Indian Tabla Nawaz

[Ronald]

InsideI call upon a forgotten god as the night takes an unexpected turn. I may have entered the womb itself. Gulping this foster air, I crowd and shiver. The air conditioner is unremorsefully blowing directly on our faces; I am already cold and now annoyed. Disoriented by the switch, by this make-believe space, this artificial room, a prison of privilege as I know life to be, I turn to have Reja jot down my dramatic complaints, but I find that she is utterly relieved.

It is no secret that in present-day Pakistan, the Indian classical sarangi is rapidly in decline. The reasons for this span from an emergence of an overtly pseudo-religious culture, rise in political Islamicisation that thrives on a halal/haraam dichotomy, the lack of interest and social respect for the classical arts, and the poor financial state of a sarangi player. These are some of the major reasons to say the least.

In fact, there is a direct relationship between the decline in courtesan culture during colonial India and the Indian classical sarangi. The courts of the Mughals are where the sarangi flourished, and eventually gained its popularity and grounding in the Indian Subcontinent and later, internationally. The British rule of the Subcontinent was disastrous for the sarangi. According to journalist and author Claire Scobie, this developed in a manner where local sarangiyas lost their livelihood as the princely states and kingdoms had also lost much of their control and power.

All three, grandpa, granny and mother are glued to the latest television grandpa bought granny because he felt bad that she watched her Urdu outdated one with a damaged screen caused by spraying bathroom cleaner on the TV screen instead of the bathroom tiles. Seeing them wrapped in weighted blankets during a Karachi winter is so rare a sight that I decide to watch Lagaan beside them a while.

Looking into the life of the courtesans and its culture within the Indian Subcontinent is quite significant in explaining the current state of the sarangi. The Indian courtesans, commonly known as tawaaifs, had more power in society than the average woman. The tawaaif was not the typically popularised domesticated woman, but one that had personal and professional agency. According to artist, writer and tabla player, David Courtney, they excelled in the field of arts and nearly monopolised it.

At the same time, there was no fear or pressure for marriage in the way that was common for Indian women, for if they desired to settle down, they always could. When this option was taken up, it was often with the established and well-placed men of society. This greatly benefited men too. The ones who were favoured by a tawaaif would see a substantial increase in their social status. There are patriarchal undertones to this too because, for men, tawaaifs were equivalent to trophy wives.

Interestingly, because they were rid of domestic chores, they were able to attain artistic excellence that surpassed their male counterparts. The position of a tawaaif was seen with utmost respect, so much so that being an accompanist or musician was often seen below them, even by them. They would simply hire male musicians to work under them; spearheading in every sense.

The other major shift apart from the bastardisation of the name was their source of patronage. Previously, they would seek patronage from Mughal courts and within the local community but, after the arrival of the British, it was the British who were sought after. The British then adapted the custom of incorporating tawaaifs for performances as a way of offering hospitality and also used them for private gatherings.

The culture around courtesans was losing its prestige and place. Victorian values were being preached and an Anti-Nautch Movement had begun to take place. Many courtesans turned to prostitution to fill their bellies and, as women lost their religious and artistic positions, the terrorising scavenger hunt of Indian society took place. Christian missionaries and Victorian social reformers, with the help of the local Westernised elite, discredited the courtesan and devadasi system. As Courtney notes, through legislation and law, the ancient generational practice of passing inheritance from mother to daughter was broken apart. In 1947, the devadasi institution was abolished.

Remaining archival material dictates an exciting yet forgotten past. In the audio archives of Lutfullah Khan, Ustad Hamid Hussain Khan, a sarangi-nawaz from Pakistan, paints a scene of the mehfils that he was part of during the times of nawabs and maharajas. He states that only those women who were highly educated and well-versed in Urdu, Farsi and a bit of English, had undergone intensive musical training, were well-trained in social etiquette and adab [literature] and tehzeeb [culture], were referred to as tawaaifs.

Moreover, we can see the two sarangiyas holding sarangis that have waists wider than the contemporary sarangi. They also seem to have additional turab. The belly of the sarangi is wider. This has a width comparable to that of modern sarangis. We can see how the left-hand curve of the waist is slowly disappearing.

The medium for Figure 3 (Anonymous Thanjauvr artist, Hindoostany Natch, Kunchinee [dancing girls] c. 1828) is gouache and watercolour. This image portrays four women out of which three are tawaaifs, followed by a musical accompaniment consisting of two sarangi players, one dhol player, a player who probably plays a variation of a tambura and one with hand-cymbals.

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