Kutumba collaborates at Gurukul

SEP 05 -
Pleasant music from traditional instruments welcomed the audiences to the Rimal Theatre at Gurukul on Saturday. In addition to the regular Kutumba instrumental, this time, the band had collaborated with singers like Garima Shah and Mica Sundari.

As usual, the music from traditional instruments—sarangi, arabajo and different percussions—by Kutumba created magic. Nevertheless, the tunes of the guitar played by Ashish chitrakar and Arun Gurung, fitted well and created a harmonious fusion of Eastern and Western music on the stage.

Kutumba’s performance with Mica Sundari was remarkable. Mica took the stage and pleased the audience with her exceptional performance, albeit with a Nepali that was infused with a Japanese tone. In her version of Resham Firiri, she made an effort to encompass the languages of different ethnic groups of Nepal—an attempt that has not been made even by a Nepali. She not only weaved the languages into the song, but also managed to keep the indigenous tunes of these groups untouched. This was supplemented by the excellent music composition from Kutumba. Together, they took the audience from a Gurung village to Janakpur and Solukhumbu.

Garima Shah from the X-IT band also joined Kutumba and rendered her voice to a fusion of soft rock and local music. Then the band welcomed Sunit Kansakar on the sitar which gave a classical touch to the music. A group called Lyrics Inthependense recited poetry with music—it seemed more like rap; it was equally appreciated by the audience. “This is the first time I came to see Kutumba, and this is great,” said Susan Thapa from the audience, “I loved the fusion created in Garima’s songs.” The audience continued to grow even after the programme had continued for an hour. The numbers were big despite a high-priced ticket. People had to adjust with the overflowing hall and a hot environment; but the music was worth it all.

Posted on: 2010-09-06 07:50

Tracing the Esraj

FEB 04 -
Not too many of us know the Esraj well—the instrument’s sound could be well mistaken for that of the Sarangi or the Violin by ears less attuned to the sounds of various string instruments. But 2009 brought us Santosh Bhakta Shrestha’s album ‘Aroha’—possibly the best option for a thorough acquaintance with the instrument, as it is an Esraj exclusive. Featuring performances of Raga Jogkaunsh in three different paces, Raga Jaijaiwanti in Alaap (a rhythm-less free flow), and an Aarati of the popular ‘Raghupati Raghav’, the heart-rending tunes of the album will have you clearly distinguish the sounds of the Esraj.

Shrestha, a student of Badya Shiromani Mohan Prasad Joshi, and one of the few professional Esraj players in Nepal, has been trying to trace the true history of this instrument in Nepal. “According to what we know, the first Nepali to discover the Esraj was the painter Chandra Prasad Maskey. He brought the instrument to Nepal when he returned from Calcutta in 1928 after studying art and learning the Esraj there. Maskey taught the instrument to his student Hari Prasad Vaidya, a violinist and architect by lineage. But the instrument was formally played and promoted in Nepal by the Late Badya Shiromani Ganesh Lal Shrestha, the guru of my own teacher.”

An instrument native to India, the Esraj is played in the northern regions of Bengal, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, where it historically evolved from its ancestral avatar of the Sarangi. As history goes, the Sarangi, which was played in the courts and harems in India in the 1500s, was a vital instrument. But the Brahmans of the time declined to learn it as its strings were made of goat skin. Innovation to cross caste barriers gave birth to the Esraj—a variation of the Sarnagi with strings made of metal, and a body of rosewood (as compared to the common wood used for Sarangis).

Besides, the Sarangi was most difficult to learn—the instrument, being without a proper fingerboard of frets demanded one to place the cuticles upon the string and produce the sounds of the instrument by sliding the finger up and down the rough string, often causing the musician’s finger to disfigure. This was obviously ill-suited for the tender hands of upper caste people. The Esraj’s sitar-like neck with  well placed frets, however, allowed those born in the higher caste to easily produce and identify their notes.

The instrument certainly faced great obstacles due to caste barriers in the past. At present, however, its challenges are different. Enthusiasts in Nepal for the fascinating and engaging Esraj are limited to musicians trained at the Badya Shiromani Gharana. Of the handful of young people who know how to play the instrument here, Shrestha’s own student Suraj Nepal is one. And unlike most youth, Nepal has a different approach to it: “I saw the Esraj for the first time at a store, not in the school where I took music courses, and I simply fell in love with it. My tabla teacher introduced me to my guru Santosh Bhakta Shrestha, with whom I offer lessons at the Badya Shiromani Gharana in Patan.” The young player is keen on passing on his knowledge to the next generation. “Lessons on the Esraj should be given at the school level; I would teach it for free if it was included in the curriculum,” he says.

But a generation equipped with little patience may not be the ideal group to pass on the Esraj to. The Esraj would probably be most difficult to learn, too—one has to sit upright with his legs folded and the right one stretched four to five inches forward. Further, the instrument with its four main strings and 15 auxiliary ones has to be placed on the right ankle and rested on the left shoulder. Nepal himself found it tiring and difficult during the initial stage. “It takes about two years to get familiar with the bow movement itself, and this requires a lot of patience,” he says.

It is no wonder, then, that there are such few students learning the instrument. “People don’t have the time or patience these days, and they expect quick returns— a student would at most invest a year in learning an instrument and expect to play for money soon after. But it doesn’t work like that with the Esraj,” says Shrestha.

Enthusiasts, thus, are a rarity here. But Nepal hasn’t given up on his generation and strives to promote the instrument, gauging the tastes of his age group. He has joined hands with musicians Manoj Gautam (Tabla), Shyam Nepali (Sarangi) and Joe Brotto (his Italian student and musician) for the Eastern Bridge Project, an effort that envisions promoting traditional music among youth through creative fusion. Their album The Esraj Voice was completed recently and is going to be promoted in the West.

The Esraj thus lives on—its knowledge transmitted from teacher to disciple at the Badya Shiromani Gharana. Named after the title first bestowed upon the late Badya Shiromani Ganesh Lal Shrestha, the institution has lived up to its founding father by continuing to promote the Esraj. Though times have presented obstacles, as they have in the past, the traditional keepers of the Esraj here in Nepal have adjusted, just like the Brahmans in India did, to meet the challenges posed by society.

Fusion being the trend of this age, the Esraj might perhaps see its next

chapter in history as it traverses across cultures and continents, changing and evolving in unpredictable ways in the course of its journey.


Posted on: 2011-02-06 01:56