northeast india

19 CULTUREART, MUSIC, DANCESATURDAY, AUG 13, 2011

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in Delhi over the last 60 years”. Hisassociation with her goes back to the1940s. After four years of teachingKathak in Delhi, Maharaj decided toreturn to his hometown, Lucknow.There, he met Kanti VeerGupta who insisted he goback to Delhi and meethis sister Sumitra CharatRam. “Since my uncle, PtShambhu Maharaj, wasalready here and stayingin a room at her CurzonRoad bungalow to teachKathak to youngsters, Itoo decided to try myluck,” he says. “And be-cause I used to addressher brother as ‘chacha’(uncle), Sumitraji kohum bua kehne lage (Istarted calling Sumitrajiaunt). Over the years, Isaw the immense respectshe had for all artistes.She may not have beenone herself, but with heranubhuti (experience)and discerning eye, she promotedtrue artistes and the purest form ofthe arts — be it kathak, chhau, odissi. Fusion unhe pasand nahintha (She didn’t care for fusion)."

When the family’s Curzon Roadhouse was sold, Sumitra Charat Ramopened the Bharati Kala Kendra onPusa Road in 1952 with thumri singer

Naina Devi as its resident director.“Bua had gathered so many greatartistes under one roof — kathakdancer Uma Sharma, vocalist Mush-taq Ali Khan saab and Shambhu Ma-

haraj of course,” recallsMaharaj. When the institution moved to its current location inMandi House, many ofthese stalwarts movedon, but always stayed intouch, says Singh. Maharaj adds, “TheShankar Lal Music Festival and the RamLila and Krishna dance dramas she startedwith Shobha’s help willalways be part of anytrue art-lover’s calen-dar,” says Maharaj.

“My mother was theone who reinstitutedthe Kathak style ofdance in Delhi and gotin some of the bestteachers like Lachhu

Maharaj, Mohan Rao Kalyanporkarand Sunder Prasad,” says Singh. “And it was with her efforts that someof the best dance dramas, Malti Madhav, Kumar Sambhav, Shaan-e-Awadh, were created that producedartistes like Kumudini Lakhia, PratapPawar and others. Her contributionhas been immense.” �

RUHI BATRATIMES NEWS NETWORK

Tales of how even a taxi driverin Shillong can hold forth onJohn Lennon are not urbanlegend. In a city where chil-dren learn to strum a guitar assoon as they begin to walk,

music is a huge part of daily life. And this istrue not just in Shillong — called the rockcapital of the country — but across theNorth-East. Chords are learnt just as reli-giously as multiplication tables and musicteachers are, not surprisingly, everybody’sfavourite. Since English is widely spoken,learning the lyrics of Pink Floyd or SteelyDan songs are not difficult. Moreover, theNorth-East has been exposed to Westernmusic for generations — the missionaries

brought the tradition of choral music andBritish and American soldiers during WorldWar II brought popular songs of the time. AsPapon, the frontman of folk electronic groupEast India Company, and a huge draw in As-sam, says, “Everyone here can carry a tune.”

With such a rich music legacy, theNorth-East’s contribution to the musicallandscape of India has, sadly and strangely,been very limited. This is largely becausethe North-East has been neglected and treated like the ‘other’. While there was nev-er any doubt that bands from the regionwere just as talented as — if not more than— counterparts in Delhi or Mumbai, thelack of visibility and a well-oiled PR network has meant that they were rarely nominatedat music award shows or included in festivallineups outside of the North-East.

Soulmate, a blues-rock and soul bandfrom Shillong, are perhaps the only suc-cess stories from the Seven Sister states.

Lou Majaw, the Indian avatar of Bob Dylan,is another name that music aficionadosare familiar with, while the ShillongChamber Choir made headlines last yearby winning the second season of the televi-sion show, India’s Got Talent and perform-ing for US President Barack Obama in November at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Nagaband Abiogenesis have created their ownexceptional genre of music, ‘Howey’, a mixof Naga folk tunes and modern music. Theband, which has even created its own windinstrument, bamhum, have been listed fora Grammy thrice.

But whether or not the rest of India islistening in, the music scene in the North-East has blossomed and diversified.From Assamese death metal band to Nagafolk blues and Mizo rap, no genre or soundhas been left untouched.

