BENGALURU: The image of snake charmers, controlling snakes with their beens (a wind instrument used in snake charming), has been part of India’s identity for thousands of years. It was also one of the first symbols of ‘exotic’ India from which people wanted to distance themselves as quickly as possible.
Although the practice of snake charming has long been banned, those who used to practice it seek alternative ways to sustain themselves. Roysten Abel, a theatre personality known for working with indigenous folk musicians like the Manganiyars of the Thar Desert, is bringing a unique show to Bengaluru. For the first time, 100 snake charmers will take the stage, performing a symphony that includes Bollywood tunes, Scottish bagpipe melodies, and traditional snake charmer songs.
The idea for the show originated when Abel met Bahar Dutt, an environmental activist running an NGO called Friends of Snakes. “She was working in Molarband, Delhi, a village where snake charmers live. She was helping them give up Snake Charming but needed to find an alternative vocation for them. Since I’ve been working with indigenous folk performers for a long time, I suggested we do something with 100 charmers,” says Abel, adding that the show aims to redefine snake charmers’ identities from street performers to concert musicians.
Assembling 100 snake charmers for a single musical production was a challenging proposition, given that been is typically played solo. Abel recounts, “When I proposed this, I was told it wasn’t possible and that even playing with ten beens together is a difficult task. It’s nice to take on challenges sometimes. So then we started calling up snake charmers in UP, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, and Rajasthan.”
After holding auditions that attracted 500 charmers from across the country, a group of 100 was formed, each bringing their own tunes and styles. The one-hour concert includes traditional snake-charming tunes and tunes from the Scottish Highlands. “I find the instrument similar to the bagpipes of Scotland. So, we have two bagpipe tunes,” shares Abel, adding, “The challenge in creating a musical production of this scale was to get the hundred charmers to synchronize and play together like a musical concert.”
Known for creating immersive set designs for his productions, Abel notes that this time the set is simple to keep the focus on the musicians. “The main visual is that the hundred charmers are on stage, wearing their traditional outfits,” he adds. The show has travelled to various cities in the country and even opened for a festival in Naples, which was a ‘unique experience’ for Abel. “We performed in one of the oldest opera houses in the world, traditionally a place frequented by the elite bourgeois class and often associated with nobility. To have our snake charmers perform in front of the who’s who of Italy was remarkable,” he shares.
Abel’s project extends beyond artistic innovation to create a new world for a dying art form and the hundreds of people dependent on it. “You just put them on a map where everybody wants to get rid of the snake charmer because they think that’s the old India. Also, it is such a unique instrument to our country, you can explore them and see them in different contexts,” he says, hopeful of creating an alternative livelihood for the community. Abel is currently collaborating on another project with traditional folk drummers of the country and the renowned percussionist Ranjit Barot.
Roysten Abel’s A 100 Charmers will be staged today, 5pm and 8pm at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram