0:00:07 > 0:00:10MAN SINGS IN RAJASTHANI
0:00:17 > 0:00:21'A holy man once lived alone on this mountain.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24'He was known as the Lord of Birds.
0:00:27 > 0:00:32'When the maharaja wanted to build his fort here, the holy man cursed the place with drought.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38'To counter the curse, the maharaja decided to bury a man alive
0:00:38 > 0:00:40'in the foundations of his fort.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44'One of the Meghwal community volunteered,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47'low-caste leather workers and weavers.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51'These musicians are Meghwals.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55'They are still honoured here at the fort in Jodhpur, as are the birds.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00THEY SING
0:01:10 > 0:01:13'Now the rush towards modernity in India
0:01:13 > 0:01:16'threatens to bury this music.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23'But those who seek it out strive to rekindle the music
0:01:23 > 0:01:25'and its audience.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05'We're following song-seeker John Singh
0:02:05 > 0:02:11'round the remotest villages of rural Rajasthan in Northwest India, scouting for talent.'
0:02:11 > 0:02:17You don't know what to expect. It could be completely crap or it could be wonderful.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21Generally, our luck is, in a day, we'll always find something magical.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26It's the first time you've been here, yes?
0:02:26 > 0:02:31Yeah. I mean, I've worked with the community of Meghwals,
0:02:31 > 0:02:36but they are spread out all over Rajasthan. But not these particular people.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Where do they sit, the Meghwals, in the caste system?
0:02:41 > 0:02:44They're not untouchables in the strict sense,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48but they are from the lower caste community.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54They will never be in the centre of the village, they'll always be on the sides.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07Quite a lot of cars would find it tricky to get here, wouldn't they, John?
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Yeah. When I started going around Rajasthan,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14I had a four-wheel drive, but it was always a five-seater.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19You'd get to a village and then they'd say, "Oh, there's a fantastic flute player somewhere there"
0:03:19 > 0:03:23and I wouldn't know how to get there, so two more people would come in.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28We've got to go up there. Or do we walk? No, we take the car.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48And these Meghwals, they are weavers by profession, is that right?
0:03:48 > 0:03:54The people that we are seeing, I'm told a lot of them still have pit looms,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58so they do have some income from that.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01And the rest of the time, would be singing.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC
0:04:29 > 0:04:33'John's mission is to help traditional musicians make a living from their music
0:04:33 > 0:04:36'so they don't have to join the drift to the towns.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40'And he's not keen on what towns are doing to the music.'
0:04:42 > 0:04:45They've gone into semi-pop,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47amusing to a larger audience.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51They've adopted the harmonium because it makes a shit-load of noise,
0:04:51 > 0:04:58but generally, when they come to us, if they have to perform in our festival, we'd say stop that.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01THEY SPEAK RAJASTHANI
0:05:09 > 0:05:14'The men here sing to supplement their earnings from weaving, farming and building.'
0:05:17 > 0:05:20WOMEN SING IN RAJASTHANI
0:05:20 > 0:05:25'The women don't sing in public, but at village weddings, births and deaths and for themselves.'
0:05:27 > 0:05:30WOMEN SING IN RAJASTHANI
0:05:33 > 0:05:37So every word has a double meaning,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41- but double meaning in erotic. - Erotic?- A little erotic twist.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45- Fabulous.- So they are singing that. That's why they are grinning.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49'John Singh is travelling with Prakash Detha,
0:05:49 > 0:05:51'an expert in the music of this area.'
0:05:51 > 0:05:54THEY SPEAK RAJASTHANI
0:05:56 > 0:05:58HE LAUGHS
0:05:58 > 0:06:03- What did she say?- She's telling that... They're saying that
0:06:03 > 0:06:08a young boy and a young girl dancing with a handkerchief in their hand
0:06:08 > 0:06:12and then hand-in-hand under a banyan tree they are dancing.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16This is during the monsoon. So there is this joy.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19For ten months in the year, we don't have rain.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Rain means there'll be food.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Food means we'll be able to live.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28It's the most romantic season of the year.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Monsoon comes and the romance of the earth and the sky starts.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35- Birds do it...- Yes, everyone! - THEY LAUGH
0:06:35 > 0:06:40All these girls and women learn from their childhood
0:06:40 > 0:06:44without any class or tutor or teacher, just being there,
0:06:44 > 0:06:46hundreds of songs they memorise.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50I love the range between the ages here. There's this older woman in the middle
0:06:50 > 0:06:55- and then all these very young women. - She'll remember everything from her childhood.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58They will learn from her and then they will teach the next generation
0:06:58 > 0:07:01and that's how it goes on. So she is the store house.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06- So for you, that's quite important in finding...- Totally.- Totally.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11It's enabling the transfer of knowledge
0:07:11 > 0:07:13from one generation to the next.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17If there's a gap, it'll be very difficult to come back again.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32What do you think of the singing, the quality of the singing?
