Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Dari and English, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

“NATURAL MAGNETISM!” - Los Angeles Times

“…MESMERIZING PERCUSSION OF TABLA” - Theater Review

“MAGIC!” - San Jose Mercury News

“…FAST FLYING FINGERS SEEM TO DEFY HUMAN DEXTERITY” - Cleveland Jewish News

The pulsating sound of drums, the world’s oldest musical instrument, is like the rhythmic beating of our hearts. And in the pure hearts of the Afghan people, music forever resonates.

Elegant viewers, welcome to today’s Enlightening Entertainment as we journey on melodious notes to the culturally-rich land of Afghanistan, where the drumming of the tabla reveals the epic history and vibrant heritage of this ancient people. Our 2-part program features tabla virtuoso Salar Nader, who translates beats and rhythms into a heartfelt experience through his drumming.

He is one of the most sought-after percussionists of his generation, having performed throughout the world and with some of the most esteemed classical musicians such as popular Afghan ghazal singer Ahmad Wali, and master Pakistani vocalist Ghulam Ali Khan to name a few.

Hailed by the media as a “singular sensation”, Salar Nadar composed music and performs on the tabla drums for the theatrical adaptation of renowned Afghan author Khaled Hussaini’s #1 best-selling novel, “The Kite Runner.” Salar Nadar has graciously set aside his time to share with Supreme Master Television his love for his art and culture.

The audiences’ reaction always intrigued me, and as a child, I had no idea what the give and take was between performer and audience member. So when I noticed that, I was only 8 or 9 years old, but I am actually entertaining people who are 3 or 4 times my age, I felt an immediate satisfaction.

Born in Germany to parents who were both from Kabul, Afghanistan, this musical prodigy eventually settled with his family in California, USA, but remained faithful to his ancestral roots.

Well, having grown up in Germany and the States, what was the reason or inspiration for you to pursue traditional and folk Afghan music versus more of a Western style?

Yes. Well, Afghan music, it’s actually very dominant and predominant in every Afghan household. For me, it was actually a very early calling. Very early on, my father introduced me to the harmonium and tabla, and when I was 6 or 7 years old, I was introduced to Ustad Zakir Hussain, so I started studying very early in my childhood.

While growing up in the United States, Salar spoke Farsi at home, English at school, and in his classes with Ustad Zakir Hussain, he learned the language of music, in particular the language of tabla bols, which is the spoken, rhythmic system of North Indian percussion.

I didn’t know that I really had the talent, I was just really drawn to it, but I guess people around me felt like I did. I was very passionate about it from day one I would say. Yes, it wasn’t really like my soccer ball or my baseball mitt which I’d only pick up like whenever the season was happening; tabla was always in season.

At a tender age, Salar’s talent and passion for playing the tabla were already apparent. When world-renowned classical musicians visited the United States, Salar had the great honor to accompany them. By the time he was twelve, Salar had provided percussions for respected Afghan singers Farida Mawaash, Ahmad Wali, legendary Pakistani vocalist Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, and his gifted sons Shafquat, Sharafat, and Sukhawat.

Did your parents play instruments as well, he taught you?

My father would sing Afghan folk in the house and not really professionally, I mean he really aspired to become a professional singer in Kabul in the late 70s actually, and due to what was happening at that time his dream actually really fell short, he was really not able to pursue it at all.

So, when I was born he, he still, till today says that he was trying to live his dream through me, be it vocal music or percussion and eventually, when he noticed that I had the passion for percussion and table, he knew that I had to be groomed by one of the best and a master.

Ustad Zakir Hussain is considered a tabla maestro and highly regarded around the globe as a musical phenomenon. In his native country of India, he is considered a national treasure for his musical genius and brilliant performances.

His contributions to world music are heralded as historic works of art with which he has teamed up with a wide range of artists that includes George Harrison, Yo-Yo Ma, Van Morrison, Mickey Hart, Pharoah Sanders and many others. Ustad Zakir Hussain’s collorabative albums, “Planet Drum” and “Global Drum Project” both earned the prestigious Grammy Awards.

His beautiful tabla performances can be heard in several movies, such as Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” and Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Little Buddha.” The widely respected Ustad Zakir Hussain accepted the promising Salar as a student when he was only seven years old to begin his classical music training.

I’ve been so blessed to have been introduced and met him when I did as a child because he’s been the one and only person who’s actually guided me all my life, as far as my music is concerned and the tradition I come from is the guru shishya parampara which is the teacher-student tradition.

Which, even here today in California or no matter where you are in the world, you still practice this tradition, and it’s just submitting yourself to your teacher and to the knowledge that’s being passed down to you, and preserving it and just cherishing every moment you have with your teacher.

Normally, students are only initiated through the sacred ghandaband ceremony after years of study, but impressed with Salar’s natural musical intuition, Ustad Zakir Hussain took him under his guidance and became the twelve-year-old’s guru. Salar Nader is considered one of Ustad Zakir Hussain’s most talented protégés.

He has such a relaxed approach and friendly approach to his students and he makes you feel so comfortable. Of course, when you realize how much knowledge and performances and experience he has, it’s very humbling as a student. But he has a really, really beautiful saying and he says, himself, Zakir Ji says that, “It’s always good to remain a student and try to be the best student possible, because this life is an entire learning experience.”

Salar’s mother and father not only secured their talented son’s musical future through the tutelage of Ustad Zakir Hussain, but as wise parents, they fostered in him the admirable qualities of hospitality and humility that is a trademark of the noble Afghan people.

They didn’t know that I was actually going to become a professional musician, so they didn’t want to get me used to being paid for performances as a child.

They made sure that I donated to charity all of the time, regardless if it was a concert that was for a charity helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Afghanistan or outside, or if it was just a concert that I’d been invited to perform for, they always made sure and it was great because I felt really, really good about it. I was never into the dollars and cents, I was always more into performing and that was always a plus because that also kept my passion. It never turned into a job.

I’m actually involved with Most recently, the Pakistani flood victims, just a week ago in Louisville, Kentucky, we had a charity where we donated a percentage of ticket sales to the flood victims and then also I donated all proceeds of CDs sales for that weekend to the Pakistani flood victims.

So, I’m very active and someone who’s very, very much influenced me these days and made me more active is actually my wife. She also was recently in Haiti and working there, so we both try to do our part when it comes to worldly causes.

One of the causes dearest to Salar’s heart now is serving as an ambassador for Afghan music and culture through his tabla playing. By sharing the common humanity and rich heritage of the Afghan people with the world, Salar helps to foster understanding and friendship.

The tabla is known for being at least eight to nine hundred years old. But its predecessors are actually up to thousands of years old, and in the Indian tradition, the instrument, the pakhawaj and the mridangam, are actually used in the mythology in India. And then in Afghanistan, it’s been something that has been traded. I think its way of origin was through the Silk Road.

So, you know, they were constantly trading instruments and whatnot and instruments and cultures were influencing each other, at least along those border cities, I think. And in the last hundred years or so, the tabla has actually shrunk in height and it’s become a little more compact.

And that’s not just so we can get on Jet Blue and United flights and fly around with these guys. It’s so that the tonal possibilities have been expanded in both drums. The drum has a range of notes and tonal possibilities. That’s what’s so distinct about the tabla in comparison to any other percussion in the world.

Please join us for the conclusion of our program featuring gifted tabla player Salar Nader and the beauty of Afghan music on Saturday, December 18.

For more about tabla virtuoso Salar Nader and his performances, please visit:

It was a pleasure to have your company today. Coming up next is Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News, here on Supreme Master Television. May all be uplifted through celestial music.