Beats to Perfection

On the road,the traffic moves at a snail's pace.

On the road,the traffic moves at a snail’s pace. Across the wall,400-odd youngsters in the Suryananda Lawns synchronise their beats on their dhols and tashas against the backdrop of the setting sun. Unmindful of the blaring traffic and the heavy dhols,they beat their drums in fluid motions,practicing for the upcoming Ganesh festival,with smiles broadening their sweat-slick faces. This has been the scene every year for the last ten years,according to Miling Jogdand,member of Rudra Pratisthan. They just like the entire concept of the dhol tashas. Youngsters want to relate to the practice and come closer to their roots. Off hand it is difficult to say how many members we had when we first began 10 years back,but they were all youngsters. Last year,we had around 430 members,all of whom were young and from different walks of life. High school,colleges and even working professionals. They all come.

Enquiries for their practise sessions,Jogdand says,began coming in on their Facebook page as early as the beginning of the month. They were mostly youngsters. All wondering if they could come and join in. Most of them are skeptical about playing these instruments,since they do not have any prior knowledge. But we teach them all at no charge, he says.

Moving across the city towards the river bank behind JM road,over 200 members of the Samarth Pratishthan practise diligently with their dhols,tashas and also lezims. Niranjan Joshi,a class 11 student who hopes to join them this year,says that it is fun to play along with people his age. I had seen my friend go for it last year but I couldn’t go because of my board exams. I will go this year, he says.

Sanjay Satpute,who is affectionately called Satpute Sir by the members of the 14-year-old Samarth Pratishthan,says that a growing number of people are joining the group. There has easily been a 20 per cent rise in the last four years, he says,And that was bound to happen. Youngsters,contrary to popular opinion,want to learn these practices. The public watch them when they play. Electronic speakers and rack sets don’t get that sort of response. Performing artistes do. From the first day to the last.

This year,children from the Poona Blind School in Koregaon park will also be participating. A total of 30 boys and 20 girls will be participating. They are taught at the school premises itself. And their enthusiasm and fervour is infectious, Satpute says. Another rarely highlighted fact is that the money gathered from playing during the 10-day festival is used for charity purposes. Samarth Pratishthan has donated around Rs 25 lakhs,while Rudra Pratishthan also contributes to the welfare of underprivileged children. We are the only group in the city to provide insurance for all our performers in the last few years, Jogdand says.

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Ganesh Chaturthi

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