Rajasthan, an Oral History: Conversations with Komal Kothari

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PENGUIN BOOKS RAJASTHAN: AN ORAL HISTORY Rustom Bharucha is an independent writer, theatre director, and cultural critic, based in Kollcata. A leading theorist of interculturalism and the impact of globalization on local and indigenous cultures, he is the author of several books including Theatre and the World, The Question of Faith, In the Name of the Secular, and The Politics of Cultural Practice.

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RAJASTHAN AN ORAL HISTORY

Conversations With Komal Kothari

Rustom Bharucha -?

PENGUIN BOOKS

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Boolcs India (P) Ltd., 11, Community Centre, Panchshcel Park, New Delhi 110017, India Penguin Books Ltd., 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, UK Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014, USA Penguin Books Australia Ltd., Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd., 10 Alcorn Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario, M4V 382, Canada Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd., Cnr Rosendale & Airborne Roads, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdce Avcnue, Roscdale 2196, South Africa

First published by Penguin Books India 2003 Copyright C Rustom Bharucha

All rights reserved

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Typeset in Sabon Book by Elcvcn Arts, Delhi-35 Printed at Chaman Offset Printers,, New Delhi

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the aboYc-menrioned publis,h er of this book.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements Note on Diacritics

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IX

Note on CD

X

INTRODUCTION: LISTENING TO KOMALDA

1

1. THE PAST IN THE PRESENT

16

2. LAND

36

3. WATER

64

4. ORAL EPICS

86

5. FOLK GODS AND GODDESSES

118

6. SATI

137

7. WOMEN'S SONGS

156

8. TERATALI

181

9. PUPPETRY

198

10. PROFESSIONAL CASTE MUSICIANS

217

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Contents

11. FROM THE LOCAL TO THE GLOBAL: RAJASTHANI FOLK

236

MUSIC IN PERFORMANCE

12. MARKETING THE 'FOLK'

266

AFIERWORD

289

Notes

296

Appendices

330

Bibliography

335

Glossary

341

Index

350

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book is the outcome of many hours of conversation with Komal Kothari over a two-year period. I am indebted, therefore, to him, for giving me so much of his time, attention, care, and above all, the generosity of his knowledge. To his wife, Indira-ji, and other members of the Kothari household, I remain grateful for their warm hospitality in Paota, Jodhpur, the site of my research, which became a second home. To the dedicated staff of the Rupayan Sansthan, administered by Kuldeep Kothari, I extend my gratitude for their sincere support through the entire documentation process. The first reader of this book was Rowena Hill, who responded meticulously, yet empathetically, to the manuscript, as it was in the process of being transcribed. Marian Pastor Roces and Judy Freya Sibayan also contributed to the conceptualization of the narrative, when I was not sure how to inscribe myself in it. Ira Sisodia translated Rajasthani songs and other minutiae of local knowledge, provided in part by the eminent writer and folk archivist, Vijay Dan Detha, the co-founder of Rupayan Sansthan. Manohar Lalas also made some useful last-minute corrections in the manuscript. During the final stages of the book, Shubha Chaudhuri provided invaluable help not only as the diacritics consultant, but also as a commentator on tricky questions relating to Rajasthani folklore and ethnomusicology. Her capacity to share her research with a total absence of territoriality made her a very special colleague. For the overall editing of the book, I remain grateful to Kamini Mahadevan of Penguin Books India for her solid support through the publishing process.

viii

Acknowledgements

Alok Rai also provided pithy comments that contributed positi'vely to the rewriting of the book. As was communicated to me during the writing of this book, being a former recipient of the Nehru Fellowship, Komal Kothari would like to acknowledge the research facilitated by this grant. Both of us are grateful to the office of the Sangeet N atak Akademi for promptly processing a grant that facilitated the recording of our conversations. A wide selection of this recording is now available in the archives of the Akademi for future reference. Excerpts from one of Komal Kothari's essays on Rajasthani folk music have been included in the Appendix with the kind permission of the American Institute of Indian Studies. I also wish to acknowledge the professionalism of the ARCE library in Gurgaon, which enabled me to access a wide spectrum of research materials. For suggestions and contributions to the visual inputs of the book, I wish to thank Daniel Neuman; the par painter Rajendra Joshi; and Kuldeep Kothari, who has photographed the entire research process with involvement and care. The Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development has also provided a generous grant to Rupayan Sansthan for the production of a CD that can enhance the listening pleasure of this book through diverse musical selections from Rajasthan. While writing the book, I became only too aware that Komal Kothari has friends scattered in different parts of the world, ranging from the desert musicians and nomadic communities of Rajasthan to ethnomusicologists and folklorists based in some of the leading institutions and universities of the world. I recall one friend in particular, the Scandinavian musicologist Vibeke Homaa, who chose to spend precious time with Komal Kothari and his family in Jodhpur, shortly after she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. I wish Vibeke were alive to read the book, but her spirit and courage have inspired me to recognize the privilege of writing as a labour of love. My own friends have continued to be a source of support, primarily Rajeev and Tani Bhargava, whose residence in Delhi became a very comforting dharamshala on my frequent trips from Calcutta to Jodhpur. It is only appropriate that I should write these acknowledgements in their home. New Delhi December 2002.

NOTE ON DIACRITICS

Steeped in a highly localized and indigenous vocabulary, this book uses diacritics to inflect numerous Rajasthani and Hindi words, some of which are not likely to be found in standard dictionaries. Without diacritics, for instance, it would be difficult to distinguish between 'sand' and 'sanq' (a female camel); the brass plate (tha/i) and the ethno-geographic land category (tha/i), and so on. In certain contexts, diacritics have been eliminated altogether. For example, there are no diacritics for place names (which have been rendered by census spellings); nor have they been used for familiar texts in Indian literature like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, or common categories like Brahman and Bania. Frequently used words in the book like the names of musician castes, notably the Langas and Manganiyars, and proper names like Pabuji and Ramdev have also been represented without diacritics. Diacritics have primarily been used to indicate vowel length as in the long 'a' (jajman), 'u' (rup), and 'i' (khir), which could also have been rendered with a double 'a', 'o', and e', respectively. To differentiate between consonants, 't', '4', '1.1', and '!' have been retroflexed as in 'tanka', '4hol', 'su"J,ai', and 'ga/i'. '~' has also been used in words like 'jharu', where '4' is not appropriate, and 'n' has been used to indicate nasalization as in 'gehun'. For a quick reference, a comprehensive list of words with diacritics has been included in the Glossary to the book.

NOTE ON CD

This book can be read in its own right without being supplemented by musical resources. However, readers have the option to enhance their awareness of Rajasthan's diverse musical traditions by listening to a specially designed CD, Rajasthan: A Musical Journey, which has been drawn from the archives of Rupayan Sansthan. In this journey, there are excerpts from three different versions of the Pabuji epic, drawing on the acoustic and rhythmic differences of three instruments-the riivanhatthii, the miitii, and the gujari. In addition to landmarks in the Rajasthani folk song repertoir·r--eGorbandh, Hicaki, Kurjan, and Nimbut/,.ii·-the musical selections are punctuated with brief snatches of oral genealogy and panegyric verses. Along with group singing, there are striking examples of solo renditions by women singers, ranging from the quasi-classical style of Allah Jilahi Bai and the robust Manganiyar singing of Rukma, punctuated by the