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The Lost Music of Rajasthan

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MAN SINGS IN RAJASTHANI

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'A holy man once lived alone on this mountain.

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'He was known as the Lord of Birds.

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'When the maharaja wanted to build his fort here, the holy man cursed the place with drought.

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'To counter the curse, the maharaja decided to bury a man alive

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'in the foundations of his fort.

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'One of the Meghwal community volunteered,

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'low-caste leather workers and weavers.

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'These musicians are Meghwals.

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'They are still honoured here at the fort in Jodhpur, as are the birds.

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THEY SING

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'Now the rush towards modernity in India

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'threatens to bury this music.

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'But those who seek it out strive to rekindle the music

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'and its audience.

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'We're following song-seeker John Singh

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'round the remotest villages of rural Rajasthan in Northwest India, scouting for talent.'

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You don't know what to expect. It could be completely crap or it could be wonderful.

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Generally, our luck is, in a day, we'll always find something magical.

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It's the first time you've been here, yes?

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Yeah. I mean, I've worked with the community of Meghwals,

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but they are spread out all over Rajasthan. But not these particular people.

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Where do they sit, the Meghwals, in the caste system?

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They're not untouchables in the strict sense,

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but they are from the lower caste community.

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They will never be in the centre of the village, they'll always be on the sides.

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Quite a lot of cars would find it tricky to get here, wouldn't they, John?

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Yeah. When I started going around Rajasthan,

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I had a four-wheel drive, but it was always a five-seater.

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You'd get to a village and then they'd say, "Oh, there's a fantastic flute player somewhere there"

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and I wouldn't know how to get there, so two more people would come in.

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We've got to go up there. Or do we walk? No, we take the car.

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And these Meghwals, they are weavers by profession, is that right?

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The people that we are seeing, I'm told a lot of them still have pit looms,

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so they do have some income from that.

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And the rest of the time, would be singing.

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TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC

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'John's mission is to help traditional musicians make a living from their music

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'so they don't have to join the drift to the towns.

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'And he's not keen on what towns are doing to the music.'

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They've gone into semi-pop,

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amusing to a larger audience.

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They've adopted the harmonium because it makes a shit-load of noise,

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but generally, when they come to us, if they have to perform in our festival, we'd say stop that.

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THEY SPEAK RAJASTHANI

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'The men here sing to supplement their earnings from weaving, farming and building.'

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WOMEN SING IN RAJASTHANI

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'The women don't sing in public, but at village weddings, births and deaths and for themselves.'

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WOMEN SING IN RAJASTHANI

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So every word has a double meaning,

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-but double meaning in erotic.

-Erotic?

-A little erotic twist.

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-Fabulous.

-So they are singing that. That's why they are grinning.

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'John Singh is travelling with Prakash Detha,

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'an expert in the music of this area.'

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THEY SPEAK RAJASTHANI

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HE LAUGHS

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-What did she say?

-She's telling that... They're saying that

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a young boy and a young girl dancing with a handkerchief in their hand

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and then hand-in-hand under a banyan tree they are dancing.

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This is during the monsoon. So there is this joy.

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For ten months in the year, we don't have rain.

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Rain means there'll be food.

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Food means we'll be able to live.

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It's the most romantic season of the year.

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Monsoon comes and the romance of the earth and the sky starts.

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-Birds do it...

-Yes, everyone!

-THEY LAUGH

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All these girls and women learn from their childhood

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without any class or tutor or teacher, just being there,

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hundreds of songs they memorise.

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I love the range between the ages here. There's this older woman in the middle

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-and then all these very young women.

-She'll remember everything from her childhood.

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They will learn from her and then they will teach the next generation

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and that's how it goes on. So she is the store house.

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-So for you, that's quite important in finding...

-Totally.

-Totally.

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It's enabling the transfer of knowledge

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from one generation to the next.

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If there's a gap, it'll be very difficult to come back again.

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What do you think of the singing, the quality of the singing?

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This is the first time I've seen ten Meghwals singing together.

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A lot of the Meghwals that we've been working with

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can be just two or three.

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They go into a trance.

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They shut their eyes and get totally involved with what they're singing.

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'John has started a foundation to support the musicians.

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'They bring the best performers they find to RIFF

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'the Rajasthan International Folk Festival.'

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Imagine you're Simon Cowell. Would you decide they're good enough to come to RIFF or not?

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Not for RIFF. Musically, they would've been not good enough for RIFF.

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Not good enough.

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'With his community director, Vinod Joshi,

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'John goes to visit two sisters whom they took to RIFF last year.'

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Fortunately, all the art forms of Rajasthan belong to the lower class people.

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If it is with the middle class, we would have lost it.

