He argued that the Maoists revolution was still incomplete.[break]
Things are different now than when he first joined the Maoists as a local artist. The Maoist war was growing day by day while he joined the party as an artist at the local level. Though Samana was formed before the Maoist war started, he promoted it while the insurgency was at its peak.
“I joined the Maoist Party from Baudai in Garhwal, India, and started underground politics as a whole-timer after returning to Nepal while my whole village was
also being made whole timer,” Magar recalled his past.
Magar, 41, who is originally from Rolpa, reminisces about the times when his whole village had participated in the war.
He is still popular at the mass meetings of Maoists. He is one of the most preferred artists for the mass meetings that are organized at the Khula Manch in Kathmandu.
He sings songs, accompanied by his sarangi. He has also sung songs at crucial plenums like Balaju, Kharipati and Palungtar. Till now, he has performed revolutionary songs in 68 districts of Nepal and many cities of India.
He can not only play sarangi but can also build one. He learnt to play and make sarangis at Baudai in India from his cousin Om Prakash Gharti Magar and some other fellow Gandharvas.
“I met my father when I was 16. I was in India with my mother and stepfather. After the death of my stepfather, I brought my mother to Nepal and convinced her to reunite with my father,” he recalls his childhood. His biological father was living alone in Rolpa for a long time.
After the Peace Process, the Maoist government appointed him as academician at Nepal Academy but it was soon dissolved.
He spent most of his childhood in India and has never been to school. He learnt singing, dancing and acting in Baudai with its Nepali community. His skills at playing sarangi and making it helped him to be unique among other artists in his birthplace.
“I’ve recorded more than two dozen songs. My solo album “Sarangiko Katha” was launched in 2064 BS,” said Magar.
He is a lyricist, musician and a singer. Last year, he directed a film called “Lalbir’s Gaun,” depicting the rise and fall of the Maoist war. He also directed two dramas – “Dream and Reality” and “Jutheko Katha – both of which are related to the Maoist intra-party conflict.
Apart from directing, he has acted in films and plays.
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