Tackling social issues through folk songs and music

Imagine a poor farmer looking up the sky for days for some showers of blessing? He had hoped that after independence he will start getting water in his village. If the scene does not move you the lyrics of songs by Charul Bharwada and Vinay Mahajan will certainly leave you in a pensive mood.

Nadiyon Ma Neer Nahi…vavaldi unde gayi..ane kor talavdi pan am nem sukai gayi..havey to ankhiyon maan pan neer na sve re. Pani tu kem re marey gaam na ave re (There’s no water in river…water level in step well has also gone down.…even the ponds have dried up…tears no more roll down from the eyes…water, why aren’t you coming to my village?) These heart wrenching lines do surely bring tears to the sensitised souls.

As most of the Gujarat reels under a severe water crisis, a young technocrat couple is busy spreading the message of utmost social significance including water crisis through a powerful medium-folklore.

Charul and Vinay are not professional singers. Charul, a postgraduate in planning and an architect and Vinay, an IMM graduate have researched on several issues affecting mankind. Be it water scarcity in Kutch, marriages among different communities leading to tensions, the Kandla tragedy or child labour they have dealt with various issues. The husband and wife duo have been singing the findings of their research through Loknad.

They are also associated with Sandarbh Studies and Interventions that’s based in Ahmedabad. They were recently in Vadodara for the release of cassette "Insan Hain Hum ".

The duo believes that the whole effort is to bring to light the realities of life in form of songs and to seek the involvement of the masses.

This cassette is based on problems resulting due to social violence, the Kandla tragedy and on the borders between nations. "It is an artistic form of research," they say. In a span of over eight years they have composed over 40 songs in Gujarati and Hindi.

The couple lament about the huge gap that exists between the scientific research and the myths prevalent among the masses. "On one hand science has progressed so much and on the other hand, a villager blames his destiny for not receiving water," they observe.

They firmly believe that drought is not a natural thing. Blaming the current drought in Gujarat to faulty planning, they say that having being aware of the pattern of rainfall why were things not planned accordingly.

According to them, the pattern of rainfall in Saurashtra has not changed for the last several years.

The people obviously are moved when they sing sweet melancholic strains. One of their song "L.akho ka vyapar" highlights how the dead bodies were stolen in Kandla after the cyclone because each of the dead bodies was worth Rs. 1 lakh insurance.

In the song, they narrate the irony of fate of how a salt worker when he was alive he was given a paltry Rs. 40 as daily wage and after his death the same person’s body fetches Rupees. 1 lakh.

According to them, the masses are getting diverted from real issues like the water scarcity and child labour.

In future they plan to take up research work on the pastoral people, salt workers and child labourers.

"We want to give emphasis to those who have still not been highlighted in the mainstream," they say. A small step towards a great noble cause indeed!

Republished from Asian Age