Today’s
Enlightening Entertainment
will be presented
in Dari and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Indonesian,
Japanese, Korean,
Malay, Mongolian,
Persian, Portuguese,
Russian, Spanish
and Thai.
Welcome
warm-hearted viewers.
Today, we invite you
along on a visit
to Afghanistan
to make new friends
and have a glimpse
into the real daily lives
of the Afghan people.
On the streets of Kabul,
we met two frequent
foreign visitors
to Afghanistan
from the United States
and Greece who shared
their impressions.
I’m from Los Angeles,
California [USA].
We find the people
very friendly
and very helpful to us.
Yeah, I found
the cashews are good!
I am from Greece.
And I find
this place interesting.
Its people are very nice.
Culture is
very interesting too.
The food is
very nice, very nice.
I am from Greece,
like I told you,
same cooking, so I like it,
has good taste.
The naan? Naan is good.
If you’re hungry,
you just eat one naan,
you don't need
anything else, you're good
for the whole day.
Naan, or bread,
sure sounds delicious.
Pretty soon,
we were lured by the smell
of fresh-baked naan
and other delicious treats
being sold
along the streets of Kabul.
Viewers
of Supreme Master TV!
Some of the foods of…
or dining products that
are sold in Afghanistan,
one of them is the fig,
which is relatively first…
it is moist…
After being collected
from the trees, they dry it.
They put it in the sun,
after that...
It is like… shriveled, and
from inside, all of them
are interconnected…
something dry,
very simple…
also it is very sweet
and relatively useful.
Can you tell me
how much do you sell
for a kilo of it?
How many people buy this?
Dear brother,
a kilo costs 250 afghani.
People make use of it well,
they buy it more, because
it is very curative
for the illnesses.
Sportsmen use it very much.
When I sell daily,
I get 400, 500 afghani…
People buy figs a lot,
I sell four or five kilos
a day.
As he said, the people
who use it a lot
are the athletes, I think…
Is it allowed
if I eat one of them?
Very… very sweet.
Very nutritious.
Well, Fawad!
Can you talk about
these walnuts, pistachios,
peanuts and figs,
and these dried fruits
that you have,
when do people use them?
The people of Afghanistan
use it very well because
it is their native product.
And they use peanuts
when the weather
is a bit colder.
And dried fruits are like
pistachio and almonds…
Salty pistachio, walnuts,
peanuts, almonds,
raisins, chickpeas,
these are used very well
When the weather is cold
because they are warming.
Those guests who
go to the friends’ house,
always use these
and eat them with tea.
And also
foreigners use them.
They (dried fruits)
go to China, to Russia…
Then it goes to Iran more,
people use them as such.
In India also people buy.
Prune is also
Afghanistan’s fruit.
Someone who has got fever
or beaten by fever,
use this and buy it
for curing headaches.
My name is
Hashmat Khalil,
one of the shopkeepers
in Sahrenaw.
This is one
of the Afghan desserts,
which is made from cane.
And in the province
of Jalalabad,
it is sowed and
is obtained from cane, and
people of Afghanistan
like this very much…
which especially
they buy for breakfast.
And after meals
people also buy it for tea.
They boil cane, and then
after it is boiled very well,
it reaches ripeness.
Then it changes into gur,
which is
made of cane water.
It tastes sweet like sugar.
In Kabul, we also met
some new friends
who welcomed us
with Afghans’
famous hospitality.
Meet Mr. Ghulam Mohd
Malikyar,
executive director of
Save the Environment –
Afghanistan, and
his son Nejat Malikyar,
a university student.
Tea is the first hospitality
in Afghan cultures.
Anytime you come
to a house or to visit
relatives or friends,
the first, without question
and without asking,
they bring you tea,
tea with candies,
tea with sweets
or without any sugar,
but tea is the first sign
of hospitality.
Then at lunch time,
they insist the guests
not to leave
to have lunch together.
If the guest have some
other important jobs,
he can go, but normally,
the host insist guest to stay.
In the morning
and during day time,
when you’re tired,
tea is the… (Anytime.)
Anytime you drink tea.
And what kind of tea
do you drink?
Black and green tea.
Normally after a meal,
we have fruits,
but depends to
the personal appetite.
Also, they grow
some kind of vegetables
in their yards just
for their guests, actually,
not for their own self.
Like cucumber, carrot,
something else.
This the major habits
of Afghan people.
In Afghan culture,
the table spread or setting
is on the floor.
It is called dastarkhan.
No matter what
one’s economic status,
creating a beautiful
and abundant dastarkhan
is important,
especially for guests.
On a large cloth,
the foods are arranged
for the guests
to easily access
the special foods.
The foods,
they are like vegetables.
Actually we should
explain the vegetables
that contains salads
and carrot, lemons…
In a napkin of Afghans,
usually we put bread.
Another thing
that we call it, I don't know
what other people call it,
it has vinegars
and many thing else,
we put vinegar, carrot, and
other kind of vegetables,
natural vegetables, salad,
we make,
and we can call it achar,
this is achar.
