Published: 12:00 AM, 03 March 2016
Bengali Folk Songs will dominate the music industry one day
( An Interview with Dr Tapan Roy)
He went to Kolkata from rural Nadia, West Bengal with almost nothing but only the devotion to the most natural genre of Bengali music, folk songs; what is known to most Bangladeshis as Loko Sangeet. He experienced poverty and struggled a lot, but his commitment to Bengali Loko Sangeet remained intact. He only delved deeper into the roots of the "mother song", a name that folk music is often referred to by most people. And now, a product of Rabindra Bharati University, Dr Tapan Roy has become a name that comes naturally when anybody from this sub-continent talk of Bengali folk music.
Dr Tapan Roy specializes in all types of Bengali Folk Songs- Bhatiali, Jari, Murshidi, Bhawaiya, Baul etc. Recently he was invited to an Evening of Folk Songs event held at the Indira Gandhi Culture Centre on February 26. The Daily Asian Age talked to him about his love for Bengali Folk Songs, his experience and his dream.
The Asian Age: In your point of view, what is referred to as folk music?
Tapan Roy: The International Folk Music Council definition allows that the term, folk, can apply to music that originated with an individual composer and has subsequently been absorbed into the unwritten, living tradition of a community. Three components must be existed if one can call a song as folk song and that are discreteness, excogitation and tradition.
To me, folk song is the mother song. What I mean by mother song is that it just comes from your heart. You can find originality and passion in these songs. People in Bangladesh and India are mostly influenced by nature, especially if you consider the rural community. It is sometimes hard to express the love for mother land or Mother Nature in words, so they find the passion through songs. Not only nature, but all the feelings the rural community share, joy, pride, courage, sadness, happiness, they also express these emotions through songs, through folk songs. In very simple, Folk Song is what the people sing.
AA: What makes folk song so different than other types of music?
TR: The most unique characteristics of folk song, especially in both Bengal, are that you can find the root of your land in the tune of these songs. It is actually a feeling, when you hear folk song, you can instantly feel your nature and you can actually picture the emotions.
AA: Tell me something about Bengali Folk Song. Why do you think it is disappearing from our culture?
TR: All Bengali Folk Songs are actually from a very popular form "Bhatiali". From Bhatiali, many variations have been created, such as, Lalon, Bhaoia, Baul. It is so surprising that each variation has its own individuality. When you hear a Lalon song, you will feel that it's a totally different form, but the root of these songs all came from "Bhatiali".
As for the disappearance of folk music from our culture, it is not actually fading. Though it's not visible that much yet, but very gradually the folk music is going forward. It's like physics, if you roll two balls, one made with iron and another with different material, the iron ball will continuously roll in a parallel road unless it is stopped, but, other ball will stop after going sometime. Like that, Bengali folk music can not disappear forever. The long people will live and sing, Bengali folk song will live, and, I believe that Bengali Folk Song will dominate the music industry one day.
AA: Do you think then Bengali Folk Music still has a demand in general people?
TR: Obviously Bengali Folk Music still has its demand. Whenever I go to any musical event, when I see the crowd, waiting to hear Loko Sangeet I realize the fact that it has a huge demand among people. Not only the older generation, but the young generation also is becoming passionate about Loko Sangeet. The Bengali Loko Sangeet singers are working really well.
AA: Many folk songs are being sung in a new way, what do you think about that?
TR: Let me tell you a story, I was once in a concert where some folk artists came from Kushtia, Bangladesh. They came to Kolakata to sing Lalon's song. While they were singing, they were dancing too. It is a wrong presentation. The root of Loko Sangeet is very deep and complicated, though it is very much easy to sing as it comes from your heart. But, you have to understand that Loko Sangeet has its own variations and each with different individuality. One can only preserve Loko Sangeet if they can maintain the original presentation. Lalon Fakir even has five different types of tunes for his song and you can not differentiate one from another. If you don't go deeper and understand the culture and style of Bengali Folk songs, there will be risk of deformation which is happening right now in our culture. The original presentation of Bengali folk music is a very integral thing which must be contained while presenting.
However, if you talk about folk songs are being sung in a new way that is totally allowed. Experimentation of the root of Bengali Loko Sangeet actually gave us these wonderful variations like Hason Rajar Song, Bhaoaia Song, Lalon Song etc. Actually Loko Sangeet is such an easy going style of music that if you can compose a new style of tune maintaining the original tone of Bengali Folk Music, you can. We have many songs that have different tunes, all with the root tone of Loko Sangeet. I know two types of tunes of "Barir Pashe Arshi Nagar" and none of the tune can be called as deformation. Each tune became really famous yet, both tunes create an authenticity of Bengali Folk Song. The main thing about presenting the Loko Sangeet is the presentations have to be right.
AA: You have mentored a woman's Bengali Folk Music Band-MAADAL. How many other band have you mentored? Is there any chance that MAADAL band will increase their number of member?
