Dastangoi - The Lost Art of Story Telling

Photo credit: Mumbai Mirror
Mahmood Farooqui (right) and Danish Husain performed the Dastangoi at the NCPA last Friday, 23rd June.

I initially read about "Dastangoi" in Time Out Mumbai, my source of knowledge for events in Mumbai. Then Dan Hussain posted an invite on the Caferati message board.

I exchanged a couple of mails with Dan in which he told me I didn't need to understand the language to enjoy the performance. I was a bit sceptical, but thought why not attend ? The performance at NCPA was free, so could leave at the interval if I could not make sense of it. Plus inlaws were in town and they love theatre and understand a fair amount of Urdu.

So the six of us bundled ourselves into the car at 4:15 to reach NCPA by 6:30.

The next two hours were completely spellbinding. My knowledge of Hindi is recently acquired and I can barely manage the colloquial stuff, so I was wondering if I would be able to understand any of the proceedings. Inspite of Dan's assurances, my doubts persisted until Mahmood began to weave his tapestries.

Dastangoi is very difficult to describe. It needs to be experienced. But let me try to give you an idea of what to expect. It's a cross between a theatre performance and poetry reading. The words are wonderfully descriptive and conjure visions in your head. The perfomers are seated but use expressions, gestures, tone of voice and a myriad other techniques to transport you into a realm of fantasy consisting partly of "tilisms" (alternate worlds), aiyyaars, sorcerers and magicians.

Farooqui on his blog explains :

Dastangos were those who told 'dastans' (stories). Recounting tales of Amir Hamza, the Prophet Mohammed's uncle, they told narratives of his battles with infidels, sorcerers and other pretenders to divinity.

In the dastani worldview, good and bad are evenly matched, infinitely. When an evil sorcerer dies, a new one rises to replace him. When someone on the righteous side is killed, another one is quickly found to replace him. Hamza is the lead character, he is the Lord of the age.

Dastangoyee is about four things: Razm -- warfare, Bazm -- assembly of singing, dancing and seducing, Tilism -- magical effect or artefact created by the sorcerer, and Aiyyari -- chicanery, trickery, disguise. The aiyyars, the tricksters, are employed by both sides.

If you would like to read more about the subject, do read
Mahmood's interview with Mumbai Mirror
Mahmood's interview with DNA
Mahmood's interview with Tehelka

If you would like to watch a performance, you are in luck. If you already caught the NCPA perfomance, then consider this the next couple of episodes.

Dastangoi: A Presentation of the Lost Form of Storytelling
(A Part of Katha Collage II)

Photo credit: Dan Hussain

The Sea of Eloquence - An Evening of Dastan-e-Amir Hamza
July 1 & 2, 2006 at 9:00 pm, Prithvi Theatre, Juhu, Mumbai

Tickets available at Prithvi on the day of performance itself.

The oral narration of Dastan-e-Amir Hamza was a popular past time in most parts of Central, Western and South Asia and North Africa since medieval times. Originally composed in Persian, the Dastan-e-Amir Hamza describes the battles of Amir Hamza, the Prophet Muhammad's Uncle, against infidels, sorcerers and other pretenders to divinity.

As anecdotes of Mir Baqar Ali, the last known Dastango of Delhi, testify, their performances required an exceptional command over rhetoric, delivery, mimicry, ventriloquism and spontaneous composition.

The performances have come about as a result of a collaboration between S.R. Faruqi, the foremost living authority on these Dastans and the only person to possess a full set of all the 46 volumes,
Invitation Credit : Mahmood Farooqui, New Delhi

Mahmood Farooqui is a self-trained actor and performer whose most recent foray into acting consisted of a role in Mahesh Dattani's English film, Mango Soufflé.

Photo credit: DNA

Danish Husain has done theatre with the best names in the country - Habib Tanvir, M.S. Sathyu, Barry John, Rajinder Nath, Sabina Mehta Jaitley, Aziz Quraishi, et al in a wide variety of roles.

Get to know the performers better at
Mahmood Farooqui's Blog
Dan's poems and his Discontents
Dan's Proseonama

Music Review : Stella Chiweshe, Double Check (Piranha)

When British colonizers tried to stop mbira sessions in what is now known as Zimbabwe, the police were so enchanted by the music they lost track of their mission. That is the story told on the song "Kusenini," from Stella Chiweshe's latest CD Double Check Piranha Musik. Chiweshe is as unstoppable as the music she has become famous for playing. The colonial power's ban on mbira ("thumb piano") music, the missionary church's decree that it was "the work of the devil," and the Zimbabwean tradition forbidding women from becoming mbira players, could not keep Chiweshe from becoming the "Queen of Mbira," or Ambuya Chinyakare (Grandmother of Traditional Music). As one of the most internationally well-known mbira artists, she is often considered Zimbabwe's cultural ambassador.



Chiweshe explains that the song "Ndinogarochman" contains "a rhythm of the drum that I always heard inside me when I was young." She first heard the Mbira from an old man when she was 8 years old, and began the process of making her inner rhythm known to the world. "I was always making a rhythm - on the door, on a dish - I played it on everything. I also liked to sing very much, and loud" she told Afropop Worldwide.

Her foray into mbira music was as much spiritual and political as it was musical. Mbira holds a special place in Zimbabwean culture and identity: it is sacred in origin, but was almost extinct by the 1930s due to colonial suppression. However, thanks to artists like Chiweshe who kept the tradition alive, the sound had a huge revival with the independence movement of the 1980s and has become the "national" sound of Zimbabwe.



While Stella has made her way from her native village to the stages of international music festivals and European concert hall stages, her roots are in spirituality and the healing power of music. She began her career playing at ceremonial gatherings such as weddings, healing ceremonies and funerals in the countryside. At one point the spiritual leader who was overseeing one of the ceremonies turned to her and said, "I'm going to tell you your tasks in this world... go to the city people, and introduce this music to them." In spite of this mandate, she has attracted a fair share criticism for this breaching of the boundaries of the spiritual and the popular.

The 2-sided album Double Check shows both sides of the artist: her spiritual roots and her show-stopping popular classics. She recorded the drum-centered songs of her ancestors for the first time in her 40-year long career on Disc 1: Trance Hits She says, "For a long time I have always started my shows on stage with this traditional sound, but now I've thought I should bring this drumming sound out fully. This new album is much more rooted... and rootsy. It's older because guitar music came much, much later into my life... I knew the drums and mbira long before I got to know the guitars and marimba." Disc 2: Classic Hits features a collection of these guitar-and-marimba tunes that have made her famous.

Chiweshe firmly believes that the gentle mbira timbre is "closely related to the sound of water, something that is innately familiar to all people, and therefore the mbira is instantly memorable and comforting. It is a total form of therapy in itself." She uses the spiritual element in her performance, sometimes going into a trance on stage. According to Afropop Worldwide's Banning Eyre, her look also conveys mystique: "With her penetrating eyes, habitual snuff-taking, ankle charms, and dreadlocks falling in front of her face, she has a powerful presence."

In Disc 1: Trance Hits, she journeys through the world of her ancestors, preserving their traditions. This is how trance should be played. I've never been a fan of trance as played in pubs across the world, but Chiweshe's music is different. It has a primitive tribal beat & rhythm. The beat is hypnotic without the mindlessness and mind numbing properties of a lot of music that passes for trance today. The first song "Wanyanya" translating into "That's too much" is actually a little too much since its repetitive for 6:14 minutes but that's the only piece that I did not like in the album, although this is Stella's favourite track. Its for the spirits of the baboons because the baboons are the guardians of her people. "Kuseniseni" or "Early in The Morning" has English lyrics & a much better beat. Apart from "Wanyanaya" all the compositions have enough variations in between to stop the listener from getting bored.

The Mbira with its sound of flowing water relaxes & tranquilizes the listener. The music hypnotises you and draws you in. Some songs have ululations that may seem familiar to Bengalis.

