National Integration at its best!

Muslim artistes from Rajasthan narrate Hindu epics
Bosco Dominique | Courtesy Times of India, March 25th, 2009


Puducherry: They’ve been singing songs and telling tales from the Ramayana for 19 generations — the Mewat Jogis are a group of Muslim performers from Rajasthan who travel across the country singing ballads from the Hindu epics.
In Puducherry to perform in a 15-day Ramayana festival hosted by the Adisakthi Theatre Arts Research Laboratory near Auroville, the group of seven used traditional instruments to sing devotional songs and enthralling ballads.
“With the Bhagawat Gita in our hands and the Koran in our hearts, we bring people together. Our goal is to pray for peace and happiness. We will be in Kabba and Kasi,” the group’s narrator and singer, 36-year-old Umar Faruk Jogi said.
Traditionally, Mewat Jogis from the Alwar-Bharatpur region of Rajasthan have been rendering the Hindu epics with the patronage of Hindus and wealthy landlords. The tradition is passed down to the next generation orally, and there are no written texts of the narrative content.
The group, led by narrator Sakoor Khan Jogi (68), presented ‘Lanka Chadai’, a narrative of the Ramayana. He was accompanied by Umar Faruk Jogi, singer Babu Nath Jogi (55) on the jogia sarangi, singer Nathi Ram Jogi (50) on the dholak, singer Nathi Khan Jogi (55) on the harmonium, and Mahmmod Khan Jogi (24) on the bhapang.
‘Lanka Chadai’ was composed by Mewat Islamic leader Nizamaat Meo about four centuries ago while ‘Pandun ke kade’, a narrative of the Mahabharata, which the group also performs, was composed by Mewat Islamic leaders Sadallah and Nabi Khan. “Sadallah has recorded that these verses were composed 1,797 years after the Mahabharata actually happened,” Umar Faruk said. These Jogis were nomads in the past but of late have settled in Rajasthan. Only a very few groups still keep the tradition of rendering tales of Hindu epics alive.
“Our content is simple and our style is lucid as the composers were not literary figures. The leaders composed dohas in common man’s language, in a simple and appealing way,” said Sakoor Khan Jogi, who knows more than 10,000 dohas by heart and is presently engaged in teaching the younger members of the group. He said they can render Hindu holy texts for 60 hours non-stop.