13th century Delhi to 21st century Georgetown : Raag Rang 2016

"Refreshing.." said a man after the concert by Indus Voices in collaboration with Moray House Trust on Tuesday 3 May, 2016. He had been nodding his head and slightly tapping his feet while filming on his phone. Another man was clapping to the ghazals and qaawalis while another man complained that the enthusiastic clapper was out of time

A woman was smiling and singing along to the most of the songs including the local folk songs at the end of the programme. 

The MC was nervous, torn between wanting to shout about how individuals organically work to preserve their traditions , facing great difficulties and limited recognition and not wanting to disrupt the music and to ensure there was a nice flow. I was nervous as well.

The programme opened with the vandana, bringing Lord Ganesha into one of Georgetown's colonial buildings. The group consisted of Amar Ramessar on harmonium and doing vocals, Avinash Roopchan on Keyboard, Vishal Kallawan on dholak and tabla, and vocalists Seema Budhram and Arisha Pooran.

The first part of the programme was dedicated to the Sufi love poetry of 13th century Amir Khusro and 15th Century Kabir Das. The group performed the popular pieces such as "Maito Piya Se Naina Lada" in which the poet declares his love for his spiritual teacher as more than any other love.

The second part of the programme started with the first public performance of Baaji Ghanti Panch Ki . This is a poem written in British Guiana by Lal Bihari Sharma and published in 1916. The poem tells about life on the cane fields. Sharma was indentured to Plantation Golden Fleece on the Essequibo.




The programme continued with renditions from the 17th century poet Bulleh Shah. Indus Voices concluded with some of the folk songs from the sugar estates of Guyana.

 
Lal Bihari Sharma's lament about the conditions on the estate , could be reflected in "Oh Maninga Oh Maninga.. cane ah cut and price nah pay at all "


The divine love expressed by the poets at the beginning of the programme evolved into the real life love experiences of the indentured labourers - "Me byy wan cutlass, meh buy wan file.. me mudda in law ker way meh wife and chile'..
and another which appealed to a girl with an unsuitable lover who she could not carry to the market with her.

The media has not reported as yet about the Indus Voice small programme. The efforts of the musicians to preserve and to create and to pay homage are not apparently worthy of the public interest.

The songs are available on Youtube, sung by many other singers. That evening, Youtube could not compare to the live performance and the ability to connect with the musicians and to experience the legacy of many generations of musicians in that room.

Thanks to Indus Voices for the beautiful performances of the songs.