Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Music 4 Peace


On 19 Feb 2010 on my way back from Nagaland (after a peace building workshop) I had the good fortune to visit Diphu, Karbi Anglong. As part of the Karbi Youth Festival Daniel Ingty rendered some vibrant numbers. It is amazing to see the connection between the artist and the audience, as if the artist was playing on the veins of people - bringing much energy among the people.

I realized how much people love music, connect with it, energized by it, and how people remember lyrics and sing along. It felt good to be part of this exchange, this flow, amidst thousands of people. Words of Che spoken during the Peace Retreat 2008 came again to the surface, "We need to work with art/culture activists for peace." I also recollected what Akum Longchar (a peace builder from Nagaland) shared during a peace building workshop in Dimapur, "Artists and musicians are the dream-keepers of our future."

Daniel is a gentle giant, who cares (among many other things) about the fate of one-horned rhino and the King Chilli, produced two songs on them for the Spell Peace music album, which i was fortunate enough to engage in. Working with Daniel made me realize that, it is not just important to be good at something, it is important to be good.