| Username |
Post |
| Biswo |
Posted
on 01-Jan-02 10:26 PM
**
Daadaa ra kaadaa bhayechhan naangaa hariyo ban chhaina
Jhyaaure gita kasle po sunchha gaaune man chhaina..
[ Kumar Basnet in his one folk song ]
Rarely did any person changed the state of folk songs in Nepal the way Kumar
Basnet did. I agree, Dharma Raj Thapa is probably the first one to collect folk
songs and present to us, and can be called the 'father' of our folk song collection
tradition, but Kumar Basnet is simply awesome. He just gave a lot of hits, and
his hits spawned a lot of other hit folk songs, and those filmy folk songs which
have 'lyricist' and 'musician' also!
Well, some years ago, I was invited to a marriage ceremony. The ceremony , I
guess, can be considered as a representative of what marriages look like in our
country these days.A group of young Indians (I am pretty sure they were from
India) were leading the Janti, and a boy was singing 'aaja mere yaar ki shaadi hai'
loudly. Then, some other marriages passed by, and, u know what, all marriages
were led by band baajaa, and three (or two) piece suit wearers. No, I am not
against these practices. Ours is a free society and I am proud of that. But I
remembered a piece from Kumar Basnet that time:
Aamaa ko chhaati dhaakane cholo taaleko thaau thaaumaa
Panche Hai Baajaa bajaauna chhade kina ho gaau gaau maa?
And , in deed, I am surprised that Panche Baajaa are no longer used in marriage in
Chitwan, in Kathmandu and in a lot of other places. We have become fan of
foreign tradition, but we also gave up our own tradition on the way.
Yes, one more thing. Then there was this 'dance' thing. As an undergrad student,
I used to go to discotheques, and the reason I enjoyed there was because of the
rule-less-ness of the dance. You just dance, or you dance the way you like! And,
in the marriage I am talking about, the DJ asked every young boys to dance, and
played continuously some Madonna songs, a lot of Hindi songs and others. No,
Nepali songs(may be by now it is changed, I have heard Khem Gurung's Waari
Jamunaa is de rigueur now!). And drunk (they drink very early these days, it
seems to me!) young boys were dancing without any restrain, or rule, sth like my
gyration in disco.
Fun to remember Kumar Basnet's another line:
"Kati Patak Ghumne Kasari Uthne Sorathi Naachna Laai
Bideshi Geeta Thikai Chha Sabai Laai Kammara Bhhachna Laai."
------------------
I think it is time that some of us work to save our old traditions. They are on the
verge of being extinct.
|
| ashu |
Posted
on 02-Jan-02 12:47 AM
>And , in deed, I am surprised that Panche Baajaa are no longer used in
>marriage in Chitwan, in Kathmandu and in a lot of other places. We have
>become fan of foreign tradition, but we also gave up our own tradition on
>the way.
Oh, fret not, wise Biswo!!
If you or others need a traditional Panchai Baja Band (with appropriate costumes, tunes and the whole shebang) for a wedding or a reception, be sure to get in touch with me.
There's this great band in Kavre Palanchowk (not so far from Kathmandu) that's looking for events and clients in Kathmandu and elsewhere . . . and they are good AND professional!!
The reasons people perfer "Indian Band Baja" (IBB) are simple: IBB is like a fast food food momo outlet -- fast, convenient, hassle-free and relatively cheap!!
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
|
| thito |
Posted
on 02-Jan-02 01:56 AM
>Yes, one more thing. Then there was this '
>dance' thing. As an undergrad student,
>I used to go to discotheques, and the reason
>I enjoyed there was because of the
>rule-less-ness of the dance. You just dance,
>or you dance the way you like! And,
>in the marriage I am talking about, the DJ
>asked every young boys to dance, and
>played continuously some Madonna songs, a
>lot of Hindi songs and others. No,
>Nepali songs(may be by now it is changed, I
>have heard Khem Gurung's Waari
>Jamunaa is de rigueur now!). And drunk (they
>drink very early these days, it
>seems to me!) young boys were dancing
>without any restrain, or rule, sth like my
>gyration in disco.
Interesting that you pointed this out Biswoji. In fact me and our friends were at an Engagement party at friends place somewhere in Midwest America. A Nepali friend was engaged to an American gal. We drank a lot of 'Western Whisky and Rum' but danced the night away only with Nepali music. Most of the musice played were Nepali Folk songs, and there were more Nepali music of rap and techno nature as well. The future bride to be danced perfect Nepali dance. Other Nepali girls also joined in to the moment danced equally well. This event really had struck me to remember the good ole days in Kathmandu, where we only danced to the English or Hindi tracks at parties.
