Performing Folk Artist of Maharashtra

Performing Folk Artist  of Maharashtra

Growing up in the Girangaon(Mill worker Area) of central Mumbai was a venerable experience .Life was simple but ethically  and ethnically rich.One land mark habitat nearby  was Mahadevachi wadi at the foot of Golanji Hill where old rooftop houses were located in an area roughly of 2 acres of land which had been leased out by Wakf Board just behind Haffkine Institute .We reviled this colony as against our own built of concrete as this was  occupied  by simpletons from Konkan who worked as mill hands in cotton fabric  factories in Central Mumbai. We would venture into this colony during catching cook games and wonder how these people stayed in these houses and considered these places as wretched homes but at times  secretly envied them due to their rural background which we missed.

Mahadevachi wadi threw up exotic experiences to us city dwellers  some  of them were  red  tiled roofs,verandahs,humble wodden structures with wodden plancks for seatings mimicking rural architecture ,people in khaki half pants with bare chests ,women wearing 9 yards sari worn as kashtas ,mini poultries which they maintained to get their rations of eggs and chiken.Another common feature was the small auspicious Tulsi shrub  potted in tin containers or planted in front of their houses. But one distinct feature were evening Bhajans with chorus , cymbals and dholaks. They sang sitting around the Dholak in small chimney lamps with   tunes and rhythm which were subtle and high pitch. They sang mostly on Thursdays or during festivities or poojas as well. There were no televisions and evening  used to be more scary due to the darkness of which we were afraid as children .And as we clung to our mothers the sweet melodies of the Bhajans came haunting from the settlements adding some  mystery to our city lives.

During festivities in Mahadevachi Wadi there were loudspeakers blurting Marathi songs which were Povadas of the Maratha Military victories sung by balladeers or Fisher folk songs called Koli Geets or   Bhajans of the diety Vitthal..One such song that struck me was a Fisher men song ‘Dada Awar Ye’ a melodious  and piercing song   sung  in high tempo which caught my fancy and made me happy in my soul .I always wondered who this  very talented Sahir was ? I would sing this tune under breath when in great mood or when sad as It was heart rending .This man had  golden  voice that represented the best in  Marathi Folk music although he was not an acknowledged one like more elite sahirs . He sang with verve and appeal. Later his  Martial ballads would stir us our  valorous sentiments called Veer Ras in Hindu classics. His Bhajans took us into raptures of faith and belief in the gods and their incarnation and his rural repertoire send us into the agrarian or marine raptures experiencing the rich traditions of artisans of hinterlands. He was a perfect product of toilers in city and  moffusil  and  displayed rich heritage with his husky yet  voluminous voice. Very Lately I discovered ,he was Vitthal Umap was born on 19 July 1931 Umap  started singing at the age of 8 .His first  public performance was in 1960 when he was 29 years old .He performed in a popular ballet of Vasant Bapat in which he sang a very popular Abhang ‘Variyane Kundal hale,Dole mohit Radha Chale’.I would  hear  this number time and again  on Radio. Vasant Bapat was our  professor in Marathi in Ruia College and in 1969 and 1970 would conduct early morning drill at Ruia Campus that  electrified  the youth with his patriotic songs .One such song which still occupies pace of pride in my mind was ‘Tuzya kama madhun,tuzya ghama madhun  udya pikal soniya che Raan, Chal uchal hatiyar gadya houn hushar ,tula navya jagachi aan’

I might have missed his entire concert of Vitthal Umap during those days in our own colony festivities of Ganapati as I  had embarked on studies in university and had become a keen hostelite while  I missed the rich culture curry  of rural Maharashtra  on a platter  .There were many sahirs like the Pundalik Farande, Shahir Sable and Dada Kondke or some historical story tellers of yester years like Baba Sahb Purandare But Vitthal Umap was distinctive concoction.His talents were diverse and striking and would catch the fancy of non Marathi audiences as well like Dada Kondke who had become very popular among non marathis speaking populace due to his comedies on the screen.

On one of my treks to ‘Vyagreshwar-The diety of the Tiger’ I encountered the same tune and was moved to tears.This time it was extolling the great lord shanker ,the mahadeva or God of Gods.The lyrics,I bet were from some local Shiva Fan.It went: ‘He Bholya Shankara…..Awad tula Bela chi re, Awad tula Bela chi re……bela chya Panachi……..” sung high pitch at 12 midnight A mystic experience in a far away lonely  ancient place of worship.I had experienced nemesis there and then and kept awake with the admirers to claim benefaction. Again two years back ,I had the opportunity to witness a full 3 hours folk  musical by Vitthal Umap  and his troupe. The dance and music drama was called ‘Jambhul  Akhyan’ or the Story of  Era that the Pandavs of Mahabharata spend in forest, Umap playing different  parts  of the Protagonist and of Draupadi whence he would dance with  46 yards sari to portray the episode in which Duryodhan orders to disrobe Draupadi as  Pandavas loose everything  the game of Dice including their wife Draupadi..His renditions and his dances were a treat for the eyes and we were fortunate and indebted to Rangai who hosted the show.Vitthal Umap  was a recipient of  International Folk art shows  award .In 2010 during one of the program  in Nagpur to launch a dedicated channel  to Shri Babashaeb Ambedkar Umap collapsed on stage and met his creator head-on  in a  tradition of Maratha Warriors. Umap will be remembered as a classical folk artist who symbolized all that was good and original in Folk music of Maharashtra.