* Manganiyar musicians are struggling to survive due to loss of shows during the Covid-19 pandemic.

* Every smartphone user can be their target audience.

* Kamayacha Lok Sangeet Sansthan raised ₹1.8 lakh through Ketto

* Deene Khan and Roots Music from Jaisalmer’s Chelak village raised around ₹1.93 lakh from crowdfunding.

The music wafts in from the golden desert. You can see the Manganiyars, some on their instruments, some singing. You are miles away in your own study, but zoom in on your mobile screen and put your headphones on, celebrating the mix of acoustics and technology.

The Manganiyar musicians, struggling to survive in Covid-19 times, have found a lifeline. The times are still hard, but the kitchen fires are burning — thanks to the efforts of young artistes from the community.

“We realised that every smartphone user can be our potential audience, especially in these pandemic times, and that we must explore it to help our community ride over this difficult period,” says Latif Khan (23), the lead dholak player of The Manganiyar Seduction , a theatrical production by director Roysten Abel.

The musicians’ community known for its free-spirited voices stresses that it had been severely affected by the pandemic. Earlier, the Manganiyars, from Rajasthan’s border districts of Jaisalmer and Barmer, survived on the patronage of rich Hindu and Muslim families. The yajmaans (patrons) — the Bhati Rajputs of Jaisalmer and Sindhi Muslim Sipahis of Barmer — provided them with dry ration, goats, camel and cash as they entertained them with their music. “Our livelihoods depend on local performances and donations from our yajmaans . But Covid-19 gave us no time to collect or store food supplies,” Khan says.

Although Manganiyars are a sub-caste of the Muslim Mirasi caste, they are considered auspicious for every occasion in a Rajput home. Their oral tradition of music, however, was not known beyond the boundaries of their districts till scholar Komal Kothari documented it back in the ’60s and ’70s. The Manganiyars started performing at domestic and international festivals and in hotels and concerts. Their soulful singing, accompanied with instruments that include a version of the sarangi , been , algoza , khartaal , dholak, dhol and morchung , won them recognition. They are, however, socially and financially vulnerable as a community.

But now the younger musicians — who the elders feared were moving away from their traditional field for want of opportunities — have conceived of ways of reaching out to supporters. “Though most of us are uneducated, we can comprehend that technology is the biggest driver now in the online world,” says Khan, among the few to have finished high school. “With some of our friends from Mumbai, who encouraged us seeing the pitiable condition of our community in this lockdown, we decided to plunge headlong into the online domain.” Khan stresses that was the way the community could earn — and be heard.

Manganiyars live in 139 villages in Jaisalmer. They point out that since they are in remote areas, they are often bypassed by the government. “Water is scarce in our villages. When transportation stopped, water tankers could not reach our villages,” says Hamira villager Mehran Khan, a dholak player associated with the Kamayacha Lok Sangeet Sansthan, a music group. “Also, our ration cards are not linked with the Food Security Act, so we had to forego the benefits which come with it.”

The lockdown left them in a precarious condition, adds Latif Khan, who is also the vice-secretary of the Sansthan. Earlier, a group of six or seven people earned ₹70,000-80,000 for five shows a month. “Each member would take home around ₹10,000. And those of us who worked in resorts would earn ₹9,000-10,000 a month,” he says. “Now around 2,880 families were faced with starvation and a drought-like situation.”

That was when the Sansthan decided to raise money through funding sites and online shows. Young Manganiyars had heard about crowdfunding platforms from professionals in Mumbai and how they could be leveraged to collect funds from donors. “We wrote to the district administration, but with no relief in sight, we thought of using Ketto (a crowdfunding platform) to raise funds.” Such platforms enable people from across the world to donate money, which is then channelled to the group or individual in need.

The Sansthan raised ₹1.8 lakh through the platform, although its goal was to collect ₹5 lakh. “There were donors from India and the US as well. With that amount, we were able to distribute rations to over 600 families.”

Inspired by the Kamayacha Sansthan’s efforts, another Manganiyar group — Deene Khan and Roots Music — from Jaisalmer’s Chelak village is raising funds through crowdfunding. They have so far been able to garner around ₹1.93 lakh, though they hope to raise ₹10 lakh.

It’s not just crowdfunding that is helping the community. Young Manganiyars are organising live streaming and ‘Stay at home’ concerts. “The online shows gave us an alternative forum. We were offered around four shows in the lockdown and were able to make around ₹40,000. Not much in terms of earnings but something is always better than nothing,” says dholak player Firoze Khan, another member of the Sansthan.

Latif Khan says music connoisseurs are reaching out to them. “It is not about money every time; sometimes it is about goodwill and maintaining a rapport. We performed for Hardik Dave, a musician from Ahmedabad, some days ago. And we did it for free.”

Technology, he adds, has helped the musicians overcome boundaries and cultural isolation. “The more we view the mobile screen as the stage, the more we learn how technology can be used to preserve our art form. The more we see how our audiences can connect with us, the more reassured we feel about creating more music,” he says. “We now believe our music will live on.”

Rakhee Roy Talukdar is an independent journalist based in Jaipur

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