0:07:32 > 0:07:36This is the first time I've seen ten Meghwals singing together.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39A lot of the Meghwals that we've been working with
0:07:39 > 0:07:41can be just two or three.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45They go into a trance.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51They shut their eyes and get totally involved with what they're singing.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58'John has started a foundation to support the musicians.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01'They bring the best performers they find to RIFF
0:08:01 > 0:08:04'the Rajasthan International Folk Festival.'
0:08:04 > 0:08:10Imagine you're Simon Cowell. Would you decide they're good enough to come to RIFF or not?
0:08:10 > 0:08:15Not for RIFF. Musically, they would've been not good enough for RIFF.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Not good enough.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31'With his community director, Vinod Joshi,
0:08:31 > 0:08:36'John goes to visit two sisters whom they took to RIFF last year.'
0:08:36 > 0:08:42Fortunately, all the art forms of Rajasthan belong to the lower class people.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48If it is with the middle class, we would have lost it.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53But it's great because they are really out of the mainstream.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57'The Devi sisters' father was a musician,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01'a devotee of the Hindu goddess Matangi.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03'Thanks to him and to her,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07'they aren't in purdah and are able to perform in public.'
0:09:07 > 0:09:10SHE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI
0:09:11 > 0:09:14TRANSLATOR: When I was younger, I sometimes sang alone
0:09:14 > 0:09:17in the shelter of sand dunes and trees.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23So that people from my mother-in-law's side couldn't see me.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28Later, when my child became more independent, I got more confident.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31It has my guru's blessing, so what can they do,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34the in-laws or anyone in this society? How can they harm me?
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Now everyone is happy that we're doing so well.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45SHE SINGS
0:10:08 > 0:10:12When they sing, they actually shut their eyes
0:10:12 > 0:10:15and they enter into that sort of domain,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19darkness or whatever, or high, and then it comes out from there.
0:10:24 > 0:10:29And, of course, the words are enormously powerful.
0:10:29 > 0:10:35One of the things said is that to find a way to happiness,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39you have to find a teacher who will take you there.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Then you give yourself in to the teachings
0:10:43 > 0:10:45and it'll take you to that realm.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48THEY SING IN RAJASTHANI
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Of course, it's become very close to my heart because that is what I follow.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33I suppose if I wasn't that shy, I'd be dancing.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38in complete abandon, but that's what it's all about. Wonderful.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53Wow!
0:11:55 > 0:12:01She said, "Wait, I will sing for you now" and she sang, so that's very personal and wonderful.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05- First to God, then to you. Not bad. - HE LAUGHS
0:12:28 > 0:12:34'Vinod comes from a village near here himself, though he went away to study.'
0:12:34 > 0:12:36TRANSLATOR: Oh, you look like a bride groom!
0:12:39 > 0:12:43TRANSLATOR: Wow! Your outfit looks really beautiful.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47TRANSLATOR: How are you, son? All well?
0:12:48 > 0:12:52TRANSLATOR: If you ask him if he's good, what else is the poor boy going to say?
0:12:52 > 0:12:55TRANSLATOR: He isn't going to say, "No, it's rubbish".
0:12:55 > 0:12:59'We need to understand their rituals, their taboos.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04'Once you understand, then you can interact
0:13:04 > 0:13:08'and they can give you something substantial they have.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11'Otherwise, they don't share with you.'
0:13:13 > 0:13:19'Traditionally, these Chang drummers only come together for the spring festival of Holi.'
0:13:19 > 0:13:26They may be cobbler, they may be farmer, driver, shoemaker, anything.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29So they are just enjoying the festivities.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33THEY PLAY TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC
0:13:35 > 0:13:38They are playing together and dancing,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41spending time together with the joy.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51But the Chang drummers, they are not professionals. They're semi-professionals.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Not at all. And we shouldn't say semi.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00It's totally... It's for their joy.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27'John Singh and his wife, Faith, got the idea of defending this music
0:14:27 > 0:14:31'when they were busy reviving the dying art of hand block printing.'
0:14:31 > 0:14:34There was so much depth
0:14:34 > 0:14:39and breadth to the tradition that you could just go on forever
0:14:39 > 0:14:41and we built up a very successful business
0:14:41 > 0:14:46which now employs hundreds of people.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59'They also got involved in preserving the buildings of Rajasthan.'
0:15:00 > 0:15:05What we saw is that, actually, the whole fabric of our state, Rajasthan,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09has a wealth of tradition,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11which is what we call virasat,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14and that wealth of tradition
0:15:14 > 0:15:18can maybe reinvent itself into the modern world
0:15:18 > 0:15:24because, at the end of the day, the virasat, the heritage, is the expression of the people of the land.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32John was always very keen on music.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37He was always inviting these folk musicians
0:15:37 > 0:15:42at his house, at his private parties, and he was sponsoring them.
0:15:43 > 0:15:49'This was to grow from a private passion into the foundation to support village musicians
0:15:49 > 0:15:52'and the annual international festival, RIFF.'
