Lakha Khan: ‘Today I am here is the reason why music’

Lakha Khan has just Riyazi One of the few musicians to play the instrument – on a Sindhi sarangi – when I called. The 76-year-old from Rajasthan was awarded the Padma Shri this year. For those familiar with his music, recognition was long overdue, but Khan gently shrugs off all such comments. “The reason I am here today is the music, which is why I have got recognition,” he says, “as long as we have our music, our tradition, we’ll be fine.” And then, as if prompted, he answers my question on his favorite hymn by singing in his earthy voice, ‘Bhajan bin baavre…’.

songs for all occasions

Undoubtedly, music is the language in which Khan is most comfortable, although he sings in several languages ​​- Marwari, Sindhi, Punjabi, Hindi and Multani. His voice accompanies the melodies of his Sindhi sarangi, and together he sings about nature, about the depth of human emotion; They sing in praise of Hindu gods, about festivals, about their patron families, and about life in Thar. The Manganiyar community, to which the Khans belong, are oral historians of the desert. His songs have been passed down through generations and often document the life as he sees it at the time.

“The Manganiyars are a community of hereditary musicians,” says Kuldeep Kothari, secretary of the Rupayan Sansthan (Rajasthan Institute of Folklore and Museum), “their songs repertoire are diverse, but mostly about the life cycle – birth, marriage, death –”. About fairs and festivals, Story And saga (stories and epics).” Over generations, the community’s patrons have largely been local Rajput families and wealthy landowners and the Manganiyars often perform for them on all important occasions and also for their guests. Although Muslim, at the beginning of the performance Invoking Krishna is a common practice.

There are about 8,000-10,000 Manganiyar families in Rajasthan, most of them in the western regions of Barmer and Jaisalmer. Like them, the Langa are also a hereditary musician community, but their population is not as scattered as that of the Manganiyars. “Traditionally, Manganiyars play the kamaicha, a 17-stringed, bowed instrument. Musicians take great care in making the instrument and sit with the carpenter while making it,” says Kuldeep, whose late father and Padma Bhushan The Rupayana Sansthan was founded by award-winning Kothari. “It is a difficult instrument to play and the number of Manganiyars playing it is declining. Many people are playing the harmonium instead, although the octaves are different on the two instruments.” Lakha, whom he calls “a genius with a wonderful memory”, is one of the few to have mastered the Sindhi sarangi.

However, moving away from a traditional instrument is indicative of the transitional phase in which Manganiyars find themselves. Lakha Khan lamented that the “business of music” is often a deterrent to folk music. Folk musicians often have to obey the organizers and play popular Hindi film songs when they are invited to perform at hotels and other venues. Children from Manganiyar families, who learn music as naturally as we learn spoken language at home, also aspire for a better life with education and jobs.

Traditionally, patron families have looked after the musicians, gifting them with part of the harvested crops, or, during weddings and festivities, clothing and money. It will take care of their basic needs. “But now the protection of both is waning, and they (Manganiyar children) want more,” says Kuldeep. A few years back, Lakha Khan’s son, Dan Khan started a tour business, but when he found it difficult to combine work and music, he left the latter. The past two years have been particularly disastrous for the community, with hotels closed and concerts cancelled.

Roopayan Sansthan is supporting the initiative to record and digitize Rajasthani folk music, preserving the cultural tradition of the desert region. The initiative by the Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology at the American Institute of Indian Studies features 600 musicians from western Rajasthan, including Manganiyar. Meanwhile, Dan Khan, inspired by his father, has returned to music – dholak, to be specific – while his younger brother has taken up playing the Sindhi sarangi.

The Jodhpur-based writer is a freelance journalist.