Prakash Bhuyan

Swadesha Sharma

Editor

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Assamese khol drums have a lower (bass) sound profile than the
Bengali khol. The dhol has a higher pitch than the negera. Giripod Badyokar knows
this well. A maker of percussion instruments, it’s the kind of knowledge that
he uses in his everyday work. 

“Young boys show me
their smartphones and tell me to adjust the tuning to a particular scale,” says
the veteran craftsman based in Majuli, Assam. “We don’t need the app.”

Giripod explains that
even with a tuner app, the process is one of trial and error. It requires the
leather membrane of the percussion instrument to be properly aligned and
tightened. “Only then will the tuner app work.”

Giripod and his son Podum come from a long
line of Badyokars (or Badyakars). Also known by the name Dhuli or Sabdakar, the
community known for making and repairing musical instruments, is recognised as
a Scheduled Caste in the state of Tripura.

Podum and Giripod primarily make dhol, khol and tabla. “Since
the satras are here, we get work all year round,”
Podum says. “We can make enough to get by.”

Earnings pick up during the festival season
beginning with the month of Fagun
(February-March) and the Ali
Aye Ligang spring festival of the Mising (or Mishing) community. Dhols are an integral component of the Gumrag dance performed
during the festival and the demand for new dhols
and the repairing of old peaks in the month of Sot (March-April). The celebration of Bohag Bihu – a major
festival in the state – during spring also raises the demand for dhols.

Negeras and khols are in high demand during the month of Bhadro. Percussion
instruments play an important role in Assamese cultural events – from Raas to
Bihu. There are an estimated six kinds of drums especially popular in Assam,
many of which are made and used here in Majuli. Read: <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/raas-mahotsav-and-the-satras-of-majuli/">Raas Mahotsav and the satras of Majuli</a>

Sitting in the hot
April sun outside his shop, Podum scrapes the hair off the cattle hide that will
eventually become the leather membrane or taali for a tabla, negera, or khol. All of the five music shops on the island of Majuli in the
Brahmaputra are run by Badyokar families who belong to the migrant Bengali
community. 

“My father says, since
he learnt by observing, I must do the same,” the 23-year-old says. “Hatot dhori xikai nidiye [He doesn’t hold hands while
teaching]. He doesn’t even correct my mistakes. I have to correct them myself
by observing.”

The leather Podum is busy cleaning is the complete
hide of an ox which they have bought for around Rs. 2,000. The first step is
matting the hair on the hide using footsai (hearth ash)
or dry sand. It is then scraped off using a botali, a flat-edged
chisel.

Circular sheets are
cut from the cleaned hide using a curved dao blade called ektera. These will become the taali [leather membrane]. “The ropes tying the taali to the body of the instrument are also made of leather,”
explains Podum. “It comes from a younger animal and is softer and finer.”

The syahi (circular black section in the centre of the taali) is made of powdered iron or ghun mixed into a paste with boiled rice. “It [ghun] is made in a machine,” he says,
holding a small heap of it in his palm. “It’s finer than the kind you get from
the local ironsmith which is coarse, flaky and bruises your hand.”

The young craftsman
transfers some of the dark grey ghun
into this reporter’s palm. The powder is surprisingly heavy, despite the small
quantity.

Applying the ghun to the taali needs extra attention and care. The craftsmen clean the taali 3-4 times before applying a layer
of boiled rice to it and drying it under the sun. The starch in the rice makes
the taali sticky. Before the taali dries up completely, a layer of syahi is applied and the surface is
polished using a stone. This is done thrice with a 20-30 minute interval
between each layer. It is then kept under shade for about an hour.

“Until it is completely dry, we have to keep
rubbing. Traditionally, it is done 11 times. If it is cloudy, the process can
take an entire week.”

Giripod is the
youngest of four brothers and started helping out in the family business around
age 12. He lived in Kolkata then. When his parents passed away in quick
succession, he found himself all alone.

“I didn’t have the
heart to learn this craft anymore,” he recalls. When he found love a few years
later, he decided to move to Assam. Initially, he worked in a shop making dhols. Later he worked in a saw mill for
a few years and then in the logging business. In dangerous journeys of
log-filled trucks making their way downhill through muddy roads in monsoon, “I
saw many deaths in front of my eyes,” he recalls.

He returned to the
craft and worked in Jorhat for 10-12 years. All his children – three girls and
a boy – were born there. Trouble with some Assamese boys over the return of a dhol that the group had borrowed
prompted the local police to advise him to set up shop elsewhere since the
boys, known goons, could cause more trouble.

“I also thought since
we are Bengalis, if they gang up and things become communal, there will be a
risk to my life and my family,” he says. “So I decided to leave Jorhat [for
Majuli].” With several satras
(Vaishnavite monasteries) established in Majuli, he would get steady work
making and repairing khol drums
extensively used in sattriya rituals.

“These places used to be a jungle and there
weren’t many shops around.” He opened his first shop in Balichapori (or Bali Chapori) village and
four years later, moved it to Garamur. In 2021 the family opened a slightly
bigger second shop in Naya Bazar, around 30 kilometres away from the first.

