A Rendezvous of Tradition
There is a small village in the Dharamshala known as Chinmay Mahila Mandal. The group consists of all women who sing beautiful traditional folk songs sung during different occasions based on different situations like – weddings, birth, etc. The songs are they sing are very enjoyable and definitely, an add-on to the fun. Something very unusual and wonderful about the group is that they don’t have any group leader. It’s all the ladies who decide the things together and perform at different locations. They have been invited to various location to showcase their performances. We asked them that what is the best venue they feel is to document their songs, all together they told the same – a nearby temple. Indeed it was an exotic location as there was a temple at the bank of river Beas with a huge Banyan tree alongside making it worth watching.
The group performs at all the functions held at the village. They are simply women who are all housewives and are passionate about the songs they sing and write too. They are not very literate but still manage to write in their language and compose. Their songs are about making fun of the groom or bride before their wedding. They only sing in the Kangri language. All the ladies have children and husband at home but it is really appreciable that all of them lend their support to what their wives or mother want. Once the set up was done the ladies began to sing and the songs were so entertaining and go so well with simple instruments like dholak and manjira. They don’t want to be very famous or known by all they have a simple dream in which they see themselves earning something out of their music so that they too could take care of their families.