Manganiyar Classroom

This was one of the most amazing show's I've ever seen. Sufi folk music in a play format, by children from the unbelievably talented performing muslim community, the Manganiyar Tribe from a village near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. 

Sangeet humare khoon me behta hai (It runs in our blood) they said.......and it's just so visible. The children are maybe from seven to fourteen in age,  and the singing, the zeal, the rhythm, the beat..... like Diksha said, watching the little ones even when they weren't singing....they were still moving to rhythm...like they can't stay away from it.

And there's no recording, background music, amplification, nothing....it's their show all the way, and it keeps you riveted and mesmerized. 

The theme is basic.....children in a classroom...a normal typical teacher with a stick and the kids refuse to study. One teacher who understands them decides to connect with them through music, and he unleashes an energy that's seen through the overpowering music. It's again what we call the flow..they make it seem so effortless and beautiful.

While it's mostly singing, there are also little boys who play the drums and two very traditional instruments, the morchang and khartaal, both Rajasthani folk instruments. Actually, I didn't get why it's called Sufi...( to me sufi is distinctly urdu for one)..it's in the local marwari dialect, and distinctly folk. End of program, no one moved from their seats..... until the director stands and says...that's it guys. 

Roysten Abel, the theater director and playwright, known for his production  'Manganiyar Seduction' says '"It began when the non-profit trust, Bhoomija, from Bangalore approached me for a piece. I took this as an opportunity to work with the Manganiyar children. I felt that these children were so brilliant; when they come out of the wombs of their mothers, they come out singing. The women play the dhol and sing and the child is in between the dhol and the mother, so he grows up in a cocoon of music. What’s unfortunate is that most of them leave their music and take up other jobs, and become carpenters or drivers. Most Manganiyars cannot pursue their vocation'

This is RangaShankara, the auditorium that hosted the show. It's built by Arundhati Naag ( better known for her character as Vidya Balan's mother in Paa), to motivate and encourage art in Bangalore, and it's doing a wonderful job. 

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This is the cafe at the theatre, and if ever you visit....you get great akki roti here

And if you see 'Manganiyar Classroom' in your city, I'd think it would be nuts to miss it :)