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But it's great because they are really out of the mainstream.

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'The Devi sisters' father was a musician,

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'a devotee of the Hindu goddess Matangi.

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'Thanks to him and to her,

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'they aren't in purdah and are able to perform in public.'

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SHE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI

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TRANSLATOR: When I was younger, I sometimes sang alone

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in the shelter of sand dunes and trees.

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So that people from my mother-in-law's side couldn't see me.

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Later, when my child became more independent, I got more confident.

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It has my guru's blessing, so what can they do,

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the in-laws or anyone in this society? How can they harm me?

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Now everyone is happy that we're doing so well.

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SHE SINGS

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When they sing, they actually shut their eyes

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and they enter into that sort of domain,

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darkness or whatever, or high, and then it comes out from there.

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And, of course, the words are enormously powerful.

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One of the things said is that to find a way to happiness,

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you have to find a teacher who will take you there.

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Then you give yourself in to the teachings

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and it'll take you to that realm.

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THEY SING IN RAJASTHANI

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Of course, it's become very close to my heart because that is what I follow.

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I suppose if I wasn't that shy, I'd be dancing.

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in complete abandon, but that's what it's all about. Wonderful.

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Wow!

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She said, "Wait, I will sing for you now" and she sang, so that's very personal and wonderful.

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-First to God, then to you. Not bad.

-HE LAUGHS

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'Vinod comes from a village near here himself, though he went away to study.'

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TRANSLATOR: Oh, you look like a bride groom!

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TRANSLATOR: Wow! Your outfit looks really beautiful.

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TRANSLATOR: How are you, son? All well?

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TRANSLATOR: If you ask him if he's good, what else is the poor boy going to say?

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TRANSLATOR: He isn't going to say, "No, it's rubbish".

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'We need to understand their rituals, their taboos.

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'Once you understand, then you can interact

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'and they can give you something substantial they have.

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'Otherwise, they don't share with you.'

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'Traditionally, these Chang drummers only come together for the spring festival of Holi.'

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They may be cobbler, they may be farmer, driver, shoemaker, anything.

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So they are just enjoying the festivities.

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THEY PLAY TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC

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They are playing together and dancing,

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spending time together with the joy.

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But the Chang drummers, they are not professionals. They're semi-professionals.

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Not at all. And we shouldn't say semi.

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It's totally... It's for their joy.

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'John Singh and his wife, Faith, got the idea of defending this music

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'when they were busy reviving the dying art of hand block printing.'

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There was so much depth

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and breadth to the tradition that you could just go on forever

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and we built up a very successful business

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which now employs hundreds of people.

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'They also got involved in preserving the buildings of Rajasthan.'

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What we saw is that, actually, the whole fabric of our state, Rajasthan,

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has a wealth of tradition,

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which is what we call virasat,

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and that wealth of tradition

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can maybe reinvent itself into the modern world

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because, at the end of the day, the virasat, the heritage, is the expression of the people of the land.

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John was always very keen on music.

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He was always inviting these folk musicians

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at his house, at his private parties, and he was sponsoring them.

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'This was to grow from a private passion into the foundation to support village musicians

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'and the annual international festival, RIFF.'

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I welcome you all to this beautiful, magical, musical evening here

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at the Rajasthan International Folk Festival.

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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THEY SING IN RAJASTHANI

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'As the free concert in the town centre kicks off the festival,

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'the Maharaja throws a more select opening-night party

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'under the brightest full moon of the year.

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'Co-founder and patron of the festival,

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'he hosts it within the massive walls of his 15th century fort.'

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-This is great up here.

-There you are.

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-Is this music that I'm listening to here authentic music?

-Yes, yes.

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We'll hear them at the festival.

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WOMAN SINGS IN RAJASTHANI

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UPBEAT TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC

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'RIFF has become something very special,

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'acknowledged around the world.'

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'The audience consists of a third locals,

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'a third from the rest of India and a third from the West.

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'Our Chang drummers have made it to the festival.

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TRANSLATOR: We've come especially for you, to hear you sing. There are nine of us altogether.

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TRANSLATOR: We'll get ready for you, then.

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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THEY PLAY AND SING

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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Bhanwari Devi comes from what's called a Bhopa-Bhopi tradition.

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A husband and wife team who are musicians, storytellers, as well as priests.

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After her husband passed away, Bhanwari Devi, to earn a living

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began singing other kinds of songs, accompanied by her two sons.

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But these are not her only children, she has seven others.

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And she actually looks after a total family of 22 people.

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And she actually sustains that through her singing, her work,

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likewise her two sons.

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And this is how they make their living.

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She's an extremely tough and resilient woman.