Me, although an abid Nepali folk music fan but an inheritinely poor dancer tried my best to match my steps with some of the beautiful 'single' girls I danced with. It was a remarkable night for me, however I have no confidence that any of the girls felt the same.
|
| NK |
Posted
on 02-Jan-02 11:15 AM
yes, they had started to play hindi songs a long long time ago. I do not know many nepali songs (the only ones i listen to is - naryan gopal) but i liked those you qoted. very apt, says a lot.
My brother just got married and they *did* play the panchai bajaa. so i guess some people still have not forgotten their traidition. this kind of change as ashu pointed out - something convenient in the appearance, takes hold of the culture and it is hard to shake it off. call it sign of the time. Can you reverse the tide? who takes the mantel? should we let it just slide?
|
| Nepali DieHard |
Posted
on 02-Jan-02 12:45 PM
As I struggle to maintain Nepali language and culture in Nort America, people in Nepal are taking it for granted. I heard from a friend who just came back from Nepal after a month stay in Patan that a lot of people prefer to speak English than Nepali even within a family!!
TCH TCH ...!!
We must do something! But What ?
Jaye Nepal
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 02-Jan-02 08:45 PM
Ashu, I hope that the movement to make Panchebajaa conveniently available will
spread to Chitwan and everywhere. What irks me is not the entry of bandbaajaa,
but 'almost total' dumping of our own panchebaajaa. I would love to have diverse
marriage processions around us. Some with new bandbaajaa, some with our own
panchebaajaa. What I saw in the marriage mentioned in aforementioned posting
was eggregious: aliens were leading Nepali marriages (may be due to lack of Nepali
experts in my district?) while traditional Panchebaajaa musicians were spending
time in doldrum, concentrating on treading in their old sewing machines.
I think marriages like NK's brother's in outer districts generally can have strong
impact, esp if the groom is educated and leading the society in some aspect. I also
think this is where we show our love to our culture and our allegiance to it.
And Thitoji, I love listening to Kumar Basnet. I think he gave most hits in our music
history after Narayan Gopal. You will enjoy dancing in his songs.I also enjoy
foreign music, but a lot of times, I find the enjoyment from them temporal. For some reason, they just don't touch the deepest part of my heart. My case may be
singular, but it is true.
|
| ashu |
Posted
on 03-Jan-02 04:44 AM
>Ashu, I hope that the movement to make
>Panchebajaa conveniently available will
>spread to Chitwan and everywhere. What irks
>me is not the entry of bandbaajaa,
>but 'almost total' dumping of our own
>panchebaajaa. I would love to have diverse
>marriage processions around us. Some with
>new bandbaajaa, some with our own
>panchebaajaa. What I saw in the marriage
>mentioned in aforementioned posting
>was eggregious: aliens were leading Nepali
>marriages (may be due to lack of Nepali
>experts in my district?) while traditional
>Panchebaajaa musicians were spending
>time in doldrum, concentrating on treading
>in their old sewing machines.
One role model could well be Ambica Shrestha and her Dwarika Hotel.
Dwarika Hotel on Battis Putali boasts of traditional architecture and interiors,
and, from food to everything else, it 'sells and sells and sells' high Nepali/Newari cultures to its high-paying guests who could have stayed at Soaltee or Hyatt or Yak'n' Yeti.
These high-paying guests have the additional satisfaction of knowing/seeing
that the money they pay the hotel would help traditional woodcarvers, trditional brick-layers and others who have helped build the hotel itself and who are now looking for ways to branch out!! Indeed, as Shrestha herself says, her hotel is
a vehicle to keep certain [Newari] cultural/occupational traditions alive.
Another example is: The Bhancha Ghar Restaurant on Kamladi. That restaurant charges quite a fortune for a simple dal-bhat-achar fare that your mom/wife or you yourself can prepare much better!! Now, think, why would anyone pay Rs.1000-plus for dal-bhat-tarkari?
I bring these two examples to say that:
a) Presentation and marketing matter.
b) Providing high quality of service matters.
c) Being thorougly professional matters
d) and, wooing high-end Nepali and non-Nepali customers who can shell out good bucks matters.
All these matter for the upkeep of our traditional crafts/arts/cultural stuff.
Sadly, though, many of our traditional crafts/arts/cultural agents rely
on charity and, what I call, "we are poor women, and we made this bamboo basket, so please buy our basket to help us feed ourselves" kind of sentiments!
Well, you are not going to get a profitable business going based on other
people's charity and on such "help us" sentiments!! This is where our traditional
crafts/arts/cultural have by and large FAILED to move on the next big level by way of:
a) market assessment.
b) innovation
c) social networks
d) providing quality goods and services
e) reliable delivery mechanisms
f) and giving what customers really want.
No wonder then, they are always left behind.
Back to this Panchai Baja group: They have "positioned" themselves as high-end professionals. They are in the process of printing their visiting cards. They will start to market themselves more aggressively . . . and they will go to potential customers rather than wait for the customers to come to them. Let's see where things go.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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