TR: I mentored a total of five bands, MAADAL, Muktoberi, Sohojatri, Mati and Bahirana. Each band works with different styles of Loko Sangeet.
There is very little chance that MAADAL will increase the number of member because to us, it is considered as good luck if we use odd numbers. All the bands I have mentored have odd numbers of members. It's a concept that we use in our band.
AA: Most of your bands are India based, do you have any plans to create or mentor bands in Bangladesh?
TR: We are thinking to create a MAADAL Bangladesh band. It is still just an idea. We are hoping that the two MAADAL bands from both India and Bangladesh will play together diminishing the border barrier we have for both Bengal.
AA: Throughout your whole life you have worked on Bengali Loko Sangeet. Tell us your whole journey of exploring the Bengali Folk Songs. What is your dream and how far you want to go?
TR: I want to keep continuing experimentation and research on Loko Sangeet. It is very hard to unearth all the variations and all the lost songs of the huge treasure of Bengali Folk Songs. I hope I can leave the legacy to my students so that they also go deeper to discover more Bengali Loko Sangeet.
AA: Normally less people are coming to learn Loko Sangeet, why is that you think?
TR: Less people are coming to learn and preserve Loko Sangeet because we don't have employment system in this sector. Unless employment facilities can be managed, people will not come to learn Loko Sangeet. The whole world has become very materialistic. Marketization of Loko Sangeet is making the general people to think about job before learning Loko Sangeet. Not only that, Marketization is also deforming the Loko Sangeet as well.
AA: How can we flourish Bengali Loko Sangeet more?
TR: The media actually bears the most responsibility and they have to maintain the responsibility really well. People are fond of Bengali Loko Sangeet mainly because they hear the songs from different programmes, films and dramas. One thing is very important that, not only media has to broadcast more of Loko Sangeet but also they have to make sure that the root form of Loko Sangeet remains intact. Many times I have seen in different competition that there is not a single judge who is specialized in Loko Sangeet. Yet, the judges are judging the Loko Sangeet the contestants sing. I have seen that sometimes the contestants are not singing maintaining the root form of Bengali Folk Songs and no one is raising the issue. If we want to flourish Bengali Loko Sangeet, we have to raise those issues.
Besides, I think Bengali Folk Songs can be included in learning institutions as a separate syllabus. The performing art can be included in the general syllabus of schools and colleges. We can see that the general syllabus of schools and colleges includes general subject such as Society and Agriculture, I think if we can include performing art as general subject not as just extracurricular, people will be more interested in Loko Sangeet.
Interviewer Shumona Sharmin Sharna
He went to Kolkata from rural Nadia, West Bengal with almost nothing but only the devotion to the most natural genre of Bengali music, folk songs; what is known to most Bangladeshis as Loko Sangeet. He experienced poverty and struggled a lot, but his commitment to Bengali Loko Sangeet remained intact. He only delved deeper into the roots of the "mother song", a name that folk music is often referred to by most people. And now, a product of Rabindra Bharati University, Dr Tapan Roy has become a name that comes naturally when anybody from this sub-continent talk of Bengali folk music.
Dr Tapan Roy specializes in all types of Bengali Folk Songs- Bhatiali, Jari, Murshidi, Bhawaiya, Baul etc. Recently he was invited to an Evening of Folk Songs event held at the Indira Gandhi Culture Centre on February 26. The Daily Asian Age talked to him about his love for Bengali Folk Songs, his experience and his dream.
The Asian Age: In your point of view, what is referred to as folk music?
Tapan Roy: The International Folk Music Council definition allows that the term, folk, can apply to music that originated with an individual composer and has subsequently been absorbed into the unwritten, living tradition of a community. Three components must be existed if one can call a song as folk song and that are discreteness, excogitation and tradition.
To me, folk song is the mother song. What I mean by mother song is that it just comes from your heart. You can find originality and passion in these songs. People in Bangladesh and India are mostly influenced by nature, especially if you consider the rural community. It is sometimes hard to express the love for mother land or Mother Nature in words, so they find the passion through songs. Not only nature, but all the feelings the rural community share, joy, pride, courage, sadness, happiness, they also express these emotions through songs, through folk songs. In very simple, Folk Song is what the people sing.
AA: What makes folk song so different than other types of music?
TR: The most unique characteristics of folk song, especially in both Bengal, are that you can find the root of your land in the tune of these songs. It is actually a feeling, when you hear folk song, you can instantly feel your nature and you can actually picture the emotions.
AA: Tell me something about Bengali Folk Song. Why do you think it is disappearing from our culture?
TR: All Bengali Folk Songs are actually from a very popular form "Bhatiali". From Bhatiali, many variations have been created, such as, Lalon, Bhaoia, Baul. It is so surprising that each variation has its own individuality. When you hear a Lalon song, you will feel that it's a totally different form, but the root of these songs all came from "Bhatiali".
