A Kashmiri artisan's battle to save lots of a musical legacy

[ad_1] Bisma Farooq Bhat BBC World Service

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/9305/live/23dec680-6230-11f0-8bb8-6da7e50368a3.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/9305/live/23dec680-6230-11f0-8bb8-6da7e50368a3.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9305/live/23dec680-6230-11f0-8bb8-6da7e50368a3.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/9305/live/23dec680-6230-11f0-8bb8-6da7e50368a3.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/9305/live/23dec680-6230-11f0-8bb8-6da7e50368a3.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/9305/live/23dec680-6230-11f0-8bb8-6da7e50368a3.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/9305/live/23dec680-6230-11f0-8bb8-6da7e50368a3.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9305/live/23dec680-6230-11f0-8bb8-6da7e50368a3.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Adil Amin Akhoon A man wearing a black shirt and a white skull cap with black glasses looks into the camera. There are posters and wooden cutouts hanging on a wall in the background" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Adil Amin Akhoon Ghulam Mohammed Zaz is Kashmir's final conventional hand maker of the santoor instrument

Within the quiet, slender lanes of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir, a small, dimly lit workshop stands as one of many final holdouts of a vanishing craft.

Contained in the store sits Ghulam Mohammed Zaz, who's extensively believed to be the area's final artisan who could make the santoor by hand.

Santoor is a trapezoid-shaped stringed musical instrument, just like a dulcimer, which is performed with mallets. It's recognized for its crystalline bell-like tone and has been Kashmir's musical signature for hundreds of years.

Mr Ghulam Mohammed belongs to a lineage of craftsmen who've been constructing string devices in Kashmir for over seven generations. The Zaz household title has lengthy been synonymous because the makers of the santoor, rabab, sarangi and sehtar.

However lately, the demand for handcrafted devices has dwindled, changed by machine-made variations which can be cheaper and faster to provide. On the identical time, music tastes have modified, including to the decline.

"With hip hop, rap, and digital music now dominating Kashmir's soundscape, youthful generations not join with the depth or self-discipline of conventional music," says Shabir Ahmad Mir, a music trainer. Consequently, demand for the santoor has collapsed, leaving craftsmen with out apprentices or a sustainable market, he provides.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/4537/live/5cf92080-2411-11f0-9060-674316cb3a1f.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/4537/live/5cf92080-2411-11f0-9060-674316cb3a1f.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4537/live/5cf92080-2411-11f0-9060-674316cb3a1f.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/4537/live/5cf92080-2411-11f0-9060-674316cb3a1f.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/4537/live/5cf92080-2411-11f0-9060-674316cb3a1f.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/4537/live/5cf92080-2411-11f0-9060-674316cb3a1f.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/4537/live/5cf92080-2411-11f0-9060-674316cb3a1f.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4537/live/5cf92080-2411-11f0-9060-674316cb3a1f.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Adil Amin Akhoon A photo album with a picture showing Ghulam Mohammed receiving the Padma Shri. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Adil Amin Akhoon Mr Ghulam Mohammed obtained India's fourth highest civil honour in 2022

In his century-old store, Mr Ghulam Mohammed sits beside a hole block of wooden and worn iron instruments - the quiet remnants of a fading custom.

"There isn't any one left [to continue the craft]," he says. "I'm the final."

But it surely wasn't at all times this manner.

Through the years, famend Sufi and folks artists have performed santoors handcrafted by Mr Ghulam Mohammed.

A photograph in his store reveals maestros Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Bhajan Sopori performing together with his devices.

Believed to have originated in Persia, the santoor reached India within the thirteenth or 14th century, spreading by means of Central Asia and the Center East. In Kashmir, it took on a definite id, turning into central to Sufi poetry and folks traditions.

"Initially a part of Sufiana Mausiqi (an ensemble music custom), the santoor had a delicate, folk-like tone," says Mr Mir.

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma later tailored it for Indian classical music, he says, by including strings, redesigning bridges for richer resonance and introducing new taking part in strategies.

Bhajan Sopori, who has Kashmiri roots, "deepened its tonal vary and infused it with Sufi expression", provides Mr Mir, serving to cement the santoor's place in Indian classical music.

