The bond of culture and tradition is eternal. It is passed from generation to generation and every generation adds its own wisdom and creativity to it making it an immortal colourful collage of past and present. That is what Sai Damodar Ghumot Aarti Mandal is doing to the traditional Ghumot Aarti of Goa.
“One can say Ghumot is still heard in every nook and corner of Goa, but we only hear it in the rural areas especially during the time of Ganesh Chaturthi.” says Sai Naik, the group’s founder. “Ghumot is not seen much in cities. So, we founded this group with the intention to bring ghumot to cities.” he informs. The young members of the group offer classes in playing the ghumot, in the past five years since its foundation, Sai Damodar Ghumot Aarti Mandal has also established a children’s ghumot aarti group. however, just preserving the traditional culture is not the only goal of the group.
“Our goal is to take the instrument to the international level, and we are experimenting with fusion music using Ghumot.” Sai Naik says. In fact their experiment with fusion was so successful that the group was invited to perform at the recent Tedx event in Panaji. “We created a fusion using a number of Goan traditional instruments along with the ghumot such as the dhol, tasha, shemel, and harmonium. It was very well received by everyone at TED, and we are now looking forward to creating more of such fusion programmes”, says Sai, adding that the group is also working on creating a fusion of ghumot with western instruments. “We’re going to make the sound of ghumot heard round the world! There should come a time when musicians across the globe should wonder as to why they didnt use this instrument before.” he quips.
All things said and done, the march to the global stage is not easy. One of the most delicate issues the group faces today is preserving and maintaining the traditional ghumot. “Earlier, ghumot was made from the skin of monitor lizard. However, that was declared illegal later and now the instrument is made out of goatskin. Unfortunately goatskin ghumot is not as good in quality as the monitor lizard one. But since we cannot make new ghumots with that anymore, we work hard to preserve and maintain the old ones that we have” Sai informs. “Ghumot has to be hung upside down in a relatively cool and dry corner. If you keep it on the ground, it becomes soft. And in summer, ants eat parts of it. Air should circulate in the hollow of the instrument, else it is spoilt.” he says.
Another issue is finding time to dedicate to this passion. “In the beginning when we started, some of us used to work while others used to attend college. Now, all of us are working. However, we still make it a point to find time to conduct classes and create some new music.” says Sai.