And this is the cauliflower
that we with can make it.
Afghan people
like these things actually.
This table spread
of Afghan foods –
salad, the pickle or achar,
and cauliflower curry, are
traditional favorite foods
among Afghan people.
All of the family
should be here
in one place to eat
because filial feelings
is more important
for Afghan people.
If you’ve ever gone
to any shops that people,
like, are their working,
cooperating
with each other,
four, five persons
will be eating
from the same dish,
all of them in one time
with hands.
But some people
like to eat with spoon,
but a lot of people like to
eat with hands actually,
because they tell
that the taste will be
more than with a spoon,
it's a kind of habit gotten
from fathers actually.
Nejat mentioned that
the pure original customs
of Afghanistan
can be found
in the rural areas.
Let’s find out by
exploring outside Kabul.
Mr. Ali Hussain Bigzad,
a finance officer
for the governor
of Bamyan Province,
invited us
to a beautiful village
in Bamyan.
The peaceful
Shah Foladi Village
in central Afghanistan is
240 kilometers northwest
of the capital Kabul.
An elder of the village,
Mr. Haji Izzatullah,
welcomed us
in his household, where
his friends have gathered
to pray and enjoy
one another’s company.
It is our Islamic belief
that we should
come together.
We have prayers.
How many days are left
for Muharram (month)?
Thursday, on Thursday
we have a reading here.
During Muharram
We have ten religious days.
The villagers mainly
are crop farmers.
The situation of farmers
currently has been
in good condition,
with God’s benevolence.
Our condition is good.
Potatoes…
what else is there?
Lucerne (alfalfa)…
among other herbs.
There’s lucerne (alfalfa).
Then, there is lentil,
beans… and things like that
are among the cereals
that we sow.
From potatoes then,
people prepare their
evening food of course
of different kinds…
They make bolani
(bread with vegan filling),
they make chips,
and then some families
prepare some
other things as well.
From wheat, they get flour
and make bread.
The women of
the Shah Foladi Village
are strong and devoted
in their daily work.
The labor of love
of the women
who wear colorful
and beautiful attire
maintain the smooth life
of the entire village.
As for the children,
they go to school
and are raised
with a lot of love.
Well, they are our children.
We love them more than
the light of our eyes.
We try to educate them,
raise them
with a good education…
Even though
they’re younger, we won't
get angry with them.
We don’t beat them,
don’t threaten them
because it will
weaken their morality.
Here in rural Afghanistan,
we learned
more about the
specially warm traditions
of welcoming guests.
The guest comes,
we step out of the door,
we welcome the guest.
“Please!
you have brought purity!
Please sit down.”
They sit down.
We give respect, we offer
some food for them,
we offer them some tea.
Then, we would try
if it was late,
to have the guests
sleep over night.
If the guest intended to go
we escort them
to the door.
“Welcome! Goodbye!
Go in God’s shelter!”
We were also invited
to another delicious meal
upon another
beautifully laid out
dastarkhan (table spread).
Before starting the meal
or the foods,
so, there is a custom
that we wash hands
of the guest or or others
who are going
to have a meal.
Yes, this is the custom.
It is as usual
for the foreigners
and also for the families,
yes, the same.
BBefore starting the foods
and after having
the lunch or dinner
or breakfast, just
we will wash the hands.
After sharing this
delicious meal together in
the delightful countryside,
we learned that
it really is more delicious
to eat with the hands!
Later, Haji Izzatullah
and friends enjoy
naan and tea together.
In the village market,
another family-run
naan bakery here is
enjoying a constant flow
of customers.
The baker,
Mr. Muhammad Jan,
proudly introduced
his daily specialty.
This is the bread
often used among people
in Afghanistan.
This is the bread
that people use, and then
the whole people
of Bamyan…
In any part of Afghanistan,
it is this bread
that people use.
It is an ordinary bread.
It’s been nearly 30 years
that I'm in this work.
This is my job as a baker.
I’m flattening
the bread here.
I'm doing the roller’s job.
Well, there is nothing else
really special about it.
I flatten it,
I design it, then…
Everyone has a job here.
Well, when you use
this design for this,
does it help in the baking
of the bread?
Like the way
the bread should be baked?
Whatever people like,
we do it accordingly.
Twenty-five of them
get baked in this oven.
In a day, how many breads
do you do bake?
In one day…
two thousand breads.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Thank you as well.
Greetings,
Greetings.
Thank you as well
for coming
and asking about us.
We are very thankful
to you. We are happy.
We hope you return
to your homeland in safety.
As we left, the warmth
of the lively naan bakery
at the marketplace
accompanied us
all the way back
to the capital city, Kabul.
With deep thanks
and best wishes
to all our new friends,
may Allah bless
the Afghan people with
abundant peace and joy.
Kind viewers, thank you
for your company today.
Now, please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television for
Words of Wisdom,
after Noteworthy News.
May your heart
be carefree and happy.