An example can be taken from last Friday and Saturday nights. Kutumba, who has been conserving and managing folk music and instruments, saw its concert packed with young people who also enjoy pop, rock and rap music. The concert was held at Public School on Friday night. The hour long concert could not satisfy its audience and it ended with the band members promising to play the next day too.
Using Nepali folk instruments, which are on the verge of extinction, Kutumba creates music with a modern touch. Starting its concert with the festival’s theme music, the band went on to present music of more than one and half dozen popular songs. The young audience, present in hundreds, sang along to songs like ‘Bheda ko oon jasto’, ‘Taal ko pani’, Asarai mahina ma’ Rato rani fulecha saajhama’ and increased the event’s entertainment factor. Kutumba played the music and the audience danced to it.
On April 13, Kutumba came to Dharan for the first time while touring for its ‘Playing for Heritage’ campaign. The band, this time, came as part of Save the Children and Himstar’s social awareness musical campaign - ‘For Everyone’. The campaign plans to minimize the rate of infant deaths that takes place due to the lack of awareness. UPKA Nepal, a non-governmental organization, was the local manager for the concert where Kutumba also spread the social message.
According to Subhash Chandra Limbu, social leader of UPKA Nepal, the collected sum from the concert will go towards building an emergency child shelter at Dharan-19. “More important is the fact that due to the lack of awareness four new born infants die every one hour. This is an attempt to minimize this situation,” he said.
As part of the infant mortality awareness campaign, Kutumba performed in Janakpur on November 21 before heading towards Dharan. The band members state that they are happy to connect their music with a social awareness campaign and spread the message. With the band manager, Arun Gurung, the members Kiran Nepali, Siddhartha Maharjan, Raju Maharjan, Pavit Maharjan, Arun Manandhar and Rabin Kumar Shrestha, create folk music using folk musical instruments like sarangi, tungana, madal, basuri, damaru, jhyamta and dhime baja.
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