A line of khols
adorns the walls of the shop. Bengali khols,
made from clay, are made in West Bengal and priced Rs. 4,000 or more based
on their size. Assamese khols, by
contrast, are made from wood. Dhols range
from Rs. 5,000 and upwards depending on the wood used. Changing the leather and
rebinding it will cost a customer around Rs. 2,500.

A doba belonging
to one of the namghars (prayer
houses) in Majuli sits on the floor of the shop. It is made from a used drum of
kerosene. Some dobas are made of
brass or aluminium. “If they ask us to source the drum and then make the doba, we do that. Otherwise, the
customer can also bring the drum and we will fix the leather,” Podum says. This
one has come in for repairs.

“Sometimes we have to
go to the satra and namghar to repair the doba,”
he explains further. “On the first day we go and do the measurements. The next
day we go with the leather and repair it in the satra itself. It takes us about an hour.”

Leatherworkers have a
long history of being discriminated against. “The people who play the dhol put saliva on their fingers to play
the dhol. The washer of the tubewell
is also made from leather,” says Giripod. “So discriminating in terms of jaat-paat is without logic. Objecting to the skin is
useless.”

Five years ago the family bought a piece of land
and built a home for themselves in Naya Bazar. They live in a mixed community
of Mising, Assamese, Deori and Bengali people. Have they ever faced
discrimination? “We are Manidas.
People from the Rabidas
community who skin the dead cattle are discriminated against a bit. The
caste-based discrimination is more in Bengal. Here it is not like that,”
Giripod answers.

The Badyokars buy the
whole hide of an ox for around Rs. 2,000, usually from Muslim traders in Kakojan, Jorhat. The
hides here are more expensive but of better quality than the ones in the nearby
Lakhimpur district. “They treat the skins with salt which reduces the
durability of leather,” says Podum.

Procuring skins has
become difficult these days due to changing laws. The <a href="https://homeandpolitical.assam.gov.in/sites/default/files/swf_utility_folder/departments/hp_assam_webcomindia_org_oid_3/menu/document/the_assam_cattle_preservation_act_2021.pdf">Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021</a> prohibits the slaughter of all cows. It allows the slaughter of other
cattle but only if a registered veterinary officer certifies the animal to be
over 14 years of age or permanently incapacitated. This has driven up the cost
of skins, increasing the price set for new instruments and repair work. “People
complain about the increased price but nothing can be done about it,” says
Podum.

Giripod was once
returning home from a job with his leather work equipment and dao blades
when the police stopped him at a checkpost and started asking questions. “My
father even told them I work with so and so and came here to deliver an
instrument” but the police refused to let him go.

“As you know, the
police won’t trust us. They thought he was going to slaughter some cows,” Podum
recalls. In the end, Giripod had to give the police Rs. 5,000 to let him return
home.

Transporting ghun is risky too as it is also used in
making bombs. Giripod buys a kilogram or two at a time from a big shop in
Golaghat district which has the license. A round trip to the shop by the
shortest route takes around 10 hours and involves crossing the Brahmaputra on a
ferry.

“If the police see it
or catch us carrying it, there is a risk of facing jail time,” Giripod says.
“If we can convince them by demonstrating how we use it on the tabla,
then good. Otherwise, we will go to jail.”

This
story is supported by a fellowship from Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation (MMF).

Badyokars of Majuli struggle to stay in tune

زندہ رہنے کی جدوجہد کرتے ماجولی کے ’بادیوکار‘

శ్రుతి తప్పకుండా ఉండేందుకు శ్రమిస్తోన్న మాజులీ వాద్యకారులు

மஜூலியின் பத்யோகர்களின் தடுமாறும் தாளம்

ਰੋਜ਼ੀ-ਰੋਟੀ ਲਈ ਸੰਘਰਸ਼ ਕਰਦੇ ਮਾਜੁਲੀ ਦੇ ਬਦਯੋਕਾਰ

ତାଳରେ ରହିବା ଲାଗି ସଂଘର୍ଷ କରୁଛନ୍ତି ମାଜୁଲିର ବାଡ୍ୟୋକର

मेळ जमवण्यासाठी धडपडतायत माजुलीतले बाद्योकार

താളപ്പിഴകളിൽ വലയുന്ന മജുലിയിലെ ബാദ്യോകാർമാർ

ತಾಳ ತಪ್ಪಿದ ಮಜುಲಿ ಬಾದ್ಯೊಕಾರರ ಬದುಕು

ज़िंदगी के सुर को बचाने के लिए संघर्षरत माजुली के बाद्यकार

સૂરને પકડી રાખવા સંઘર્ષ કરતા માજુલીના બાદ્યોકરો

धुन बनाय सेती जूझत माजुली के बद्योकर

माजुली के बाद्यकर लोगन के बिगड़ल धुन

সময়ের সঙ্গে তাল মেলাতে মরিয়া মাজুলির বাদ্যকরেরা

মাজুলীৰ বাদ্যকৰৰ অবিশ্ৰান্ত সংগ্ৰাম

Majuli

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Badyokars of Majuli struggle to stay in tune

Percussion instruments play a big role in Assamese festivals celebrated through the year. The skilled craftsmen who make and repair these critical dhols, khols and more, say the new anti-slaughter law has led to a rise in prices, and harassment

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