0:15:54 > 0:16:01I welcome you all to this beautiful, magical, musical evening here
0:16:01 > 0:16:03at the Rajasthan International Folk Festival.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:16:11 > 0:16:13THEY SING IN RAJASTHANI
0:16:26 > 0:16:30'As the free concert in the town centre kicks off the festival,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34'the Maharaja throws a more select opening-night party
0:16:34 > 0:16:37'under the brightest full moon of the year.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41'Co-founder and patron of the festival,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45'he hosts it within the massive walls of his 15th century fort.'
0:16:45 > 0:16:48- This is great up here. - There you are.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53- Is this music that I'm listening to here authentic music?- Yes, yes.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56We'll hear them at the festival.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14WOMAN SINGS IN RAJASTHANI
0:17:20 > 0:17:23UPBEAT TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC
0:17:23 > 0:17:26'RIFF has become something very special,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29'acknowledged around the world.'
0:17:44 > 0:17:46'The audience consists of a third locals,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50'a third from the rest of India and a third from the West.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59'Our Chang drummers have made it to the festival.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18TRANSLATOR: We've come especially for you, to hear you sing. There are nine of us altogether.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21TRANSLATOR: We'll get ready for you, then.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:18:37 > 0:18:40THEY PLAY AND SING
0:19:13 > 0:19:17CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:19:17 > 0:19:22Bhanwari Devi comes from what's called a Bhopa-Bhopi tradition.
0:19:22 > 0:19:28A husband and wife team who are musicians, storytellers, as well as priests.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33After her husband passed away, Bhanwari Devi, to earn a living
0:19:33 > 0:19:37began singing other kinds of songs, accompanied by her two sons.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41But these are not her only children, she has seven others.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46And she actually looks after a total family of 22 people.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50And she actually sustains that through her singing, her work,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53likewise her two sons.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55And this is how they make their living.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00She's an extremely tough and resilient woman.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08TRANSLATOR: I was very young when my mother died. I don't remember Mummy.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13TRANSLATOR: There was no-one else to sing with Papa.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16He'd play and I would sing. We'd go round the villages.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22They got me married when I was nine, ten years old.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25I was 12 when my eldest son was born.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32TRANSLATOR: Did you start singing right after you got married, with your husband?
0:20:32 > 0:20:37TRANSLATOR: Yes. If the Bhopa knows the song and the Bhopi does not, there cannot be a marriage.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41If they both sing, only then can there be a wedding.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48For three years after their father passed away, I was in bad shape.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53Looking after the family, it's all down to me.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21'This year, the foundation took Bhanwari Devi to the Edinburgh Festival.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24SHE SINGS IN RAJASTHANI
0:21:55 > 0:22:01Bhanwari Devi and her two sons are actually travelling out of India for the very first time.
0:22:01 > 0:22:07So they feel very privileged and I would suggest you, too, should feel a little privileged.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13'Playing in the National Museum of Scotland is a great opportunity,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17'but the point is not to turn the musicians into museum pieces.'
0:22:17 > 0:22:20It's a living heritage
0:22:20 > 0:22:24and if the people had lost their songs,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27then that living heritage would die.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32And so I wasn't interested at all in conservation or archiving.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36If they can't earn their livelihood
0:22:36 > 0:22:39and if they can't get self-respect,
0:22:39 > 0:22:42then their children are never going to adopt it,
0:22:42 > 0:22:45and if they don't, then it's gone.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50So 400 or 500 years of that tradition, gone away.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53And that's what we are hoping we can prevent.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Everybody in the village knows when a big car comes in
0:23:16 > 0:23:21and they will start talking and wondering, "Whose house are they going to?"
0:23:28 > 0:23:33When she came back from Edinburgh, most of the village turned out to greet her.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45'Bhanwari's son, Krishna, has increasingly turned to pop music to make a living,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47'playing his harmonium at village dances.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50'He's bought this Jeep with the proceeds.
0:23:51 > 0:23:56'Ironically, going to Edinburgh makes him value the local music more.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59'It's what makes him special.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02'But going abroad is having another effect.'
0:24:05 > 0:24:09TRANSLATOR: Now she's got it in her head, after having been abroad
0:24:09 > 0:24:13where we had such good facilities, like good house and air-con.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18We had never seen such things. This is nothing compared to that.
0:24:42 > 0:24:48TRANSLATOR: Bhanwari, why are you getting worried? The house will get sorted sooner or later.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54There's no rush. You've spent so many years in this place.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Forget about the dreams of Britain.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Even when I go there, I think it is a dream, too.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09'But the attention they're receiving is stopping other villages treating them like outcasts.'
0:25:09 > 0:25:13I had a long chat with the son.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15He was saying after Edinburgh, for about ten days,
0:25:15 > 0:25:20there were 10 or 15 people coming every day to drink tea and enquire about stuff.
0:25:20 > 0:25:26So his stature in society is... People take him seriously.
0:25:27 > 0:25:34It has a very positive effect because people won't treat him as "that house at the edge of town".
