SOMAL

September 8, 2007

As I have mentioned before, where I am staying is right next door to a church; so this morning, I was woken by the beating of lalis and the singing of a choir. Not bad way to start a day, I must admit.

I finally met Somal today. He was much younger than I had expected; he’s only 26. We walked and talked for a while, before sitting down at a café for about two hours. Our conversation ranged from his musical background, his guru, and Indian music in general.

Somal has been studying tabla for three years, and is the first musician in his family. This seems to be a reoccurring theme in my research among Indian musicians (Hindu or Muslim) here in Fiji: I have yet to meet a second-generation musician. Again, as I have written before, if this were India, the exact opposite would be the case.

Somal explained to me the five gharanas of Hindustani music (which basically are different schools/methods of teaching the music): there is Delhi, Punjab, Purab, Lucknow/Farukabaad, and Arjada. His gharana is very small, it is called Arjada; and, it originates from the village of Meerut, outside of Delhi. He was very proud of the fact that his gharana is the most exclusive gharana; he said that even in India, it is not widely practiced or even really known about. I had actually heard of the other four gharanas before, but never of Arjada.

I commented that it is pretty unusual that of all gharanas to be practiced in Fiji, the least common one back in India is practiced here. Somal just thought it is good luck. To be honest, I am not sure what to make of this: it just might be the luck of the draw, that Somal’s guru studied Arjada and that’s simply how the cards fell. It is not that important to dwell on, but I would have assumed that the most popular gharana in India would be the most popular gharana here. Then again, most of assumptions prior to arriving in Fiji have been wrong…But I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with that: field research is supposed to be unpredictable!

Somal’s guru is an Indo-Fijian named Pandit Sanjesh Prasad. When Pandit Prasad was younger, he received a four-year scholarship to study tabla in Delhi. It is interesting to note that Somal’s guru studied in India; probably because there were not adequate tabla teachers in Fiji in those days. Again, this all supports my hypothesis that historically there has been (and still is, to a lesser degree) an absence of Hindu tabla players in Fiji. It seems that premier tabla teachers in Fiji have studied in India, and not solely obtained their knowledge of the instrument here on Fiji.

When we began discussing the religious element to the tabla, as always, I learned something that was a completely new prospect to me: the guru of Pandit Sanjesh Prasad (Somal’s guru) was a man named Ustad Manju Khan Saheb, who, as you can tell by his name, was a Muslim. (Pandit is Hindi for master, and Ustad is Urdu for master). It was fascinating to hear that Somal’s Hindu guru studied under a Muslim. I must admit that I have heard of Hindu and Muslim musicians interacting before (Ravi Shankar, a Hindu, had a tabla player who was a Muslim); but I have never encountered a difference in religion between the guru and the shishya (student).

When I inquired about the religious element to his studies, Somal responded that there is, “no direct spiritual training; but I do use my [musical] training in performing [religious] hymns.” There is not a clear-cut “religious” training, but rather, a much broader “spiritual” appreciation for music. Somal did affirm that, “Ten-percent of knowledge is from teaching; ninty-percent of knowledge is from ‘private’ knowledge. […] Tabla creates its own mode [of being]; God will come.” For Somal, there is a sense of spirituality to his music: “You need divine grace from your guru to play tabla; you can’t just ‘learn’ it.”

To sum up the spiritual aspect of his studies, Somal stated: “Music is music; music is spiritual on its own. But you can incorporate it [to religion] to please God.”

To top off a great interview, as I was walking back on Gorrie Street (where I am staying), I watched the beating of a lali outside of a Seventh-Day Adventist church.

So now, I feel very ready to leave Suva, as I have done a tremendous amount of research here. I would leave tomorrow but Fiji is completely closed on Sundays.

As exciting has the past 48 hours have been, it was been a very mentally and physically taxing experience! I am now heading to the other big island, Vanua Levu, where I will spend five or six days in Indian town of Labasa (pronounced LaMbasa) and Savusavu. Yes, I recognize that I am going from Suva to Savusavu; I’ve been wondering if in Fiji, dyslexia is much higher or lower than the norm.