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TRANSLATOR: I was very young when my mother died. I don't remember Mummy.

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TRANSLATOR: There was no-one else to sing with Papa.

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He'd play and I would sing. We'd go round the villages.

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They got me married when I was nine, ten years old.

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I was 12 when my eldest son was born.

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TRANSLATOR: Did you start singing right after you got married, with your husband?

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TRANSLATOR: Yes. If the Bhopa knows the song and the Bhopi does not, there cannot be a marriage.

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If they both sing, only then can there be a wedding.

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For three years after their father passed away, I was in bad shape.

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Looking after the family, it's all down to me.

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'This year, the foundation took Bhanwari Devi to the Edinburgh Festival.

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SHE SINGS IN RAJASTHANI

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Bhanwari Devi and her two sons are actually travelling out of India for the very first time.

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So they feel very privileged and I would suggest you, too, should feel a little privileged.

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'Playing in the National Museum of Scotland is a great opportunity,

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'but the point is not to turn the musicians into museum pieces.'

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It's a living heritage

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and if the people had lost their songs,

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then that living heritage would die.

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And so I wasn't interested at all in conservation or archiving.

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If they can't earn their livelihood

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and if they can't get self-respect,

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then their children are never going to adopt it,

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and if they don't, then it's gone.

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So 400 or 500 years of that tradition, gone away.

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And that's what we are hoping we can prevent.

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Everybody in the village knows when a big car comes in

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and they will start talking and wondering, "Whose house are they going to?"

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When she came back from Edinburgh, most of the village turned out to greet her.

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'Bhanwari's son, Krishna, has increasingly turned to pop music to make a living,

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'playing his harmonium at village dances.

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'He's bought this Jeep with the proceeds.

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'Ironically, going to Edinburgh makes him value the local music more.

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'It's what makes him special.

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'But going abroad is having another effect.'

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TRANSLATOR: Now she's got it in her head, after having been abroad

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where we had such good facilities, like good house and air-con.

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We had never seen such things. This is nothing compared to that.

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TRANSLATOR: Bhanwari, why are you getting worried? The house will get sorted sooner or later.

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There's no rush. You've spent so many years in this place.

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Forget about the dreams of Britain.

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Even when I go there, I think it is a dream, too.

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'But the attention they're receiving is stopping other villages treating them like outcasts.'

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I had a long chat with the son.

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He was saying after Edinburgh, for about ten days,

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there were 10 or 15 people coming every day to drink tea and enquire about stuff.

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So his stature in society is... People take him seriously.

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It has a very positive effect because people won't treat him as "that house at the edge of town".

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I was telling him, "You're damn lucky, you're the highest house in town,

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-"you can look down upon people."

-HE LAUGHS

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'Now we're offered a trip into Bhanwari Devi's past,

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'miles down dirt roads, where electricity pylons haven't yet reached.

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'This is music akin to magic,

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'music to evoke powers of healing, sacred music.

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'Only seven or eight of these storyteller priests, Bhopas, still exist.

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'The epic tale unfolds over four whole nights.'

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Everyone said, "Please go to Saga Bhopa.

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"He is the last pure Bhopa in our society

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"who can tell you everything about our rituals."

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So Saga Bhopa really has got the whole story.

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-He could recite for four nights.

-Yes.

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He said, "You organise and we will show you."

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You can see when he was preparing,

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he's just totally soaked in this.

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'He recites the ancient story of the life of the folk hero and God Pabuji

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'in front of a huge hand-painted scroll. It's like a mobile temple.'

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There's a whole ritual behind it. There's got to be a girl in the house who's not married

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and her prayers have to be said before the whole thing starts.

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And then the painting starts, which takes a long time.

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While they're doing that, they can stand on it and paint.

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And when the final thing is made, they put the eyes on the gods.

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Then it's deemed to have become a temple and you don't put your feet in it, you just roll it up.

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It's never bought by a Bhopa.

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It's gifted by some patron.

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But each one of these squares has a story.

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Escaped from somewhere, taken prisoner.

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TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC

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Not many people like that exist

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and there are not many paintings which have power.

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'The big question is whether a Bhopa like this

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'can still earn a living from his art. John thinks sadly not.'

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People who need the Bhopa would be fairly traditional people.

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Maybe modern people don't believe in the spirit

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and they don't believe in the soul, even.

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With modern medicines and everything else that's come in,

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why are they likely to call a Bhopa? It is dwindling.

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HE SINGS IN RAJASTHANI

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TRANSLATOR: What God has given you, it is important that you pass that on to your children.

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TRANSLATOR: Yes, absolutely.

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TRANSLATOR: It shouldn't leave with you. It is important that all this is learnt.

