I have the habit of spending much
of my free time on the internet. This doesn't mean only "free" time,
this also include time which I could have used for other activities. Anyways,
that's not the point. The major share of the time I spend on the internet is
watching videos on YouTube. They are going so smart day by day, if you have
logged into YouTube and search something, they will suggest you similar videos
next time. So as a part of this suggestion scheme by YouTube, I have watched
many music videos, sports videos and many more.
One
such video which particularly impressed me was of one "Mamady Keita”, a
master Percussion music player from a small village from the African country of
Guinea, near the borders of Mali. Form the age of seven, Mamady has been
playing and encouraging people around the world to play a special goblet shaped
percussion instrument known as the Djembe. Djembe is so popular now a days that you will not find a
single percussionist on the stage without a Djembe .This video that I watched
was a part of talk show from Dublin Bing Bang Festival 2009, a festival which
brings the best of percussive performances,
workshops, master classes, dances around the globe on a single platform.
So, as a part of this talk show in which Mamady participated, somebody asked
him about the origin of the very instrument that he plays, the Djembe. Mamady ,
a master drummer, a historian of music of his ethnic group name Malinke , was
very good in answering such kind of questions. But what amused me more was the
question that he asked as a reply of the question he was asked for. When
somebody asks us about the origin of drumming music or rhythmic music, we
always picture the same old image of some native masked tribal people gathering
around a fireplace, some people dancing and some playing a drum; which is a
part of either praying to their god, or making some sacrifices. Hollywood
movies helped us greatly in forming that image in the back of our head. But
when asked about the origin of this particular instrument, Mamady had something
else in his mind. He said, before the instrument was born there was rhythm of
popular kind which was born. These rhythms were not that sacrifice making or
praying type of rhythm, but these were the rhythm of some common and popular
rhythm played at the celebrations of the common mass gathering. So, there were
the situations for celebration like marriage, baptism, the ceremony fishing day
in the sacred lakes, ceremony of the first harvesting of cultivation, welcoming
of visitors etc. Along with these celebrations were born the songs of popular
kind and to keep the rhythm to these celebratory songs, there came the clapping.
Hundreds of years before the Djembe were born, there were these three ancestors
born - the situation for celebration, the songs for celebration and the
clapping rhythm. And the astonishing fact among these all is that, it was the
women of the society who invented all these. Later the blacksmith of that
region of Western Africa came up with the idea of creating and instrument to
keep the rhythm and they developed the Goblet shaped wooden instrument, tied
with animal skin and rope, which today is known as the Djembe. The very idea of
Djembe also originated from the women itself. African women used to crush or
ground their food ingredients like seeds and all in a cup shaped wooden
receptacle known as mortar. Two women would keep crushing the ingredients with
a six seven feet long wooden club, they would keep singing in a rhythm played
the club. These crushing in a rhythm invented the idea of Djembe.
Mamady Keita finished the
answer with a simple question, if everything originates from women, and then
why don't have enough woman percussion players? Though the whole story is from
African society, but our society also has the same puzzle unsolved. If a woman
says she is into music, back of our head pictures her as a singer by default.
We should change our mind-set about that. Women are more powerful, not today
but since ages. India particularly is not so rich in female percussionists.
There are a few who has marked excellence like Anuradha Pal, but we need more.
We have a few all girls band in India, but solo female percussionists are rare.
Rhythm is inborn to women; they should be encouraged more and more into the
world of percussion music. Hopefully someday we will have
female percussionist in India who plays at par with Shivamani, Taufiq
Quershi etc or may be better.
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