National 11 (Spotlight Weekly)

Meaningful Melodies

The very first album has established Yogi as a popular singer in the domain of Nepali music lovers for his songs of different taste

By THAKUR AMGAI

In his early childhood, Yogi taught the native folks of Dang Valley, the taste of modern Nepali songs; now he is teaching the passionate music loving urban kids. In those days, he was lured to sing by adults with chocolates and toys; now he encourages his students to sing through their own melodious voice.

Moreover, he has once again reminded the audience that 'love songs are not just the ones that are good' and to contemporary singers and music companies that 'love songs are not just the ones that become popular'.

With only a few songs recorded, Yogi has already become very popular. It took him more than twelve years since passing the voice test- a license to sing at the Radio Nepal studio - to bring out an album. Too slow! by the standards of contemporary Nepali singers. However, this patience has awarded him the warmth and love from the audience. His songs are well liked by the audience. In fact, people know more about his songs than him.

Yogi : Momentous melodies

The passion for music was seeded in Yogi ever since he could speak. Born just over three decades ago in Dang district, a beautiful valley in the mid-western Nepal, Yogi's early inclination towards singing modern songs aired from Radio Nepal, shows that he had a vivid picture of where he was heading to. Probably, he was convinced of his destiny to become a singer.

Like a thirsty deer in pursuit of water, Yogi thronged to Kathmandu and started learning music with Ambar Gurung, one of the legends of Nepali music, as soon as he finished his high school. Having hailed from a place where opportunities to improve his skills in music was next to nil, he subsequently spent twelve long years in honing himself as a singer.

He did take and passed the voice test from Radio Nepal (with the song 'dilko pyas') and recorded one or two songs on the 'dates' given by Radio Nepal, but was more concentrated on the learning and training himself.

A solid product of his musical persistence came out after twelve years with the release of his first and solo album 'pahichan' (which means Identity). "I believe there should be a lot of dedication and hard work to bring out quality songs and that takes time."

The patience was worth the time. The songs on his first album are very well liked by the audience. Yogi is more popularly recognized by his song 'sarangi ta rete pani bolchha mitho boli'. The song was written by National Poet Madhav Prasad Ghimire in 1960s and the poet laureate himself has expressed in some public functions that this song got justice through Yogi's voice four decades later. Yogi's other popular songs are 'yo deshma ma euta manis khojiraichhu' and 'chautariko barai dhalechha'.

However, Yogi has not reached a stable period of his career yet. Despite the fact that the songs in his first album 'Pahichan' brought out two years ago was (or rather is and will) well liked by the audience it is not selling in big numbers. The reason is clear. People who prefer this kind of songs do not 'spend' money on buying albums.

Despite, his popularity Yogi still faces the plight to scrimp and save to record each new song. He makes a living by teaching music in schools and out of this income he has to both maintain his family and spare for recording songs. Music companies are not very keen to invest on songs that give them instant profit. Thanks to the economic hurdles, Nepali music lovers have often been denied quality music. But Yogi assures that he will come out with a second album but does not know when.

RBI Lends Its Support

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has agreed to provide technical support to Nepalese institutions involved in debt recording and management.

The agreement was reached between RBI and a delegation of the Nepal Government that visited India from 7 to 11 November 2004. The visit was undertaken as a part of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) assisted technical assistance - Institutional Strengthening for Effective Public Debt Management.

The delegation, which visited RBI and the Ministry of Finance, was led by Krishna Gyawali, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, and comprised officials from Financial Comptroller General's Office and the Nepal Rastra Bank.

"RBI has also agreed to accommodate participants from Nepal in their training programs on public debt management and to exchange experiences in debt management," states a press release from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The US$400,000 Technical Assistance (TA) was approved in December 2002 and is scheduled to close on 30 June 2005. It aims to improve public debt management by strengthening the legal, regulatory, and institutional framework for public sector borrowing; improving government capacity for formulating debt policy and planning; and strengthening debt accountability and transparency by improving debt recording and accounting.

"ADB is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance. Established in 1966, it is owned by 63 members – 45 from the region."