Stella says "The songs on this CD are newly recorded but that doesn't mean to say that the music is new."

In Disc 2: Classic Hits, she revisits the urban streets in Harare and calls on the younger, westernised generation to take pride in their own culture. And this CD, has made me a Stella Chiweshe fan. Its very much in the easy listening genre. The beat and feel is that of the Goan bailas and instantly lifts your spirits up. The music is energizing with some interesting instruments & variations. "Machena" even has dogs barking in the background, possibly because its about "Whiteness" - A Dog Gone Astray.

The songs on Classic Hits feature her vintage band Earthquake. Each song has a story behind it. If you would like to know the stories, buy the CD, the accompanying booklet has the background & backdrop of these lilting songs.

If you would like to sample the music before you rush for your own copy, click on the following links.

"Madzokero (How he came back from his hunting spree)" from Double Check: Two Sides of Zimbabwe's Mbira Queen CD1 -Trance Hits (Piranha)

"Zvinonhamo (Here comes poverty once more)" from Double Check: Two Sides of Zimbabwe's Mbira Queen CD1 -Trance Hits (Piranha)

Buy this Album from Amazon

Music Review : Romica Puceanu & The Gore Brothers, Sounds from a Bygone Age Vol.2

Romica Puceanu is called "Billie Holiday of the East" since she was the voice of the Gypsy blues, she gave voice to the life of the poor suburbs of Romanian towns in the same era that Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and Sarah Vaughn were doing the same for Black urban neighborhoods across the Atlantic.

Mark Hudson of the UK Telegraph calls Puceanu a "Balkan Marlene Dietrich" for her larger than life personality & voice that he says is "Simultaneously seducing, comforting and cajoling"



Puceanu so loved singing to her own people, mostly at cafes and traditional weddings in the urban ghettos of Romania, that the rest of the world has been unaware of her music until now. Asphalt Tango Records is unearthing some of Eastern Europe's musical treasures, re-issuing old records that are hard to get outside their countries of origin. Romica Puceanu & The Gore Brothers: Sounds From a Bygone Age, Vol. 2 is the latest in this eponymous series, aimed at introducing international audiences to the great voices of Eastern and Gypsy music.

In this album, which is being released posthomously from archives (Romica died in a tragic car accident in 1996) on May 9th 2006, Puceanu combines with her cousins Aurel (violin) & Victor (accordion) Gore to create some mesmerising & haunting Gypsy music. The Gore brothers had their own successful band, the Taraful Fratii Gore, when they discovered their 14-year old cousin singing in local cafes in the Floreasca & Herestrau quarters on the outskirts of Bucharest. Their first album was recorded in 1964 at Electrecord's Tomis Studio.

The family has a legacy of music. Gore Ionescu, father of Aurel & Victor Gore, played his violin at exclusive Bucharest restaurants. His traditional style was so well known, that until his death in the late 1950's, he was regularly invited to make recordings at the "Bucharest Folklore Archive"

By the sudden, tragic end of her life, Romica Puceanu had become the most popular and best paid singer of her genre, and was considered the veritable incarnation of Romanian lautari music (repertoire of Gypsy music, comprising pieces from a rustic environment, interpreted with great virtuosity and urbane arrangements for a very mixed audience in the town). The Taraful Fratii Gore sold thousands of records in Romania up to the present day, but never achieved great wealth. Victor Gore lives today in a small two-room apartment in Bucharest and relives his memories of the golden years of the old days. Victor remembers, "When we played slow, sad songs the Gypsies wept, and nobody could eat a thing!" But, in spite of her talent for bringing her audiences to tears, Puceanu was a lively, funny woman, who never turned up at the studio without her teapot - filled with cognac.

Romica's signature was the slow improvised mournful ballad, which she filled with expressive melismas, ornaments, and incredible soul. She sang melodies with stirring words, in which she described the everyday life, longings, and sufferings of the simple folk. This compilation is a combination of these ballads with more lively gypsy music.

