Finally, a short ceremony to honor the groom. He received blessings from his friends. The wedding singer brings the party to its climax and winds up the celebration. This is a time for rebuilding in Afghanistan. Rebuilding traditions ain't a bad gig.

Jason Bellini, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: It certainly is a wide, wide world.

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