0:25:34 > 0:25:38I was telling him, "You're damn lucky, you're the highest house in town,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40- "you can look down upon people." - HE LAUGHS
0:25:46 > 0:25:50'Now we're offered a trip into Bhanwari Devi's past,
0:25:50 > 0:25:56'miles down dirt roads, where electricity pylons haven't yet reached.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02'This is music akin to magic,
0:26:02 > 0:26:07'music to evoke powers of healing, sacred music.
0:26:07 > 0:26:12'Only seven or eight of these storyteller priests, Bhopas, still exist.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19'The epic tale unfolds over four whole nights.'
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Everyone said, "Please go to Saga Bhopa.
0:26:22 > 0:26:28"He is the last pure Bhopa in our society
0:26:28 > 0:26:31"who can tell you everything about our rituals."
0:26:32 > 0:26:37So Saga Bhopa really has got the whole story.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40- He could recite for four nights. - Yes.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44He said, "You organise and we will show you."
0:26:48 > 0:26:51You can see when he was preparing,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53he's just totally soaked in this.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01'He recites the ancient story of the life of the folk hero and God Pabuji
0:27:01 > 0:27:07'in front of a huge hand-painted scroll. It's like a mobile temple.'
0:27:08 > 0:27:14There's a whole ritual behind it. There's got to be a girl in the house who's not married
0:27:14 > 0:27:18and her prayers have to be said before the whole thing starts.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23And then the painting starts, which takes a long time.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28While they're doing that, they can stand on it and paint.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33And when the final thing is made, they put the eyes on the gods.
0:27:33 > 0:27:39Then it's deemed to have become a temple and you don't put your feet in it, you just roll it up.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42It's never bought by a Bhopa.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45It's gifted by some patron.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49But each one of these squares has a story.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Escaped from somewhere, taken prisoner.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Not many people like that exist
0:27:59 > 0:28:03and there are not many paintings which have power.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19'The big question is whether a Bhopa like this
0:28:19 > 0:28:23'can still earn a living from his art. John thinks sadly not.'
0:28:32 > 0:28:37People who need the Bhopa would be fairly traditional people.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42Maybe modern people don't believe in the spirit
0:28:42 > 0:28:44and they don't believe in the soul, even.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51With modern medicines and everything else that's come in,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55why are they likely to call a Bhopa? It is dwindling.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00HE SINGS IN RAJASTHANI
0:29:12 > 0:29:17TRANSLATOR: What God has given you, it is important that you pass that on to your children.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19TRANSLATOR: Yes, absolutely.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23TRANSLATOR: It shouldn't leave with you. It is important that all this is learnt.
0:29:24 > 0:29:30TRANSLATOR: Someone once said, "One who listens with his inner mind gains knowledge
0:29:30 > 0:29:34"which leads to release from the cycle of birth and death
0:29:34 > 0:29:36"and so onto nirvana."
0:29:36 > 0:29:40- All humans are equal.- Yes, they are.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44But even though they are built equal, their minds are different.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48Different minds have different strengths.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58The worst in this is one who has an idle mind.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06The last evening was extremely special.
0:30:07 > 0:30:13I've never seen Bhopas like that with that kind of knowledge.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18Usually, they tell you a story. This guy actually lives it.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22'He's a discovery, but not something for RIFF.'
0:30:24 > 0:30:27I would never even dream of asking.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Things like that are too sacred.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34It's not a performance.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Not entertainment.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43When will you finish the design?
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Tomorrow? No, no, it has to go into print today.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50OK, thanks. Bye.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55We have some Chakri dancers, we have Kalbelia.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57About 180 artists.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00- Variety show. - Variety show, absolutely.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05- You can sing some really naughty songs, as well.- Absolutely.
0:31:08 > 0:31:15'John's foundation has proved that there are plenty of traditional acts which can pull the crowds.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21'As well as the international festival, RIFF,
0:31:21 > 0:31:24'they organise village festivals
0:31:24 > 0:31:27'to build that all-important local audience.'
0:31:28 > 0:31:31What's really amazing is that the stage that we are on
0:31:31 > 0:31:34has been specifically built for this event.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Somebody who used to be part of this village made it big,
0:31:38 > 0:31:44he lives in Belgium now, he agreed to pay for the stage.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50The angle is a little off.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53But it's great! It's fantastic!
0:31:53 > 0:31:56We're thrilled. We love it.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59The village seemed charged up. They want it.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02So we'll get it done.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08THEY SHOUT IN RAJASTHANI
0:32:16 > 0:32:18TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC
0:32:18 > 0:32:21HE SINGS
0:32:22 > 0:32:25THEY SING
0:32:35 > 0:32:38'The performers have come from all over Rajasthan.'
0:32:42 > 0:32:46From the artists' point of view, it's taken them nine hours to get here.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49So they would never be able to meet artists from other parts.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56So this becomes like a brotherhood now.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06'8,000 people are here from the villages and towns round about.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10'People brought up knowing these traditions
0:33:10 > 0:33:14'and who understand the words of the songs.'
