Final note sounding for Nepal's music repairmen

Text and photos by Ati Nurbaiti

KATHMANDU, Nepal (JP): From the corner of a dark alley leading to the old palace square, melodious tunes filled the evening air. An old man sat cross-legged in a tiny room and played the traditional harmonium, discussing the melodies with a visitor. Stacks of instruments in brown wooden cases surrounded them in this barely four-square-meter room, used to repair harmoniums brought in from across the town.

Mohan Lal Baraki is of a rare breed of Nepalese who still care to preserve the skills of their forefathers. "I only know two other men who can repair these instruments," he said, a statement confirmed by a local providing the translation.

Baraki is a native of the valley, of the Newar people who are one of the dozens of different communities in what is now called Nepal. He resides in the Patan area of Lalitpur, one of the three former kingdoms merged to form the country.

Baraki spoke of his concerns for the dying profession, one not even his son has an interest in carrying on. "I really don't know what will happen if I'm gone."

This is despite the national recognition he has received, displayed proudly in two frames on the humble wall, including one from the Triveni Cultural Center. The few thousand rupees that came with one of the awards, he said, were spent on daily needs.

Music, he said, "is universal". To keep it alive, one must master the fundamentals, the classics. Baraki himself is occasionally invited to perform his own compositions. Performing and repairing instruments take up most of his time, but he also tries to pass on his skills to a few interested youngsters.

He takes heart in the fact that foreign tourists are showing interest in Nepalese traditional music. Rejuvenated classics and folk songs have found a niche in the CD market which, given their high price, are aimed at foreigners.

Favorable reviews are found in the local papers, with The Kathmandu Post, for instance, citing Himalayan Lores and Folk Moods of Nepal.

While the mechanics of tuning instruments can be taught, Baraki says it takes a rare, trained ear to get it right. A famous Pakistani musician, Gulam Ali, in 1985 wrote a note of gratitude, his letter, with its fading ink, also framed and mounted on the wall in the small rented space. Baraki tuned Ali's harmonium to his satisfaction, something no craftsman in India or Pakistan was able to do.

During the interview, the 60-year old man repaired his own instrument, which he calls choturong -- an innovation combining a wind instrument, harmonium and sitar -- now the property of the Royal Nepal Academy of Music and Arts.

The tradition of harmoniums was imported from India. Some of the instruments in the shop looked as if they were about to fall apart, but the repairman was confident he could fix them.

He said his work repairing the instruments was the main source of income for his family. He is grateful to be able to make ends meet, even though he had to move from a larger, more expensive rented space.

The year-long rituals of the Newar, he adds, are among the community needs which one must contribute to.

Besides, he says, music and repairing instruments is "an addiction" -- he has been in the job since he was a youngster, learning the skills from his father.

His passion for inventing instruments and composing -- he has composed almost 50 religious tunes -- led him to present one of his choturong to the late King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev.

The king is akin to the gods, particularly to elders, and when he died, Baraki said, "my heart died".

It was getting late and he offered us a cup of hot tea.

"Come again," he said in parting, "and I will play for you."