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TRANSLATOR: Someone once said, "One who listens with his inner mind gains knowledge

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"which leads to release from the cycle of birth and death

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"and so onto nirvana."

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-All humans are equal.

-Yes, they are.

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But even though they are built equal, their minds are different.

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Different minds have different strengths.

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The worst in this is one who has an idle mind.

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The last evening was extremely special.

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I've never seen Bhopas like that with that kind of knowledge.

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Usually, they tell you a story. This guy actually lives it.

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'He's a discovery, but not something for RIFF.'

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I would never even dream of asking.

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Things like that are too sacred.

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It's not a performance.

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Not entertainment.

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When will you finish the design?

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Tomorrow? No, no, it has to go into print today.

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OK, thanks. Bye.

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We have some Chakri dancers, we have Kalbelia.

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About 180 artists.

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-Variety show.

-Variety show, absolutely.

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-You can sing some really naughty songs, as well.

-Absolutely.

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'John's foundation has proved that there are plenty of traditional acts which can pull the crowds.

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'As well as the international festival, RIFF,

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'they organise village festivals

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'to build that all-important local audience.'

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What's really amazing is that the stage that we are on

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has been specifically built for this event.

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Somebody who used to be part of this village made it big,

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he lives in Belgium now, he agreed to pay for the stage.

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The angle is a little off.

0:31:470:31:50

But it's great! It's fantastic!

0:31:500:31:53

We're thrilled. We love it.

0:31:530:31:56

The village seemed charged up. They want it.

0:31:560:31:59

So we'll get it done.

0:31:590:32:02

THEY SHOUT IN RAJASTHANI

0:32:050:32:08

TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC

0:32:160:32:18

HE SINGS

0:32:180:32:21

THEY SING

0:32:220:32:25

'The performers have come from all over Rajasthan.'

0:32:350:32:38

From the artists' point of view, it's taken them nine hours to get here.

0:32:420:32:46

So they would never be able to meet artists from other parts.

0:32:460:32:49

So this becomes like a brotherhood now.

0:32:530:32:56

'8,000 people are here from the villages and towns round about.

0:33:020:33:06

'People brought up knowing these traditions

0:33:060:33:10

'and who understand the words of the songs.'

0:33:100:33:14

Most of the artists traditionally performed in their own village settings.

0:33:280:33:33

Some of them would have patrons who would invite them over to perform for them.

0:33:330:33:37

Traditions settings are beginning to dwindle and fall apart.

0:33:400:33:45

HE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI

0:33:470:33:49

So for us coming in, it is an intervention.

0:33:490:33:52

The idea behind these village festivals is about cultivating new audiences.

0:33:520:33:57

The audiences otherwise would be sitting in front of their television sets.

0:33:570:34:01

What's happened in our society is we've become segregated,

0:34:240:34:29

cos there's no occasion to hang out together.

0:34:290:34:32

For a Muslim guy to be with a Hindu or for one caste to be meeting another.

0:34:330:34:38

If there was a cobbler, you went to him to get your shoes made

0:34:440:34:48

and you'll probably have to have about four sittings with him.

0:34:480:34:51

You came to know his daughter, he came to know about your son, et cetera.

0:34:520:34:57

So there was an opportunity to interact. Now the shoe comes ready-made.

0:34:570:35:02

This is one way of bringing the entire village together.

0:35:030:35:07

Now they'll have three or four hours of positive vibrations.

0:35:070:35:11

And hopefully they'll go back friends.

0:35:120:35:15

TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC

0:35:160:35:20

'In its modest way, theirs really is a visionary idea,

0:35:390:35:43

'whittling away at the caste system, at rural poverty and the religious divide through music.

0:35:430:35:49

'And the diversity of talent on show here is quite extraordinary.

0:35:530:35:57

'Such richness and weirdness and wildness.

0:35:570:36:01

'And so many cross-dressers. What is that tradition all about?'

0:36:020:36:06

MAN SPEAKS RAJASTHANI

0:36:110:36:15

TRANSLATOR: When I have dressed, put on makeup, jewellery

0:36:150:36:18

and the full costume, then I cannot say 100 percent, but 60 percent

0:36:180:36:23

I have the feeling that I'm a woman.

0:36:230:36:25

My walk, gestures, my style of speech, movements that come,

0:36:250:36:30

all of it, it all feels like this is a woman's.

0:36:300:36:33

'For Harish, it's been difficult.

0:36:350:36:38

'He's from an upper caste, the Rajputs, or warriors.

0:36:380:36:41

'They see cross-dressing as something only for the lower orders.'

0:36:410:36:46

TRANSLATOR: They said that, if you'd killed somebody, even then we would have adjusted,

0:36:460:36:50

or if you would have had to go to prison.

