At a time when trendy film tracks are ruling the country’s music scene, 79-year-old Ganesh Debbarma tries to preserve the tribal music of Tripuri and its melodies with his pension money.
The tribal musicologist has published a noted treasure trove of traditional Kokborok songs (lingua franca of most Tripuri tribes) – perfectly coordinated with Taal (beats) and classified according to ragas and raaginis of classical Hindu music, translated iconic songs by Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore and the famous music director Sachin Deb Burman, published a series of books that have shelled out over Rs 3 lakhs to date, all from his retirement fund.
Ganesh Debbarma was born on December 31, 1945 in the village of Mudipara, West Tripura District, to Nanda Ram Debbarma, who himself was an enthusiast of traditional music. From a young age he played traditional tribal instruments such as sarinda, sumuwi and chongpreng.
The now seven-year-old musicologist joined the College of Music and Fine Arts in Tripura as a companion and demonstrator in 1971 after the state government took over the college and renamed it Sachin Deb Burman Memorial Government Music College. Debbarma was a dedicated artist on All-India Radio (AIR) and played classical, kokborok and folk songs. Since his retirement in 1999, he has been working diligently on his dream project of disseminating “original tribal music” and forming the basis of the institutional academic teaching of tribal music through standardized Hindustan classical musicological parameters.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, he said his mission is to preserve the traditional tribal tune that has withstood the wrath of time for hundreds of years, but is struggling to survive the onslaught of Hindi movie tracks.
“There is so much influence from Bollywood songs that our own traditional melodies are being lost. My job is to preserve these great melodies that our ancestors imagined. These are the melodies that speak about our roots and we should come back to them, ”said Debbarma.
Tripura is home to 19 tribal communities that make up nearly 30 percent of the state’s 37 lakh population. While all of these communities have their own dialects, Kokborok, or the language of the Borok tribes, is widely spoken by the tribal groups in the state.
Ganesh Debbarma’s first book, ‘Tipra Barat: Rwchab Mungni Swaralipi’, which was published in 2005, first categorized the Kokborok songs sung in everyday life into seven raaginis or melodic compositions.
Ganesh said tribal life is replete with songs and dances that celebrate daily chores. These songs are about love, sadness, harvest, festivities and so on. His collection includes Jadu Kalija (songs of love and sadness), Tangyiei Chamani (songs of busy working life), Waing Khilimani (lullabies), Maiyani Kamung (mother’s lamentation), Khafang Syilikma (heartache), Mamita Ryimani (worship), and Reser Khagyira , a traditional song sung to worship the goddess Ganga – one of the most important goddesses in the divine pantheon of Tripuri.
Hindustani and Carnatic classical musicology has over 300 Taals and Anga Taals, which are essentially metric patterns that encompass the time dimension of music through musical rhythm and expression. Of these, Ganesh Debbarma used seven taals – Dadra, Khemta, Ektaal, Teentaal, Tilwada, Jhaaptal, and Keherwa – to put the songs in his collection on metric patterns. He argues that this will increase the chances of Tripuri songs to become popular among music students and enthusiasts.
Many of these songs were arranged into specific raga or melodic structures. Mamita Ryimani was placed on Raga Bhoopali while Waing Khilimani was placed on Raga Durga.
“I believe this will help many students and enthusiasts to learn about Tripuri music. Because our music is not precisely standardized in metric phrases and advances in the way music is taught everywhere, people who have not been exposed to our music cannot easily grasp their minds. It was my aim to preserve, tune and shape the authentic music so that it can be understood by music students all over the country, ”said the musicologist.
Remarkably, the majority of tribal musicologists refer to Uttar Raagini and Dakshin Raagini as the two most important standardized ragas of melody structure. Ganesh classified these songs after ragas and raaginis of classical Hindustan music – something that has never been done before.
While many tribal experts and musicologists argue that tribal folk songs were born free of meter and melody phrases or progression parameters and should be maintained that way, Ganesh Debbarma and a few others like him believe that tribal music should be standardized so that it is acceptable is used as an academic discourse so that it can be taught and learned, as is the case with classical Hindustan or Carnatic music. Veteran writer and tribal expert Chandra Kanta Murasing recently published a similar work of popular modern songs in the classic Hindustan style.
Debbarma’s other works include two books on songs by SD Burman, a book on Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, and a second part of Tipra Barat: Rwchab Mungni Swaralipi – all translated into Kokborok and notated with metrical phrases and melodic compositions.
Ganesh Debbarma said he chose Tagore’s songs because they have universal appeal and songs by SD Burman because he was a prince of the royal Manikya dynasty of Tripura and an inspiration to musicians and musicologists of Tripura.
Ganesh’s wife, Gouri Debbarma, told of the days when he worked on the books: “After he retired, he stayed up all day and night. Usually retired life is relaxing for many, but we knew his case was different. He had this mission and he succeeded. “
His wife regretted that the previous Left Front government had not shown great interest in Ganesh Debbarma’s works.
Ganesh has received the Sachin Deb Burman Smriti Puraskar and Dasharath Deb Award from the state government. He has also received awards from the Agartala Municipal Corporation and Tripura Rabindra Parishad for his work.
He said his books were inaugurated by the state-run Tribal Research and Culture Institute and the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs (ICA). He was also asked by the authorities to serve as a visiting professor at the Tribal State Folk Music School after it was founded in 2010, but the administration did not follow up on the suggestion.
“My dream was to create a tribal music board and see how children are taught tribal music in educational institutions. I did my part. Now it is up to the authorities to make a decision, ”said Ganesh.
Some other seasoned tribal musicologists, such as Nanda Kumar Debbarma, believe that while it is undesirable to succumb to the onslaught of film music, it is also unwise to use the parameters of classical music in folk music, originally designed without standardized taals or ragas became like it would undermine its real character.
“Adapted folk music could lose its real character. For example, Jaduni is a Tripuri folk song and does not contain a Taal. Tradition has to be loved, copying others can never be the right way to go. I believe that tribal music should be kept as it is, ”he said.
Seasoned violinist Pandit Subal Biswas repeated a similar tune, saying that while research into the preservation of traditional tribal music should be encouraged, tribal music should be preserved in its own style and not adapted to classical forms.
Speaking to this website, the Minister for Information and Cultural Affairs, Sushanta Chowdhury, said the state government is cautious about preserving the arts, music and culture.
“We always support artists and cultural workers. Our government recommended Beni Chandra Debbarma and Thanga Darlong for the Padma Shri Award. We’re always looking for people to do real work in these areas. It could be that Ganesh Babu’s works were not properly valued and recognized by the previous government. If he shows it to us, we will surely see what can be done, ”he said.
Pradyot Kishore Debbarman, the leader of the TIPRA Motha party, which now heads the Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), said the ADC administration wants to discuss Ganesh Debbarma’s works and maintain the Tripuri feeling he was working on.
“It is very important not to lose our identity to popular forms of music and to keep our feel for melodies. We will be more than happy to sit down with Ganesh Babu when he is ready and see what can be done to preserve our culture, ”he said.