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A young Nepali folk ensemble travelled to India. They were nervous. How would the Indian audience react to Nepali music and, what's more, on the eve of India's 60th Independence Day? Their worst nightmare was to be called Gorkhas and Kanchas and receive a pat on the back.
Instead, they were met with friendship, respect, and a pulsating enthusiasm for Nepali instrumental folk music.
Kutumba performed at the Freedom Concert at the Nehru Memorial Hall in Pune on14 August and the following day at the Orchid School, a local school with a special emphasis on arts and culture. The concerts, organised by the Centre for Youth Development and Activities, were an opportunity to connect with young Indians and compare notes on cultures and fashions.
"We go looking for cultural exchange programs to far-away lands, but we don't look next door," Lakshmi Kumar, director of the Orchid School, told her students and their parents after the performance. "We have so much to share and learn from each other."
She plans to invite Kutumba back.
"The one thing I have come back home with, that I will probably not forget for a long time to come, is the way they drop everything they are doing, and stand bolt upright and sing their national anthem almost as if it were a song of worship," said Rashil Palanchoke, Kutumba's sarangi player. "I don't know if I will ever feel that way about our new national anthem. Hopefully in 60 years."
Kutumba's music harmonises the sounds of instruments from many different ethnic groups. No single instrument leads the orchestra, yet each one is unique and essential to the beauty and strength of the overall sound.
"Listen to how their instruments communicate," Shilpa Solanki, principal of the Orchid School, told her students. "When some of them get loud, the others are soft, and when the soft ones get loud, the others give them space. There is space for everyone."
Starting in December, Kutumba plans to travel around Nepal visiting places that have inspired them. They hope to share their experiences with local musicians and link up with music and educational institutions to provide more formal learning opportunities.
Their two-fold aim is to gain some appreciation of local music and culture while also providing encouragement to enthusiastic local youth ensembles.
NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati
