9 December, Saturday
The sun was spreading its warmth amidst the cold winter in Kathmandu as we were preparing to fill the atmosphere with the fine tune of Sarangi. I, along with many other Sarangi players, was ready with our finely tuned Sarangi to present a show for the then-gathered audience.
After all the waiting, the Sarangi Bhela finally began when the Founder Director of Project Sarangi Center, Kiran Nepali held the mic to fill the arena with his melodious voice.
Although I was not as professional as the other Sarangi players I was pretty excited to perform my part at the show.
The show began with the splendid performance of Manish Gandarbha, a Sarangi player of the famous band ‘Panchamrit’. His energetic performance filled every single person in the audience with excitement and passion. It was a great show to start with. Kobid Bazra from ‘MiKu’ and Prince Nepali were among the other performers.
To my fascination, there was a significant number of foreigners enjoying the show. In the beginning, I thought those people were the audience of our show but surprisingly there were Chinese people in the crowd who were taking Sarangi classes here in Nepal. Their initiative to take Sarangi beyond Nepal was a huge inspiration to all the aspiring musicians in our group.
Project Sarangi was founded with the main motive to make the youths aware of the folk instruments and motivate them to play the Sarangi.
The team believes that preservation of these instruments not only means keeping them in the museum as a showpiece but to be played by the upcoming generation to keep the melody alive.
It has been no more than three months that I have joined Project Sarangi but the group feels like a family to me. They are very dedicated towards their work and are committed towards their motto.
Sarangi Bhela was the second platform for me to showcase my talent after Jamarko; held at the Patan Museum in the month of November.
Events like Sarangi Bhela and Jamarko every year inspire young aspiring Sarangi players and provide them with a platform to showcase their talent and interest.
The show ended with a splendid trio performance of Kiran Nepali, Prince Nepali and Manish Gandarva and it was one of the most spectacular performances I had ever heard. Kiran Nepali showed was concerned with the scenario where the young generation isn’t getting much attracted towards the folk instruments. However, he seems persistent in inspiring and motivating the youth. He also seems confident that the Project Sarangi will help revive the pride of the instrument.
Day by day, I am learning the beautiful art of playing Sarangi and I am determined to make Sarangi Cool Again.
By: Yukta Poudel
Yukta is a student in Project Sarangi Center. She has already performed in three different events.
