A lifetime of music: Nati Kaji

Dikshya Thakuri

Close to where the dusty flowers grow, where some of the smaller roads that leave Ganesthan and Gaushala meet, where the night time horns of trucks and buses coming into the city along the Ring Road can be heard and where the little orphaned children are taken care of by the Sisters of Mercy who have their hospice close by, one of our foremost pioneers in the field of Nepali music lives in humble surroundings.

Placed on the walls the felicitation papers plead out to be noticed. Gifted shawls and medals and insignias lie carefully on the bed for inspection. A younger generation moves to a different beat and he displays the fruits of a career that has spanned the birth and death of many lives.

Beyond being a famous personality in his locality Mitra Park, Chahabil, Nati Kaji Shrestha is known to have popularised Nepali music and is one of the founders of Radio Nepal established in 1950/1951. He gave rhythm and beat to Nepali music and importantly a new vision and a sense of direction which was otherwise limited to bhajans and Hindi songs.

In his career spanning 40 years in Radio Nepal, where he also worked in the capacity of music manager and music director, he claims to have composed music to more than "1200 numbers" and his music is still played on Radio Nepal and the FM channels. Apart from composing music he has also been a lyricist and sung some numbers like "Aankha basyo", "Aankha ma mero", "Ek choti". He says with an obvious pleasure that "Pahadbasi" which was his first recording, is his favourite.

For his contribution to Nepali music, he has won some of the nations top honours such as the Gorkha Dakshin Bahu (first class) and Trishakti Patta.

Kaji also has a passion for musical instruments like harmonium, tabla, violin and even for the piano accordian and bansuri. For Nati Kaji, the composition of music would sometimes come spontaneously and at times it would take days to even months. And the rhythm and the words of the poems or lyrics would also inspire him to make music and vice versa

At that time there were hardly any women who took up music as their career because they were discouraged from joining the profession as society looked down upon them if they sang and would question their character. It was in a way socially prohibited but men could carry on without a hitch, without being answerable to anyone. Kohili Devi a female singer started singing after Radio Nepal continued and then Tara Devi, Gyanu Rana and Meera Rana joined in.

Among many singers who lent their voice to Nati Kaji’s music, Narayan Gopal, the most noted figure in the field of music sang "Aaja ra rati ke dekhi sapana", the music of which was composed by Nati Kaji. Among his many compositions, "Esto pani hunda raiccha jindagima", "Dalkhe topi nalagaunu", "Aama bhayera boki hera" are some of the popular numbers. Most of his songs were based on lok git (folk song) and to a certain extent they were influenced by Indian music but he stresses that there were no western influences. He has fashioned music to the lyrics of Madhav Ghimire, Ratna Shumsher, Chandani Shah and many more and according to him they were among the best lyricists at that time.

"Since there was no system of recording then and only live broadcasting in the studio, I would even sing 6 songs during one programme session," he says with a distant look. For that, in 1951, he was paid Rs 100 per month. Apart from working in Radio Nepal as the music manager and music director, he would actively attend various programmes in schools and colleges.

His mother died when he was six and from then he stayed with his grandparents (mother’s side) in Guheshwori where his grandfather was the priest at the Guheshwori temple, even while his father was alive. Through the atmospheric bhajans (religious songs) he was drawn to music and he used to gather with his friends at their houses and sing and play music. This definitely developed a strong rooted desire in this field which was to show its impact later. At that time Kaji would listen to records as it was the time of LPs, EPs and gramophones, and records of Hindi film songs were available. Apart from these recordings there was also All India Radio and Radio Ceylon that were popular then.

He went to Pashupati Pathshala School and then moved to Rato School. He graduated from Trichandra College and later got his Bachelor’s degree in Music from Nepal Sangit affiliated to Prayag Sangit in India. His singing of bhajhans in the mornings and evenings were his practice, he insists. Now 74 years old, with his three daughters married and settled elsewhere, he lives with his wife Saraswati whom he married in 1960.

Today he is still making music, writing for Ram Krishna Dhakal, for instance the song Je je hunu chha bhaisakyo. And also for Pradip Raj Pandey and M Baral. Nati Kaji considers Ram Krishna Dhakal, M Baral, Rajesh Palai, Pavitra Subba, Sukmit Gurung and Deep Shrestha to be good singers. But when it comes to lyricists he says that the ones of yesteryears were far better but considers that the music scenario is improving.