0:36:500:36:53

If you were going to be hanged, we wouldn't have had to cry as much as we do now.

0:36:530:36:58

You have dishonoured the family name. That was why my family threw me out.

0:36:580:37:03

There was a period in your life where you, too, were attracted to this. Why were you attracted?

0:37:070:37:12

From the beginning, I saw my mother and my grandma

0:37:120:37:18

as interesting,

0:37:180:37:20

when I was quite young, at the age of 16, 17.

0:37:200:37:25

-Your sister was very understanding.

-She's putting the makeup and everything on the eyes. Yes.

0:37:250:37:33

'In Vinod's village, which is where last night's festival was held,

0:37:340:37:39

'the attitude to cross-dressing is quite different.

0:37:390:37:42

'Indeed, in spring, they have a festival where half the men in the village dress up and dance.'

0:37:420:37:47

When I suddenly appeared in the main market,

0:37:490:37:53

everyone loved it. Even the old, the young, all the people.

0:37:530:37:59

"Ooh, you look so smart! So lovely!" Everyone want to take the photographs, hugging.

0:37:590:38:05

That's the great fun and affection.

0:38:050:38:08

TRANSLATOR: Those who dress up in whatever way they want,

0:38:090:38:13

who display their artistic talent,

0:38:130:38:16

they perform with sincerity and wholeheartedness.

0:38:160:38:19

My artistry is important to keep me in touch with my culture.

0:38:220:38:27

Everyone who comes to these festivals of ours from towns round about thinks,

0:38:270:38:31

"Why is our town so poor?"

0:38:310:38:34

It's not envy but recognition that actually this town is rich

0:38:340:38:39

and theirs could be, too.

0:38:390:38:41

They are the face of that area.

0:38:440:38:47

And when some people oppose it,

0:38:490:38:52

I think it's totally discouraging and unacceptable

0:38:520:38:56

because once upon a time, my mother and my sister is encouraging me,

0:38:560:39:02

that's why I celebrate and I participate in it.

0:39:020:39:06

But when I hear many stories about the objection of this thing, I feel very sad about that.

0:39:060:39:12

BELL RINGS

0:39:130:39:16

'The old ways are like an echo in India, a heartbeat,

0:39:170:39:20

'especially in this poor and rural state.

0:39:200:39:24

'They aren't strong enough to survive unaided against the onslaught of the new India.

0:39:260:39:31

'John and his team are striving to keep the music alive in this modern world

0:39:340:39:38

'now that the old ways of making a living from music are dying out.

0:39:380:39:43

'What were those old ways?

0:39:450:39:47

'We decided to go to the top to find out.

0:39:480:39:52

'The maharaja may no longer be top dog.

0:39:530:39:56

'Soon after independence, the maharajas lost all real power.

0:39:560:40:00

'But he's certainly still treated as if he is.'

0:40:000:40:03

-Over there, is that you as a young man?

-No, that's my father.

0:40:050:40:08

That's my father's wedding picture.

0:40:080:40:11

By 1949, he was still recognised as a maharaja

0:40:110:40:14

with certain privileges, but no real powers.

0:40:140:40:17

But this extraordinary palace is still your home.

0:40:170:40:20

It is partly my home, but it's partly a hotel.

0:40:200:40:23

More hotel, and a small portion is my home,

0:40:230:40:26

-which we're in now.

-Yes.

0:40:260:40:29

This palace was built quite recently comparatively, wasn't it?

0:40:300:40:33

This was built as a famine relief programme.

0:40:330:40:36

There was a very severe drought in 1929

0:40:360:40:38

and this was Grandfather's private project to provide work,

0:40:380:40:42

because people wanted work. They said, "We don't want handouts, we want work."

0:40:420:40:46

Things changed much more rapidly than one thought they would.

0:40:480:40:52

'The system of patronage started with the maharaja at the top.

0:41:020:41:06

'His court was a major patron of musicians, and trickled right down through society,

0:41:060:41:11

'always with the musicians pretty near the bottom of the pile.'

0:41:110:41:15

The Hindu system has all these gods, and each god has a place in the overall structure of society.

0:41:200:41:26

Music was interwoven into the life,

0:41:290:41:33

the festivals, the occasions, the birthdays, the religious ceremonies,

0:41:330:41:37

and you took it all for granted.

0:41:370:41:40

I think we probably missed one beat,

0:41:420:41:44

post-independence we went forward, development, modernisation, democracy.

0:41:440:41:49

You can't turn the clock back. Culture also is not static, it's fluid.

0:41:510:41:56

So we had to find the right place for these traditional musicians.