One other picture reveals Mr Ghulam Mohammed receiving the Padma Shri from President Droupadi Murmu in 2022, honoured for his craftsmanship with India's fourth-highest civilian award.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/a9ba/live/3c7db7e0-2424-11f0-b474-cfd8b4328741.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/a9ba/live/3c7db7e0-2424-11f0-b474-cfd8b4328741.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a9ba/live/3c7db7e0-2424-11f0-b474-cfd8b4328741.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/a9ba/live/3c7db7e0-2424-11f0-b474-cfd8b4328741.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/a9ba/live/3c7db7e0-2424-11f0-b474-cfd8b4328741.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a9ba/live/3c7db7e0-2424-11f0-b474-cfd8b4328741.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/a9ba/live/3c7db7e0-2424-11f0-b474-cfd8b4328741.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a9ba/live/3c7db7e0-2424-11f0-b474-cfd8b4328741.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Ghulam Mohammad Zaz, one of the renowned 'Santoor' makers in the valley, works on a sitar (musical instrument) body at his one-room workshop in Downtown area of Srinagar, on February 20, 2016 in Srinagar, India." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Photos Mr Ghulam Mohammed crafting a standard santoor

Mr Ghulam Mohammed was born within the Nineteen Forties in Zaina Kadal, a neighbourhood named after an iconic bridge that after served because the lifeline of commerce and tradition in Kashmir. Rising up, he was surrounded by the sounds and instruments of his household's commerce.

Well being points compelled him to depart formal training at an early age and that's when he started studying the artwork of santoor-making from his father and grandfather - each grasp craftsmen themselves.

"They taught me not simply the best way to make an instrument however the best way to hear - to the wooden, the air and the fingers that may play it," he mentioned.

"My ancestors was summoned by the courts of native kings and had been typically requested to construct devices that might soothe hearts," he says.

In his workshop, a wood bench lined with chisels and strings lies beside the skeletal body of an unfinished santoor. The air smells faintly of aged walnut wooden, however there isn't any equipment in sight.

Mr Ghulam Mohammed believes machine-made devices lack the heat and depth of these crafted by hand and the audio high quality comes nowhere shut.

Making a santoor is a sluggish, deliberate course of, the craftsman says. It begins with choosing the suitable wooden, aged and seasoned for a minimum of 5 years. The physique is then carved and hollowed for optimum resonance, and every of the 25 bridges is exactly formed and positioned.

Over 100 strings are added, adopted by the painstaking tuning course of, which might take weeks and even months.

"It's the craft of endurance and perseverance," he says.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/4b9a/live/0077e7d0-6271-11f0-b986-3166a974b17d.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/4b9a/live/0077e7d0-6271-11f0-b986-3166a974b17d.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4b9a/live/0077e7d0-6271-11f0-b986-3166a974b17d.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/4b9a/live/0077e7d0-6271-11f0-b986-3166a974b17d.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/4b9a/live/0077e7d0-6271-11f0-b986-3166a974b17d.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/4b9a/live/0077e7d0-6271-11f0-b986-3166a974b17d.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/4b9a/live/0077e7d0-6271-11f0-b986-3166a974b17d.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4b9a/live/0077e7d0-6271-11f0-b986-3166a974b17d.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Traditional sufi musicians of Kashmir, play santoor and other musical instruments on the stage, on March 23, 2019 in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir, India. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Photos The santoor has been Kashmir's musical signature for many years

Lately, social media influencers have visited Mr Ghulam Mohammed's workshop, sharing its story on-line. He appreciates the eye however says it hasn't led to actual efforts to protect the craft or its legacy.

"These are good folks," he says, "however what is going to grow to be of this place when I'm gone?"

Along with his three daughters pursuing different careers, there isn't any one within the household to hold on his work. Through the years, he is had gives - authorities grants, guarantees of apprentices, even options from the state handicrafts division.

However Mr Ghulam Mohammed says he is "not on the lookout for fame or charity". What he really needs is somebody to hold the artwork ahead.

Now in his eighties, he typically spends hours beside an unfinished santoor, listening to the silence of what is but to be accomplished.

"This isn't simply woodwork," he says.

"It's poetry. A language. A tongue I give to the instrument.

"I hear the santoor earlier than it performs. That's the secret. That's what have to be handed on," he provides.

Because the world exterior embraces modernity, Mr Ghulam Mohammed's workshop stays untouched by time - sluggish, silent and crammed with the scent of walnut and reminiscence.