Gypsies of the world

Jodhpur, the blue city, is encapsulated between the old and the new: the old, forbidding ramparts of the Mehrangarh fort and the newer, modern aesthetics of the Umaid Bhawan palace, the current residence of the descendants of Jodhpur’s erstwhile royal family. The royalty’s longstanding patronage of the arts has taken the form of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, the organisers of three annual music festivals — The Jodhpur RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival), the Gypsy and Flamenco Festival, and the World Sacred Spirit Festival.

While ‘sacred music’ might have sanctimonious connotations for some, the only thing hallowed about this musical carnival held from February 26-29 was everyone’s love for it. It was not uncommon to strike up a conversation with a visitor at the festival and discover that she/he had planned their India trip around this event.

The city’s genteel crowd also turned up in chiffons and sharp Jodhpurs, alighting from vintage cars to step into a courtyard echoing with Sufiyana kalams . The steep price of ₹8,000 per ticket had kept casual attendees at bay, though some of the programmes were not ticketed.

The three days were packed with performances from seven in the morning to 1am. All three concert venues were within Mehrangarh — the Zenana Deodi with its intricately carved walls, the sunny Chokhelao Bagh, and the twilight venue, Jaswant Thada lake — at a distance of a few hundred metres from the main fort.

Mornings would begin on the banks of the lake, at the foot of the fort where a cenotaph has been constructed in honour of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II.

Late-mornings would find us at Zenana Deodi, the historical quarters of the palace women; afternoons in the luxurious lawns of Chokhelao Bagh; and evenings under the glowing ramparts of Mehrangarh, from whose heights the city below appears like a constellation of stars.

Chokhelao Bagh saw afternoon performances under Mughal-style cream shamianas , where free illustrated copies of the Quran could be picked up.

The Langas and Manganiyar children performed on the first day of the festival, and the Stelios Petrakis quartet from Crete Islands, Greece, performed on the following day.

In the former, the young group of singers, put together by Manganiyar singer Sikander Khan, sang traditional songs to a delighted crowd.

As twilight descended, it was time to listen to Deveshi Sahgal in the moonrise kingdom of Jaswant Thada. She sang to the accompaniment of the sarod, the sitar and the sarangi. In her flowing white robe, a large stone necklace and turquoise earrings adorning her, and her hair pulled back, Sahgal was a vision.

Her powerful voice carried across the river, her modulation as supple as the waves of the lake, and one could not help wondering whether the birds hovering around the lake were listening in too.

Sahgal sang many a Sufiyana kalam , pausing to explain the origin and significance of each of them.

The ramparts of Mehrangarh Fort were privy to impromptu collaborations between artistes who didn’t always speak each other’s tongue. Tamango, a tap dancer from Papua New Guinea, called in members of the Jaipur Kathak Kendra and did a jugalbandi of rhythm. He is known for incorporating native influences and exploring ethnic histories within the medium of tap dancing.

The crowd was awestruck as he appeared in a yellow robe, black feathery trousers and a short jacket, tapping carefully through the sand, before building it up to a rapturous dance. The next day saw Andrés Marín on the same stage, his bird-like feet treading lightly yet surely, a black bodysuit his only adornment. Marín sang with the Divana troupe, and the music of both underscored a wondrous similarity of origin, as Marín pointed out later. He finds common ground in many forms of nomadic music from Armenia to Andalusia to Morocco.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, performing with his sons Amaan and Ayaan, could justifiably be called one of the highlights of the festival. The maestro detailed how music was Sufi in spirit: every song however different from another, was composed with seven notes, and if this oneness, the beauty of this innocence could not portray the Sufi message of the sole higher spirit, what else could?

Following Khan’s performance, the closing act of the day was Maati Baani, a young folk fusion band. They collaborated with folk artiste Mooralala Marwada, a firebrand who roused everybody’s spirits as he plucked on his family heirloom, a 139-year-old decorated sitar, belting out Marwari and Kutchhi folk songs. He kept the audience engrossed, his massive moustache bristling, his chic turban shining under the lights.

On this concluding night of the festival, ensconced within a fortress, the people completely gave themselves over to music and dance without a care in the world.

(World Sacred Spirit Festival 2016 took place from February 26-29. The writer attended at the invitation of The Mehrangarh Museum Trust.)

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