The fire-eater’s comeback
Bheel men, dressed as women, continue to dance to the tunes of rahnti in the confines of a few villages in Cholistan. But is their art on its way to extinction?
By Salman Rashid
Time was when Cholistan was under the sway of Thakur rulers, ‘the rajas and maharajas’, as the keepers of the tale say. Then, for the pleasure of royalty, Cholistani villages maintained their own troupes of dancers and musicians who were from the Bheel caste of the aboriginal people of the Sindhu valley – the real inheritors of this great and wonderful land. It was these people whose earliest ancestors danced and sang in the streets and theatres of Moenjodaro and Harappa. One of those ancient artistes was cast in metal to be known today as the ‘Dancing Girl of Moenjodaro.’
From time to time, they were called upon to perform. And from time to time it so occurred that the raja fell for one or the other dancer. Such an unfortunate one was not permitted to leave and for good or bad, she became part of the harem. Indeed, so the story goes, this falling for these poor artistes was so frequent that it became all of a bane for the families who were renowned for their art.
And so one day, an astute elder thought of a way out of this predicament. It was devised that young boys yet without the fuzz of adolescence on their faces should be trained as dancers to perform in the garb of girls. Because homosexuality was virtually unknown in Rajasthan, the dancing boys, even if they were initially taken for women and retained, would soon be set free to return to their families.
As time passed, women dancers were slowly phased out and in their stead, there appeared on the scene young dancing boys. Their act was identical to the one performed by girls, their made-up faces and their attire too only complimented their womanly act. And so it was that with the passage of time, the dancers of Cholistan became all boys and men dressed and made-up like women. The keepers of the tale maintain that even though the act has not changed one jot, this deception has gone on for untold centuries.
But now the age of rajas is behind us, yet Cholistani Bheel men preserve the art of dancing dressed as women. That having been said, it needs be told that with fewer and fewer admirers this art, confined to a few villages in Cholistan, is on its way to extinction. Nagu Lal of Chak Number 5-P of sub-division Khanpur in the district of Rahim Yar Khan is one of the finest and among the last few performers of this ancient art.
Nagu Lal’s routine includes two brilliant acts. The one is fire eating because, so the keepers of the tale say, fire was sacred to the Thakurs. As the women of old did, so too does he swirl round and round in great spurts of flaming oil (paraffin in his case). He also does a very graceful dance of poise and balance with a brimming earthen water pot perched on top of an upside down tumbler on his head. I half expected the pot to come crashing down as Nagu Lal twirled and pranced this way and that.
The accompaniment to the performance is the rahnti and the song of the rahnti player rendered in that oh so beautiful Marwari – a language in the same class as Seraiki and Sindhi for sweetness. This eight-stringed instrument, like the men’s dance, is unique to the desert regions of Cholistan and Thar. Played with a bow, the rahnti produces a range of notes not dissimilar to those of the sarangi. But whereas in the latter all the strings are played, the rahnti uses the two base strings on the outside while the remaining six between them only ring to their resonance producing subtle undertones.
As the men’s dance was on its way out, so too was the rahnti virtually unknown outside deepest Cholistan. Back in the 1990s performers like Nagu and Megha Lal, one of the few remaining rahnti players, only performed at local weddings. With so few proponents and scant earnings from it, there were no new disciples to the art. For all practical purposes, the two men were among the last custodians of their respective forms of dying art.
In 1996, my friend Farooq Ahmed Khan of Bahawalpur by a pure fluke attended a performance by Megha Lal. He was spellbound but when he asked Megha why he never played on radio or television, the man simply said, no one had ever bothered to invite him. Two years later, Farooq’s NGO, Cholistan Development Council, organised a Cholistani cultural festival at Lok Virsa in Islamabad. Megha and his colleague Lakho dressed in saffron to play the rahnti and drums respectively as Nagu danced the dance that once enthralled the Thakurs of Cholistan.
Though there were no ruling Thakurs there, the audience were no less captivated. Those were days when PTV was the sole ruler of the video airwaves and the show recorded by them made instant stars of the three performers. Several repeat broadcasts established the performers in stardom.
Radio did some little more to promote the rahnti and accompanying drums and introduce it to an audience that had long since forgotten this music. But even though Megha and Lakho got several chances to play for the airwaves, the pittance that Radio Pakistan pays its artistes did little to encourage youngsters to want to take up the art. Now for the past decade or so, Megha, Lakho and Nagu feature regularly in the annual Cholistan Festival in Lahore. That yet does not help them make a living, however. And that, in turn, discourages youngsters from learning the art.
Re: The Fire-eaters Come Back!
Re: The Fire-eaters Come Back!
I was looking for their videos but there aren't any. :(
I can't find anymore info on rahnti either.
Re: The Fire-eaters Come Back!
If you are interested in any subject related to this article then surely let me know and I wil contact the author!
Re: The Fire-eaters Come Back!
Someone should make a documentary on this.