I have just finished experiencing one of the most soul stirring musical experiences of my 23 year old lifetime. It all started three days ago when my father asked me to listen to one of his former production before we went in to record some Rajasthani folk artistes for our ongoing Folk Fusion project for EMI Virgin. I was listening to a track called 'Ghore bund' on one of the four volumes of the Rajasthani series. Just the sheer raw beauty of the composition and the feeling of being near my country's soul brought tears to my eyes. I was emotionally supercharged and listening to the recording. We then went in to meet the artistes at a hotel in older Delhi. It was an old hotel where all these Rajasthani musicians from the Langa and Manganiar communities were staying. Some had come to perform in Delhi, others were stopping over enroute to some other country abroad. These two communities are famous for producing the best musicians. They were all super happy to see my father as he has worked with them before. After this 4 of them came with us to play on the recording. One of these, the oldest was (Ustad) Haakim Khan. He plays this instrument which many have heard im sure on documentaries on India or Rajasthan. Very few though have actually seen it and the sheer briliance of its live sound. The Khamaycha is a really shabby looking piece as you might see in the pics, but the music it produces is worth a lifetime if i may say so. We had a sitting to decide which tunes go on the CD, and Haakim saheb pulled out some true old timers which surely warmed all our hearts. We finished many really deep tunes which we were speechless to comment upon and I was left in utter dumbfoundness and shock as some of the best music in my life was entering my system. At the end of the second day when both the lead instruments of the Langas and Manganiars(Saarangi and Khamaycha respectively) were finished, it was decided that there shall be two duets featuring both the instruments together. Amongst all this, very casually, the song was decided to be Ghorbund. I missed the proclamation of this decision and had also forgotten what Ghorbund sounded like. When i entered the control room, both the players started playing Ghorbund with the outstanding accompaniment of Mushtaq Khan Manganiar on the Dholak. I was completely frozen when the Saarangi player sang a few strains from the composition. It felt like my head had been turned upside down and was on a call from a parallel existense, a call from the creator it self. I jerked myself out of this state to try and further enjoy the composition. The next few minutes was sheer bliss. Ghorbund is love, faith, tradition, pride, joy and so much more. All of us could only nod our heads in approval. Nothing else. God bless all the folk music and musicians of our country and hope that there is justice done to them in every form. Too bad the world has to hear them on CD/Tape and not live. And i hope we can finish this album soon and show the world what India is about.
