Dejected by the circumstances arising out of the Coronavirus pandemic with a clear hint of regret in his speech, Pawan Tripathi rued about the choice of his occupation that he gladly pursued 27 years ago.
“I haven’t paid my house rent for eight months and have mortgaged my wife’s jewellery to cope up with the household expenses. I chose music as my career when I was 15. But music is not even getting me a roti to eat for a year now,” 42-year-old Tripathi told Gaon Connection.
A resident of Unnao’s Shuklaganj, situated about 82 kilometers from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, Tripathi is amongst the thousands of artists across the state who sing or play musical instruments at religious gatherings like jaagran (a musical night event of devotional songs) and navratra (a Hindu festival stretching for nine days accompanied by fasting and singing of devotional songs).
‘Fate of artists worse than daily wage labourers’
A father of two, Tripathi told Gaon Connection that he has discontinued his riyaaz (music practice) and doesn’t want his kids to be inspired by music.
“I don’t feel like playing tabla or dholak anymore. My mind goes numb as I pick my instruments to practice. It doesn’t feel good to play music with loans surging on my head. My condition is worse than a daily wage labourer who can at least do physical labour and earn enough to feed himself,” Tripathi said.
Similar is the struggle of 60-year-old Shashikant Mishra aka Pappu Bedhadak who lives in Kanpur’s Bhoosatoli area, situated about 4 kilometres from Triapthi’s address.
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A father of three sons and two daughters, Mishra told Gaon Connection that he took up singing at kirtans when he was 12.
“All my life savings are gone. Earlier I used to earn anything between Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 in a single-night event. The amount earned has come down to Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000, even though that is not guaranteed as there are no events anymore,” Mishra said.
Like Tripathi, Mishra is also under the burden of staggering loans. “I have availed loans. I feel burdened and stressed. Earlier, I used to get orders for 40-45 events in a year. But for the past one year, I haven’t even received five such events,” he told Gaon Connection.
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“Both of my sons had jobs in Kanpur, which helped us put food on the table, but they also lost their employment. The last show I did was on March 19, last year. Since then, our financial condition has dramatically worsened, and today, our family of seven people is at the mercy of God.
‘Government should think of our welfare’
‘Ek Manch Sarva Kalakar’, a Kanpur-based organisation that promotes the interests of such artists and performers. It demands that the government should aid these performers whose livelihoods have gone for a toss in the pandemic.
Mishra, who is also the organisation’s founder, told Gaon Connection, “The organisation’s goal is to have bhajan singers and musicians regarded equally with folk artists whom the state government supports.”
“The government needs to think of our welfare too. Music as a medium of God’s worship has been practiced for thousands of years, and whether it’s playing instruments, singing Bhajans, or writing Bhajans, it’s a significant source of revenue for everyone. We are artists too, yet our living conditions are worse than those of street vendors,” he added.
