Shantanu Thakur
(thakur.santanu@gmail.com)
Guwahati has just had a unique experience. A group of mandolin-lovers who call themselves the “Brahmaputra Mandolins” organised the BRAHMAPUTRA MANDOFEST at the Khanapara Veterinary College campus on the 22nd of December 2024. Not many are aware of the instrument called the Mandolin; some even refer to it as the ‘little guitar’!
Yet, the mandolin is not so new to Assam. It appears to have entered our state through some soldiers of the Allied Forces during World War II who loved to carry along thisconvenient, portable instrument. There were also many European tea-planters to whom the mandolin was a favourite instrument for chamber or parlour music. Those days, it was a favourite with the ladies as well. Then, of course, were the missionary school teachers who landed in Shillong. Some of these Fathers and Brothers were well versed in music theory and practice, and, the violin as well as the mandolin could be taken anywhere with their personal belongings. The local gentry, especially the elite, who came into contact with these three categories of foreigners in Assam, cultivated a taste for this instrument and acquired a few when the owners had to leave on transfer.And, the mandolin stayed on.
MandoFests are a common feature in the music space in countries like the USA, Italy and Japan where Mandolins are highly popular. But such events are rare in our country. A group of Mandolin-lovers from Pune had made a humble beginning about some eight years ago, and have been successfully holding annual mandofests in various cities of the country, such as in Pune, Bangalore, Goa, Sholapur, Hyderabad, etc., during the last few years. In Assam, this is a standalone, unique, first-time event of great significance. The thought of it had been brewing in the minds of some of our mandolin-lovers for quite some time. Now was the destined moment for this idea whose time had come.
In post-independence India, Assam (with its then capital at Shillong) was already familiar with western music. Several district headquarters also had a good music scene going. Then came the golden decades of Hindi film music which had a fair share of the mandolin in its compositions and popular hits. The love for the mandolin grew and stabilised over the years. The number of mandolin players were never as many as the number of guitar players, but every township had about ¾ mandolinists trying to pick up the instrument. The heydays of the instrument were the three decades from the sixties to the eighties wherein some of the good mandolin players became household names in Assam. Sher Chowdhury, Johny Joseph, Shankar Das, Mahendra Goswami, LoknathSubba, Gopal Boro and others were some of the first trailblazers. Their legacy has been carried forward by several other excellent hands till this date. Gopal Bodo got to be known as Mandolin Bodo; such was his popularity.
There had come a period when the mandolin in Assam was perceived to be on the wane, which, one feels, was only a temporary dip in the popularity graph that was not specific to Assam alone, but was seen almost as an all-India phenomenon. Even in the US, after the peaks of popularity during the heady days of Bill Monroe and Bluegrass Music in the years following, the mandolin wave had suffered a slump when the guitar and the banjo took over. But the mandolin is back in the USA with a bang again. Almost every state has mandolin clubs organising gigs every week, in addition to the many MandoFests. Bluegrass in the US is still a rage. It is in this context that the Mandofests here in our country too have played a vital role in revival of interest in the instrument. In Assam, the Brahmaputra MandoFest is sure to spark off renewed interest amongst the young gen. Be ready to see more mandolins in every street corner from now on. At least that’s how one would like it to be.
The 1st Brahmaputra Mandofest has seen an inspiring, heart-warming response with participation from mandolin-lovers across the length and breadth of the state in a full-day packed programme. Nearly a hundred players have registered. The unprecedented event has successfully laid the foundations for bigger and larger similar events on our soil with participants from all over India in the years ahead.
A promising highlight of the day was the captivating ensemble of Mandolins by the troupe of girl-mandolinists from Mangaldoi under the tutelage of musician Kishori Saikia. And, what a sight it was to behold all participants (old, young and kids) join in a colourful procession with Mandolins aloft in every hand! Nothing so spectacular had ever been seen before in this part of the world.
The support of veteran mandolinists and musicians of the state lent grace and dignity, providing inspiration to the upcoming mandolin-lovers. A unique milestone event, indeed, in the history of mandolins in Assam—forever to be remembered with love and nostalgia. Assam has a mandolin potential that, given proper grooming, can turn world-class. As the legendary musician Don Julin has said: “Mandolins heal the world.” Brahmaputra MandoFest has set the ball rolling. Hail! The mighty river is swelling with happiness.