The first impression one gets on listening to this album is "Exotic". Other than the "Gypsy Kings", I cannot easily recollect a famous gypsy performer whose records are easily available. Other performers have drawn from Romanian & Gypsy music influences, so some of the tunes may have a familiar beat or part of a familiar tune.

The only drawback in this album is that the slow & fast tracks are alternated. One song puts you in a melancholic frame of mind & the next makes you want to kick up your heels & dance in circles around a fire waving a colorful gypsy skirt. I love both styles, but wish they could have been clubbed together according to their feel, so I didn't have to go through a mood see-saw.

Individually, each song is beautiful, as is each genre. Romica's voice caresses you. If Penelope Cruz' & Salma Hayek's accents intrigue you, Romica's accent will mesemerise you. Victor also lends his vocals to Pleaca O Nevestica N Lume and Adu Calu' Sa Ma Duc and its the vocalisation of melted chocolate. His is a smoothened Antonio Banderas voice. Inima Suparacioasa is slow and romantic. Vintule Bataia Ta will definitely get you on your feet & hopping around.

These songs & ballads originated under the influence of Turkish Ottoman music & were performed as early as the 16th century in the courts of Wallachian Princes.

Aurel Gore plays the Violin & Victor Gore plays the Accordion besides singing 2 of the songs on this album. n.n. also plays Violin. Marin Marangros was their regular "Cymbalom" player who had also played with Gore Ionescu. Grigore Ciuciu plays "Double Bass". The legend Costel Vasilescu contributes his bright trumpet tone to some of the titles. Maslina Vetol plays the Cobza (A lute with a short, backward curving fingerboard, upon which 4 strings are attached in reverse order and usually played with a quill.)

A wonderful album, worth buying, even if you can't understand the lyrics. The music touches your heart & your soul because Romica & the Gore brothers have given their heart to their listeners in their music.

If you would like to sample the music before you rush for your own copy, click on the following links.
"Hora Dinspre Ziua" from Sounds From a Bygone Age Vol.2 (Asphalt Tango)

"Unde O Fi Puiul De Aseara" from Sounds From a Bygone Age Vol.2 (Asphalt Tango)


For more "Sounds From a Bygone Age" visit Asphalt Records

Buy the album

Some of my favourite Alanis Songs

Click here for lyrics. You can also listen to the songs on this site. But they are very graphic and ad heavy. So loading takes awhile and it can get irritating, but guess that’s the price u pay for free stuff on the web.... Google used to have this really neat lyrics site of their own which was fast and no ads, but they seem to have done away with it. Or hidden it somewhere not accessible to their own search engine. : )

The songs I really like are
1. All I Really Want :
Do I stress you out
My sweater is on backwards and inside out
And you say how appropriate
I don't want to dissect everything today
I don't mean to pick you apart you see
But I can't help it
There I go jumping before the gunshot has gone off
Slap me with a splintered ruler
And it would knock me to the floor if I wasn't there already
If only I could hunt the hunter

And all I really want is some patience
A way to calm the angry voice
And all I really want is deliverance
Do I wear you out
You must wonder why I'm so relentless and all strung out
I'm consumed by the chill of solitary
I'm like Estella
I like to reel it in and then spit it out
I'm frustrated by your apathy
And I am frightened by the corrupted ways of this land
If only I could meet the Maker

And I am fascinated by the spiritual man
I am humbled by his humble nature
What I wouldn't give to find a soulmate
Someone else to catch this drift
And what I wouldn't give to meet a kindred
Enough about me, let's talk about you for a minute
Enough about you, let's talk about life for a while
The conflicts, the craziness and the sound of pretenses
Falling all around...all around
Why are you so petrified of silence
Here can you handle this?

Did you think about your bills, your ex, your deadlines
Or when you think you're gonna die
Or did you long for the next distraction
And all I need know is intellectual intercourse
A soul to dig the hole much deeper
And I have no concept of time other than it is flying
If only I could kill the killer

All I really want is some peace man
a place to find a common ground
And all I really want is a wavelength
All I really want is some comfort
A way to get my hands untied
And all I really want is some justice...