As for the disappearance of folk music from our culture, it is not actually fading. Though it's not visible that much yet, but very gradually the folk music is going forward. It's like physics, if you roll two balls, one made with iron and another with different material, the iron ball will continuously roll in a parallel road unless it is stopped, but, other ball will stop after going sometime. Like that, Bengali folk music can not disappear forever. The long people will live and sing, Bengali folk song will live, and, I believe that Bengali Folk Song will dominate the music industry one day.
AA: Do you think then Bengali Folk Music still has a demand in general people?
TR: Obviously Bengali Folk Music still has its demand. Whenever I go to any musical event, when I see the crowd, waiting to hear Loko Sangeet I realize the fact that it has a huge demand among people. Not only the older generation, but the young generation also is becoming passionate about Loko Sangeet. The Bengali Loko Sangeet singers are working really well.
AA: Many folk songs are being sung in a new way, what do you think about that?
TR: Let me tell you a story, I was once in a concert where some folk artists came from Kushtia, Bangladesh. They came to Kolakata to sing Lalon's song. While they were singing, they were dancing too. It is a wrong presentation. The root of Loko Sangeet is very deep and complicated, though it is very much easy to sing as it comes from your heart. But, you have to understand that Loko Sangeet has its own variations and each with different individuality. One can only preserve Loko Sangeet if they can maintain the original presentation. Lalon Fakir even has five different types of tunes for his song and you can not differentiate one from another. If you don't go deeper and understand the culture and style of Bengali Folk songs, there will be risk of deformation which is happening right now in our culture. The original presentation of Bengali folk music is a very integral thing which must be contained while presenting.
However, if you talk about folk songs are being sung in a new way that is totally allowed. Experimentation of the root of Bengali Loko Sangeet actually gave us these wonderful variations like Hason Rajar Song, Bhaoaia Song, Lalon Song etc. Actually Loko Sangeet is such an easy going style of music that if you can compose a new style of tune maintaining the original tone of Bengali Folk Music, you can. We have many songs that have different tunes, all with the root tone of Loko Sangeet. I know two types of tunes of "Barir Pashe Arshi Nagar" and none of the tune can be called as deformation. Each tune became really famous yet, both tunes create an authenticity of Bengali Folk Song. The main thing about presenting the Loko Sangeet is the presentations have to be right.
AA: You have mentored a woman's Bengali Folk Music Band-MAADAL. How many other band have you mentored? Is there any chance that MAADAL band will increase their number of member?
TR: I mentored a total of five bands, MAADAL, Muktoberi, Sohojatri, Mati and Bahirana. Each band works with different styles of Loko Sangeet.
There is very little chance that MAADAL will increase the number of member because to us, it is considered as good luck if we use odd numbers. All the bands I have mentored have odd numbers of members. It's a concept that we use in our band.
AA: Most of your bands are India based, do you have any plans to create or mentor bands in Bangladesh?
TR: We are thinking to create a MAADAL Bangladesh band. It is still just an idea. We are hoping that the two MAADAL bands from both India and Bangladesh will play together diminishing the border barrier we have for both Bengal.
AA: Throughout your whole life you have worked on Bengali Loko Sangeet. Tell us your whole journey of exploring the Bengali Folk Songs. What is your dream and how far you want to go?
TR: I want to keep continuing experimentation and research on Loko Sangeet. It is very hard to unearth all the variations and all the lost songs of the huge treasure of Bengali Folk Songs. I hope I can leave the legacy to my students so that they also go deeper to discover more Bengali Loko Sangeet.
AA: Normally less people are coming to learn Loko Sangeet, why is that you think?
TR: Less people are coming to learn and preserve Loko Sangeet because we don't have employment system in this sector. Unless employment facilities can be managed, people will not come to learn Loko Sangeet. The whole world has become very materialistic. Marketization of Loko Sangeet is making the general people to think about job before learning Loko Sangeet. Not only that, Marketization is also deforming the Loko Sangeet as well.
AA: How can we flourish Bengali Loko Sangeet more?
TR: The media actually bears the most responsibility and they have to maintain the responsibility really well. People are fond of Bengali Loko Sangeet mainly because they hear the songs from different programmes, films and dramas. One thing is very important that, not only media has to broadcast more of Loko Sangeet but also they have to make sure that the root form of Loko Sangeet remains intact. Many times I have seen in different competition that there is not a single judge who is specialized in Loko Sangeet. Yet, the judges are judging the Loko Sangeet the contestants sing. I have seen that sometimes the contestants are not singing maintaining the root form of Bengali Folk Songs and no one is raising the issue. If we want to flourish Bengali Loko Sangeet, we have to raise those issues.
Besides, I think Bengali Folk Songs can be included in learning institutions as a separate syllabus. The performing art can be included in the general syllabus of schools and colleges. We can see that the general syllabus of schools and colleges includes general subject such as Society and Agriculture, I think if we can include performing art as general subject not as just extracurricular, people will be more interested in Loko Sangeet.
Interviewer Shumona Sharmin Sharna
