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Changing forms of folk media in kashmir
1.
2. Kashmir, apart from being a unique geo-cultural
beauty, is also rich in its folk media, whether it is
Bhand Pather, Chakri, Rouf, Naind Gyavun or
Ladishah. Each one of these folk media of Kashmir
has a long traditional background.
These are still being practiced in rural Kashmir, but in
urban areas they have been confined to some of the
theatre groups only and that too in some modernized
forms.
Where the traditional folk forms, Chakri, Rouf and
Ladishah had been adopted by All India Radio and
singers like Haseena Akhtar, Jamia Khan, Raj Begum,
Naseema Akhtar and many more became famous by
singing them, Bhand Pather was adopted by theatre
groups.
3. But now-a-days, these traditional folk forms
are being presented in urban Kashmir in a
changed and modernized form, so that they
can meet the demand of ‘newness’ of modern
generation.
This paper tries to gauge, what changes have
been made to the traditional folk media of
Kashmir and how well these changes have
been received by the Kashmiri audience.
4. The Kashmiri folk media can be divided into
three broad categories –
Music
Dance and
Drama
5. In Kashmir, there is no function or celebration
which is performed without music. Even there are
songs and music for sad occasions too. Like ‘van’
a folk form of Kashmir, is sung when someone
dies. The various traditional music forms of
Kashmir are introduced below:
Vanvun
Rouf
Chakri
Naind Gyavun.
Ladishah
Bachhi Nagma
7. There is only the ‘bhand jashna’ (festival of
clowns) that is a 300 to 400 year-old genre
of Kashmiri folk theatre. Performed in village
squares, it satirizes social situations through
dance, music and clowning.
8. In the backdrop of above mentioned historical,
social and cultural facts about the folk media in
Kashmir, this study examines the following
questions:
What are the changes in the folk forms of music,
dance and drama in Kashmir since its inception
to the present era?
How much the present generation is interested in
the age old tradition of folk culture in Kashmir?
What are the challenges before the folk media
trying to regain the glory of Kashmiri tradition?
9. This study uses hybrid of methodologies, but the
most prominent one is free flowing interviews.
Informations were collected by meeting and
discussing thoroughly with the members of the
theatre groups and cultural groups which allowed
the researcher not only to gather informations
but also to observe their work minutely.
Apart from this, personal communications on
phones and by e-mails were also used. The
informations have also been gathered from their
official websites. All this helped in understanding
the changes and challenges of the Kashmiri folk
media.
10. Although a form of ancient folk category,
Chakri has today went through some minor
variations. For one, the advent of harmonium
apart from the usual instruments is quite
new. However the basic theme and flavor of
Chakri is still intact which shows the passion
of Jammu & Kashmir culture enthusiasts.
11. The ‘Rouf’ has traditionally been sung only by
women. The Rouf is now also sung by men,
but in conjunction with the chakri. This form
– a group dance accompaniment by a song –
is performed not only at festivals like Eid, but
also at weddings.
12. There is no change in the traditional music of
Vanvun, however changes have been noticed in
Rouf and Naind Gyavun. Traditionally no music
was used in Rouf and Naind Gyavun. But now,
Rouf has been changed to fast rhythm of music.
Now-a-days, Rouf is performed on Punjabi
rhythm and Punjabi language songs. Even in
Vanvun, Punjabi music and Punjabi language
songs are being used. Such changes are very well
accepted by the people as they provide new
horizon to the age old tradition and lure new
audiences too.
13. Naind Gyavun has not used any music except
Gadha, Tumbaknari and Gangroo, but it is not
alive today. This folk music form is dead in
Kashmir. There has not been any change in Ladi
Shah too and the music used in it during the
performance is Dahra only. But now this folk
form is hardly alive. Bacha Nagma is traditionally
being practiced with same musical instruments
like Rabab, harmonium and sarangi which have
been used 70 years ago. These instruments used
in Bacha Nagma are not Kashmiri instruments;
Rabab is Afghanistani instrument while
harmonium and sarangi are Indian instruments.
14. There is not clear impact of modernized dance
forms on the traditional dance forms of Kashmir.
Now dances are not performed on the traditional
music and songs, rather modern musical
instruments are used instead of the traditional
ones.
The essence of Kud dance and Dogri dance has
remained same; however they are being
performed on modern music and modern musical
instruments. In Dhamali dance, the costumes
have been changed and now they are being
performed on stage, all other things remain same
as per tradition.
15. In urban areas, the traditional dance forms have
been adopted by various theatre and cultural
groups like FUNTOOSH. They present the
traditional dances on modern music and modern
rhythm to attract the young generation towards
their cultural roots and to bring ‘newness’ in the
age old traditions.
This is very well accepted by the modern
generation and seems quite refreshing for them.
This is evident by the large number of audiences
in the programmes organised by this group.
16. The age old tradition of Bhand Pather has been
confined to only few groups like National Bhand
Theatre.
In the original form of Bhand Pather, Shehnai or
swarnai is must, but now-a days, due to unavailability
of trained swarnai players, it is losing its original
flavour. In the words of Mohi-ud-din Aajiz, “Folk
music used in Bhand Pather is counting last breaths
due to death of old Surnai Ustads. Only National
Bhand Theatre and Kashmir Bhagat Theatre groups
are able to use its Tradational Vadas on Surnai in the
valley”.
17. These days, the established theatre groups are doing a lot
of experiments with this old folk form. For example, a
theatre personality from the valley, M.K.Raina produced
Shakespear’s ‘Othelo’ in the Bhand Pather form, which is
quite innovative and refreshing.
Even the President of National Bhand Theatre, Mohi-ud-
din Aajiz says, “We have produced new Bhand Pather in a
modern style namely “LUKE PATHER” which is performed
traditionally through traditional musical instruments and
traditional dance but the social problems are presented
satirically which is accepted easily by common folk”. This
means the format is not changed but the content is
produced according to the relevance.
18. The changes and challenges to Bhand Pather do not end
here; the real challenges are not changes in its form,
rather the survival of this age old tradition. The situation
becomes grim, when the state ignores it completely. There
is no encouragement from the state government to this
poor Bhand community residing in Vathore. They complain
that there is no construction of new theatres and old
theatres like Tagore hall are destroyed. So even if they
produce plays, they don’t have appropriate place to
present it. Also there is no function being organised by the
government, so there is a lack of platform within the state
for this folk form. However, they appreciate the Central
government for supporting this traditional form, but they
also have some limitations.
19. While the Cultural Academy or National school of
drama hire professional for any programme, they
organise in the valley, there are few groups like
Funtoosh, who train amateurs and present the folk
form as a blend of traditional and modern cultural
acts. This experiment has been proved successful
too as a number of people reached to enjoy their
modernized cultural heritage, as the group claims.
With the change of time, few changes are bound to
happen, like the change in music, change in songs,
change in content of drama, because the taste of
younger generation also changes. If the folk media
would keep serving them the stale taste, modern
generation would reject them
20. So, to keep the cultural heritage of Kashmir
intact, it is very important to present it with new
flavour in the old bottle.
Kashmir has already lost the folk forms of
Ladishah and Naind Gyavun and many of its
traditional forms are at the brink of extinction, so
it’s better to preserve them by giving a new look.
Also, government should pay immediate
attention to the declining condition of the folk
media of Kashmir and support it both financially
and morally.
