Kabirpur ‘bandwallahs’ to beat fiscal blues by chasing away locusts
LUCKNOW : Kabirpur, a tiny hamlet some 25 km from Lucknow that is home to more than 3,000 musicians who earn their livelihood livening up barats (marriage processions) and parties, has a different brief now -- chase away desert locusts, which are on the warpath in the state.
The UP agriculture department has tied up with the musicians to keep the shorthorned grasshoppers at bay since the threat of their attack looms large on the state capital and adjoining districts.
Reeling under the lockdown effects that led to the cancellation of marriages and party functions, the musicians see this as ‘a blessing in disguise’. Kabirpur has in its belly musicians from almost every household who are either engaged in or run traditional brass bands.
“We are in a crisis. In such a situation, any offer is welcome, even the one where we have to play for grasshoppers,” said Gurucharan Lal, a band master, who is also the president of Kabirpur Band Association.
Gurucharan Lal said the lockdown had hit their business hard and made most musicians handto-mouth. “The 80-day lockdown that was in place in March, April, May and June—the peak marriage season – left us with no work. In such a situation, the locust attack turned out to be a blessing in disguise for us,” the head band master said.
“Kabirpur lies off the busy Sultanpur Road, on the outskirts of Lucknow. Initially, we have roped in some 20 musicians into our drive against locusts. But in case of an emergency, we may rope in more from the village,” said agriculture deputy director CP Srivastava.
Srivastava said the possibility of a locust attack on Lucknow and other adjoining areas are high. “Until Tuesday morning, the location of the swarm of locusts was near Kanpur district that is around 80km from Lucknow. Since the movement of locusts totally depends upon the wind direction, we have made all possible arrangements. And the hiring of the Kabirpur musicians are part of the arrangements,” Srivastava added.
He said the musicians will be deployed along Lucknow’s borders, especially the mango belt, where more than 23,000 hectares of land is used just for mango farming. Besides, the department has also deployed 20 massive tractor-mounted pesticide guns in the border areas, including in Malihabad, to bring down stray locusts.
Other than these, Srivastava said they had also roped in more than 7,000 locals in the areas to scare away the locusts with the help of drums, planes and other noise-making tools.
Kabirpur has 90 brass bands and 93 band trolleys, which locals claim to be highest in any other village in the state, fetching it the title of ‘Band Baja Gaon’.
However, the musicians said they were yet to be deployed. On the preference of songs and music that will be used to keep the locusts at bay, the head band master said, “We will be playing songs like ‘Aaj Mere Yaar ki Shaadi Hai’ (Aadmi Sadak Ka, 1977), ‘Yeh desh hai vir jawaanon ka’ (Naya Daur, 1957) the usual favourites at marriage processions. Also, we will be employing high-decibel sound systems and loud musical instruments.”