0:33:28 > 0:33:33Most of the artists traditionally performed in their own village settings.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37Some of them would have patrons who would invite them over to perform for them.
0:33:40 > 0:33:45Traditions settings are beginning to dwindle and fall apart.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49HE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI
0:33:49 > 0:33:52So for us coming in, it is an intervention.
0:33:52 > 0:33:57The idea behind these village festivals is about cultivating new audiences.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01The audiences otherwise would be sitting in front of their television sets.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29What's happened in our society is we've become segregated,
0:34:29 > 0:34:32cos there's no occasion to hang out together.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38For a Muslim guy to be with a Hindu or for one caste to be meeting another.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48If there was a cobbler, you went to him to get your shoes made
0:34:48 > 0:34:51and you'll probably have to have about four sittings with him.
0:34:52 > 0:34:57You came to know his daughter, he came to know about your son, et cetera.
0:34:57 > 0:35:02So there was an opportunity to interact. Now the shoe comes ready-made.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07This is one way of bringing the entire village together.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11Now they'll have three or four hours of positive vibrations.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15And hopefully they'll go back friends.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC
0:35:39 > 0:35:43'In its modest way, theirs really is a visionary idea,
0:35:43 > 0:35:49'whittling away at the caste system, at rural poverty and the religious divide through music.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57'And the diversity of talent on show here is quite extraordinary.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01'Such richness and weirdness and wildness.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06'And so many cross-dressers. What is that tradition all about?'
0:36:11 > 0:36:15MAN SPEAKS RAJASTHANI
0:36:15 > 0:36:18TRANSLATOR: When I have dressed, put on makeup, jewellery
0:36:18 > 0:36:23and the full costume, then I cannot say 100 percent, but 60 percent
0:36:23 > 0:36:25I have the feeling that I'm a woman.
0:36:25 > 0:36:30My walk, gestures, my style of speech, movements that come,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33all of it, it all feels like this is a woman's.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38'For Harish, it's been difficult.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41'He's from an upper caste, the Rajputs, or warriors.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46'They see cross-dressing as something only for the lower orders.'
0:36:46 > 0:36:50TRANSLATOR: They said that, if you'd killed somebody, even then we would have adjusted,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53or if you would have had to go to prison.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58If you were going to be hanged, we wouldn't have had to cry as much as we do now.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03You have dishonoured the family name. That was why my family threw me out.
0:37:07 > 0:37:12There was a period in your life where you, too, were attracted to this. Why were you attracted?
0:37:12 > 0:37:18From the beginning, I saw my mother and my grandma
0:37:18 > 0:37:20as interesting,
0:37:20 > 0:37:25when I was quite young, at the age of 16, 17.
0:37:25 > 0:37:33- Your sister was very understanding. - She's putting the makeup and everything on the eyes. Yes.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39'In Vinod's village, which is where last night's festival was held,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42'the attitude to cross-dressing is quite different.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47'Indeed, in spring, they have a festival where half the men in the village dress up and dance.'
0:37:49 > 0:37:53When I suddenly appeared in the main market,
0:37:53 > 0:37:59everyone loved it. Even the old, the young, all the people.
0:37:59 > 0:38:05"Ooh, you look so smart! So lovely!" Everyone want to take the photographs, hugging.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08That's the great fun and affection.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13TRANSLATOR: Those who dress up in whatever way they want,
0:38:13 > 0:38:16who display their artistic talent,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19they perform with sincerity and wholeheartedness.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27My artistry is important to keep me in touch with my culture.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31Everyone who comes to these festivals of ours from towns round about thinks,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34"Why is our town so poor?"
0:38:34 > 0:38:39It's not envy but recognition that actually this town is rich
0:38:39 > 0:38:41and theirs could be, too.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47They are the face of that area.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52And when some people oppose it,
0:38:52 > 0:38:56I think it's totally discouraging and unacceptable
0:38:56 > 0:39:02because once upon a time, my mother and my sister is encouraging me,
0:39:02 > 0:39:06that's why I celebrate and I participate in it.
0:39:06 > 0:39:12But when I hear many stories about the objection of this thing, I feel very sad about that.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16BELL RINGS
0:39:17 > 0:39:20'The old ways are like an echo in India, a heartbeat,
0:39:20 > 0:39:24'especially in this poor and rural state.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31'They aren't strong enough to survive unaided against the onslaught of the new India.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38'John and his team are striving to keep the music alive in this modern world
0:39:38 > 0:39:43'now that the old ways of making a living from music are dying out.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47'What were those old ways?
0:39:48 > 0:39:52'We decided to go to the top to find out.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56'The maharaja may no longer be top dog.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00'Soon after independence, the maharajas lost all real power.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03'But he's certainly still treated as if he is.'
