A Respite From the War.(radio program depicts life in Afghanistan)(Brief Article)

When Shirazuddin Siddiqi first heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he figured his radio program "New Home, New Life" was finished. Broadcast to Afghans by the BBC since 1994, the program mixes comedy, drama and farming tips in a soap opera about village life. It's wildly popular both in Afghanistan and in Pakistani refugee camps, where nearly 2 million Afghans live. But September 11 made Siddiqi, the director, reconsider its purpose. During a car ride, he began thinking about how his own relatives fled the Afghan civil war in 1992. First his family sought refuge in an abandoned building, narrowly missing two land mines. Then his 4-year-old son died of malaria. "I thought, 'That's our role now: using our own personal experiences to help people through this crisis,' " he says.

The new story lines reflect that approach. In one, an unfamiliar woman suddenly materializes in a village, asking a local resident for food and water. She's fled her home fearing an outbreak of war, and her family has found shelter in a ruined fort. But the abandoned building is surrounded with land mines, so locals call a team to help clear them away. In the end, the newcomers emerge from the minefield safely.

The drama is entertaining a near-captive nation. There are few sources of recreation in Afghanistan, given that the ruling Taliban regime has banned television, music and dancing (but not radio). Up to 15 million Afghans--about two thirds of the total population--find their escape in "New Home, New Life," which is aired in Pashto and Dari, the two main Afghan languages. About 600 letters, e-mails and calls pour into the BBC each month in response to the show. One Afghan man credited the drama with saving his life. He was locked in a ...