Dehradun, March 30
Fighting penury, personal tragedies and alienation, Kabootri Devi comes alive on stage. As the first notes of her song explode, breaking the stillness of the marquee, the audience revels in the power and beauty of a full-throated voice burnished to perfection and refinement.

Sad, but true. The plaintive voice of the enchantress and of others like her is in danger of going silent in coming days. Dehradun audience came face to face with this reality recently when at an event organised to discuss traditional folk songs organised by a central government women’s organisation, Mahila Samakhya.

At a time when Indian art is a highly marketed commodity in the global market, our traditional folk artistes possessing in their repertory several legendary and historical ballads are facing an uphill task. They are trying to make themselves relevant in the changed times. In Uttarakhand only a handful of traditional singers are left. “There is none to take forward the tradition of the famous Jusia Damain of Pithoragarh and balladeer Giri Raj and singer Kabootri.

“As of now, only 100 folk singers and performers are left, which is a worrisome. The singers have kept alive our tradition, culture and custom, reviving memories of a distant past, the memories which may have dulled with the passage of time. They also preserve our cultural values, our historical bearings,” stressed Dr Deva Bhatt Almora, a professor of Hindi at Kumaon University.

She has authored a book titled “Himalya Lok Jeevan.”

In Uttarakhand, the popular genres of songs are Jagars, Bhagnol, Chapeli, Chanchri, Sanskar geet. The themes are usually religious, of estrangement in love and bereavement, all set in the shringar ras.

The specialty of sanskar geet was that the ceremonies performed were rendered in the verse form so that women could pick up the practice without having to turn to pandits.

Instead of Sanskrit, the songs were in local languages making them popular. Till date the songs are sung in all homes at the time of ceremonies. “In Garhwal, the songs are called mangalik geet while in Kumaon these are called sanskar geet.

The jagars are based on lok gatha (folk tales) and Puranic stories. They are dedicated to devtas such as Ganganath, Golu, Sham Devta and Ma Nanda (Parvati), Garh Devi, and Kela Bisht,” said NK Hatwal, a writer.

The life of fairs and festivals, the songs in Uttarakhand had a special place for women who through spontaneous singing gave birth to a genre called neoli (named after a bird) of which Kabootri Devi is a famous exponent. The songs sung by women are sentimental and poignant and a means of expression in a patriarchal society.

“The women sang to their heart’s content while performing tasks in forests. “Women were often subservient to men. They were second-class citizens. They could not go to public places and forests were the only means where they felt emancipated. Neoli became the sole domain of women. Expressing sorrow, estrangement, happiness was an uplifting experience for them. Later, the songs were set to haunting melodies,”said Dr Deva Bhatt.

A bond is strengthened again and again when the song is passed on from mother to daughter. A folk singer from Sirola village in Almora, Nainath Rawal has cut 119 audio-cassettes since 89 with the K Series and T Series.

He has penned several lyrics that he may have heard from his family members. The themes are varied based on dant kathas (tales passed through word of mouth from generation to generation) and tales from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. He is unhappy at the way the markets are now flooded with hybrid versions of folk songs.

Disapproving the “corrupt” version of folk songs that are now part of several film songs, he says: “A song writer today is blatant and crude. The compositions assail your senses,” said Nainath Rawal.

Experts now feel that the future of traditional songs is not secure. In Garhwal the 60-year patronage has come to an end with the demise of royalty and zamindars. The artistes could not come to terms with the sweeping changes around them and were pushed to the fringes of society, demotivated and driven to penury. The communities that took up singing comprised hudkiyas, damai, ghadiyala, oji, baajki, bedi, jhumriya, dhaki, bhan and mirasi.

Dr DR Purohit, Reader, HNB Garhwal University, says: “Even those who managed to get a break with AIR had to first learn classical music while others being uneducated could not adjust to the changed scenario. They are broken, shattered and demoralised, requiring intervention.

“I am optimistic that the new culture centres in Dehradun and Nainital can take up the cause of the artistes. They are ready to embrace the artistes but the latter need to get organised. Any intervention can be long-lasting if it is pushed from within the society. Governments have their limitations, their perfunctorily efforts can be of little help” he explained.

“A concerted effort from society can be of immense help. The ability of an artiste to market himself and yet retain his music is a tall order, but those artists at sea must respond to the challenge,” he added. 

Dehradun, March 30
Nehru Foundation for Youth Development (NF-OYD) staged a candle march against the state government’s decision to relocate the veterinary hospital, situated in the heart of the city, to a far off area in Transport Nagar, last evening.

The foundation had been agitating against the move for the past one week with an aim to make masses aware about government’s negligent attitude towards the pitiable condition of animals.

NF-OYD with the members of People For Animals (PFA) and other volunteers have been trying hard to negotiate this matter with the government and continued their Dharna for the 10th day.

“We have been trying hard to pursue the government, but till now nothing concrete has been done in our favour.

We want to highlight the matter at a broader canvas and we are glad that people took initiative to come and participate in this issue,” said Jitendra Chauhan, founder state president, NF-OYD.

The hospital established in 1948, on a piece of a donated land, it has provided relief to lakhs of animals.

But now the state government rather then renovating it with all the latest facilities is shifting it to a far of location and is also trying to build a mall with a parking facility here.

“Due to carelessness of the government, the lives of several animals are at stake. Instead of trying to build a State of Art hospital, they are planning to construct a mall and temporarily located veterinary hospital to a dingy area in a busy market,” said Jitendra.

Prior to the candle march, NF-OYD, PFA and other volunteers had burnt the effigy of CM, and shouted slogans against ruling BJP and State Animal Husbandry Minister.

“A week ago we had a meeting with Amit Negi, District Magistrate, who assured us that something positive would be done.

If incase governments attitude doesn’t change, we would continue with our demands, and even protest outside the Secretariat,” said Jitendra.