Cannot afford sarangi of her own, yet strikes gold at zonal youth fest

A second year student of MA Vocal Music from Hans Raj Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Jalandhar, Darshan Kaur does not own a sarangi of her own but she has one the first prize in Classical Instrumental Music for playing the stringed instrument in the Zonal Youth Festival organised by Guru Nanak Dev University last month.

Darshan Kaur started playing the instrument just four years ago and by practising on the instrument in the college hours only, she has made a mark for herself. “It was in BA first year at PCM SD College that my then teacher Harpriya guided me to take to sarangi playing. I tried my hands on it and I really enjoyed playing it. I managed to get some professional touch in playing the instrument as the college had hired dhadhis and some music accompanists to train the students. I could not bring the sarangi home for a longer practice session and all my practice was confined to the free time that I got between the classes in the college. My first motivation came from the moment when I got the best sarangi player award in my final year”, she talked about her journey. On sarangi, Darshan had played old Punjabi folk songs, ‘Jutti kasoori, pairi na poori’ and ‘Lathe di chadar’.

“For my post-graduation, I joined MA Vocal Music at HMV College. I could not take part in the youth festival in the first year of my PG. Now that I am in the third semester, I have got the top prize in Music Instrumental in the GNDU’s zonal fest. I owe this award to my grandfather. He has been a tabla player. He learnt it from Ustad Pandit Ramakant. I come from a Namdhari family, popular for interest in music. Our day begins with soulful music played in the form of Assa di Vaar or any other gurbani music. My grandfather had always nurtured that his next generations continues to show passion for music. It is his desire which I have tried to fulfil”, she said.

Darshan shared the difficulties that she has been facing for not being able to buy a sarangi. “The starting range of a sarangi is Rs 9000 and I need to shell out more if I want to pursue it professionally, which is currently not possible. Ahead of the youth festival, I used to take the college sarangi home every day and carry it back to the college. I reside in Lohara.

My father or younger brother used to drop me to Lambra bus stop. From there, I used to take bus to Jalandhar city bus stand, carrying the sarangi on my lap. From bus stand, I have to take an auto rickshaw to my college. During my three-phase daily journey, I could not keep the revered musical instrument on the ground.

I had to handle it very carefully since it is very delicate. It has not been all that easy but at the end I have got a reward for all the hardship that I have faced to better my skills”, she narrated her daily saga. Her father works as a die-maker. She further added, “While the entire college used to be off on Sundays, Dussehra and Diwali, I would make it to the campus for my rehearsals. I was playing sarangi not just for my own event but also for other events where background music was required.”