Tapping the rhythms
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Beat of India brings artistes of Malwa to the Capital to showcase their traditions.
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While, music is their mainstay, Dayaram Saroliya proudly says he is also a member of his village panchayat.
TRADITIONS AND SEASONS Folk singer from Malwa region, Kaluram Bamnia in performance.
These songs literally move you. They transport the listener to rustic outdoors. Originating from the Malwa region, singers Kaluram Bamnia and Dayaram Saroliya left the audience spellbound at India's Habitat Centre the other day. Their tunes create village spaces. Their songs evoke the cycles of seasons and life. Beat of India brought these artistes from Malwa to Delhi for the release of their albums Koi Sunta Hai Gurgyani (a tribute to Kumar Gandharva) and Arara Sankharya (folk songs from Malwa).
Before the performance, Kaluram Bamnia speaks about his art. Having learnt his kala from his ancestors, he explains that the two paths of devotion are nirgun and sagun. The Kabirpanthis of Malwa believe in the nirgun, where God is understood in negatives, as in without form and even inconceivable. In his musical renditions it's clear that his music is his religion and philosophy.
He started accompanying his musician uncle and father on the manjeera at the age of nine and has been performing since then.
He sings compositions by Kumar Gandharva while clapping the kartal and playing the stringed tambur. Other musicians accompany him on the violin, the harmonium, the tabla, the bongo and the dholak. The compositions begin with a Kabir couplet before taking off into a full-bodied song.
For every occasion
Dayaram Sarolia explains that he sings songs about festivals, traditions and the seasons. He says simply, "This is the heritage I have learnt from my grandmother."
Is folk music finding it hard to survive? They both assert, "Lok sangeet na ghat-ta hai, na badhta hai, barabar chalta hai."
They seem unfazed by the Bollywood influences on music, confident that classical and film music are born out of the folk tradition. While, music is their mainstay, Saroliya proudly says he is also a member of his village panchayat.
His folk songs are rich in imagery and heavy in Rajasthani dialect. He welcomes Indra (the god of rain).
He smiles nostalgically when singing about girls laughing on a swing, post-rains.
His songs treat life with an experienced simplicity. Music is found in death in a masanya song.
Organised effort
Describing the work of Beat of India, Shefali Bhushan CEO, explains that folk concerts have been reduced to a tourist level. Most artistes are aged 75-plus and unable to sustain themselves. She personally travels into the interiors of North India to locate and identify artistes. Her team then makes a field recording of the work, believing, "Studios kill the soul of music." Discussing the singers from Malwa, she says that in Madhya Pradesh, unlike in other states, many practicing artistes can be found. "It's not a battle for food," she explains, as they are better organised. The albums are made available for sale through beatofindia.com. A substantial amount of the royalty is then sent back to the artistes. She specifies, "We are not just preserving the music, we are sustaining the artistes."
NANDINI NAIR
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