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- Over there, is that you as a young man?- No, that's my father.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11That's my father's wedding picture.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14By 1949, he was still recognised as a maharaja
0:40:14 > 0:40:17with certain privileges, but no real powers.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20But this extraordinary palace is still your home.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23It is partly my home, but it's partly a hotel.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26More hotel, and a small portion is my home,
0:40:26 > 0:40:29- which we're in now.- Yes.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33This palace was built quite recently comparatively, wasn't it?
0:40:33 > 0:40:36This was built as a famine relief programme.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38There was a very severe drought in 1929
0:40:38 > 0:40:42and this was Grandfather's private project to provide work,
0:40:42 > 0:40:46because people wanted work. They said, "We don't want handouts, we want work."
0:40:48 > 0:40:52Things changed much more rapidly than one thought they would.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06'The system of patronage started with the maharaja at the top.
0:41:06 > 0:41:11'His court was a major patron of musicians, and trickled right down through society,
0:41:11 > 0:41:15'always with the musicians pretty near the bottom of the pile.'
0:41:20 > 0:41:26The Hindu system has all these gods, and each god has a place in the overall structure of society.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33Music was interwoven into the life,
0:41:33 > 0:41:37the festivals, the occasions, the birthdays, the religious ceremonies,
0:41:37 > 0:41:40and you took it all for granted.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44I think we probably missed one beat,
0:41:44 > 0:41:49post-independence we went forward, development, modernisation, democracy.
0:41:51 > 0:41:56You can't turn the clock back. Culture also is not static, it's fluid.
0:41:56 > 0:42:03So we had to find the right place for these traditional musicians.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07They have talent, they have great skills,
0:42:07 > 0:42:12which can be placed side-by-side with some of the best in the world.
0:42:18 > 0:42:24'These are Manganiar musicians, that's a caste. They're professional musicians by birth.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26'It literally means beggars.'
0:42:26 > 0:42:29TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC
0:42:45 > 0:42:49He's a very serious musician. He's travelled more than I have.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54His passport, he's got about four of them stuck together because the pages have run out.
0:42:57 > 0:43:02As far as general talent goes, they have, I think, the most.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06They can play any kind of instrument,
0:43:06 > 0:43:10they've adapted themselves to play wind instruments, strings, they sing.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18They have drums of all kinds.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28They can range everything from the birth of classical music.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33Apparently it came from folk, and they are very familiar with all the Indian ragas,
0:43:33 > 0:43:37and of course they can go into Bollywood or something.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44'They're Muslims but play for Hindu patrons.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48'This extended family has been particularly successful,
0:43:48 > 0:43:52'but despite that, still live on the edge of this village.'
0:44:04 > 0:44:09- THEY SPEAK RAJASTHANI - What did he say there?- Welcome.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12- He is around 74.- He's young. - THEY LAUGH
0:44:12 > 0:44:18Not by our standard. You go through three summers in India and you get ten years older.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23TRANSLATOR: Having worked with this gentleman for ages,
0:44:23 > 0:44:26I know what it is like and I love it.
0:44:28 > 0:44:33He is one of the eldest player of kamancha,
0:44:33 > 0:44:36which is a stringed, bowed instrument.
0:44:36 > 0:44:43This is the only person I know who has got three generations alive and they are actually playing.
0:44:43 > 0:44:48Do all the children believe that that is their destiny, they will all become performers
0:44:48 > 0:44:52and that's how they see their lives? All these children? This little boy here?
0:44:52 > 0:44:56HE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI
0:44:56 > 0:44:59Engineer. THEY LAUGH
0:44:59 > 0:45:04- He's going to be an engineer. - Yeah, he would like to be an engineer.- He's a rebel!
0:45:04 > 0:45:07HE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI Kamancha.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10Kamancha? He's a very good kamancha player.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14He would like to be a great player of kamancha.
0:45:14 > 0:45:19We don't have any girls here. In fact, I can only see one, peeping round the doorway.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22- Yeah, girls, women, don't perform. - No.
0:45:26 > 0:45:31- HE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI - He wants to be a computer engineer.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33- Wow. - THEY LAUGH
0:45:33 > 0:45:37THEY PLAY AND SING
0:45:42 > 0:45:44So why are these children ambivalent?
0:45:44 > 0:45:48No matter how great performer they are,
0:45:48 > 0:45:55they still believe that, in social hierarchy they are very low, they are performer.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59It's only when they are out of their patrons and their social network
0:45:59 > 0:46:02then they feel very proud that we are a performer.
0:46:13 > 0:46:18'Amazingly, it's suddenly revealed that there have been patrons in the room all along.'
0:46:18 > 0:46:21- They are their patrons. - These two are their patrons?- Yes.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25He is saying that his father is his patron.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27Father.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31'They don't exactly look intimidating.'
0:46:31 > 0:46:36He runs a private school and he runs a confectionary store.
0:46:36 > 0:46:41He was telling me that a ritual of death or birth or wedding
0:46:41 > 0:46:44will not be completed without the presence of Manganiars.
