The story of Indian tribes, especially nomadic, is a complex one. A way of life that has become difficult to sustain due to current socio-administrative pressures, combined with a diminishing recognition of their existence by the larger populace, has prompted husband-wife duo Meenakshi and Vinay Rai, through their organisation Chinh, to resort to the most popular form of cultural storytelling to help their cause — music. Chinh's ‘positioning local in global' initiative Nomadic Orchestra of the World (NOW) recently put up a performance, ‘Moksh', at the India International Centre lawns, where musicians from the Kalbeliya, Bhopa and Banjara communities from Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh respectively put up a unique jugalbandi.
Unique, because, as Meenakshi informs us, these tribes don't see eye-to-eye. “They don't sit together, they don't play together,” she says. So, the musical instruments on stage are also seldom seen together, says Vinay – the been and bapang , for example. There are other complexities in the fusion, too, like the Banjaras' two dialects. “This is a confluence not only of dialects but also of cultures,” Meenakshi says. Seven years of research got condensed into NOW.
“We've seen that in places like Greece and Italy, the condition of nomads is worse off than in India. Nobody even knows they exist… We've come to the point where the whole world will struggle with the question, ‘What do we do with the nomads?' The respect and dignity they deserve is an important part of the orchestra,” says Meenakshi. Sometimes, as with the popular folk song “Bam Bam Lahiri'”, poetry composed by the people at Chinh is taken up by the performers to be woven into their traditional compositions. The focus isn't diluted though — the poetry deals with the particular group's way of life. “Being a poet, it was interesting to weave dull research into lyrics and give it back to them,” says Meenakshi. “This song (“Bam Bam Lahiri”) has woven what generations and generations of the community have been doing in two antaras .”
The song, “Chirmi”, is a tribute to the sacred Chirmi beads that are on the verge of disappearing due to mining activity in the Aravallis. (Interestingly, these beads are also attached to the insides of the nomads' musical instruments.)
Chinh is also working with the Bawariya, a hunting community that has lost its source of livelihood due to the Wildlife Act. Though these nomads aren't known as musicians, Meenakshi and Vinay say they have managed to create a unique music from jungle sounds that the Bawariyas are experts in. Through years of research and working together, discoveries have kept knocking and have been welcomed. “You know, there are 10 versions of ‘Chirmi', but when you start recording in the studio all of them have practically the same duration!” exclaims Vinay.
Recording presents its own challenges. “In one instrument, nobody knew which part of the instrument the sound came from – the bamboo, the string or the leather. It was tough, but we finally figured it out,” he says. The snake charmers' been has a different scale, “which makes it difficult to integrate it with Western or Indian classical music,” Vinay adds. There have been discoveries at a personal level too. “They've killed our love for structures, with their ability to move on and lose what is theirs,” Meenakshi says.
The cause of the tribes' welfare, the couple assures, is not without a practical footing, as the purpose is to create livelihood for them and not just raise awareness. “We've introduced some of their musical instruments in a few schools here. This way, we're creating a demand for folk teachers,” says Meenakshi. Also coming up is a new CD, which is a fusion of nomadic and rock music.
Fusion acts have a downside; one aspect, consciously or unconsciously, ends up overpowering or drowning another. A conscious effort has been made to avoid this. New avenues are being explored; they're trying to make filmmakers see the possibility of using popular folk compositions, like “Bam Bam Lahiri”, in film and theatre productions. (NOW performed at the last International Film Festival of India in Goa.)
Another interesting project, ‘Poetry Folktold', sees poetry being sung in the Bhopa style, an example being “Jab main na rahoon”, written by Meenakshi Rai, rendered in the voice of veteran Suraj Bhopa.
NOW will be visiting Greece this year, in what will be the second-phase training, and “Egypt is waiting.” The ultimate aim is to integrate 500 nomadic musicians from 15 nations around the world into one ‘Mahasangam' by 2015.
