Karma songs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxb8nvURXls

click the link above to listen to the song

Ashok Kumar Mahto who works with Dhara is from village Singpur, Kasmar block, Bokaro. Singpur is a few kilometers off Gowai which is a small tributary which meets the river Damodar. He  sings a song in Khorta to give you an example of how the songs are related to daily life and festivals in the village. The song titled ‘Nuni chaal chaal gohumbaari torab humin saag‘ is sung during Karma, Jeetiya and Sorhai festivals in the village. The song is sung to sisters, Nuni, asking them to come along to where the wheat grows in the field and gather the weeds that grow along it. These which are usually mustard, khairka and karthuwa are also sources of nutrition for the community.

Ashok, like his contemporaries in the village, has learnt to sing and play the instruments used in most village festivals.

Suresh Kumar Vishwakarma

The Khorta Songwriter from Bhendra

Suresh Kumar Vishwakarma popularly known as Sukumar was born in Bhendra village, Nawadih block, Bokaro, Jharkhand.  Bhendra village has been listed as a village of heritage importance for the ancient wisdom on handicrafts resident in the blacksmith community who make up most of the village. The community in Bhendra has been producing iron tools and implements for agriculture, tongs and iron vessels along with other home implements for several generations. In an area where it is difficult to find artists and songwriters who are actively writing on the past and present, meeting Sukumar is a refreshing experience especially in terms of his talent for writing songs in Khorta. When asked how he managed to develop this creative skill, Sukumar replies that it was a small library in his village which incubated these creative instincts during his childhood years.

Sukumar began to work on reviving, researching and collecting information on the Khorta language in 1982. Khorta, is considered to be a language with its roots in Sindhi Ghati Sabhyata (Indus Valley Civilisation). Though there is a debate among some scholars on its origins, Khorta language activists continue to hold that the language belongs to pre Aryan times and is older than Sanskrit, with some scripts matching those found in Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Khorta was also the lingua franca for adivasis and has several Munda and Santhal words in it. The language has increasingly been mixed with influences of other languages from outside, and many say that the old Khorta is almost illegible even to those who use Khorta on a daily basis.

Damodar Koraiye(Damodar Ka God Mein) which literally means ‘in the lap of Damodar’ written by Shivnath Parmanik is an epic poem or ‘kavya’ that discusses the culture and lifestyle of all those living along the banks of the river Damodar.

Sukumar said that one fine day, he felt a sudden jerk of consciousness, almost like an ‘explosion’ inside him, when he realized that his culture and language is older than that of Sanskrit, and that it contains within it such diversity in expression and meaning, which will be lost if it was not cherished. Thus Sukumar decided to begin to write songs in Khorta which for him was the best way to take the message and the language to people.

Click on link below to listen to a song written and performed by Sukumar

Song by Sukumar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usS8lOeTcr0

Krishna Shankar Kumar

The Poster Maker

Krishna Shankar Kumar was born in Kasmar, Bokaro. There were two sources of inspiration for Krishna which urged him to begin painting on social issues: his father, who was actively engaged in social work, and the thoughts and ideologies of the Arya Sarmaj. Krishna started painting at a very young age till he began work as an artist for an NGO named AID in Jharkhand in 1985-86. Krishna has chosen ‘posters’ as a medium to communicate to his audiences. as he feels that its the shortest and quickest way in which several messages can be taken to the viewer.

Krishna’s contact details :09199297877

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