2. Hand In My Pocket

Listen to song
I'm broke but I'm happy
I'm poor but I'm kind
I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah
I'm high but I'm grounded
I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed
I'm lost but I'm hopeful baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a high five
I feel drunk but I'm sober
I'm young and I'm underpaid

I'm tired but I'm working, yeah
I care but I'm restless
I'm here but I'm really gone
I'm wrong and I'm sorry baby

What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be quite alright
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette
And what it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving the peace sign
I'm free but I'm focused
I'm green but I'm wise
I'm hard but I'm friendly baby
I'm sad but I'm laughing
I'm brave but I'm chickenshit
I'm sick but I'm pretty baby

And what it all boils down to
Is that no one's really got it figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is playing the piano
And what it all comes down to my friends
Is that everything's just fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is hailing a taxi cab

Forgiven :
You know how us Catholic girls can be
We make up for so much time a little too late
I never forgot it, confusing as it was
No fun with no guilt feelings
The sinners, the saviors, the loverless priests
I'll see you next Sunday

We all had our reasons to be there
We all had a thing or two to learn
We all needed something to cling to
So we did

sang Alleluia in the choir
I confessed my darkest deeds to an envious man
My brothers they never went blind for what they did
But I may as well have
In the name of the Father, the Skeptic and the Son
I had one more stupid question

We all had our reasons to be there
We all had a thing or two to learn
We all needed something to cling to
So we did

What I learned I rejected but I believe again
I will suffer the consequence of this inquisition
If I jump in this fountain, will I be forgiven
We all had our reasons to be there
We all had a thing or two to learn
We all needed something to cling to
So we did

We all had delusions in our head
We all had our minds made up for us
We had to believe in something
So we did

If this interests you, also look up :
Perfect
Right thru you
You learn
Mary Jane
Ironic
Not the doctor
Wake up

Ramblings on some of my favourite music artists

Bellamy Brothers was an uncles favourite, so I grew up listening to their country music at grandmas house. Love Don Williams too.

S&G is Simon & Garfunkel, who Im sure most people would have listened to.
Scorpions & Dire Straits hit it big in the early 80's. Attended the Scorpions Live in Bangalore couple of years ago and thought they are in their 50's now. They still rock.

Strauss is Johann, I just love his waltzes, the only Western Classical Musician I actually enjoy for easy listening, not contemplation.

Carpenters is one of mummys favourites which I grew to like because I listened to them so often because of her.

And who has not heard of "The King"... Elvis himself, he still fills the news with people reporting sightings of him almost daily in the US : )

Shania Twain sings in a rock influenced country kind of way. She's become one of my sisters favourites too because of me.

Allanis Morisette is the only artist I listen to for the lyrics. She comes from this position of rebellion from a rigid catholic upbringing which I kind of identified with when she was singing those kind of songs. She's changed a bit now and her themes are different but I still follow her.

A friend of mine, once told me "I loved the Beatles (still do!), both for their trendseting, unconventional, break all rules type of music and also for the richness of their lyrics. The best anti-cleric (Roman Catholic, that is) lyrics I have heard to date are from the song 'Eleanor Rigby', about the love of a spinster for a priest that could not be actualised because of the 'law of celibacy' which that particular priest chose to adhere to. That is why, you have got me interested in this Allanis Morisette. Perhaps
not the music, although I'll keep an open mind about that, but the
rebellious lyrics! Been a rebel myself from age 14, and have not yet retired! You're right about J. Strauss. No one wrote better waltzes. If you like marches, try John Philip Sousa."

Except for maybe Usher, I don’t listen to any of the new music makers on the scene. I refuse to call them artists because they arent creative enough. Very repetitive music and themes in all their compositions.

