Homayoun Sakhi

Carrying Afghanistan Through the Rubab

Homayoun Sakhi’s journey with the rubab began when he was just ten years old. Being born into a music family, a path to music was encouraged, and what started as a childhood curiosity quickly turned into the defining rhythm of his life. He practiced for more than eight hours a day, carving out a devotion so deep that music became not just a craft, but a love that shaped everything that followed.

As those who are survived wars, he also lived through the different fazes of that experience. Having moved from Afghanistan to various countries before settling in America, where he found a community of those like him who tried to keep Afghanistan’s heritage alive.

For Sakhi, the rubab is more than an instrument, it is Afghanistan itself. As the country’s national instrument, its sound holds centuries of memory, struggle, and celebration. “When I play,” he says, “I feel connected to Afghanistan.” That connection is instinctive; Sakhi rarely reads musical notes. Instead, he relies on the melodies he has memorized over a lifetime, carrying them within him like a second language.

The current ban on music in Afghanistan weighs heavily on him. He sees it as a profound loss, but he refusing to let despair take hold. Instead, he is hopeful that the threads of Afghanistan’s musical culture will not break, hopeful that the next generation will keep the tradition alive.

That hope feels justified every time he opens his laptop to teach. He is the founder of Rubab Academy and teaches rubab online to young students around the world. Their interest surprises him, yet he understands it intimately: the desire to stay connected to Afghanistan, to hold on to something that feels like home.

In each lesson, and every performance, Sakhi isn’t just playing an instrument. He’s carrying a country’s sound forward.