The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wedded to Garhwali folk culture
By Ramesh K. Dhiman

IN the awe-inspiring Garhwal Himalayas the haunting voice of Narindra Singh Negi, an icon for the young and the old, reverberates and weaves a magical web of pulsating folk music and timeless melodies.

An incurable bard of Garhwali folklore, Narendra is regarded as the renaissance figure of the Garhwali cultural heritage. A living legend he is a rare confluence of lyricism, love, lore, music, humour, poetry, painting and photography et al.

Born and brought up in the cool environs of Pauri (Garhwal), Narendra negated all comforts of the glittering world of glamour and chose his nondescript hometown as his place of work.

Narendra was in the prime of youth when his father, Naib Sub Umrao Singh Negi died. The onus of rearing a large family comprising an old mother, six sisters, and two brothers fell upon his young shoulders. This gruelling period of enormous hardships taught him the first lesson of a life of struggles. It later became the substance of his metaphysical muse.

Wedded to the Garhwali folk culture, Narendra’s run-of-the-mill compositions are the vivid reflections of his love for the land he hails from and the people he has lived with down the years. Narendra was greatly influenced by the “tharhya” and “chaunful” genre of lyrical compositions based on a sound musical background. “But, I discovered, much to my disillusionment, that the diction and phraseology being used by the contemporary poets, prose-writers and songsmiths were bereft of melody, muse the real taste of original Garhwali dialect. I took a solemn vow to resurrect it out of obscurity and revive its pristine glory,” he says.

The penchant for Garhwali folk music and songs and, of course, his undying passion for poetry seem to have been born with Narendra. He would listen to the soul-stirring renderings of Garhwali folk songs at cultural and marriage parties. The humming birds perched precariously on treetops in the backyard of his countryside home would greatly enchant him. He would be enthused to listen to the timeless melodies of the hillbillies of Garhwal reflecting their myriad moods. All this, left an indelible mark on his mind.

The coming events started showing their perceptible signs. Narendra ventilated his talent, when he flawlessly delivered, with an elder’s solicitude, the Ramayana chaupais from the Pauri Ramlila Manch. This proved to be a virtual launching pad for this great artiste-in-the making.

Then he was attracted towards tabla-playing. “It was during my early school days when I had my first lesson in the rudimentaries of tabla-playing. “It was, indeed, a dream-come-true for me when I got the first break at the Lucknow station of AIR in 1977. It was a morale-boosting concert”. After graduation, Narendra obtained his ‘tabla Prabhakar’ degree from Prayag Sangeet Samiti. But perhaps, tabla-playing was not his cup of tea. He wanted to convey his feelings more explicitly and forcefully and reach out the hoi-polloi.

Before taking up singing seriously, Narendra had dabbled at drawing pencil portraits which reflected the guiding folk themes. And, then, it was a virtual U-turn for him when he started writing poetry of high literary excellence, before finally ending up as a sole star singer of the region he accorded new meaning and depth to Garhwali poetry and folk songs. He groomed under the tutelage of Ajit Singh Negi, a doyen of Garhwali folk songs. His majoring into writing poetry from drawing pencil portraits was just a matter of luck and chance. During his brief tryst with the pencil, paper and eraser, the folk themes have been the hallmark of his muse.

The green hills have deeply inspired the poet in Narendra. His infatuation with these mute sentinels is clearly depicted in his immortal verses penned in their praise. The folk song: Vakh funde holu katiyun, Myaru bhi bachchpan, ukri saki’lyee, ukri ki laheiyee, Basant ritu maa jeyee..., is an ode to the rugged grandeur of the hills and dales and days of innocence spent in their lap.

Narendra’s emotive lyrical verses present vignettes of a typical rural folk scene of Garhwal, be it the life of hardy highlanders, the hard life of Garhwali women, migration by men folk, environment, ecology, and so on. He has deftly handled the varied themes. To the magnificent hills which have earned an affectionate sobriquet of being the abode of gods and, of course, on the brave Garhwali jawans, who guard their motherland in the face of all oddities, Narendra has paid glowing tributes in his compositions: Dharti hamra Garhwalaa ki, bawan Garhu ku desh...” and “Dhaaram re thando mera, paharaa ki hawa thandi...

