Fading magic of traditional Nepali carpets

Well maintained radi, pakhai and woolen galaicha certainly look good in rooms and are far warmer than the synthetic carpets that are rapidly replacing them

A warm, cosy sitting room furnished stylishly in traditional Nepali rugs and carpets. A big woolen radi was spread on the floor. On top of them were placed diagonally smaller thick woolen mats with frayed ends. The reclining sofas in the room also had smaller, finer radi covering their surface. All the radis had just two colours, ivory and black and had very simple patterns. The room would make one wonder how the homemaker of that household manages to maintain them so well in a dusty, dirty city like Kathmandu. "It is difficult to maintain them. I brought them all from my village, khare in Dolakha district," says the owner of the house Mr. Dibya Dhoj Karki. "These rugs and carpets are becoming a rare sight in Nepali household these days. Even in villages they are not as common as they used to be before," he adds.

So popular and highly valued were Nepali rugs and blankets once upon a time that Kautilya (approx. 300 BC) in his Arthasathra mentions Nepali blankets as an item essential for a king’s storehouse. The book describes them as black waterproof blankets made by stitching together eight small parts. They were called bhingisi. In the cold areas in Nepal rugs have helped people ward off cold down the centuries. People from different regions in the country have given specific names for the rugs, blankets and clothes though they all use wool from the same animals such as sheep, yak and rabbits. Radi, pahki, dharbe, ghum radi are some common traditional woolen items. Churuf, numbu, leu, are the woolen clothing items which are rarely worn by people today. "In my village, in poor households, a radi serves multiple purposes. It is used as a mattress as well as quilt. It is warm and does not allow the damp and cold from the floor to reach you. A finely knit radi is waterproof," says Karki.

Well maintained radi, pakhai and woolen galaicha certainly look good in rooms and are far warmer than the synthetic carpets that are rapidly replacing them. There are many reasons behind the decreasing use of such woolen goods. Sheep farming is on the decline and the weavers cannot rely solely on sales of such items for their livelihood. "The change in people’s lifestyle and availability of household items like cotton quilts and mattress have decreased the utility of traditional blankets and rugs, " says Karki and adds, "You can’t image the amount of dust and dirt these carpets gather under them. And the fleas that hide there. Synthetic carpets and upholstery are lot easier to take care of."

Hawkers carrying loads of radi and pakhi were a common sight in Kathmandu several years back. Today one can see vendors selling synthetic carpets instead. These carpets are cheaper and come in a variety of brightly coloured patterns and sizes. " It is sad that our traditional woolen blankets, carpets and clothing are sadly out of vogue and may even disappear from people’s household one day but you can neither blame the buyers nor the weavers for their decreased usage and production. It’s a natural process. Newer things replace the older things and people like change," says Karki.

The traditional woolen rugs and carpet stand pale in comparison to their brightly coloured modern counterparts. Once highly prized in Nepali households, today even those people who have them almost never use them if they have other alternatives. But these hand- woven woolen wares have their own plus points. They are warm and durable and part of our Nepali heritage passed down to us from those hardy forefathers who lived in the rugged hills and the cold Himalayan region.

Abida Parveen

The voice of the divine in the city of gods

"God does not get upset with those Who try to praise their beloved They need not aspire to go to Mecca
Their pilgrimage is complete when they see their beloved"

Bikash Sangraula

Verses like this is what steals the hearts of music buffs here. What music means to the Kathmanduites is a question that no one ventures to ask. For the one who puts forth the question might end up being puzzled by the sheer variety and number of answers that will pour in. The residents of this city of gods are, deep-down, all poets and singers. One can quite reasonably argue that like the verse above, we also believe that love is the supreme virtue. And the most famous way to express love is music.

The most illustrious evidence of our love for music comes to the fore when an artiste performs. There’s good news for us, then. The remarkably melodious Abida Parveen will be performing at the Hyatt Regency lawn on the evening of 5th April. While the opportunity to listen to her songs is a once in a lifetime kind of thing, it is also worth noting that the hotel is making grand arrangements to make the evening a truly memorable experience.

Parveen, widely acclaimed as the one carrying forward the legacy of legends like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, was born in Larkana (Sindh) in 1954. Her inclination towards mysticism, also termed as Sufism, can be ascribed to her family, where the Sufi culture held sway. Parveen received initial training in classical music from her father Ustad Ghulam Haider. She soon performed songs of legendary mystics like Shah Latif Bhattai, Ghulam Farid and Sheikh Ayaz at the annual congregations of Sufi saints in the region. Later, her appetite for musical expertise propelled her to learn from music maestro Ustad Salamat Ali Khan.

Parveen is acclaimed to be equally masterful in ghazals as well as in the rendering of Sufi and folk songs. The accompaniment of traditional musical instruments like hand-pumped harmoniums, tabla, dhol and the dholak lends her kafi, ghazal, and qawwali styles of singing a deep and meaningful touch. And when she raises her hands, one cannot help thinking that she is saluting god, and celebrating life as a great opportunity to love. Quite natural that the reigning theme of her songs is love.

Parveen believes that romanticism is god. And her songs say the same. "If a flower is so beautiful, imagine how beautiful would its maker be," she says. Her philosophy treats the material world as meaningless, and stresses on acquiring only the necessities for existence. Love is the supreme good, and therefore one should not saturate ones life with pursuit of the material. One should extract as much time as possible for love.

Parveen’s birthplace Sindh has been historically fertile in terms of producing mystics. Shah Abdul Latif, Shah Inayat, Bulleh Shah, and Sachal Sarmast are only a few examples. Love for poetry is an age-old and undying characteristic of the place, so much so that fakirs and wandering mystics are found even today in the region.

Parveen’s understanding of music as a universal language is profound. She says that sound transcends all man-made boundaries. What diplomats and politicians failed to achieve, artists have achieved, she opines. She even maintains that Sufi music has the potential to reach every nook and corner of India and Pakistan and unite them as one.

Parveen’s albums like Paigham e-Mohabbat, Rakse Bismil and Jahan-E-Khusrau elevated her to the status of an international celebrity. She has enthralled an international audience throughout the world during her numerous musical tours. Despite her rising popularity, Parveen does not have any serious plans to do commercial film music. She takes film music as temporary and situational which you hear now and forget. "Sufi music is eternal and carries element of spirituality. Moreover, Sufi music treats everyone equally," she says.

Parveen is aware that a lot of Hindi film music lift songs from Sufi music tunes and then become hits. But then, she maintains that plagiarism is good for Sufi music. "Sufi music is for everybody," she says.

Like all great artistes, the enigma of Abida Parveen can be best comprehended only by listening to her. And what can be a better way to do that than listening to her live? The Hyatt Hotel and Infinity International, in association of the Kantipur Television, is bringing it to us live in the capital. So, lets be prepared to experience exquisite music, deep spirituality, masterful voice and an evening of grandeur all at once.

"Nor shall derision prove powerful against those who listen to humanity or those who follow in the footsteps of divinity, for they shall live forever. Forever." Khalil Gibran

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