0:41:560:42:03

They have talent, they have great skills,

0:42:050:42:07

which can be placed side-by-side with some of the best in the world.

0:42:070:42:12

'These are Manganiar musicians, that's a caste. They're professional musicians by birth.

0:42:180:42:24

'It literally means beggars.'

0:42:240:42:26

TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC

0:42:260:42:29

He's a very serious musician. He's travelled more than I have.

0:42:450:42:49

His passport, he's got about four of them stuck together because the pages have run out.

0:42:490:42:54

As far as general talent goes, they have, I think, the most.

0:42:570:43:02

They can play any kind of instrument,

0:43:040:43:06

they've adapted themselves to play wind instruments, strings, they sing.

0:43:060:43:10

They have drums of all kinds.

0:43:140:43:18

They can range everything from the birth of classical music.

0:43:240:43:28

Apparently it came from folk, and they are very familiar with all the Indian ragas,

0:43:280:43:33

and of course they can go into Bollywood or something.

0:43:330:43:37

'They're Muslims but play for Hindu patrons.

0:43:410:43:44

'This extended family has been particularly successful,

0:43:450:43:48

'but despite that, still live on the edge of this village.'

0:43:480:43:52

-THEY SPEAK RAJASTHANI

-What did he say there?

-Welcome.

0:44:040:44:09

-He is around 74.

-He's young.

-THEY LAUGH

0:44:090:44:12

Not by our standard. You go through three summers in India and you get ten years older.

0:44:120:44:18

TRANSLATOR: Having worked with this gentleman for ages,

0:44:200:44:23

I know what it is like and I love it.

0:44:230:44:26

He is one of the eldest player of kamancha,

0:44:280:44:33

which is a stringed, bowed instrument.

0:44:330:44:36

This is the only person I know who has got three generations alive and they are actually playing.

0:44:360:44:43

Do all the children believe that that is their destiny, they will all become performers

0:44:430:44:48

and that's how they see their lives? All these children? This little boy here?

0:44:480:44:52

HE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI

0:44:520:44:56

Engineer. THEY LAUGH

0:44:560:44:59

-He's going to be an engineer.

-Yeah, he would like to be an engineer.

-He's a rebel!

0:44:590:45:04

HE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI Kamancha.

0:45:040:45:07

Kamancha? He's a very good kamancha player.

0:45:070:45:10

He would like to be a great player of kamancha.

0:45:100:45:14

We don't have any girls here. In fact, I can only see one, peeping round the doorway.

0:45:140:45:19

-Yeah, girls, women, don't perform.

-No.

0:45:190:45:22

-HE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI

-He wants to be a computer engineer.

0:45:260:45:31

-Wow.

-THEY LAUGH

0:45:310:45:33

THEY PLAY AND SING

0:45:330:45:37

So why are these children ambivalent?

0:45:420:45:44

No matter how great performer they are,

0:45:440:45:48

they still believe that, in social hierarchy they are very low, they are performer.

0:45:480:45:55

It's only when they are out of their patrons and their social network

0:45:550:45:59

then they feel very proud that we are a performer.

0:45:590:46:02

'Amazingly, it's suddenly revealed that there have been patrons in the room all along.'

0:46:130:46:18

-They are their patrons.

-These two are their patrons?

-Yes.

0:46:180:46:21

He is saying that his father is his patron.

0:46:210:46:25

Father.

0:46:250:46:27

'They don't exactly look intimidating.'

0:46:290:46:31

He runs a private school and he runs a confectionary store.

0:46:310:46:36

He was telling me that a ritual of death or birth or wedding

0:46:360:46:41

will not be completed without the presence of Manganiars.

0:46:410:46:44

The patron was saying, "If I lose my child, so what, I can produce another one,

0:46:440:46:49

-"but where will I get my Manganiar from?"

-HE LAUGHS

0:46:490:46:53

They say that for the last 20 years they have been performing all over India and abroad.

0:46:570:47:03

He has performed with Ravi Shankar.

0:47:080:47:13

Since they have performed outside with a great master, they don't now feel that they are great performers.

0:47:170:47:23

The moment they are with their patrons, they will behave exactly the way they are supposed to behave.

0:47:230:47:29

When I have offered some of these people really good money

0:47:330:47:36

to go to Bombay or some place where there was a big performance going on,

0:47:360:47:41

and at the last minute they have said, "The patron has called me and I can't go."

0:47:410:47:45

I say, "What is the patron going to give you?" He says, "Even if he give me one rupee, I'll go there."

0:47:450:47:50

APPLAUSE

0:47:540:47:57

'The first person to work with the musician castes of Rajasthan was Komal Kothari.

0:48:010:48:07

'In the 1960s he set up a folklore research centre.

