Rhythms Of The Earth and Dashugs Made Tribal Folk Rule at Samvaad 2023 in Jamshedpur

Tribes from Gujarat, Assam, Kerala, Jharkhand and more were part of a boundary-blurring performance as part of this year’s Rhythms Of The Earth (ROTE) collective, performing at the annual event Samvaad 2023 in Jamshedpur with creative collaborators in Ladakh folk-rock band Dashugs.

Held between November 15th and 19th at the Tribal Culture Centre in Sonari and enabled by Tata Steel Foundation, ROTE and Dashugs were involved in a 10-day workshop ahead of the performance on November 17th.  This year’s cohort for the ROTE ensemble included 48 musicians across 11 tribes.

Additionally, the ensemble also came together to launch five new songs at Samvaad 2023. Set to be compiled into an album and released in January 2024, the songs include “Dela Dela” by the Santal tribe, who praise culture, “Abua Disom” from the Ho tribe that calls for unity and preservation of tribal culture and “Nukhtharini Juwmang,” composed by the Rabha tribe, signifying the call for unity in the face of challenges. The album will also include “Eklaivet Ajakong” by the Karbi tribe and “Nwi Harini Shengwra Shikwlapwr,” an original song by the Bodo tribe, one that “expresses the adoration for ancient tribal traditions,” according to a press release.

Dashugs’ lead vocalist Tsewang Norbo – who is also part of the Boto tribe in Ladakh – recounted in a video accompanying Samvaad 2023 that ROTE was an initiative to bring tribal people together, “Twelve tribal groups are here, including us. We have learnt from each other and this process should go on further to preserve the culture of the tribal people.”

Among the most energetic performances at Samvaad 2023 perhaps came from the Kunbi tribe of Gujarat, whose vocalist Tushar R. Kamdi brought a rap-like energy to his performance. He said in the video, “Here we learned that even with a band like Dashugs, folk and rock can be paired up. Our culture – sambal and bawari – we presented it and felt very good about it. Our songs are being played on a big stage now.”

Originally incepted in 2009, ROTE started out with the goal to revive and save fast-fading tribal folk music. It made its debut at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi in 2013, led by fusion stalwarts Indian Ocean.

In February 2018, Rhythms of the Earth brought 53 artists from 12 different tribes and five states who performed in Mumbai. Collaborators on board that year included tabla exponent Bickram Ghosh and sitar artist Purbayan Chatterjee. By 2019, that year’s collective of tribal artists were jamming with Swarathma.

The Bengaluru-based folk rock band worked with 64 tribal musicians from 13 tribes and six states on a total of 23 new songs in the span of a year. Out of these, 14 songs have been recorded and 12 are slated to be part of an upcoming ROTE album. “These 12 compositions were showcased during Samvaad 2022. Each song had unique meaning and significance, depicting the tribal way of life,” the press release states.