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Singing is the game
Dohori has become the fastest growing market in the Nepali music industry. Yet our folk singers told us we were the first English magazine to write about them
by PRERANA MARASINI
| FROM ISSUE # 123 (March 2006) | IN THIS ISSUE | |||
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Dohori is the ultimate form of freestyling in dialogues that rhyme. The chorus remains the same throughout a dohori match. Before TV and radio became the prime source of entertainment, dohori contests between groups of boys and girls would go on for many days. The deal was: winner marries the loser. 
In Baglung, dohori used to run for 18 consecutive days. Husbands would disappear without feeding the cattle, mothers would hardly remember to feed their children and there was also the chance of one's spouse eloping with the winner. As a result controversies erupted. So the village people decided to reduce the number of days a dohori could go on for.
Dohori is called Juhari in the eastern region. In Dang, it is called Chhoti Basnay. In the early 80s, Nepal Sports Council organised the first-ever national Dohori competition in Hetauda where singers had to follow the lead tune 'Sarara Yo Mann Dharara'. Among the judges was Kumar Basnet who says, "The contestants had to reply within a minute. It was tough."
Basnet is a veteran dohori singer who is well known for Lapsiko Geda Chusera and Maadala Ghana Ghana Ghankauki. A graduate in Economics, Basnet worked at Sanchaykosh as a first-class officer for nearly 30 years. He travelled from village to village collecting folk songs. These he would write, edit, and record back in Kathmandu. "A friend of mine married seven wives having defeated them in dohori," recalls Basnet, who claims to be the first Nepali to remix songs. He remixed Lapsiko Geda Chusera with Arabian music.
The trend of the winner marrying the loser in dohori has changed to winner getting prize money. Dohori singers are the highest earning music artistes in Nepal, with some earning upto Rs 12,00,000 a year. Komal Oli charges Rs 1,00,000 per show. A graduate in Political Science with a Masters in Sociology, Oli works as newsreader at Radio Nepal and NTV. She also produces a folk music show called Jhyammai Chautari.
Komal Oli came to Kathmandu from Dang in 1985 to participate in Radio Nepal's national dohori competition. She was a grade eight student but she defeated all the other contestants and stood first. For five consecutive years since then, Oli continued to win the competition. "In Dang, I used to sing with the village girls and those who came from Rolpa to plant paddy," says Oli. Her group always won and they would literally drag the boys to declare victory. Oli has never been defeated in dohori and once famously declared, "I will marry the man who beats me in dohori." Oli is still single.
Komal Oli and Prem Raja Mahat (now in the US) sang Baajho Khetma, which saw record sales of 2,00,000 copies in 1996. Six years later, Badri Pangeni's Sasuralima broke the record selling 2,50,000 copies. Pangeni's Sasuralima, sung with Sindhu Malla, revived dohori after nearly a decade. Soon after it hit the market, the dohori bazaar emerged as a growing industry.
"I'm still living on the money from Sasuralima," says 23-year-old Pangeni who has been singing at Nirmaya Rodhi Club for seven years. He also hosts a folk-based music programme called Suseli on NTV. Pangeni's guilty secret is his obsession with football. He confides, "I carry a football with me everywhere I go."
The dohori market brought many promising singers, among them is the unstoppable Bima Kumari Dura. "I used to sing dohori during Teej, Dasain and Shivaratri in my village, Dura Danda, Lamjung. People there sing continuously for seven days and nights," says she. Most of the famous dohori songs you hear today are Dura's. She is among those who made the 'Gate' trend in dohori lyrics famous, from Khairenima Gate to Damaulima Gate, both big hits. Her most recent chartbuster is Maajhidai Pokhara Fewataalko, sung with Milan Lama, which won the Folk Music Category at Hits FM Music Awards this year. Dura never went to school but she earns an average of Rs 5,000 per song and Rs 50,000 per show. Every year she makes at least six trips abroad to perform at cultural shows.
Buddhi Sagar Basyal, who has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and a Masters in English Literature, released his first album Kapaal Korera at age 17. Till date, he has released 10 albums, of which Subha Bibaha and Danfe Naachera were big hits, selling more than 1,00,000 copies each. "Nobody can sing folk songs with as much feeling as village folks," says Basyal who is from Palpa. For the last three years, he's been working at Kantipur Television as programme producer. His latest project is a research on Naumati Baaja. A technosavvy person, Basyal uses a Nokia N-series mobile and drives a Santro. A recent world survey (Nepali Geetko Bideshma Prabhab) ranked his Chham Chham Paujulay at no 7. Khem Raj Gurung's Waari Jamuna was in the top 10 hit songs in a BBC survey.
The downside of dohori are the music videos. Gopal Baskota of Krishna Films says, "It's expensive to make good videos and we don't have good equipments. Still, we try. Our latest is a Rs 1,50,000 investment in a music video with Bhuwan KC performing. We have Digital 150/70 cameras but if we could use a Digital BETA 390 and above, the picture quality would be higher."
Growth in media has given folk songs and dohori tremendous support. NTV's Tito Satya has made it even more famous. At sports events, young students are heard cheering their favourite teams in dohori chants that are quick and witty. With dohori restaurants as the latest craze, it is definitely getting a run for our money.
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It's okay to remix old dohoris but ask for permission or be prepared to be sued.
Kumar Basnet
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Folk songs and dohori are our tradition, the young people should understand that.
Komal Oli
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The media made Nima Rumba famous; it's the same media that needs to discover talented folk singers.
Badri Pangeni
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I like Nirnaya's Hamro Gaulay Jiwan and DJ Raju's Chyangba Hoi Chyangba.
Bima Kumari Dura
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One can say rap originated from folk songs. Maakuri Jalaima is a good example.
Buddhi Sagar Basyal