“Yeh purane zamaney ka mobile phone hai (This is a mobile phone from yesteryears),” grins Manish Gurav, as he pulls out a crescent shaped tube out of a red bag, puckers his lips against its narrower end, and blows into it before the contraption begins to let out a series of groaning metallic sounds.
What Manish calls a communication device is in reality an ancient wind horn called the sringa known more commonly as the tutari in local lingo, a bugle like instrument played to herald the arrival of kings, palkhis and auspicious beginnings; signal the beginning of a battle between two warring kingdoms; or as a public address system.
Kings and royal regalia may have slipped into history, but the bellow of the tutari continues to be a sonic symbol of Maharashtra that resounds to this day especially at rallies and political functions during elections that are no less than a battle of modern times.
“Our job is like a fire-fighter. We may get a call any time of the day, sometimes at a two-hour notice when we have to get dressed in mauli (traditional Maharashtrian kurta-pyjama) pheta (headgear) and kolhapuris (shoes) and rush to rallies and public functions. This year has been especially hectic – first the general elections in April and then Vidhan Sabha,” explains 75-year-old Prabhakar Bhosale, fourth generation tutari player in his family.
Played in the past to welcome kings, now the Thackerays, Pawars and Ranes have taken their place. No padyatra or mahasabha is complete without Guravs and Bhosales or their tutari, their fortunes dependent on the number of times they blow the horn as a ceremonial salute to political leaders, irrespective of party affiliations. “Shivsenawaley zyada bulatey but since they failed to come to power, our work scene is still thanda.
And as the power tussle over government formation played out over the past few weeks, the impasse seems to have curiously silenced the community of tutari vadaks. “Our work has come to a halt. Usually this is one of our busiest seasons when winning parties and their candidates call us to perform at various public functions,” says Bhosale. And despite the dramatic turn of events on Saturday morning, it failed to break their stalemate. “
Pandurang Gurav who has been blowing his lungs out at rallies across the political spectrum – be it for Raj Thackeray at Navi Mumbai or Devendra Fadnavis in Palghar – agrees. “We manage to make at least Rs 2000 to Rs 5000 for an event,” says Pandurang whose family has been traditional tutari artistes for generations at the local temple in Yetgaon village in Sangli where he picked up the art from his father. They say that, several tutari artistes had taken shelter in temples during British rule during which the instrument became a part of religious festivities and rituals.
Pandurang came to Mumbai in 1989, and took on the job of a security guard with a pastime pursuit of blowing the tutari at local events when the attention of a government official changed his life. Then, on a whim, he decided to put his entire life into breathing into a tutari. “I started a mandal ten years ago. Now were a team of 200. Im training them in not just tutari but other associated arts such as how to tie phetas and wield the sword for mardani khel so that there are multiple activities to fall back on and one will not need to starve for these skills to survive,” smiles Pandurang.
Unlike traditional folk arts that are often at risk of being lost to time, the future is not bleak for the tutari even though its obituary has been written several times. Given keener interest and pride in invoking religious and cultural glories of the past, there is a boom in demand for the instrument used frequently these days to resurrect Marathi-ness at various occasions —religious and state events to weddings, foundation laying ceremonies, film festivals, birthdays and television serials.
Traditionally performed by Hindu men of the same family and the legacy taken forward by successive generations, Heena Mulla, 26, a constable with the Thane City Police has defied conventions of religion and gender to embrace the tutari which she plays at various city and police events while the very fact that Patuck Gala College of Commerce & Management in Vakola appointed Pandurang Gurav to train their students in tuRead More – Source