0:46:44 > 0:46:49The patron was saying, "If I lose my child, so what, I can produce another one,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53- "but where will I get my Manganiar from?" - HE LAUGHS
0:46:57 > 0:47:03They say that for the last 20 years they have been performing all over India and abroad.
0:47:08 > 0:47:13He has performed with Ravi Shankar.
0:47:17 > 0:47:23Since they have performed outside with a great master, they don't now feel that they are great performers.
0:47:23 > 0:47:29The moment they are with their patrons, they will behave exactly the way they are supposed to behave.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36When I have offered some of these people really good money
0:47:36 > 0:47:41to go to Bombay or some place where there was a big performance going on,
0:47:41 > 0:47:45and at the last minute they have said, "The patron has called me and I can't go."
0:47:45 > 0:47:50I say, "What is the patron going to give you?" He says, "Even if he give me one rupee, I'll go there."
0:47:54 > 0:47:57APPLAUSE
0:48:01 > 0:48:07'The first person to work with the musician castes of Rajasthan was Komal Kothari.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11'In the 1960s he set up a folklore research centre.
0:48:13 > 0:48:19'While his collaborators collected folk tales, Komal was enchanted by the music of the villages.'
0:48:23 > 0:48:27THEY SING
0:48:31 > 0:48:37When Komal Kothari realised that there is a great treasure of folk music and songs there,
0:48:37 > 0:48:41he went from village to village and he recorded this.
0:48:47 > 0:48:53Komal Kothari was the first person who brought these traditional performers
0:48:53 > 0:48:55out of their traditional circumstances,
0:48:55 > 0:49:01out of their traditional patrons, and put them onto a stage.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11Komal Kothari died, and there was a vacuum,
0:49:11 > 0:49:18there was no-one in Rajasthan left with great sincerity to carry on what he was doing.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22So John took the baton.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24Fortunately, I didn't have to do the whole of Rajasthan
0:49:24 > 0:49:29because 25 percent of Rajasthan had been covered by this great friend of ours, Komal.
0:49:29 > 0:49:34So I had the job of discovering the performing arts in three quarters.
0:49:39 > 0:49:44I started going into areas which I had never been to before.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47And there's always some amount of suspicion.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51"What the hell is he doing running around these places? There's got to be a catch."
0:49:51 > 0:49:55THEY SING
0:50:04 > 0:50:07That felt like Flamenco, practically.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11Some scholars say that these gypsy groups from Rajasthan,
0:50:11 > 0:50:14their original dancing influenced Flamenco.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19'Gypsies the world over are thought to originate from India.
0:50:19 > 0:50:24'One of the groups Komal Kothari worked with were these Kalbeila gypsies.'
0:50:25 > 0:50:28THEY SING
0:50:37 > 0:50:41TRANSLATOR: I remember, I was playing the pungi and wandering about.
0:50:43 > 0:50:48Komal Kothari made me play and sing the old, old things.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53Komal would say, "Listen, son, this is your inheritance."
0:51:05 > 0:51:08TRANSLATOR: I was 16 when Komal Kothari recorded with me.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11I had a particular nose ring at that time.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16It was in Komal Kothari's house in his village.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21When I was a child, he even took me abroad with my father.
0:51:24 > 0:51:29We sang the songs we sang when we took our animals for grazing. Just passing the time.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47'It's John's first visit to this group.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51'Like Komal Kothari before him, John likes the old styles.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55'So what they are doing now is a little too tourist-orientated for his tastes.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00'It's pretty amazing, though.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11'Bollywood has soaked up their style and reflected it back to them.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15'In a sense, they're copying a copy of themselves.'
0:52:15 > 0:52:19The girls in the black have been filmed to death.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23There is about a million feet of footage on that, totally stereotype.
0:52:24 > 0:52:29Will you ask him if he will sing for us, then?
0:52:29 > 0:52:32THEY SPEAK RAJASTHANI
0:52:39 > 0:52:45He was saying that life has changed totally. Today, the girls are copying Bollywood or this and that,
0:52:45 > 0:52:51but John said, "Please sing some songs that your grandfather used to do." And they said, "We'll do that."
0:52:51 > 0:52:56And without all the accompaniment of the modern drums, because they didn't have that.
0:52:56 > 0:53:02- Just for today, don't do these other things. We're not tourists. - THEY LAUGH
0:53:02 > 0:53:05In some ways, we probably are.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20'Mohini is delighted to go back to the original.'
0:53:20 > 0:53:23SHE SINGS
0:53:28 > 0:53:34TRANSLATOR: I say, do the old styles, don't do the new. Sing in Marwari, the local language.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37Eat, sit up and get up in Marwari.
0:53:37 > 0:53:42Even tea now we drink from a cup. We used to drink from clay pots.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45I really liked that.
0:53:51 > 0:53:56TRANSLATOR: We sing our songs during weddings, when we are celebrating. These are the songs I like.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59I don't like film songs.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18HE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI
0:54:20 > 0:54:25He kept on saying that the children don't follow the tradition.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28I said, "There is no need for them to even follow that.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32"The next generation, they will come up with their own."
