Pawan Singh and Nirmala Ji belong to a small village called Jawa in Chamba in Himachal Pradesh. They belong to the Gaddi community. Pawan’s parents, as well as grandparents, were singers and musicians, and therefore, Pawan was born in a musical atmosphere. It was unlikely for him not to pursue music. The family supported his musical career and wanted to make him a singing star. His interest in singing was further developed when he started participating in singing competitions in school. Somehow in the midst of his career, he left singing and tried working other jobs like farming, animal husbandry and mason. He continued it for years and lost touch with music. But eventually, he returned back to it. Since he lost touch with the music, he forgot to play his khanjar and ruvana, and it was a tough time for him to learn it again. He says that he didn’t lose hope. He kept on playing and singing till he eventually learned it. Today he is an able singer and plays his instruments very well. Pawan now sings and simultaneously plays ruvana, khanjari and ghungroo. He got married to Nirmala, who hails from Bharmour, and he taught her to sing. Nirmala also goes to several villages with him and sings by his side.
The main source of income for the group is music. As passionate and driven as he is for music, he doesn’t deny the fact that one is not able to completely pay his bills through music. He has worked for years in music and faced a lot of difficulties. Sometimes, they don’t get enough shows, and there are months in which playing music or singing is strictly prohibited, so they have to get other jobs. Pawan works as a mason and a farmer to get the work done and get money for his and his family’s livelihood. He likes to sing a variety of songs. Songs are based on topics like nature and the cultural lives of people. Festivals, life of people, Gods and goddesses, etc. His favourite songs are religious songs which are dedicated to Gods and Goddesses. He considers himself a devotee of Lord Shiva, just like most of the people of Himachal Pradesh. He talks about the importance of gurus in singing. No one can learn without a guru. “Gru toh har cheez ke liye dharan karna padta hai aur maine taya ji se guru path sikha hai”
His father and grandfather were into this job of music, and they wanted someone to pass on their torch, too. As Pawan’s siblings don’t follow the music and are working in different fields, he became the sole torch bearer and holds this responsibility on his shoulders to bring forward their heritage to the future generation. “Kaam khud sikha deta hai aadmi ko. Galat hoga pehle lekin dheere dheere sudhaar hoga”. It is clearly visible that it is difficult to play ruvana. It is even more difficult to play in synchronization with khanjari and singing. It comes only through practice. When we asked him what he felt about women pursuing a career in music, he said that it is completely fine for women to play instruments and sing. He doesn’t offer any resistance to it, and no one else does, but it has required a lot of hard work and training since childhood. It is difficult for Nirmala to sing because she doesn’t come from a musical background. She learned music only after they got married, and it was difficult to get people to practise singing while performing daily chores. Plus, if seen technically, it is difficult to follow music by women because Musada Gayan has been designed in a way in which firstly, the men sing, and the women follow. It can’t be vice versa; women have shrill voices. Moreover, it is difficult for women to stay out of their homes to sing during the nighttime and travel to villages as it could be unsafe.
“Mene sirf ek mahila ko gate hue aur bajate hue dekha abhi atk”
Pawan was ready to teach us to learn Pahari songs. He wanted to pass his torch. He has two daughters and a son. All of them are young and are studying.
“Ham chacha taya ke bacche milakar 17 hai, lekin abhi keval em hi gana gata hoon. Keval menu hi gana bajana sikha aur abhi is waqt koi aur nhi jo is parampara ko age badha kar lekar jayega”
“Sharam mehsoos karte hai in sab cheezo me”
Pawan Jai is saddened by the fact that no one wants to pursue music and feels ashamed of pursuing it. He is very stressed about who will be learning music from him to pass on this rich tradition.
“Iske liye mata saraswati ki den zaruri hai. Iska gila nahi hai, swar nhi hai, who raise nahi kar sakta. Swar zaruri hai”
Generally, he performs Musada Gayan, for which he has to perform singing and play music overnight with his wife. This requires massive training and experience. They have to learn and bye heart each chapter and it is very important. They should also know its meaning. They first sing the chapter completely and tell the masses the meaning of the song.
Bharmour is known as Shiva Bhumi, which is 4-5 hours away from Chamba city. From Bharmour, the beginning of Manimahesh yatra begins. Pawan explains that living in Bharmour is difficult. It is isolated from the world through mountains. There is a single road which reaches this place, and afterwards, the road ends. The place is not well connected. The climate is severe as well. People have to leave the place during winter as it snows a lot. People shift to places in Chamba and Kangra, where most of them have different homes. During summers, they come back again. As beautiful as the way to Bharmour from Chamba is, it is extremely beautiful. We set up the cameras and other instruments, most on the highlands, which were at an altitude of 4500 feet. The place was near to the brahmani devi temple., we crossed bridges and alpine forest to reach this beautiful place. After setup, we asked Pawan ji to sing his first song. The first song he sang was Shravan Viyog, which describes the Ramayana tale of when Dashrath killed Shravan while he was filling his pot to bring water for his blind parents. Eventually, Dashrath was cursed by Sharvan’s parents after they were heartbroken listening to the news of their son’s demise. The other song was a song depicting the cultural life of a gaddi couple.
