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One hot afternoon in Pakistan, I was looking for a Public Call Office (PCO)
to make a telephone call. PCOs are usually one-desk offices with a
telephone and an operator, whose job is to dial your number and listen
to your conversation. They charge 5 rupees per local call. While
searching for a PCO, I was delighted to see the sign "Afghan
Cultural Saloon" surrounded by numerous signs for sale of
furniture, videocassettes, etc. All of a sudden it occurred to me that
the Afghan Cultural Saloon may be a treasure mine. I decided to go
inside the Saloon. My entrance woke up the owner from his afternoon nap.
The Saloon was a long triangular shaped room filled with Afghan
paintings, posters, postcards, books and the owner’s personal
collection of classic audio tapes. As I was looking at the posters, the
owner played an old tape of Ustad Natoo, which confirmed my hunch that I
had accidentally come upon a genuine Afghan art and music store.
At the Saloon, I learned about a music school next door. Upon
visiting the music store, I met a person who spent his evenings drinking
tea at various Afghan cultural centers. I was more than happy to spend
an evening with him. The cultural centers he would visit
included the Afghan French Alliance Center, the Irfan publication
office or the Ghourbat Theater, housed in a backroom of the Irfan
office. Please see the pictures below. |