Narendra shudders at the very thought of migration, which is a perennial phenomenon in this hill heartland. Forced by circumstances, when men folk migrate to the plains of Punjab and elsewhere to eke out a living, their sturdy spouses shoulder the responsibilities of the hearth and home. The touching separation is more pronounced in these pulse-pounding compositions: Bhattkunu chhor swarg maa... and Na daur na daur undari ka bata....

He has been unequivocal as for the degradation of our environment and ecology is concerned. His emotive composition Na kata taun... drives home the point. On the burgeoning pollution of the sacred waters of the Ganga, Narendra minces no words: Maa ka dude laaj bhi ni rakhi jani, Gangaji... His yet another composition candidly traces the trauma of the Tehri Dam oustees: Kan bubalo, yo Tiri bazar suigoyryon ki dukan... This poignant composition virtually pushed him to the higher pedestal of fame. On humour, Narendra has composed He mera ghargoaddiya latta kala... and Jananyun ku mariyun chhon... and the soulful Rakhi song, Rakhari ku tyohar’ ch aaj... depicts the eternal bond of love and affection between a sister and a brother.

Narendra, popularly known as the Rafi of Garhwal, has covered the entire spectrum of rural life of Garhwal in his compositions, be it the love songs, sad songs, harvest songs, festival songs, devotional and patriotic songs. Apart from being the indisputed king of audio albums of Garhwali folk songs. Narendra has to his credit, an anthology of 52 epic poems titled “Khuch kandi” and “Ganyun ki Ganga...” and Syanyu ko Samodar”.

Being in the profession for two decades and a half, Narendra has added a new milestone to the Garhwali folk singing. His real success lies in his apt use of the typical Garhwali words, expressions, phraseology and of course, his flawless diction. And, his being sensitive to the Garhwali sensibility has fed him the needed impetus. Till date, he has 20 albums on varied themes, with “Dhebra Harch Gaini” (1982) being his maiden venture. His other albums are “Takon ki Maya”, “Hosiya Umar”, “Barah Masa”, “Utha Jaga Uttrakhandyu”, “Sandhya Bhajan”, “Tapkara”, “Burans”, “Sau ku Note”, “Juani ki Umang”, “Barkha”, “Chhibdat”, “Kargile Ma Chhon”, “Bhavan Garhu ku Desh”, “Nayu Nayu Byo”, “Chhujaloo”, “Khudd”, and “Rumuk”. The ouvre of his Garhwal audio-film albums include “Gharjawein”, “Kotheeg”, “Beti Bavari”, “Bantwaru”, “Chhamm Ghunghroo”, “Pynyoli”, “Chakrachaal”, and “Jai Dhari Devi”.

Besides, he has scored music for the songs penned by other leading lyricists of the times. This is not all, Narendra also has scored music for almost all Garhwali films released so far and done playback singing along with the other singing celebrities of Bollywood, including Suresh Wadekar, Anuradha Paudwal, Sushma Shreshta and Veena Bandekar.

For his contribution to the preservation of the Garhwali folk culture, many cultural and social organisations across the country have honoured him. He has been decorated with the coveted titles, like Garh Lok Kavi, Garh Lok Gayak, Garh Gaurav and Garh Gayak of the Millennium. He was honoured with the prestigious Garhkala Shiromani Samman, while the “Uttrakhand Lok Sanskriti Sanman” was given to him by a Pauri-based organisation to mark the silver jubilee of his singing and writing career.

When asked about his dwelling more on the themes concerning the Garhwali woman, the down-to-earth singer says in a whisper, “I have always held woman in high esteem. She is a rare confluence of chivalry, courage and compassion. I have tried to present woman as an indulgent mother, a caring wife, an affectionate sister and a loving daughter in my compositions.”

To yet another poser whether the songs penned by him and belted out in his golden voice are his autobiographical outpourings, Narendra sharply reacts: “I have been greatly influenced by the pangs and privations of others, which is the subject matter of my compositions. The only autobiographical aspect in them is that I, too, have closely watched them, realised them and lived them.”

Narendra, a PRO with the Department of Public Relations, UP, confides in that his wife, Usha, who had been one of his incurable fans before tying the nuptial knot, is a great source of inspiration, moral strength “and, of course, his critic”. She is a prolific singer, too. Daughter Ritu, and son Kavi too are great admirers of their papa.

And, finally, a word of caution for upcoming songsters and poets: “The brash-bold brand of vulgar songs and poetic compositions are a curse and bound to spoil our rich cultural heritage. The new crop of folk artistes must shun the tendency to ape the West if they are really at protecting and preserving their rich heritage’’.

