CM Afridi urged to focus on revival classical musical instruments’ art in KP

PESHAWAR, Oct 09 (APP):Holding the torch of cultural heritage, Khyber Pakthunkhwa is a unique province of Pakistan where artists associated with music professions earn substantial capital in the wake of wedding season.

While passing through the labyrinth of alleyways in historic Peshawar city,  a visitor becomes bewitched by beat of traditional Tabla (hand drums) and tune of rabab (guitar) coming out from shops owned by manufacturers having centuries old legacy of making classical musical instruments to fulfill demands of music industry.

On Friday, artisans were seen busy at work thumping stretched out dry animal hide to adjust beat of hand drums or twisting strings to set tunes of rabab (guitar) takes passerby to nostalgic time swinging to the tunes of classical music.

Sitting in shops located in Mohallah Shah Burhan in the interior city, a couple of shopkeepers are displaying handmade musical instruments for sale including hand drums, rababs and tambourine after its demand jacked up.

These shopkeepers also share the same lineage and are associated with the art of making and repairing musical instruments from the last one century.

Peshawar’s historic name is `Pesha War’ (Skillful person) which means that the city was recognized in history as `City of Artisans’ due to ample livelihood facilities provided by the generosity of its dwellers to the people of the region.

“Our grandfather, Rahim Buksh, migrated from Gujrawala district of Punjab to Peshawar and started this art as a means of livelihood. The profession is continued by our father, Rahim Murtaza and we the third generation also inherited it in succession,” informs Ahmad Ali an artisan while talking to APP on Friday.

“The knack of preparing classical music instruments in Peshawar is in danger of disappearance because we are the only few skillful persons associated with it and are continuing it till the time we can,” warns Ahmad Ali.

While elaborating his concern, Ahmad Ali told APP that unlike his elders and themselves, the art is not adopted by their children as a profession due to deep slump in business.

In fact, we decided to discontinue this vocation by our children because of dwindling income due to modernity in melody choice diverting focus of people from classical music to the latest DJ (Disc Jockey) style.

“The craftsmanship will not be available in future and classic music lovers in Peshawar will have to face a dead end due to difficulties in finding out perfect instrument manufacturers besides mechanics to repair gadgets already in use,” Ahmad Ali cautioned.

He also claimed that in the whole of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and neighboring Afghanistan no other artisan except these few working in Peshawar are involved in this art and making perfect instruments that fit to meet professional demands.

Rahim Mujtaba, another artisan in the same locality, concurred with the concern expressed by Ahmad Ali who is also his younger brother.

Rahim told APP that he has been associated with the art of manufacturing and repairing musical instruments for the last 40 to 45 years, but the economic recession they are facing for the last several 12 to 15 years is unprecedented, making it difficult for them to make both of their ends meet.

This skill is very hard because adjustment of hand drums beats through tightening of twine needs a lot of strength and dexterity, Rahim explained.

Furthermore, he went on to say, for improving the quality of beat, they have to pound iron by hand to convert it into powder for pasting on dry animal hide by mixing with some chemical. “The process of crushing iron in metal mortar and pestle is a very cumbersome exercise which not only consumes time, but also needs a lot of physical strength,” Rahim expressed.

A pair of hand drum takes around 20 to 25 days in preparation while a rabab with perfect tunes takes 10 to 12 days.

About the price of a pair of hand drums, he said, it ranges around Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000. While the price of a wooden hand made rabab is around Rs. 9000 to 10,000.

Rahim Mujtaba said their main source of income is repair of used instruments which is also showing reduction due to change in mood of music buffs.

“I came from Nowshera district to get my hand drums repaired as there is no shop or person in our area to do this job,” said Irshad Ali, a hand drum beater.

Zarshad said people associated with classical music are facing very tough time because of reduction in demand of people.

Gone were the days when people booked classical singers for merriment on celebration of their happy occasions, Zarshad laments.

Now we get chance of performance once or twice in a month and the earning we get is very less for meeting our household expenses.

“It is a matter of concern because music lovers face a lot of problems in adjustment or tuning of their musical instruments and have to send them to Lahore and other areas,” said Shahzeb Khan, an amateur singer of classical songs in Pashto and Urdu languages.

“Classic music lovers exist in Peshawar and KP, but the problem is scarcity of skilled person who can repair the equipment perfectly,” Shahzeb told APP.

He shared that rabab technicians are available in Peshawar and KP, but the problem is with hand drums which have only these few and no professional person in the whole region.

The experts stressed on CM Sohail Afridi to pay attention and protect this art from disappearance because hundreds of people are associated with the profession of playing hand drums during happy occasions and even at literary gatherings rather concentrating on long march.

Ghazal mestro and pride of performance Khyal Muhammad said that music united people and promotion of musical instruments art was vital for peace and mutual coexistance.

He said social media has provided a unique opportunity to young artist to show their talent before world and earned names for themselves and the country as well.

Holding of music shows by TV Channels, especially regional, have provided a lot of opportunity to music performers and their number increased, but if there is no professional person for tuning of music instruments, people will face a lot of problem, he continued.

“Culture department is cognizant to the problems being faced by music lovers and artisans associated to manufacturing and repairing of instruments,” said spokesman of Culture Department KP.

KP Culture Department launched `Support to Living Human Treasure’ project with the objective of extending financial support to artist community. Under the project a stipend of Rs. 30,000 was paid to around 500 persons including singers, musicians and Tabla (hand drum) players.

He said more projects are also in the pipeline and would also target hand drum manufacturers. “We realize that the decade long wave of terrorism has left very negative impact on earning of music performers and Culture department is working to help and support them through different projects,” spokesman concluded.