Date:29/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/12/29/stories/2005122904620900.htm

National

From a stone quarry to Sangeet Natak Akademi

Sushanta Talukdar

Siphoong is 79-year-old Khirod Khaklari's heartbeat

GUWAHATI: He used to toil at a stone quarry and pull rickshaw to feed his wife and five daughters. But his passion for music has won the battle against hunger.

For the 79-year-old Khirod Khaklari, Bodo folk musician and theatre personality, who is the recipient of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award this year, Siphoong — the traditional Bodo flute — is still his heartbeat.

Even today, as he tries to make his ends meet with the paltry Rs. 1,500 artiste pension given by the Assam Government, Khaklari keeps the traditional folk music alive by passing on his expertise to young Bodo boys and girls.

He has a team of 21 artistes, including his daughters, who have performed traditional Bodo folk music and dance in different parts of the country.

"Because of respiratory problem I cannot play the Siphoong in the same rhythm as I used to. However, it is still my heartbeat. I will be the happiest man if this traditional folk instrument and folk music is kept alive by the younger generation," he said as he played a folk tune on his treasured Siphoong at the Guwahati Press Club on Wednesday. He was given the "guest of the month" honour of the club on the occasion.

Khaklari's youngest daughter Bithika helped him answer queries by the members of the Press Club as his hearing capacity has also diminished.

Khaklari recalled how penury forced him to give up school education halfway and leave his birthplace at the plains in lower Assam's Goalpara district to accompany his father to the hills of central Assam's Karbi Anglong district in search of a new livelihood. In Karbi Anglong his love for music and craze for cultural activity prompted him to form a Bodo drama group that soon became popular.

However, the tribal folk artiste had to travel to Guwahati in 1972, again in search of a new livelihood. He landed in a stone quarry and later pulled a rickshaw. Harsh life, however, did not stop him from pursuing his zeal for music.

"I had never thought that I would one day win Sangeet Natak Akademi award. I believe that the Assamese culture can flourish only when music and culture of every tribal society comprising the Assamese society flourishes. The artistes can really make this world a beautiful place to live in if they come together to serve the humanity," Khaklari said.