Here are two more proverbs from the book Zarbul Masalha:

Good language is the comfort of life, bad language is the enemy of life.

Zaban-e koob raa-hat-e jaan, zaban-e bad doshman-e jaan.

This first proverb explains the value of language and good manners in the Afghan culture and the extreme respect and care for the quality of communication. The writer explains later in the page dedicated to this proverb that “speaking rudely makes enemies and will damage your life”.

From my point of view, this is a perfect fit for the concept of writing and blogging. When I sit and write just like what I am doing now, I can focus on the meaning of each word and avoid running over my thoughts and using “bad language”.

The second proverb is:

Respect to others is respect of oneself.

Ehteraam badigaraan, ehteraam ba khod ast.

Cultural differences can be a hurdle to overtake. Trying to find common ground with people of different language, culture and religion can at times seem impossible, especially under the pressure of violence and fear. Afghanistan is known as the most difficult place to live because of its complex history or wars, tribal divisions and cultural differences. But with a solid base of respect and care for others, all hurdles can be overtaken. The best people to teach and educate others about respect are women. This is why it is extremely necessary to empower women and give them the tools to achieve this purpose.

The biggest effort of Film Annex's presence in Afghanistan and other countries in the region is to follow the two proverbs above: good language and respect. By doing so, Film Annex has been able to learn a great deal of information on Afghanistan and Central-South Asian cultures and improve its global view on social media and software development.