The dying art of lithography
By Jaspreet Kaur

LITHOGRAPHY is a forgotten form of art and printing process in the present days of automatic cameras. It literally means, “stone writing”. The original process prints were made directly from designs drawn on slabs of stone. It was the first step towards colour photography.

Lithography became a popular medium among artists who worked in France during the mid-1800s. The prints were in black ink and were later coloured manually. This caused variations in shades. Colour lithography was developed in the second half of the 19th century. Preparing a separate stone by hand methods for each colour and printing one colour at a time made the prints. Sometimes as many as 30 stones were employed for a single subject. The design was selected and engraved on the stone slab. The process used was much the same is used for offset printing these days.

The ink is applied to a grease treated image on the flat printing surface. The non-printing areas, which hold moisture, repel this lithographic ink. This inked surface is then printed either directly on paper, by means of a special press as in most fine art print making, or onto a rubber cylinder (commercial printing). Although stone is the preferred printing surface in fine arts, zinc and aluminium plates are also used. These too, like stone, can be reground. The best lithographic stone is a fine-grained limestone obtained in Bavaria. The stone is expensive, heavy and easily chipped and broken.

Distinguishing litho prints from other paintings or publications is easy, as the colours of these prints seem as if pencil shading has been done. The paper used for the purpose is usually hand-made i.e. the paper not chemically treated. This is the main reason that the prints are lying as such for the past so many years without much preservation.

This form of art was prevalent in Europe and was patronised by the nobility. Most of the prints were produced for Queen Victoria. The sceneries, paintings or drawings (good work) of good artists were reproduced with the help of litho printing. Hence, in most of the prints the painter and engraver are found to be different.

Some litho prints on Indian themes by European artists are also found. Most of these engravings were done during the Mutiny of 1857 depicting the scenes of battle on different days. One of the pictures has been described as “Night Bivouac of the British Army at Ferozeshahar Dec 21, 1845” by Rudolph Ackerman. This print has been adopted from a painting. Prints were even adapted from photographs. An example of this is the print of “Sir John Lawrence” engraved by D.J. Pound from a photograph by Mayall. The contours of face and facial expressions are so clearly depicted that it is hard to believe it to be a litho print.

In India Punjab State Archives, Patiala, is the home to 160 litho prints. Here various litho prints related to different themes are found. A reproduction of Queen Victoria’s painting has been majestically done and is a good attraction. Around 40 litho prints are complied at Chandigarh. National Archives, Delhi, is the host to maximum of these. The prints are available in diverse range of sizes. Some prints are just 16x21 in size while others are as large as 40x58. Mostly all are framed that can preserve the paintings for the next 200 years.

These prints are an elixir of the society, their living standards and their lifestyles etc. They have conveyed to us what the history books failed to. As the technology is advancing, the art is dying. The need of the hour is not only to restore the assets we have, but also make our coming generations aware of these.

Audioscan by ASC
Typical Ila Arun stuff

HAULE HAULE (Tips): Most of the songs Ila Arun has done so far can be called Rajasthani folk. With this cassette she broadens her horizon much further. While many of the songs take you to the Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh belt, Maiya main laung gawa ayee haan … is typically Punjabi.

Lalwa Lalwa … has a bit of Bihar in it, although it caters to all those who have left India to settle abroad. It praises everything about India, like a similar song in Salman Khan-starrer, “Judwaa”. Ila utilises the inherent sweetness of folk tunes to come up with simple, hummable songs. Music composition is also without much flourishes. Vocals, lyrics as well as music composition are by Ila Arun. Jawahar Wattal is the music director.

KAISA YEH JADOO (Magnasound): TV programme “Sa Re Ga Ma” not only provides a platform to new talent, but also helps them join the big league by helping them come out with their albums. This cassette is by 18-year-old Bela, the winner of the 1998 mega-final of the popular show. The eight tracks here are a firm testimony that she has oodles of talent. Most of these speak of various hues of love.

Bela’s father, Dr Sanjeev Shende, is one of the most respected classical music gurus in Pune. The year 1998 has been a dream run for her when she also won the Nargis Dutt Puraskar and the Susheelsneh Puraskar.

Lyrics and music are by debutant Saurabh V.Bhatt, the son of pioneering Mohan Veena instrumentalist and Grammy Award winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. The 21-year-old composer too has done a good job.