Its so difficult to get particular artistes in India. For eg they only sell "Jagged Little Pill" of alanis in India.
I just cant find a "Luther Van Dross" CD. He has sung an amazing song called "Dance with my father again", shortly before he had his stroke. Thankfully he is on the road to recovery. I found him by chance, because one of the actresses in "boston public" sang this song in one of the episodes and I went online to find the lyrics. It’s a very touching song. And that’s how I discovered Luther.

Padma Vibhushan Pandit Shiv Kumar Shankar in Concert

After Teejan Bai's performance I was treated to my second most subliminal experience in life. (The first being, a one-on-one meeting with Mother Theresa) An absolutely fantastic performance by Padma Vibushan, Pandit Shiv Kumar Shankar on the Santoor


He was invited, as a finale to the 3 day Taramati Festival at Taramati Baradari to perform a unique presentation "Peace & Joy" He was joined by his son, Rahul Sharma on the Santoor, Taufiq Qureshi on Western Drums, Ustaad Shafaat Ahmed on the Tabla and Selva Ganesh on Kanjeera (kind of damru)

They were just back from Meghalaya and on their way to Nairobi for another concert.

At the risk of sounding like my 16yr old sister, Rahul is "Soooooooooooo Cute................" (She reserves this compliment for Australian Cricketers, tho) He too, plays the Santoor. Although, while Panditji is focussing on concerts, Rahul is focussing on Music Albums. He is all set to release his next album "Jannat" - the first musical album to document the culture & traditions of strife torn Jammu & Kashmir. After this he plans to work on "Maya - the illusion." He has also recently scored music for Tanuja Chandra's English Film "Hope & a Little Sugar"

The seating was open air in an amphitheatre style, with the historic Taramati Baradari as the backdrop on which a play of lights continued throughout the evening. This centuries old monument is where Taramati used to dance for the Golconda king. Legend has it that, the acoustics were such that he could hear her sing from here, when he was seated at the top of the fort. And on Fridays, after Namaaz, she would sing and dance her way to the Fort.

It was in this magical setting, that Pandit Shiv Kumar and his troupe kept the audience enthralled. He started playing around 10PM and by this time only the real music lovers were left, the page 3 varieties had departed after getting their photos clicked by the reporters. For an hour and a half, we were mesmerised & hypnotised by the music. Some parts were solos, some were percussion combinations, a jugalbandi and an amusing range of instruments simulated by Taufiq Qureshi. So much variety in continuity. Words cannot describe the music. It needs to be heard and experienced by each person individually. To listen to such music, in such surroundings, is as close to paradise as it gets on earth. For an hour and a half, I was in Jannat.

Teejan Bai in Concert

Finally got to watch the Legendary Teejan Bai from Chattisgarh in action. Having heard so much about her, I was wondering if the actual performance could live upto my expectations. But it didn’t.... It surpassed them ! ! ! The Hindi that she used in her Pandwani style of story telling, was so simple that, even I could follow it. Plus she put so much enthu and action into the whole performance, that it was reminiscent of the Usha Uthup kind of energy.

She came to Hyderabad, as part of the Taramati Festival being held at Taramati Baradari by APSTDC. The setting was amazing. But more about that in my next piece.

Teejan Bai sang and acted a scene out of the Mahabharata which included the game of dice being lost by Yudishtir, Draupadi being summoned and dragged in court, a dialog between Rukmini & Krishna before Krishna comes to Draupadis rescue. Pandvani is one of the few styles, where the lead is sung by a woman. Teejan Bai is the best known name in this genre today.

If you get a chance, definitely attend a session by Teejan Bai. It’s a power packed experience.

She was followed by a Pandit Chhannulal Mishra of Benaras who sang a semi classical form of Hindustani Vocals. Unlike many performers, he didn’t have a stiff attitude about his music and had the audience in splits with some lyrical jokes and play on words. Although, I hadnt heard of him before (I dont claim to be an authority on Indian clasical music) I would love to attend an evening, where he is the solo performer. He connects with the audience at every step, which makes it a special performance to follow.