0:48:070:48:11

'While his collaborators collected folk tales, Komal was enchanted by the music of the villages.'

0:48:130:48:19

THEY SING

0:48:230:48:27

When Komal Kothari realised that there is a great treasure of folk music and songs there,

0:48:310:48:37

he went from village to village and he recorded this.

0:48:370:48:41

Komal Kothari was the first person who brought these traditional performers

0:48:470:48:53

out of their traditional circumstances,

0:48:530:48:55

out of their traditional patrons, and put them onto a stage.

0:48:550:49:01

Komal Kothari died, and there was a vacuum,

0:49:080:49:11

there was no-one in Rajasthan left with great sincerity to carry on what he was doing.

0:49:110:49:18

So John took the baton.

0:49:180:49:22

Fortunately, I didn't have to do the whole of Rajasthan

0:49:220:49:24

because 25 percent of Rajasthan had been covered by this great friend of ours, Komal.

0:49:240:49:29

So I had the job of discovering the performing arts in three quarters.

0:49:290:49:34

I started going into areas which I had never been to before.

0:49:390:49:44

And there's always some amount of suspicion.

0:49:440:49:47

"What the hell is he doing running around these places? There's got to be a catch."

0:49:470:49:51

THEY SING

0:49:510:49:55

That felt like Flamenco, practically.

0:50:040:50:07

Some scholars say that these gypsy groups from Rajasthan,

0:50:070:50:11

their original dancing influenced Flamenco.

0:50:110:50:14

'Gypsies the world over are thought to originate from India.

0:50:160:50:19

'One of the groups Komal Kothari worked with were these Kalbeila gypsies.'

0:50:190:50:24

THEY SING

0:50:250:50:28

TRANSLATOR: I remember, I was playing the pungi and wandering about.

0:50:370:50:41

Komal Kothari made me play and sing the old, old things.

0:50:430:50:48

Komal would say, "Listen, son, this is your inheritance."

0:50:490:50:53

TRANSLATOR: I was 16 when Komal Kothari recorded with me.

0:51:050:51:08

I had a particular nose ring at that time.

0:51:080:51:11

It was in Komal Kothari's house in his village.

0:51:130:51:16

When I was a child, he even took me abroad with my father.

0:51:170:51:21

We sang the songs we sang when we took our animals for grazing. Just passing the time.

0:51:240:51:29

'It's John's first visit to this group.

0:51:440:51:47

'Like Komal Kothari before him, John likes the old styles.

0:51:470:51:51

'So what they are doing now is a little too tourist-orientated for his tastes.

0:51:510:51:55

'It's pretty amazing, though.

0:51:570:52:00

'Bollywood has soaked up their style and reflected it back to them.

0:52:070:52:11

'In a sense, they're copying a copy of themselves.'

0:52:110:52:15

The girls in the black have been filmed to death.

0:52:150:52:19

There is about a million feet of footage on that, totally stereotype.

0:52:190:52:23

Will you ask him if he will sing for us, then?

0:52:240:52:29

THEY SPEAK RAJASTHANI

0:52:290:52:32

He was saying that life has changed totally. Today, the girls are copying Bollywood or this and that,

0:52:390:52:45

but John said, "Please sing some songs that your grandfather used to do." And they said, "We'll do that."

0:52:450:52:51

And without all the accompaniment of the modern drums, because they didn't have that.

0:52:510:52:56

-Just for today, don't do these other things. We're not tourists.

-THEY LAUGH

0:52:560:53:02

In some ways, we probably are.

0:53:020:53:05

'Mohini is delighted to go back to the original.'

0:53:170:53:20

SHE SINGS

0:53:200:53:23

TRANSLATOR: I say, do the old styles, don't do the new. Sing in Marwari, the local language.

0:53:280:53:34

Eat, sit up and get up in Marwari.

0:53:340:53:37

Even tea now we drink from a cup. We used to drink from clay pots.

0:53:370:53:42

I really liked that.

0:53:420:53:45

TRANSLATOR: We sing our songs during weddings, when we are celebrating. These are the songs I like.

0:53:510:53:56

I don't like film songs.

0:53:560:53:59

HE SPEAKS RAJASTHANI

0:54:150:54:18

He kept on saying that the children don't follow the tradition.

0:54:200:54:25

I said, "There is no need for them to even follow that.

0:54:250:54:28

"The next generation, they will come up with their own."

0:54:280:54:32

You're not saying just simply retain the old ways of doing things.

0:54:320:54:36

You're saying find new ways which are true to yourself.

0:54:360:54:39

-Don't just copy what you see on...

-Exactly, yes.

0:54:390:54:41

You cannot... This is not about preservation.