The title song is the most intricate one of the lot. Not only Bela but even far more seasoned singers would have been proud of rendering this one.

The cassette has been presented by Sonu Nigam.

NIKKA JEHA (Magnasound): Many songs sung by Surinder Kaur over the past 50 years are now part of the Punjabi heritage.

Now her daughter has stepped into her shoes with compositions which are reminiscent of that bygone era when melody was the king.

Dolly has inherited her mother’s voice. Her album does not succumb to the pop pressure and hence would appeal greatly to the lovers of traditional Punjabi music. Ambarsare de papad ve main khandi na … and Do pal … make one nostalgic. She has penned four of the songs which are very much in line with the old-time charm. Nikka jeha … (written by Gurcharan Rampuri) and Tilledar jutti … (Pawan Daduwala) also present a picture of the rural Punjab which is fast fading. Music has been composed and arranged by Surinder Bachan.

Sight and Sound
by Amita Malik
The Cuban-American face-off

APRIL has surely been a month of high melodrama, what with the Hansie Cronje cricket scam, Salman Rushdie’s spectacular visit to India and now the noisy doings in Miami following the arrival of the father and family members of Elan Gonzales to take their little boy back to Cuba. And in the event, we have had a glimpse of how the media in other countries behave in a time of its own crises.

CNN has always claimed that it is one of the most internationally respected networks because it does not take sides. It has sent correspondents to areas which are politically avoided by others, and kept up good relations with about everyone in Latin America, the Arab world and so on. And it certainly covered itself with glory when it covered the Gulf war from the spot and brought it right into our drawing rooms. But while its international image might be all that, as I watched its coverage of the Elan Gonzales crisis, it became all too evident that when it comes to coverage of events in its own country, it can certainly tilt.

For instance, it was only rather late in the day, on Monday to be precise, that it let an officer from the immigration organisation which rescued the little boy from his relatives in Miami and restored him to his father, talk at proper length about some very important points about the discrimination practised in this case. That while black and other minor children from Haiti and other countries were, as a matter of routine deported immediately to their country and their family, in this case matters were allowed to drag on against all the rules. That Elan’s relatives in Miami had been given special status against all humanitarian and legal principles because of political reason. And that they had been allowed with impunity to defy the law and the court decisions about the child. Because this suited the hate-Cuba feelings of their local viewers.

What I particularly noticed was the endless time and repetition allowed to Elan’s hysterical relatives in Miami to make the most libellous and absurd accusations against Elan’s family and Cuba generally as against the widely spaced more reasoned ones by the lawyers of Elan’s father, US Federal officials on the side of the law, and American citizens, who approved of the steps taken by the Attorney General and supported by President Clinton. I felt the photos of the boy hugging his father were not shown half as many times as the one of his being snatched from his relatives. The hysteria reached its pitch, and shocked people not only all over the world but also in the USA when the little boy was allowed to make a theatrical and obviously coached and rehearsed appeal on a Spanish language network to his father saying he did not want to go to Cuba but his father could stay on in the USA with him. Psychologists and other experts said this was blatant manipulation. And certainly the idea that a six-year old boy could appeal for asylum seemed to be against sheer common-sense, if nothing else. The point I am trying to make is that however dramatic the coverage, it did not strike one as anything but jingoistic. Naturally, in election year. But I am disappointed in CNN.

Paranjoy Guha-Thakurta’s interview (India Talks) on CNBC was fascinating to watch because the normally unfazed Arun Jaitely had quite a hard time answering the documented evidence which Paranjoy had gathered from diverse sources to prove that Prasar Bharati had not exactly covered itself with glory. Mr Jaitely is a lawyer and was never at a loss for words. But some of the old clichés in defence of Doordarshan really did not impress. And many questions were left unanswered, including the woeful reception and programme quality of the news channel and why cable operators have to be bullied into showing DD when obviously viewers prefer the satellite channels. And why, if it is a public broadcaster, DD is always boasting about its revenues from cricket etc.

When its software quality is so poor and why it is copying the commercial channels with filmi dross and why the people of Kashmir and the North-East are still not getting their due. And why we don’t have DGs for AIR and DD or a proper CEO for Prasar Bharati and full membership of the board.

With its terrestrial reach, to boast of higher viewership than cable-supplied satellite channels which the average viewer cannot afford no longer carries weight. Mr Jaitely, even if you officials cannot brain-wash you to that extent, we expect more than bureaucratic arguments from someone like you.