Kathmandu- Kiran Nepali plays sarangi, makes sarangi and teaches sarangi. The melody of his life is mixed with the surrounding of the sarangi. It seems that he was born for sarangi. This is how his relationship with Sarangi became close.
Even though he was attracted by the sarangi, Kiran was attracted to the guitar. Playing the guitar for more than a decade, he reached different places. Traveled to different countries, got a home. But he did ‘realize’ even though he was getting at the age of 23, he gave up the guitar and started playing sarangi.
Once a play was being staged in the Gurukul. There he had to play sarangi tunes. The tune should be recited for a total of one and a half minutes. But that tune rang a bell in the hearts of many. One of them was Dr. Dhuvrachandra Regmi. He had collaborated with Dr. Regmi on guitar. Till then, Kiran was known only as a guitarist. After the play, Regmi said, ‘You were born to play sarangi, not guitar.’
After reaching this point, he turned towards Sarangi. Sarangi was not a new instrument for him. This was his legacy. Father Harisharan is a self-proclaimed sarangi player. How could Kiran, who grew up under his father’s umbrella, turn away from sarangi? But the society at that time was different. The society was not so generous towards fiddle playing. The sarangi playing community was discriminated against. For this reason, father Harisharan did not allow his son to touch the sarangi.
Thus he was alienated from Sarangi. But as Rumjatar said, the cycle of time brought him to the same point where the sarangi was waiting for him. In conversation, sarangi player and musician Kiran Nepali spoke about his love, affection and dreams for sarangi in this way.
Project Sarangi: A Series
Kiran has an amazing dream and dream about handing over the sarangi to the new generation. For that purpose, he started ‘Project Sarangi’ nine years ago. Through which he teaches sarangi to those who come to learn sarangi and gives sarangi produced by the industry of the same name to those who seek sarangi.
Why is Sarangi itself a product? When asked on the Gough station, his answer is, “A good instrument is necessary to make a good tune.” In the project sarangi industry, we are trying to make quality sarangi. In his project sarangi, there are 10-year-old children to 65-66-year-olds. “It must have been a change brought by all the time, you must have come to look at me too,” says Kiran, “Everyone has affection for Nepali baja, but the society has suppressed it.” Now everyone comes and plays and feels proud.
Sarangis Concert: From Home to Abroad
Since 2008, Kiran’s first concert was held in the Kutumb band, in Janakpur, the capital of Madhesh province. At first he was afraid. Whether sarangi is acceptable there or not. One was at that time when the Madhesh movement was going on. But he gave a grand concert of sarangi in the audience of seven thousand, he got applause from everyone.
After that, his journey is continuous, from home to abroad. So far he has traveled to 22 countries with sarangi. What does it look like to a foreigner when they see the sarangi, the original instrument of Nepal? You say that your music gives a glimpse of what Nepal is like. “Foreigners get puffed up with pride,” says Kiran. Because it is an instrument played with nails. Foreigners also like it because it connects in the mind.
The popularity of his sarangi tunes is so much that even Bollywood actor Abhithav Bachchan has acted in songs played by him.
Fiddle dream
Kiran is happy that his dream is coming true. He is satisfied that Sarangi, which was once said to be played only by Gandharvas, is now being adopted by everyone. It has come to a stage where one can live a good life by playing sarangi. But you have to know how to sell your skills and art,” he says about earning money by playing the sarangi. Sarangi has made its identity not only in folk songs, modern songs but also in western songs. It has created more jobs.
What is Kiran’s future dream? Hitting the beat of the Gough station, he said, ‘We want to hand over our original instruments to the new generation. There should be support from the state as well. But the state watches when the voice is loud. Our effort is how to make the voice of original instruments such as sarangi more powerful and preserve it. Sarangi and other Nepali instruments should be taught in school. Let everyone play our instruments. Perhaps after Mount Everest and Gautama Buddha, Nepalis can be the original instrument to introduce Nepal to the world.
A detailed conversation with sarangi player and musician Kiran Nepali can be seen in the video.