0:54:410:54:44

Don't restrict them just to tradition.

0:54:460:54:49

Let tradition inspire them.

0:54:490:54:52

'A group of young Rajasthani musicians are doing precisely that.

0:54:520:54:56

DANCE BEATS PLAY

0:54:560:55:00

'They are collaborating with Manchester beatboxer Jason Singh.'

0:55:050:55:09

HE SHOUTS

0:55:090:55:11

I've been involved with lots of underground music genres from hip-hop and house

0:55:130:55:17

and drum and bass and all these other musical forms.

0:55:170:55:20

A lot of the Rajasthani rhythms are similar in these cycles that, once you're in them, you get hooked,

0:55:200:55:25

and it takes you over. I'm trying to bring together beatboxing with Rajasthani percussionists.

0:55:250:55:30

It fits like a glove.

0:55:300:55:32

DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

0:55:320:55:35

CHEERING

0:55:450:55:48

-Jamal, who is our urban poet...

-Was he the big guy?

-The big dude, yeah, who we call Tiger.

0:56:070:56:11

-He's really enjoying it, isn't he?

-He's full into it.

0:56:110:56:14

That song is about how India is changing so much

0:56:140:56:17

with the influence of technology.

0:56:170:56:19

HE SINGS IN RAJASTHANI

0:56:190:56:22

He's quite radical. He's been banned from certain cities because whatever he feels needs commenting on,

0:56:290:56:35

death of little girls through to the injustices of corruption,

0:56:350:56:39

he's just in there, and a lot of people get scared by that.

0:56:390:56:42

But he does it in such a charming way, you're like,

0:56:420:56:45

"Oh, yeah, tell us about all the injustices of the world." It's brilliant.

0:56:450:56:49

HE SINGS IN RAJASTHANI

0:56:490:56:52

Before we came into the picture, the musicians would be asked to come in through the back door.

0:57:120:57:18

"Yeah, come and perform... and get lost."

0:57:180:57:23

-But now it's changed, you think?

-It's changed a lot.

0:57:230:57:27

They come and sit with us, they eat with us.

0:57:270:57:30

The big chief will go and hug them.

0:57:310:57:34

It makes everybody else understand that this guy is worthy of respect.

0:57:340:57:38

So it's a small little thing we do and it brings good results.

0:57:400:57:43

India is very much in love with the future.

0:57:470:57:50

Many Indians look on the past as a succession of humiliations.

0:57:500:57:54

The British, before the British there were successive Mogul dynasties.

0:57:540:57:58

They have to go right back to find something that's glorious.

0:57:580:58:01

Everything that smacks of progress and power, of money and the future, is exciting.

0:58:010:58:07

The past is not.

0:58:070:58:09

What about the work that John Singh is doing? How important do you think that is in keeping it alive?

0:58:150:58:21

This entire oral tradition with its own epics attached to it, like a living tradition,

0:58:210:58:25

as if Homer was alive telling the story of the Iliad on a daily basis to villagers in Greece,

0:58:250:58:30

this still survives just, by a thread, here in Rajasthan.

0:58:300:58:33

It's only if you have some new form of funding which can bring them a living,

0:58:350:58:38

like performing in a venue like this, in a festival like this, that that tradition will survive.

0:58:380:58:44

How come the government doesn't invest in this

0:58:470:58:51

and understand that this will actually strengthen the communities?

0:58:510:58:55

I think it does. It doesn't invest in it to the extent it should,

0:58:550:58:59

and possibly not in the way it should.

0:58:590:59:02

I think the most important thing really that government or any private foundation can do

0:59:020:59:08

is actually, still, the old-fashioned way of doing it, which is to give patronage.

0:59:080:59:13

To give an opportunity, to give a chance.

0:59:130:59:16

We are not agents, we are not promoters, we are not in the business of this.

0:59:220:59:27

For us, it's far more important that people see something that we present

0:59:270:59:33

and like enough to want to make it move on further.

0:59:330:59:37

CHEERING

0:59:370:59:40

If you take a tree, you won't water the apple.

0:59:430:59:47

For us, it's nourishing at root, that's really what our work is,

0:59:470:59:51

ensuring that the roots of that tree go deeper and deeper and deeper,

0:59:510:59:56

because the tree will grow on its own.

0:59:560:59:58

TRANSLATOR: I'll put the picture up when I get this house repaired.

1:00:121:00:16

It will get ruined otherwise. SHE LAUGHS

1:00:181:00:22

TRANSLATOR: What does it make you think of?

1:00:431:00:47

TRANSLATOR: Going back once more. I just want to go back once more.

1:00:471:00:51

THEY LAUGH

1:00:511:00:53

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