AFGHAN DIARY " Ekta Kapoor and Kabul ki ek Kudi"

The letter K has been singularly lucky for Ekta. It has not only given her the “kewl” title of being the soap kueen of the Indian Television but also labelled her as the Asia`s most powerful kommunicator. She has been rewarded for her remarkable kontribution to the kommercial world with the Entrepreneur Of The Year award in 2001 and the Hall of Fame award in 2006.She has created history of sorts for being one of the youngest entrepreneurs of our time. She has kicked off as many as 20 soaps on 10 major Indian networks in a span of a decade … so much for her knack for choosing the kinkiest of stories with the most kamikaze kharacters , knit around the kernel of a home, (which kould be just anybodys home), with a keen feel of our pulse and the knowledge of what will keep us krazily glued to the idiot box.

The greatest raconteur of our times however has no idea how she is creating waves bigger than just that and may well be on her way of achieving a historical status along with no less than Muhammad of Ghazni and Genghis Khan. Names that at once create fear and awe and are held among the most powerful rulers of all times , in this context though as historical figures who lay sway across the mountains of Afghanistan and the plains of India and played a huge role in the evolution of the culture of the two countries .

Ekta’s repute is no less .Her influence in moulding and shaping the minds and tastes of the next generation, binding these two countries in a common kinship, will not be easy to discount in the distant future. Infact the extent of her presence across the formidable Hindukush is not just amazing it is shocking. The melting pot of all this action being a place she may love to call her home someday… Kabul.

Ekta is a powerful Kalashnikov that controls the valleys and mountains of Afghanistan today. Through its dangerous and craggy terrain, where even angels fear to tread, she is one woman who has managed to penetrate and dominate every heart with her absorbing dramas and heart wrenching family sagas. To utter astonishment one finds how cheap Chinese diesel generators , satellite connections, dish antennas have swamped these god forsaken places and kept even the most lost looking soul in the remotest corners surprisingly abreast of most modern changes all around the world - especially the soaps from India.

Despite blurring the Shakira’s bare torso, Afghanistan’s Tolo TV, faced legal action from Muslim clerics and the Culture Ministry for broadcasting 'inappropriate un– islamic pop concert as recently as in November 20. One of the station's female VJs was earlier murdered, after receiving threats for her un-Islamic behavior but no one has demanded for Tulsi or Parvati to be in a hijab yet. Infact the K series has perhaps got the biggest TRP ratings and a fan following that will take considerable effort to repel.

Tolo was launched in October 2004, as the first commercial television station to operate in Afghanistan by Saad Mohseni who had fled to become an Australian citizen during Taliban rule and returned to Kabul recently to give its audience a fresh lease of life. Apart from an initial contribution from USAID for setting up the project, Tolo TV has generated its entire income from the sale of advertising and production of programming content ever since. The K series have undoubtedly been one of its most successful ventures where 5 of Ekta’s major serials are being constantly dubbed in Dari( a local dialect) and relayed to the Afghan public with a time handicap of a year.

The new generation may not know a smattering of their history, (too painful to remember but in Tulsi , Kumkum ,Prerena and Parvati Bhabhi they have found parallel existence. They are glued to the idiot box evening after evening, devouring the strange twists and turns of fate of their favourite actors.

The desperate 2 lakh population of Faizabad for instance, the capital of the northern most provinces of Afghanistan depend on the local micro hydel project to supply them with a meagre 3000 watts power every evening. Electricity is scarce in these parts. Naturally just about two percent are its beneficiary. But the rest have garnered enough money to buy cheap Chinese generators to bring a little light in their life. These generators, despite consuming a fair amount of diesel help them to connect to the happenings of the rest of the world. Happenings not as serious as nuclear pacts. What interests them most are the soaps from India.

Gursheel Walia the creative head of a television channel may not agree that television is actually changing people’s lives but she then she hasn’t been to Afghanistan. “People relate to television,” she says, “but do not get inspired,” and that cannot be further from truth. Kabul literally stops from 6.30 to 8.30, and so does life in most of the other remote towns of Afghanistan where people have access to electricity. You will find little girls curling their locks and saying "nekka" imitating Komolika here and young boys whistling signature tunes from the various seriala, at street corners. Girls may set up a “ pooja thali” and play with diyas, (which are all un-Islamic so to say) and boys get together to water tulsi plants, just as they see being done in the serials. It does not end there.Hindi serials affcet their fashion sense as well. During the most recent celebrations of id the hottest trend for men in these parts have been the "Anurag Kurta”. “Women are not allowed to wear revealing clothes but some of us would like to dress up like them someday,” is what the women folk have to say.

The first question on their mind, for an Indian visitor will invariably be, “What is happening (to so and so)?” Like a beloved left behind in a far away country they are anxious and eager to follow the tear jerking tales of their favourite actors. With some perverse pleasure they vie to get a sneak peak into what calamity might have struck again in their lives. “Do they really live such complicated lives in India?” they enquire innocently. No, they cannot believe it is all reel life , purely melodrama, largely contrived. The women in khemr even have a word of advice for Tulsi who is the favourite . “She should not be such a forgiving diva, it is not good for her.” Komolika is as much hated and they demand such conniving characters be “left out” of the serials. Little realising much of the drama emanates form these very vicious vamps.

So great has been the Indian influence on Afghan culture in recent times that it has left the Afghan Parliament to debate on it. Despite being touted as a threat to local culture by the conservatives, Afghanistan TV , under Ekta’s influence has rectly launched its first indigenous homemade commercial serial in Dari and Pashto. “Palwasha",which is being aired from December 2007 is a serial that follows the parallel line of entertainment of tear jerking actions, melodramatic theatricals, echoing dialogues of Indian soaps ”, says Khaleej Times.

Television has always had far reaching impact on its audience. But what it is doing to Afghanistan right now is much more than just that. Sweeping through the minds of thousands of its beady eyed men and women, nurturing radically new habits and thinking, in remote, hostile, inaccessible, far flung regions, it is creating history, and partaking in the evolution of a new culture. Good or bad is another story.

The question is how long will it be before one of those women in burkas throw it away and claim her life ? How long before Ekta dedicates her script to that woman in her next smashing hit, Kabul ki ek Kudi.