“There are a few bands that are begin-ning to get out of the classic rock mouldwhich has been prevalent in the region for-ever,” says Keith Wallang, the go-to man inShillong. Wallang manages Soulmate andruns Springboard Surprises, an all-encom-passing venture that doubles as a produc-tion and management firm in Shillong.“The classic rock bands still exist, but you’llfind a lot of metal, alternative rock and indiesounds coming out of the region,” he says.“One good thing is that bands are finallycomposing their own music and it is good.”

Guwahati, the charming capital of Assam, has taken over as the music capitalof the region. There are a lot of youngbands which are experimenting and push-ing the boundaries like never before.Bands like Warklung and Rocky Baba,formed by PhuNingDing — a Karbi FolkRock singer and composer from Karbi An-glong district in Assam — have seamlesslyfused elements of folk and rock to create aunique sound just as Reuben Mashangva,who is called the father of modern Nagafolk blues, who plays with an indigenousviolin-type instrument, tingtelia.

In the past two years, pubs and cafeshave sprouted all over the city, giving musicians and bands an outlet for expres-sion and performance. “Guwahati is whereit’s all coming together now,” is NassifAhmed’s confident assertion. Ahmed, a free-spirited photographer, Bullet lover andfilmmaker, has seen the transition unfoldbefore his eyes. “Today, I can catch a live gigin the city every Saturday night,” he says.

In what must be much-needed encour-agement for local talent, Hit7, a 24-hoursmusic only channel began streaming in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripurafrom August 1. Launched by the Mumbai-based LSD media, the free-to-air channelwill also have its own version of Coke Stu-dio, ‘Bandstand’, which will give upcomingbands a platform to showcase their talent.

Ahmed, the man behind Bandstand,was pleasantly surprised when he startedgoing through the demo tapes that bandssent him. “I frankly wasn’t expecting toomuch, since you normally don’t find somuch talent in most cities, but it was allhere just waiting,” he says.

One of the bands that is being touted asperhaps the biggest thing to come out of Assam is Shades of Retribution. The deathmetal band from Duliajan featuring VedantKaushik on vocals, recently released theirdebut album Xongram (Struggle For Free-dom) to rave reviews, despite singing intheir mother tongue, Assamese. Lucid Recess, a band formed by brothers Amitabhand Siddharth Barooa with Partha Boro ondrums are considered to be among the mostinventive and impressive alternative metalacts in Guwahati. Boomarang, a young band from Mizoram, won critical acclaim after doing a series of gigs in Delhi and performing at the Great Indian Rock show.

Rain of Hearts, another Assamese band,according to Ahmed, could become biggerthan Papon. Ahmed echoes Wallang’s viewthat original songs are what bands want to

focus on, moving away from the habit ofbuilding a reputation on covers. “A lot ofbands are doing original compositions andthat’s a great sign,” he says. “They are notdoing covers anymore, and in fact lookdown on any band that chooses to.”

Inspired by Tipriti Kharbangar’s fameand fortune — she’s Soulmate raspy vocalist— several girl bands have sprouted too. Afflatus, an all-girls rocker outfit from Shil-long, was formed in 2004 by sisters Graceand Mercy Miller, Karen Donoghue andSharon Zadeng. “Girls playing guitar is acommon sight in Shillong or Nagaland, notso much in Guwahati but it’s getting better,”says Avanti, who quit her job in Vodafone tobecome a VJ for Hit7. Avanti, 25, who grewup in Mizoram and graduated from DelhiUniveristy, moved to Guwahati three yearsago and knows what her peers are listeningto and what they want. “The new generationis influenced by punk and a lot of EMO-stylemusic (music of bands like My Chemical Ro-mance and Dashboard Confessional)."

A strong gospel and choral culture hasgiven rise to a genre like gospel rock in Nagaland. Bands like Alice in Wonderland,

Felicity and Blended For Him have earnedthemselves fans after performing all overNagaland and Manipur.

Nagaland, incidentally, was the first stateto devote an entire government departmentto the promotion and development of musicin the state — the Music Task Force, an initiative that other state governmentshaven’t yet replicated. The biggest achieve-ment of the MTF is the annual HornbillRock contest that offers a handsome purseof Rs 10 lakh to the winners.

