The talented
Santosh Dakua
is a folk musician and instrument maker from the district of Cooch Behar. Nearly sixty now, Santosh`s initiation into music began as a young boy, under his father who was a folk musician, singing and playing various instruments.
Orphaned at the age of 14, Santosh began to experiment with crafting folk instruments, constantly encouraged by his grandfather, who owned a Kushan pala group. Travelling with the group, Santosh gradually improved his skills at both making and playing various instruments. While Santosh is an entirely self-taught and instinctive instrument maker, he remains grateful for the three years of intensive training he received on instrument playing from his guru, Phul Kumar Barman, the harmonium player of the group.
Santosh continued to travel with performing groups for many years and he was over forty years old when he was finally able to settle down. He returned to his village and acquired a piece of land on which he built his home, but Santosh continues to roam around with performing groups. He has two sons and a daughter who, he feels, do not possess his strong connect with music. His daughter, hoping to prove him wrong however, has recently taken up singing in her in-laws` village.
Santosh makes instruments like the Bena, Mokha Bnaashi, Dotara, Sarinja, violin, Khamok and Ektara. For most of his life, he crafted them for his own pleasure or for whoever desired one or when he required it to accompany a particular genre of song. For instance, he would earlier accompany Padabali Kirtans with the violin, but now uses the flute. He used to craft the Bena, the mandatory instrument that accompanies the Kushan pala, since his teens. He would make these for the various Kushan groups he moved around with. However he now makes these only when requested, since there is no longer a demand for this traditional instrument.
He will not compromise on his stringed instruments and uses only horse hair, going through great lengths to procure them. His chief focus is the flute – the Aar-Bnaashi, since this is what he plays most of the time. Caving in to modern day demands, he has also acquired an electric organ. Santosh has also got some training in classical music - having learnt it out of books with the help of a few masters. His meagre education up to Class II did not stand in his way!
It is only recently that Santosh has begun making instruments commercially. But primarily, he makes his living accompanying folk performing groups as an accompanist. He is part of a Kirtan group for which he plays the violin; he also accompanies Bhawaiya performances with his Aar Bnaashi and sometimes, he accompanies a local jatra as a keyboardist with his cheap electric organ. On occasion, he is also called upon to play the tabla and the harmonium too. As for singing, Santosh does this strictly for his own pleasure – for the moment.
In normal times (pre-Covid) the extremely talented Santosh earns about Rs 500 from each performance. Being of a gentle nature, he often finds himself exploited too, and paid only travel costs. To supplement his income during the off season, which is from the summer till the end of the monsoons (Baisakh to Kartik), he does small jobs, including working in people`s fields and also tutoring a few students in far off villages on the flute and the violin for paltry wages.
Other than West Bengal, Santosh has performed in many places, including Tripura, Assam and the Suraj Kund Mela in Haryana - accompanying performers of Bhawaiya, Padmapuran gaan (Bishohora), Naam Kirtan, Padabali Kirtan, Jatra and Kushan Jatra, and a large variety of Rajbongshi folk plays on the flute, violin etc. He performs less for Kushan jatra however, because these are usually daily shows extending over numerous villages for 20 to 30 days at a time. One performance often leads to an invitation for the next. With the kind of income he makes, Santosh cannot afford to be away from his family for such a long stretch. He finds it more convenient to work in short bursts and is never out for more than 45 days at a stretch.
During these months of Covid19 related lockdown, Santosh is having a difficult time coping. One of his sons who has trained as a weaver in Phulia, is trying to help sustain the household by weaving textiles like dupattas. The ever-resilient Santosh meanwhile has taken to crafting and selling bamboo winnowing fans. He refuses to lose hope, even though a major part of his home was blown off during the Amphan cyclone and which he managed to repair with a great deal of difficulty. It is his music that keeps him going.