Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 17

Manohar Gurung (Bobby) is the first Ghatam (earth pot) player in Nepal. He went all the way to Chennai, India and learned the art of playing ghatam at Srijaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya. His guru was the legendary ghatam Pt Vikku Vinayakram — the Grammy award winner — and his son ghatam maestro THV Umashankar.

On January 17, Bobby performed for the first time in Nepal at Moksh, Pulchowk. He said: “Approximately for three months I learned playing ghatam from my guru and they said that I have learnt two years’ course. I want to bring popularity of ghatam to Nepal. I want to teach the art to my fellow beings and my dream is to do solo ghatam concert here in Kathmandu with my students.”

The other musicians — Sharad Joshi on acoustic contemporary guitar, Deepak Rai on bamboo flute and Shyam Nepali on the sarangi — accompanied him. The chief guest for the event was Sanjay Verma, first secretary, Indian Embassy. It was a fusion of ghatam and other musical instruments. The blend was done perfectly and it was something new for the listeners. Sanjay Verma felt, “The language of music is universal. There is so much life in ‘matka’ (earthen pot). The performance by Bobby and the other musicians was fantastic. Ghatam is a treat to Nepal!”

Bobby and the other musicians delivered four pieces — Guru Bandhan, Prarambh (beginning), Maruwra Deepchandi and In Search of Peace. The first piece was dedicated to Bobby’s guru. Sanjay Shrestha from the band 1974 AD performed together with Bobby. Sanjay delivered ghatam rhythm from his djembe. “I practised ghatam on my djembe with Bobby and it was difficult! But as a musician it is interesting to learn new rhythms,” informed Sanjay.