Sounds from Rajasthan

Langa musicians being captured on camera for a documentary film made by Raaga Science

The melodious sarangi and playful beats from the khartaal accompany the soulful voice of a turbaned singer, seated against the backdrop of the majestic Mehrangarh Fort. His raw rendition is magical. This time however, the audience witnesses the rustic act not in person, but on the screens of their preferred devices.

Nawab Khan

With restrictions on live shows and travel, musicians, dancers, puppeteers and storytellers who are not technology and social media savvy, found themselves completely out of work and struggling to make ends meet. That's when Jodhpur-based santoor player Nawab Khan decided to step in to help fellow artistes, with an initiative called Raaga Science.

Khan's family has performed in the royal courts of Rajasthan in the past. Though his training is in classical music, he has been deeply attached to Rajasthani folk music as well. "During the lockdown, I realised that musicians who worked for daily wages by performing in hotels, weddings and small-scale events, were going hungry. We then started an outdoor concert series in the old city. We put up a stage on a rooftop with the Fort for a backdrop. The idea was for it to look and feel different from all the indoor concerts we were seeing online," Khan tells us over a video call.

Initially Khan and his friends at Raaga Science received support from an organisation called Sarb Akal Music Society in Canada. "They offered to pay for eight days. So in that time, we invited artistes to perform, discussed their art, live-streamed it on social media and also paid them a minimal fee according to the group size," recalls Khan.

Khan and his team then took their social media audience on a live tour of Barnawa, located 100 km away from Jodhpur. "Over 500 full-time musicians live in Barnawa. Some are award winners at the state, national and international levels, and have worked with leading names of Indian cinema like AR Rahman, Salim-Suleiman and Shankar Mahadevan," he shares. "Many have thick passports with visas from across the world. It's a musically rich village but they don't have the concept of saving money and are facing hardships in the lockdown," he adds.

In November 2020, Khan and his team embarked on a road trip across Jaipur, Ajmer, Pushkar, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner to shoot a documentary, featuring artistes who perform folk, classical, qawwali and Sufi music. "We want their work to reach far and wide so that they can sustain themselves. We now want to reach out to folk musicians in Punjab and award-winning classical musicians in Varanasi who are also struggling due to restrictions on live concerts. We will also approach OTT platforms and film festivals for support," Khan signs off.

Log on to: raagascience.com

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