For Nepali gaine, making it big in the music industry is a distant dream. The wandering minstrels with their unique three-string fiddles called sarangi, are often ostracised for belonging to a 'low' caste. But Jhalakman Gandarbha rose above the social restrictions on the strength of his talent for music and lyrics. The outpouring of national loss at his death last month was a fitting tribute to a man who did more to make the gaine's sarangi and plaintive lyrics popular in Nepal and abroad than anyone else.

Born to a poor fisherman near Pokhara, Jhalakman spent his youth fishing and singing door-to-door with his sarangi. An encounter with the legendary folk poet Dharma Thapa in his village changed the direction of his life. Jhalakman was invited to Kathmandu to participate in a nationwide folk music competition where his stirring "He Barai." was judged first. This passionate ballad describes the loss and bereavement of a Gurkha soldier's family after he is killed in action in a foreign war, and is relevant now more than ever because the haunting words resonate at a time when Nepalis are dying at the hands of fellow-Nepalis.

The respect and honour that Jhalakman received after his death was in sharp contrast to the disregard shown to him by established musicians and singers when he was alive. The singer himself was unselfish about his talent and taught anyone keen to learn how to play the sarangi, although many never credited him when they became famous. Jhalakman's wish to pass on his musical talent to his grandchildren remained unfulfilled and his impoverished family couldn't even raise money for his funeral.

Modest till the end, Jhalakman played from the heart, for the love of his music. He could coax 36 different notes from his instrument and recorded more than 250 songs in his lifetime-music that will live on in Nepali hearts. Jhalakman's immortal words in an interview shortly before his death: "As long as the madal and sarangi exist, Nepali music will never die." (Peshal Pokhrel)