Guru Rewben Mashangva :: King of Naga Folk Blues
Daniel Chabungbam *
Guru Rewben Mashangva :: King of Naga Folk Blues
Name: Rewben Mashangva
Father's Name: Shangphai Mashangva
Mother's Name: Lasengla mashangva
Present Address: C-Block, Nagaram, Stadium Road, Imphal
Permanent Address: Choithar Village, Ukhrul District
Date of Birth: 21st June, 1961
Awards and Recognitions:
- All India Radio approved artist
- Conferred the title Guru under Guru Shishya Parampara Scheme under sponshorship of North East Zone Cultural Centre (NEZCC)
- Manipur State Kala Akademi Awardee 2005 for Tribal Folk Music
- NETV People's Choice Nominee 2006, Folk Musician of the year
- North East Excellence Award 2009 by Indian Chamber of Commerce in recognition of his innate musical mastery and knowledge of Naga Folk Music
- National Tribal Award 2012 by Ministry of Tribal Affairs in the field of Tribal Art and Culture.
The flute is three feet long, very thin, reed like, made of bamboo. Tingtelia is made of bamboo with a bow that has strings made from the hair of horse tails. He has reinvented the traditional Tangkhul Naga flute yangkahui which is ready to be patented and also modified and polished the folk fiddle to suit the western tone. The prominent trademark of Rewben is his haokuirat (the traditional hair style of the primitive Tangkhuls) and his colourful outfit which he wears wherever he performs.
The distinct quality of Guru Rewben lies in his ability to interpret and adapt old Naga folk songs in a pleasing way to his modern listeners. He can do so for he deftly understands the psychology of his modern listeners and the kind of intricate technology and global cultures they are exposed to.
Recipient of the honorary title 'Guru' from ministry of Culture, Government of India and National Tribal Award 2011-2012 which carries a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakhs, a citation and a trophy, Guru Mashangva lives quite a hectic life these days with performances all over the country and parts of Southeast Asia, attending seminars and guiding folk music scholars. And in the next step, Guru plans to introduce his typical genre of Naga Folk Blues to Europe and American countries.
Guru Rewben Mashangva :: King of Naga Folk Blues
Other than the two acclaimed albums to his credit, TANTIVY (Folk Art & Cultural Guild-1999) and CREATION (Roots Release-2007), Guru Rewben has given music for the state and national Award winning Manipuri feature film Mayophigi Macha and various short films. He even sang in Manipuri language in a track titled 'Hare Ram (Hare Krishna) for KOKEN, a crossover feature film by filmmaker Oinam Doren. The duo has also worked together in two more film projects; a documentary "Songs of Mashangva" (National Award 2010 winner in Non-feature film category) on Guru Mashangva's music targeting an international audience and a feature film in development titled "The Lonely Village".
The Lonely Village is a funny and heart-warming story of how a Naga village disappeared from the planet and according to filmmaker Oinam Doren, the film is inspired by Guru Mashangva's music. The Guru is acting and as well as composing the music for this film. An album "Our Story" produced by Rewben Mashangva and Henry Martin Institute, Hyderabad has been released and marketed by Times Music in 2011. A new film on Mashangva 'The Next Story' directed by Oinam Doren is also coming up very soon.
Rewben gives credit for his 21 years of research work on the subject to his memory. "As a child I used to hear my father sing Hao songs. Since I was also very interested in music since childhood, and used to sing carols in the church, I loved hearing him sing. But by the time, I grew up the old songs were nowhere to be heard. That made me think and I wanted to know my own culture," says the 51-year-old. So village to village, he travelled, met old people, scratched their memory, recorded the lyrics and started singing them in gatherings and concerts. "I have covered around 200 villages since 1990 looking for these folk songs," he says.
The songs mostly celebrate nature. "They are in short forms but we have them for every season. Thus, we have songs about rivers, the hills, the universe, the heaven, about harvesting. We also have songs about women." These songs, along with his own music which reek of political unrest in Manipur, comprise three albums so far. "The last one Our Story came in November 2011," he says. These songs have the Blues feel and are now referred to as Naga Blues.
A remarkable moment for Rewben Mashangva was the musical show at the Naga Student's Federation Conference in February 1992 at Ukhrul town. The musical show was an introduction of Rewben to all the music lovers. Thus, after working for music for a long period, the recognition for Rewben Mashangva comes in that year 1992 on that musical show.
Guru Rewben Mashangva :: King of Naga Folk Blues
Guru Mashangva laments that the Naga folk songs will gradually die with the death of old folk singers who lives in remote villages untouched by proper roads and means of communication. The younger generation of Nagas, ensnared by Christianity, a challenging lifestyle and exposure to more sophisticated culture of the West are no more interested in the traditions of the forefathers. Consequently, this could be the sad demise of the Naga identity, he said.
Guru's sole mission is to preserve the folk songs through his own adaptations and simultaneouly lure the younger generation to like the folk culture. For all the tireless efforts being taken up by Rewben Mashangva, it is part of a movement to bring a peaceful and a new society through the medium of music on Folk Art and Folk Culture.
Father of four daughters and a son, Guru Rewben Mashangva also teaches music to his only son Saka Mashangva. Saka Mashangva, Guru's endearing son who is just 11 years old supports him in this devout mission with accompanying performances all over the country with the traditional Haokuirat. Saka's first ever performance was in November 2004 when he was barely 4 years old in a reception of the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh when he visited Manipur.
Besides giving performances with a hectic schedule, Guru Rewben Mashangva is now engaged in research work of Folk Music of the Tribals of the North East India for preservation with special emphasis on Tangkhul Nagas. He also runs a private Folk Museum of the Tangkhuls at Ukhrul and is also working as Guru/Director of Naga Folk Music Academy. He also manufactures traditional tribal musical instruments of the Nagas.
Read Yellout Profile of Guru Rewben Mashangva here
See a Photo Gallery on Profile of Guru Rewben Mashangva
* Daniel Chabungbam wrote this article for e-pao.net
The writer is presently working as Manipur Correspondent of guwahati based Frontier TV 24 x 7 news channel
This article was posted on May 21, 2012
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