0:54:32 > 0:54:36You're not saying just simply retain the old ways of doing things.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39You're saying find new ways which are true to yourself.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41- Don't just copy what you see on... - Exactly, yes.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44You cannot... This is not about preservation.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Don't restrict them just to tradition.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52Let tradition inspire them.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56'A group of young Rajasthani musicians are doing precisely that.
0:54:56 > 0:55:00DANCE BEATS PLAY
0:55:05 > 0:55:09'They are collaborating with Manchester beatboxer Jason Singh.'
0:55:09 > 0:55:11HE SHOUTS
0:55:13 > 0:55:17I've been involved with lots of underground music genres from hip-hop and house
0:55:17 > 0:55:20and drum and bass and all these other musical forms.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25A lot of the Rajasthani rhythms are similar in these cycles that, once you're in them, you get hooked,
0:55:25 > 0:55:30and it takes you over. I'm trying to bring together beatboxing with Rajasthani percussionists.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32It fits like a glove.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35DANCE MUSIC PLAYS
0:55:45 > 0:55:48CHEERING
0:56:07 > 0:56:11- Jamal, who is our urban poet... - Was he the big guy?- The big dude, yeah, who we call Tiger.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14- He's really enjoying it, isn't he? - He's full into it.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17That song is about how India is changing so much
0:56:17 > 0:56:19with the influence of technology.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22HE SINGS IN RAJASTHANI
0:56:29 > 0:56:35He's quite radical. He's been banned from certain cities because whatever he feels needs commenting on,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39death of little girls through to the injustices of corruption,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42he's just in there, and a lot of people get scared by that.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45But he does it in such a charming way, you're like,
0:56:45 > 0:56:49"Oh, yeah, tell us about all the injustices of the world." It's brilliant.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52HE SINGS IN RAJASTHANI
0:57:12 > 0:57:18Before we came into the picture, the musicians would be asked to come in through the back door.
0:57:18 > 0:57:23"Yeah, come and perform... and get lost."
0:57:23 > 0:57:27- But now it's changed, you think? - It's changed a lot.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30They come and sit with us, they eat with us.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34The big chief will go and hug them.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38It makes everybody else understand that this guy is worthy of respect.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43So it's a small little thing we do and it brings good results.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50India is very much in love with the future.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54Many Indians look on the past as a succession of humiliations.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58The British, before the British there were successive Mogul dynasties.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01They have to go right back to find something that's glorious.
0:58:01 > 0:58:07Everything that smacks of progress and power, of money and the future, is exciting.
0:58:07 > 0:58:09The past is not.
0:58:15 > 0:58:21What about the work that John Singh is doing? How important do you think that is in keeping it alive?
0:58:21 > 0:58:25This entire oral tradition with its own epics attached to it, like a living tradition,
0:58:25 > 0:58:30as if Homer was alive telling the story of the Iliad on a daily basis to villagers in Greece,
0:58:30 > 0:58:33this still survives just, by a thread, here in Rajasthan.
0:58:35 > 0:58:38It's only if you have some new form of funding which can bring them a living,
0:58:38 > 0:58:44like performing in a venue like this, in a festival like this, that that tradition will survive.
0:58:47 > 0:58:51How come the government doesn't invest in this
0:58:51 > 0:58:55and understand that this will actually strengthen the communities?
0:58:55 > 0:58:59I think it does. It doesn't invest in it to the extent it should,
0:58:59 > 0:59:02and possibly not in the way it should.
0:59:02 > 0:59:08I think the most important thing really that government or any private foundation can do
0:59:08 > 0:59:13is actually, still, the old-fashioned way of doing it, which is to give patronage.
0:59:13 > 0:59:16To give an opportunity, to give a chance.
0:59:22 > 0:59:27We are not agents, we are not promoters, we are not in the business of this.
0:59:27 > 0:59:33For us, it's far more important that people see something that we present
0:59:33 > 0:59:37and like enough to want to make it move on further.
0:59:37 > 0:59:40CHEERING
0:59:43 > 0:59:47If you take a tree, you won't water the apple.
0:59:47 > 0:59:51For us, it's nourishing at root, that's really what our work is,
0:59:51 > 0:59:56ensuring that the roots of that tree go deeper and deeper and deeper,
0:59:56 > 0:59:58because the tree will grow on its own.
1:00:12 > 1:00:16TRANSLATOR: I'll put the picture up when I get this house repaired.
1:00:18 > 1:00:22It will get ruined otherwise. SHE LAUGHS
1:00:43 > 1:00:47TRANSLATOR: What does it make you think of?
1:00:47 > 1:00:51TRANSLATOR: Going back once more. I just want to go back once more.
1:00:51 > 1:00:53THEY LAUGH
1:00:58 > 1:01:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
1:01:02 > 1:01:06E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
1:01:06 > 1:01:06.