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Changes
in Nepal's state and social structure, along with
the rise of mass media, continue to impact the
lives of Damai musicians and the music that they
play. Since their establishment in Nepal beginning
around the 14th century C.E., the Damai's social
status has become that of an untouchable occupational
caste, along with the Gandharva (Gaine) musicians,
the Badi musicians, the Sarki tanners and the
Kami blacksmiths. Though caste purity laws were
removed from the Nepali legal system in 1963,
caste remains a significant part of social reality.
The Damai remain untouchables.
According
to the Damai music scholar Ram Saran Darnal, the
demise of the patronage system, while in theory
a step toward greater social equality, has had
a significant economic impact on the Damai. With
their major source of income from musical events
removed, many Damai have adopted other, more lucrative
professions. Some have become full-time tailors,
leaving their villages for Kathmandu or other
larger cities. Others, especially those in Kathmandu,
have abandoned the Panchai Baja for the Band Baja.
Darnal suggests that one reason for this may be
that the clarinet, trumpet snare and bass drum
band receives more than twice the income of the
traditional ensemble; however, while this is true
in the villages where bands must be called from
far away, the situation can sometimes be opposite
in Kathmandu where bands are plentiful. Several
people in Kathmandu mentioned the expense of a
Panchai Baja as a deterrent from hiring this type
of band for their functions, though they preferred
the sounds of sahanai, dolakhi and damaha to the
clarinet, trumpet, snare and bass drums. Darnal
also laments that mass media, especially the national
broadcasts Radio Nepal and Nepal Television, are
contributing to the loss of regional variation
as groups try to please their audiences with the
latest modern folk (lok adhunik) hits and do not
compose as many of their own songs.
However,
changes for the better are occurring in Damai
musical society, along with the rest of Nepal.
In the past fifteen years it has become increasingly
acceptable for women to sing and dance in public,
and several Damai women have become well known
as singers of lok git (folk songs). Non-Damai
or partially-Damai musical groups have begun to
adopt the sound of the Panchai Baja, including
it in the composed lok git featured on Radio Nepal
and in Nepal Television music videos; thus, in
Darnal's view, the musical practice is becoming
less associated with untouchability, and gaining
status as a Nepali national genre. Carol Tingey,
concerned with the survival of traditional repertoire,
states that in central and western Nepal, where
the Damais and their performance traditions have
been the strongest, the repertoire of the Nagara
Bana remains the same as its sacred status proscribes
changes to melody and rhythm.
The
lives of Damai musicians often demonstrate a complicated
mix of these elements of loss and advancement.
Subha Pariyar, a sahanai player and Panchai Baja
leader in the village of Salle, Dhading, discussed
the current difficulty of earning a living as
a musician in his village. All adult members of
this band considered playing music to be their
main occupation and source of income. Their current
complaint was that now that rice-planting season
was coming, there would not be much work because
everyone would be busy in the fields, and they
hoped that they would be hired to entertain in
wealthier families' fields during planting. Also,
since the Maoist insurgency has begun to affect
their village, many people are celebrating marriages
and other major occasions without the customary
accompaniment; this was the case at one wedding
that took place on the day I visited Dhading.
Raju Pariyar, a fellow member of the Salle Panchai
Baja, surmised that the families involved had
chosen to have a quiet wedding so as not to draw
attention to themselves and their guests. Subha
Pariyar noted that weddings in their village used
to take place over two days, with festivities
lasting through the night, but these days weddings
start early in the morning and are over in time
for guests to return safely home before dusk.
Thus even when Panchai Bajas are hired, they play
for less time and sometimes receive less compensation
than before.
Raju
Pariyar of Salle, in line with the findings of
Darnal, Moisala and Tingey, asserts that the musicians
of the younger generations know much less of the
seasonal and sacred repertoire; these songs now
exist mainly in the memories of older players.
While this may be true, it is also true that there
are many young learners in the Salle Panchai Baja.
Following in their fathers' footsteps, these young
boys are learning to play the instruments and
already know quite a bit of the repertoire.
In
the urban settings of Kathmandu and Patan, the
Band Baja has become a popular alternative to
the Panchai/Naumati Baja. Sukha Bhagat Pariyar,
a Band Baja master whose group plays old folk
tunes, modern lok adhunik tunes, and even contemporary
Hindi songs, discusses his occupation with the
same kind of pride expressed by the traditional
musicians of Dhading. He is proud to be Damai
and to come from a long line of professional musicians,
and explains his family's switch to the Band Baja
instruments as a natural progression that took
place over the last three generations. He sees
the Band Baja as belonging to the Damai, just
as the Panchai Baja and Hudke traditions have
been exclusive to his caste, but does not feel
that others should be prevented from learning
the instruments and repertoire. He was happy to
sell a set of Panchai Baja instruments to a group
of high-caste men who wanted to learn, and says
he will teach anyone who is interested in the
Band Baja. Despite his pride in his occupation,
Sukha Bhagat acknowledges that he does not feel
financially secure. His secondary occupation,
tailoring, is threatened by the growing popularity
of imported, ready-made clothing, and the demand
for bands of any sort at occasions within the
city seems to be decreasing in recent years.
One
place where both the Panchai Baja and the Band
Baja enjoy continued support is within the institutions
of the army and police. Gopal Pariyar, a sahanai
player, is a member of the police band. He plays
the sahanai when a Panchai Baja is called for,
but mainly performs on the clarinet. The police
band of which he is a member is made up of all
Damai musicians who joined the police force specifically
to play in the band. They are trained in reading
Western notation, and perform marches and military
music in their Band Baja incarnation. While their
Band Baja is in continued demand for police functions,
their Panchai Baja is often called upon to perform
at occasions throughout the city, unrelated to
the police force. At these occasions they perform
mostly lok adhunik music--the seasonal and time-specific
rags are not part of their repertoire, and they
believe that though their bands are supported
and continue to perform throughout the city, the
knowledge of these aspects of the traditional
repertoire is slowly disappearing.
Darnal
laments the fact that unlike some other groups
including the Gandharva, the Damai have not focused
sufficiently on forming organizations to improve
their social status and continue their musical
traditions; in Kathmandu, the three established
institutions that support Damai ensembles include
the army, the police force, and the Folk Instrument
Museum (Lok Baja Sangrahalaya), none
of which are oriented toward Damai-specific goals.
Darnal speculates that this lack of organization
may be one reason that the CPN-Maoist has recently
been successful in recruiting many Damai to join
their ranks. Journalist John Lancaster describes
the experience of a 14-year-old Damai boy who,
for a time, participated in a Maoist musical troupe.
The full article from the Washington Post
can be accessed here.
The hudke tradition of ballad performance has
also been used to serve the Maoist cause. In a
Maoist-produced video depicting the formation
of People's Governments in western Nepali villages,
a dancer with a hudko is shown, singing a song
in praise of the Maoist leader.
The
social status of the Damai as a group, and the
popularity of the music that they play, are affected
by many factors which vary according to location
and individual situations. The musicians with
whom I met, all residents of central Nepal, take
great pride in the music that they make and hope
to continue their traditions; it is their views
of what constitutes the traditions that vary.
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COLLECTIBLES