While Guwahati and Shillong have gotrock and metal covered, Aizawl in Mizoramhas gained a reputation as a hip-hop andrap haven, mainly because of the success ofMichael M Sailo. Sailo is perhaps the mostaccomplished rapper in the North-East,with two albums — Ka Duhaisam (My Ul-timate Wish) released in 2004, and 2008’sChapter 2: A zual thin e (Chapter 2: It getsbetter) — to his name. Introduced to hiphop by his Kenyan friend when he was incollege in Pune, Sailo quickly realised histalent for rhyming. Known as the Mizoprince of hip hop, his Mizo rap is enjoyedby everyone from teeny boppers to seniorpoliticians. His song Tribal bounce thatfuses a Mizo folk song with hip hop has become one of his biggest hits.

David Koch, who’s heavily involved in promoting upcoming bands in theNorth-East with his company Rocka Rolla,is hopeful of things opening up. “There’s alot of interest from places like Delhi where they want to hear bands from the North-East,” he says. “In fact, I’m planning to take five bands like Shades ofRetribution, Lucid Recess and Rocky Babafor a series of gigs.” ■

“My mother reinstituted the Kathakstyle of dance in Delhi and got in some of the best teachers likeLachhu Maharaj and SunderPrasad,” says Shobha Deepak Singh

PURNIMA SHARMA TIMES NEWS NETWORK

H e considers it sheer luck that he wasthe first recipient of the SumitraCharat Ram Award Scheme that

was instituted this year. “I received the award from her at the function inFebruary. I feel it was her special ashir-waad (blessing) for me before she passedaway,” says the legendary Kathak dancerBirju Maharaj, who was in Kolkata performing at a “beautiful function at aShiva and Hanuman mandir”, when oneof India’s most important and generouscultural patrons, Sumitra Charat Ram,passed away this week at the age of 97.

Referred to as ‘Mummy’ by the art fraternity, Charat Ram belonged to theShriram industrialist family. In 1940, she married Lala Charat Ram, three yearsher junior. “This was something unheardof at that time, but mummy liked makingher own rules. My parents had a long and beautiful married life,” says her daughterShobha Deepak Singh. “She was alwaysinclined towards the arts. After India

became independent and royal patronagewas withdrawn from artistes, she starteddoing her bit for them.”

Shortly after India won independence,Charat Ram started the Jhankar festival(now called the Shankar Lal Music Festi-val) that has seen performances by lumi-naries like sitar maestro Ravi Shankar,thumri singer Siddheshwari Devi, dhrupad artistes Dagar Brothers, sarodmaestro Hafiz Ali Khan, Baba AllaudinKhan and many others. Even in the win-ter of her life, and despite being confinedto a wheelchair for almost two years,Charat Ram would attend events at thefine-arts institutions she had started —the Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra and Kamani Auditorium in Delhi. WhenBirju Maharaj was felicitated, she wasthere to applaud and watch him perform.“Even though hearing was a bit of a problem was her, Mummy asked him toperform some of her favourite pieces,”says her daughter. “Everyone was touchedby the bond these two shared.”

Birju Maharaj says that Charat Ram“changed the face of the cultural scene

Roll over Mumbai and Delhi. Drumroll

for Guwahati, Shillong and Aizawl,

the new music capitals of India

Patron of fine arts passes onSumitra Charat Ram had a pivotal role in creating the cultural

scene of the Capital

Michael M Sailo is perhaps the mostaccomplished rapper in the North-East,with two albums to his name

From Assamese death metal band to Naga folk blues and Mizo rap, no genre or sound has been left untouched

SINGING THEIR OWN SONG

SOUL CRY: The Assamese band Rain ofHearts’ combination of haunting guitarwork and socially conscious lyrics havemade them a group worth listening to

TASTE OF ASSAM: Anold-school metal band,Shades Of Retributiondraws from the diversecultural traditions ofthe North-East

AIMING HIGH: Soulmate would like to use their talentnot only to entertain, but also to help society

NASSIF AHMED

Shobha Deepak Singh

Birju Maharaj

AIMING HIGH: Soulmate would like to use their talentnot only to entertain, but also to help society

SOUL CRY: The Assamese band Rain ofHearts’ combination of haunting guitarwork and socially conscious lyrics havemade them a group worth listening to