Mubashir Bukhari
Srinagar (NVI): He is still known by his fans as ‘Sher Khan’ – the character he played some 25 years ago in one of his folk plays at his local village. Those days ‘Baand Pather’ was a popular medium of entertainment among the masses in Kashmir.
With the advent of newer forms of entertainment, the folk-art has almost disappeared now and 51-year-old Sher Khan aka Sonaullah Bhat, is struggling to earn a livelihood.
Bhat, along with some 50 folk artists from the village of Palhallan in north Kashmir now have to find some other means of living after the invasion of digital media. The volatile situation in the Valley after the 1990s also dented this art beyond repair.
Sonaullah Bhat, who runs Gulmarg Luke Theatre – one of the folk groups in Palhallan, was introduced into the art of Baand Pather by his father Abdul Gani Bhat, who was a famous Shehnai player (Surnai in Kashmiri) at a very young age.
“My father introduced me to this form of art and the response, at that time, was tremendous. People used to love our art and we were earning handsome money to run our lives,” says Bhat while sitting in his ancestral home that is mostly made up of mud.
He says that over 100 families were associated with ‘Baand Pather’ in Palhallan alone but now the number has gone down considerably and the younger generation is showing little or no interest to carry forward the ancestry.
“Like Hangul, this profession too is at the verge of extinction. I don’t know how many years it will take but I am sure if it continues like this, the end for this form of art is sure,” says Bhat.
Till 1970s, the folk theatre was ruling the minds and hearts of Kashmiris as it was the main source of entertainment. People used to eagerly wait for the Baands (artists) to perform in their villages. ‘Baand Pather’ mostly used to highlight social problems and historical events. The artists would perform in open ground and the format of ‘Baand Pather’ comprised of songs and dialogues interspersed with humour.
Bhat remembers how he used to accompany his father to different villages and be part of the street plays. He says that with even with limited media at that time, Baands used to enjoy good fame and respect among the masses.
“Earlier, Doordarshan and Radio Kashmir used to telecast 4-5 shows in a month but now they telecast one show in three months, so you can imagine how folk art is being treated,” he lamented.
Other than doing street shows and participating in folk festivals, these Baands used to perform in marriage ceremonies as well. But with the advent of newer forms of entertainment and music, the taste of people changed directly, affecting the livelihood of these artistes.
“Western music has also contributed to our fall. We don’t perform in marriages now. Apart from it, the lackadaisical approach from government as well as from the cultural academy has forced many artists to switch to other menial jobs,” says a hopeless Bhat while pointing towards an old Dhol (drum) which was used in their street plays.
In 2008, Bhat’s Gulmarg Luke Theatre was invited by Sangeet Natak Academy to perform in Mumbai. In 2016, they performed at Tagore Hall Srinagar, besides being part of many folk festivals. But all these achievements and years of hard work to keep alive the folk art have gone in vain.
Many among these artists (Baands) who were popular some 20 years ago are now either working as labourers or street-hawkers.
Bhat, who is the president of one of the folk theatres, sells needles and other cosmetic items in different villages now.
“As this art started disappearing, we too started looking for other means to run our families. It is unfortunate that most of us are now going door to door and selling clothes, cosmetics and other items. Those who can’t even do this are sitting idle,” says Bhat.
He says that Baands never had agricultural lands and they used to perform folk plays to meet their daily requirements.
Like Sonullah Bhat, his uncle and a known Shehnai (Surnai) player in the region, Ghulam Nabi Bhat’s condition in no different. Nabi, who has played Surnai for some 46 years now, is a fragile old man with hopelessness on his face. Though he still plays Surnai whenever he gets a chance to perform, the energy and the intensity with which he played the instrument some 40 years ago is gone now.
Nabi remembers how the voice coming out of his Shehnai use to attract the large crowd in the villages a few decades ago but now he searches opportunities to take out his instrument to play it.
“From some years I am sitting idle. There is no work left as nobody is showing interest in it. I played Shehnai in Mumbai, Delhi, Manali and other places but now new generation doesn’t want to learn this instrument as many electronic musical devices are available in the market,” Says Nabi.
He said it is difficult to learn to play this instrument and people don’t have time to spend learning old instruments like these. “Over the years, my hands and mouth are not responding to the instrument as I get chance to play once in three months,” says Nabi.
