Talent Hunt

However,Chandrashekhar is not the only one making such delightful discoveries. Many in the field of music want to showcase raw,earthy sounds. Jaipur-based Vinod Joshi,who is the regional director of Jaipur Virasat Foundation,came across Mohan and Batashi Devi — a couple from the Bhopa-Bhopi community — in the sleepy village of Pabusar in Churu district. While Nokia Music Theatre scouts for folk artistes by sending teams to remote areas,Kolhapur-based Shahir Azad Naikawadi,a famous shahir (poet and singer) explores the bylanes of Kolhapur to meet ranhalgi players,tribals who perform Gaj Nritya. He works with Aneesh Pradhan and Shubha Mudgal,who organise the annual Bajaa Gajaa Festival in Pune.

Joshi travelled through a desert to Mohan and Batashi,who sing Pabuji Ki Phad — a Rajasthani medieval poem sung in reverence of the guru Pabuji by reading a hand-painted scroll. “Both of them have an absolutely breathtaking voice,” says Joshi,who then took Mohan around to a host of small festivals in Rajasthan. Apart from being a fixture at most music festivals in Rajasthan,Mohan’s art has been documented in William Dalrymple’s book Nine Lives. Even after Mohan passed away,Joshi still puts up Pabuji Ki Phad as part of the Rajathan International Folk Festival in Jodhpur every year. “This is not just a work opportunity for these artistes,it also gives them a sense of pride. Mohan once told me that his brother — a sweeper in the village hospital — earned more than him. I was saddened to see the state of a brilliant artiste who can sing a 4,000-line courtly poem,” says Joshi.

Naikawadi zeroes in on good artistes mostly through word of mouth. “I visit the areas known for these folk art forms. Since I understand various local dialects,it is easy to find out about them,” says Naikawadi,who has become a popular figure in the district. He got the shepherd community of Dhangars to perform at Bajaa Gajaa last year. “We keep our ears open for unusual voices when we travel to various music festivals. Artistes play a key role in preserving traditional art forms and talent scouts do the really important job of bringing these artistes to fore,” says Pradhan.