Around 300 artistes from the seven districts of Uttar Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region participated in a ‘Lok Lai’ festival organised from November 16-18, 2007, in Chitrakut, by the Samaj Sewa Sansthan Trust, a sister organisation of PACS Programme partner Akhil Bhartiya Samaj Sewa Sansthan ( ABSSS).

Around 40 forms of folk song and dance, including several rare and dying forms, were presented at the event, which was inaugurated by UP’s rural development minister Dadu Prasad.

While a number of professional folk artistes from Bundelkhand have gained recognition, this was the first ever platform for non-professional folk singers and dancers in the region.

Wage employment or income from agriculture is the main source of livelihood for these artistes, who display their art in village public squares, on social and festive occasions, or as they do work such as sowing or drawing water from wells.

As Gopalbhai, ABSSS founder and chief organiser of the event, explains, folk song and dance is used by poor people as necessary recreation, to improve social relations and to spread messages of equality, good values and spirituality.

“After a long, hard day’s work, song or dance becomes a form of release, a means to forget the body’s pain. Song and dance is also used to mark occasions, such as the birth of a baby, the arrival of an honoured guest, and the coming of the monsoons.”

Performing such roles, folk artistes rely on nominal support from the community in the form of an occasional donation and, more regularly, in the form of a ready audience.

However, with increased migration for work, rising popularity of film song and dance, and the livelihood pressures the folk artistes themselves experience, many traditional folk forms have become scarce.

Gopalbhai, who toured the seven Uttar Pradesh districts of Bundelkhand for over 30 days in July-September 2007 to identify artistes for the Lok Lai event, said: “Most folk forms are being maintained by people who are past the age of sixty. There are very few youngsters. The skill and materials required to make many kinds of instruments, too, have vanished.”

The Lok Lai event was an attempt to reverse this trend, and help folk artistes discover a wider audience.

Several important functionaries including the district collector of Chitrakut and the vice-chancellor of the Chitrakut-based Gramodyay University were among those invited for the event.

A video CD and booklet on the event, with information on the folk artistes and their forms, is being produced for distribution to other NGOs and government organisations.

Said Gopalbhai: “Our hope is that government and non-government organisations will use the talent we have identified to spread their messages.” He added that the Madhya Pradesh government had already given a commitment, and Gramodyay University has plans to set up a museum of folk instruments.

Much-needed support

The artistes who participated in the event have been brought under an informal body called the Bundelkhand Lok Kalakar Manch that presented a memorandum to Uttar Pradesh’s rural development minister Dadu Prasad and Chitrakut district collector Subhash Chandra Sharma who promised to take up their demands with the relevant departments.

Among the demands of the Bundelkhand Lok Kalakar Manch are:

• Formation of district-level committees to grant recognition status to folk artistes and use them to spread information and awareness about government programmes.
• Formation of a Bundelkhand Lok Kala Parishad to preserve and promote folk song and dance forms.
• Offer free train and bus passes to recognised folk artistes.
• Establishment of district-level folk music galleries to provide space and the occasion for folk artistes to come together and showcase their talent, and attract younger talent.
• Offer support to needy folk artistes in the form of old age pensions, agricultural land, houses, etc.

The Manch is headed by Lalluram Shukla, a Chitrakut-based trained Hindustani classical music teacher and exponent who helped Gopalbhai identify artistes for the Lok Lai event, and later provided training to heads of invited troupes, at a 10-day camp.

The Manch has received support from other experts who were present at the Lok Lai event, like Dr Veena Sachdev, an authority on folk songs from Bundelkhand, and ‘Kumud’, the well-known writer on Bundelkhand folk literature.

Also present on the occasion were PACS Programme director Kiran Sharma, Development Alternatives vice-president Surendra Sahni, PACS Programme Uttar Pradesh state manager Santosh Dwivedi, PACS Programme Bihar state manager Rakesh Jha, former member of the Uttar Pradesh legislative council Jaywant Singh, and several noted classical music exponents.

Allahabad high court judge RC Deepak was chief guest at the event’s valedictory function.

One of the invitees, who wished to remain anonymous, presented Rs 50,000 for the benefit of the artistes. The money was used to buy and distribute blankets to the artistes.

With PACS Programme support, each participating artiste received an honorarium of Rs 400. The programme also took care of their travel, lodging and boarding expenses.

The artistes were housed in tents on a farm plot behind ABSSS’s Chitrakut premises, offered free by the landowner.

ABSSS director Bhagwat Prasad was confident about turning Lok Lai into an annual event, preceded by smaller events at the district level.

Variety of song and dance forms

A staggering variety of folk song and dance forms were displayed over three days before a large and appreciative audience.

These included:

• ‘Achri’ -- a folk song form performed in honour of mother goddesses especially during Navratri.
• ‘Alha’ -- songs celebrating the heroic exploits of mythologised historical figures.
• ‘Lamtera’ -- songs sung in honour of Ganesh and Shakti.
• ‘Pahunai’ -- song and dance performed to welcome guests.
• ‘Got’ -- a song form with a strange rhythm sung through the night to seek good health for all cattle in the village.
• ‘Kacchiyahi’ -- song and dance performed by women and men of the backward Kacchi caste.
• ‘Kahri’ -- songs sung to welcome the rains.
• ‘Diwari’ -- a colourful and exciting dance form involving a display of staggering acrobatic skills.
• ‘Rai’ -- a dance form traditionally performed in spring by women.
• ‘Khayal’ -- a competitive form of singing performed by two groups of singers.
• ‘Phag’ -- songs sung during Holi, using lyrics popularised by the legendary Bundelkhand folk poet Issuri.
• ‘Tambura bhajans’ -- songs usually sung to Kabir’s lyrics, celebrating a ‘nirguni’ (formless) godhead.
• ‘Kolhai’ -- song and dance peculiar to the Kol tribals living in the Patha region, near Chitrakut.

The accompanying instruments included percussion instruments like the dholak, nagadiya, pakhawaj, string instruments like the one-string tambura, wind instruments like the flute and shennai, and several rare instruments like the algoja, a double flute.

As demonstrated by ABSSS staff, folk art forms can also be used to spread messages on themes like the benefits of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Lalluram Shukla, who compered the proceedings, pointed out that many folk song forms clearly show that they were the origins of Hindustani classical forms like khayal and dhrupad.

Dr Veena Sachdev pointed out that while many folk songs have simple and easily identifiable themes or messages, some lyrics are meaningless, used as ‘fillers’ to ensure a regular beat or rhythm.

Another noteworthy fact is that male dancers often deliberately break gender barriers by imitating female movements in an exaggerated way.

A memorable first

For most of the artistes from remote villages, this was the first time they had ever performed on stage before a large audience. Indeed, for some artistes, such as a group of 25 from Binwar in Hamirpur district, this was the first time they had travelled by train!

Dr Rambhajan Singh, an ayurvedic doctor and folk music lover who brought the group to Chitrakut, said that some members were so unsettled by the fast, noisy movements of the train that they sat huddled in the middle of the bogie. Later, as they became accustomed to the noise, they started performing in the train itself, earning appreciation as well as money from fellow passengers.

The event received wide coverage in the local press. Click here to view some reports in Hindi, in PDF format.

Click here to see more photographs of the event in PDF format.