Collective folk

Meet Divya Kumar Bhatia who has been pushing the folk music of Rajasthan on to newer platforms

FEW can boast of a more enviable line of work. Divya Kumar Bhatia, who has been the festival director of the Jodhpur Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) for a little over a year now, has a multi-dimensional work life, but it's the art and craft of Rajasthan that occupies a large part of it now. He's just returned from a study visit to Poland. "I met some puppeteers there and want to develop string puppetry in Rajasthan," says Divya, when we meet during one of his shuttle trips between Mumbai and some part of Rajasthan.

A prolific theatre personality, who has been a part of Naseeruddin Shah's theatre group Motley, Divya's 'work' also includes attending some of the most vibrant, culturally rich festivals held across the villages of the desert state. With the support of Faith and John Singh, the two pillars of the Jaipur Virasat Foundation (JVF), Divya has been instrumental in identifying and promoting unheard talent from Rajasthan (see box).

Most of the talent is spotted at the Regional Arts Program (RAP) that the JVF kicked off in 2003. "We watch artistes perform in their own setting and then invite them to larger festivals, collaborations they can come to at RIFF. This is a process that was started by John Singh. He funded it with his own money to begin with and later applied for funds," explains Divya.

For someone who started out as a tabla player in a university jazz band that played at pubs in UK for "free booze and food," Divya fell in love with Indian folk as soon as he returned to India in the late 80s. He tuned into All India Radio for his daily dose of the "phati hui awaaz" and knew right then that he would be associated with traditional art and music someday. Divya moved on from being the festival director of the Prithvi Festival for eight years starting 1995 to being on board with JVF since 2004. "I want to work across the spectrum and do everything that I can for performing arts in the country," says Divya.

Repackaging Rajasthan

Rajasthan, Divya informs, has more than 25 performing communities the more well-known ones are the Langars, the Manganiyars and Kalbeliyas. Sheer musical prowess has brought the three into the limelight. "They were the players of these incredible instruments morchang, khartal, Sindhi sarangi, kamaycha, dholak. And they were professional performers. Undoubtedly, the work done by Komal Kothari with the Langa and Manganiyar communities over 20 years ago and the impact of Festivals of India abroad has had a major part to play in their popularity," he adds.

Over the past year, Divya has been pushing the music of Rajasthan on to newer platforms. This year alone audiences in Mumbai have heard more Rajasthani folk music at various venuesu00a0 the Bandra festival, NCPA, Ruhaniyat and more recently at the Bandra Amphitheatre. Divya has also been getting more creative with the packaging of Rajasthani folk music for a more urban audience.

New collaborations

One of the most popular shows has been the collaboration between Bhardwaj and Bhanwari Devi because of the Bollywood connect. Last year, sarangi maestro Sultan Khan and Lakha Khan Manganiyar, who has mastered the folk technique on the sarangi, collaborated on stage for the first time. "This was the first concert after the 26/11 attacks at the NCPA," recalls Divya. Both musicians went on stage again at RIFF this year. "We realised that collaborations still depend on a name like Ustad Sultan Khan to draw an audience and then draw attention to Lakha Khan. The folk musicians themselves have always been under patronage under kings. They are not used to going around soliciting work," says Divya.

Dharohar, a collaboration between UK beatboxer Jason Singh and Rajasthani folk musicians and one of the club acts at RIFF this year that drew a packed house, was conceived by Divya. He is wary of using the word 'fusion' when he refers to Dharohar. "Dharohar is not fusion or just Rajasthani musicu00a0it's a project that focusses on an organic sound, an experiment, a genuine collaboration," he says.

Just last week the British Council, who supported Dharohar, also played a major role in associating Rajasthani folk musicians with UK folk artists Laura Marling, an 18-year-old vocalist who has received rave reviews from both Indian and international press and folk group Mumford & Sons.

The recent collaboration was an offshoot of the Dharohar show. "Vijay Nair of OML saw the Dharohar gig and then invited our Rajasthani artistes to do a few recordings with Marcus Mumford, Laura Marling and the other musicians," says Divya of the collaboration that fell into place last week as a part of the second Soundpad Sessions organised by the British Council.

Things have been picking up at RIFF too. "We earned more than five times the amount compared to the first year. Ticket sales come to maybe eight per cent of the total budget if we sell out, so it doesn't contribute to the expenditure. But the fact is that people are willing to pay and not just pay to see the show but pay to travel as well, so that's a good sign," says Divya.

Coming up

Next year should be as fulfilling, he promises. Percussionist Sivamani may go up on stage at RIFF 2010 again. Dharohar plans to kick off its Indo-UK tour. Divya has also begun work on compiling a database of folk artistes, which will be available online soon, to help promoters across the globe reach them.

Local Area Network

Some of the artistes unearthed by Regional Area Program include Bhanwari Devi (Vocal), Raeis Khan Manganiyar (Morchang), Raami Kumari (Vocal), Munshi Khan (Vocal), Jumma 'jogi' Mewati (Social poetry, Bhapang and vocal), 'Nat' Bhagirath, Sumitra Kamad (Vocal), Nathu Solanki (Nagara), Kamala Dholan (Vocal & Dhol), Ashok Pahadia (Male Dancer) and Sheru Langa (Algoza)

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