 At the age of 13, Zahir's family moved to Booksellers Avenue of Kabul and subsequently entered Isteqlal High School, earning the highest ranking in his class.Zahir didn't find school curriculum very interesting and often cut class to walk across the school to the public library and borrow books of his interest and read.Zahir was a mandolin player and a backup singer for Akbar Ramish at the Isteqlal High school shows celebrating Afghan Independence Day.