Lost Identities

Hitesh Karki

"Shahib, Shahib" - the Oxford dictionary describes it as gentlemen/sir. I always thought that it would take quite a lot of hard work before anyone would start addressing me that way. Well quite unexpectedly that was not to be.

"Thwak...thwak..." the sound almost like that of a "tick-tock" of a clock at precise intervals was the one we were hearing ever since we moved from a hostel to a rented flat in a colony. Behind the darkness of the night, every night, and I mean every night in its literal sense, we would always see this man walking up and down the road where we had just moved in hitting the road with a long baton/stick. During the examinations when we would be awake till early morning almost before the break of dawn, we could still see him doing the same almost in a robotic manner but then with the appearance of the early morning rays he would just disappear. Almost as if he was a vampire. No he wasn’t a vampire but the night watchman of the colony.

In the final year because of the strike of the non-teaching staff of the University, our final examination was postponed by three months. As a result we had to stay there even during Dashera as they called it there.

One not so fine evening (so because of the event that was about to unfold) we were having our dinner. Almost throughout the year we had only two varieties of vegetable primarily because they were cheap but also because it was all we knew how to cook. "Aloo-pyaaz" in the morning and "Pyaaz-aloo" in the evening. So while we were busy eating dal bhat and aaloo pyaaz there was a knock on the door.

"Come in", said my friend but we couldn’t see anyone. However the knocking on the door wouldn’t stop. We looked up at each other trying to speculate who it might be and decided that it must one the numerous Nepali guys trying out a silly prank, joke whatever. "Oye bhitra aaijana ho....", I cried out loud but to no avail.

Suddenly irritation got the better of me and I thumped towards the door.

"Salaam Saap..", that was the first thing the man standing at the door said to me just as I opened it. (The first time I was addressed by somebody as SAHEB!). "Yes" I said while he began" Saap dashera ke liye kuch kharcha pani......." while reminding us that he was none other than the night watchman.

As I was about to take out the wallet from my trousers hanging on the wall, I could hear my friend talking to this guy. "Dai tapain ta Nepali justo dekhinu huncha ni......" and as if it was shameful to be Nepali he took quite sometime before nodding affirmatively. "What?" I stared at him and suddenly realized that how could I have not taken notice of that. I was dead sure then onwards that this guy was obviously a Nepali.

"Hey Dai...We too are Nepali...come on in...have a cup of tea with us..." was something that just came out from all three of us at the same time. However he preferred not to and only after some persuasion he finally stepped in. By the time I had dragged the chair from the corner he was already seated on the floor. "Dai Kursi..." he didn’t hear anything.

It took quite sometime before we could make him feel comfortable.

Then began his story. He hadn’t been to Baitadi for the last 4 years not because he didn’t want to but merely because he hadn’t been able to earn the amount needed to clear his debts back home. There were just two members in his family, maili his wife and shati his daughter. He even took out his wallet and showed us their pictures. Apart from his voice echoing in the room, everything was in rapt silence. Meanwhile both Rajiv and Aakash threw me their wallets. All in all, the total came out as rupees 438. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that particular number...counting over and over again as if hoping against hope that it would turn out to be more than that. But that was it...Rs438. As I handed him the money he slowly stood up on the verge of breaking down. "Dhanyabaad saap.." he said but then said that since we were students he asked us to keep it to ourselves. In spite of our repeated plea he didn’t accept the money neither even touched the cup of tea which lay on the floor right next to him. Instead he took out his wallet and took out a notebook. "Saap.." he asked us our addresses back home and one by one we readily obliged.

"Bahadur" the loud shout of the land-owner completely destroyed the serene silence that was there just a moment ago. He got up at once and left the room but not before saying "Salaam Saap " again. And before we could ask him his address he was already out of sight.

Almost a year has gone by since we finished our studies.

Just few months back as Dashain was approaching, one fine morning as I was getting ready to head off to work, Aakash just popped into my room. There was some kind of unusual, uncanny excitement on his face.

"Hey what’s up yaar" I asked him as he was taking a piece of paper which looked like a letter and snatched it from his hands.

Yes my guess was right. It indeed was a letter. In big letters (making it obvious that the writer hasn’t been to school for that long) there were the words written in Nepali.

"To three saaps, best wishes of Dashain, faithfully yours BAHADUR". I was immediately plunged into deep thought where questions like — the story of numerous Nepalis who had lost there identities ending up being BAHADURS.

