An Afghan violist and law student tells the story of how music helped liberate her from the constraints imposed on women by her traditional culture.
Music had always been Adiba’s salvation. A love of singing cultivated in childhood developed into teenage fantasies of pop stardom that helped her escape a chaotic and oppressive family life. With help from her secretly rebellious mother and against the odds, she enrolled at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music after undergoing three months of intensive study of “music theory, rhythm and time, Chopin, Beethoven.” A member of the persecuted Hazara Shiite minority, Adiba thrived in the uniquely egalitarian and coeducational atmosphere and soon made plans to learn viola and join Zohra, the school’s all-girls orchestra. Despite her successes—international music tours, study trips to Turkey and the U.S.—family and social dysfunction upended her victories. Although music went against the teachings of conservative Islam, Adiba’s mother supported her daughter’s activities by lying to male family members; however, she also used the daughter she loved—who helped support the family with a school stipend—as a “punching bag,” criticizing her for not being more respectful of traditions (like forced early marriage) that had kept her out of school and at the mercy of Islamic fundamentalism. Feeling pressured by her third husband’s family, Adiba’s mother demanded that she leave home on more than one occasion; yet each time—and determined to find her own path—the author held fast to her dreams of an education and a space to express her creativity. As she follows her struggles in search of freedom, the author reveals the deep and tragic cultural losses that accrue when patriarchy oppresses women. Adiba is now the co-conductor of Zohra.
An often wrenching but ultimately hopeful and inspiring memoir of determination.