Shrikrishna

55-year-old Shrikrishna belongs to Katgara village in the Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh. He proficiently plays the Chikara, a string instrument similar to the fiddle that is native to Northern India. The instrument is quite similar to Sarangi and is played by sliding the fingernails on the strings rather than by pressing them on the board. Shrikrishna spent many years learning the instrument from his teacher, Laltu, and believes the instrument is now going out of fashion because it is so difficult to master. Sitapur and Hardoi districts are the only remaining districts in his region where Chikara is still used to performing folk music.

As a farmer by profession, music is not their main source of income for Shrikrishna. He performs in many events and occasions around his region but still doesn’t earn a lot from it. He says that music has become a kind of madness for him, and he sticks to it despite meagre financial prospects because it gives him personal satisfaction. Other members of his group also agree with him that following the pandemic, being a full-time musician has become very difficult for them, and they do not want their children to continue in this field. Shrikrishna’s children are labourers and workers and have not learnt music.

Shrikrishna was interested in music at a young age and learnt to sing folk songs by hearing performances by the elders in his village. He is not very educated and has not had formal training in singing or music, but he has relied on his experience of 38 years to manage his group, which involves five other musicians and four dancers.  They perform at events like marriages, birth and death and other gatherings all night. Most of the members in the group learnt under his tutelage and considered him their guru. 

• Purvanchal
• Uttar Pradesh