The state of student
Architecture

Razen Manandhar

Seventeen years old Mita Suwal, from Teku, joined the Institute of Engineering a month ago with a dream to become a successful architect. A crave for painting and interior design inspired her to choose architecture as a subject. Now, she ponders over the state of Kathmandu standing between the decorative traditional and elegant modern architectures. For her, there is a choice — either to appreciate the eloquent and profound traditional architecture which follow strict rules of conformity or the modern and experimental architecture, influenced by western principles.

Like Mita, almost 200 students are now studying in the Department of Architecture and Planning, affiliated to Tribhuwan University, with high aims to transform the city with the ideas they will gain from the five-year course.

They know an architect’s life is full of glamour and experimental works, but at the same time they do not overlook the reality that it is not free from struggles. So, Mita says, "I never thought about my future when I joined this campus. The future is something we make, not what we get. I took up this area because I’ve made up my mind that my future lies in the field of architecture."

Their wide range of works — both under the curriculum and other creative ones — were on display recently. It was organised by the Association of Students of Architecture.

The student exhibition included simple drawings, copy paintings, technical studies of traditional buildings and temples and much more. It showed that they had studied the minute details of Nepali architecture and at the same time learnt the latest developments from the plans of internationally acclaimed museum buildings.

A group of third year students chose a small playground in Siphal with plans to develop it into a community centre. Each student presented the same piece of land, using it in different ways. This type of project showed that they had to take various environmental, social and economical factors into account.

Similarly, seven groups of fourth year students took a 471-ropani land of Saibu Bhaisepati as a model and redesigned it for 7,000 people along with some vital components of a planned city like a green park, recreation centre, temple, school, bank, apartment, police station, health post, shopping complex and so on.

The fifth year students chose a medieval town in Madhaypur Thimi, in a project called Urban Conservation Studio, to explore traditional town planning. Divided into four groups, the 34 students surveyed the town of around 500 houses, set in a nucleus pattern. With the help of an aerial map, they mapped the whole area in just six months.

On their own initiative, they went to Sunakothi and studied the details of the architectural pattern of that little town. In the same way, they chose some old streets of core Patan and not only traced the clumsy development but also offered affordable amendments to add aesthetic touches to the existing area.

The course has three basic points of study: Conservation, aesthetic design and urban planning.

Prof Sudarshan Raj Tiwari said that there is a heavy emphasis on heritage conservation. "From the beginning, they study history of architecture and obviously, they study Nepali architecture. And, in the fourth year, they have to study Conservation as a compulsory subject," he said.

A final year student Prashant Gongal says the course has given him a wide knowledge of traditional architecture. He says that in every year, the students learn a lot about the indigenous architecture, which is the identity of the Kathmandu Valley.

He adds, "This is the difference between studying architecture in Nepal and abroad. Here, we learn quite a lot about our indigenous technique which helps us to experiment with new buildings with the traditional setting in our mind."

On the other hand, Padmendra Shrestha says that being attached to the traditional buildings with minimum light, low floor height and costly carvings in today’s atmosphere is not practical. "If we are to live in the contemporary world, those outdated principles do not fulfil a modern citizen’s requirements," he adds.

In their final year they have to write a thesis. At this stage their field of specialisation helps them to choose their subject. Some choose working with modern buildings while others work on historic monuments.

The department seems very positive about the students’ future.

Mahesh Shrestha, the chief of the Architecture Department said the students are very enthusiastic to express themselves. "The popularity of this five year course is growing among the creative students. The students have to face tough competition in the entrance examination because we have only a limited number of seats and the applicants are in their hundreds."

However, the government has stopped short at recognizing the qualification of the architects. Shrestha said that though architects play a vital role in urban planning, only three municipalities have employed architects. "They aim to build better cities but refuse to employ a single architect."

Traditionally, civil engineers have carried out the jobs which the architects have been trained for. But the architects should take over. He argues that they should not interfere in the construction of public buildings.

Architect Uttam Shrestha, the president of the Society of Nepalese Architects (SONA), is certain that Nepali architects are equally qualified as the foreign consultancies. "If given a chance, we can prove that we are in no way inferior to the architects from other countries."

He blames the well held practice of hiring foreign architects as a status symbol and the government’s tendency to slap commissions on big contracts.

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