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To confine Kanta Dab Dab to a restrictive genre like “fusion” or “classical” or any other broad term would be to undermine the vast talent of this trio of versatile musicians. For Kanta Dab Dab’s music encapsulates no less than the tradition, culture and musicality of the livelihood of the Kathmandu valley.

Sunit Kansakar on sitar, Rizu Tuladhar on bass and Nikhil Tuladhar on drums/percussions, all in their early 40s now, are childhood friends. With over two decades of acquaintance and playing together, their friendship has in time blossomed into strong kinship, which shows in their music. Kanta Dab Dab performs and sounds like a single unit—a magical jukebox playing unique sounds.  

The name and the eponymous debut album of the band (released in 2016) “Kanta Dab Dab” is rooted in the mystical and mythical Newari traditions its members grew up in. The band is named after a character called “Kanta Dab Dab” that emerges during Newari jatras (festivals). The mythological character, dressed in red, never speaks but it is the sound that it makes with its instruments that fascinates everyone, and hence he is named after the sound.

The band takes pride in the fact that it is respected around the world solely for its music

So how does Kanta Dab Dab compose music? “Nikhil is our power house,” Sunit says. “He comes up with unique rhythms and beats inspired by ethnic Newari music, upon which we improvise and create our music.” But it is not only rhythm and beats, Nikhil adds. “Our music is the soul of the environment we grew up in. We are influenced by our cultures, traditions and the colorful livelihood of the Kathmandu Valley.”

Traditional Newari dhime groups practicing in their neighborhoods, the sounds of the various jatras, the stories and folklores in their communities—they all inspire Kanta Dab Dab. “Our music is an interpretation of the themes we take from our lives and the surroundings,” Rizu adds.

Explaining Kanta Dab Dab’s music to someone new is rather difficult. (Hence we took a video of them performing live to compliment this article). On paper, Kanta Dab Dab’s music is a methodical juxtaposition of ethnic Newari folk music and classical music of the South Asia fused with the Western influences of blues, funk, rock, jazz and Latin music. Sans vocals, their songs are not confined to words but still, each tells a story, interpreted in their own way by a vigilant listener. Seeing the band perform live is like watching an ancient conjurer hypnotize his audiences with mesmerizing tricks, one after the other. “Anyone who’s a dreamer and can dream when listening to music will love our music,” says Rizu. Adds Nikhil, “We once had someone from the audience come and tell us that our music intoxicated him. A comment we took as a compliment.”

But what the band does not take as a compliment happened once on their Japan tour. “A Japanese man came and talked to us after the show and told us that although he had seen many musicians from Nepal, he was surprised to find someone who can have a rational conversation and this level of skills with their instrument,” Rizu recalls. “Although it was meant as a compliment, we felt embarrassed. What kind of people represent Nepali music in the international community?” 

The band’s complaint is about the Nepali cultural troupes associated with various political parties who go as representatives of to Nepali music. Kanta Dab Dab has toured extensively in Europe and has also had performed in Uzbekistan and Japan. In Kathmandu and Pokhara, Kanta Dab Dab draw huge crowds, comprised of locals and expats alike, to its shows. 

The band takes pride in the fact that it is given respect and gratitude at international venues not because it is representing a poor third-world country but solely because of its music. “The West has by now seen numerous artists play the sitar or the tabala,” says Nikhil. “But our sound is completely new to them. They appreciate us for our music and not just because we play Eastern instruments or classical music.”

After the success of their nine-track debut album, the band is working on its new one. “There are challenges and it is not as easy as it sounds,” Sunit says. “Personally, I am trying to find new ways to break the sitar’s limitations. I cannot give the same sound to all songs without making them monotonous. So I am exploring with tones and technology for the new album.”

Rizu also feels challenged by the fact that his electric bass is the most modern instrument in the band. He uses a five-string bass to compensate for the instrument’s limited range. “But I found my originality playing bass with Kanta Dab Dab and we are determined to overcome these limitations to create new music,” he says.

Years of listening, learning, teaching, practicing, rehearsing and playing has seasoned the members of Kanta Dab Dab into the dexterous musicians they now are. With their commitment to making music, we can expect more original, organic compositions from them.

With their dirt-stained clothes and sweaty hands, young boys aged seven to nine hang from monkey bars and try to repli­cate the moves that Sukadev Karki and his team just com­pleted on the same equip­ment. “Some of them can do it just as well as we do,” says Karki. “This is how we are trying to create an impact in the community.” Karki, a fitness coach at Gymkhana Muay Thai at Maharajgunj, is also the founder of Nepali Youth Fitness and Calisthenics (NYFC), an organization that promotes ‘calisthenics and street workout’ by pro­viding free calisthenics and bar classes to local youths at Shanti Park, Boudha.

Calisthenics is a set of exercises done using only a person’s own bodyweight as the body mass itself provides resistance against gravity. It comprises of exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, mus­cle-ups, jump squats, dips, back lever and similar exer­cises that can be done without advanced equipment.

Setting up an outdoor calisthenics park is fairly cheap

The calisthenics routine is a compound exercise that engages more than one mus­cle at a time and, most impor­tantly, engages your core. While one can go to the gym and work on a particular mus­cle and bodybuilding, calis­thenics strengthens the body as well as improves flexibility, endurance and mobility. Also, calisthenics is the foundation workout for many sports.

At the moment, Shanti Park at Partitar is the only outdoor calisthenics park in Kathmandu that makes calis­thenics accessible and afford­able to all. Anyone, from any age group, can come to the park and get started without paying any money. “All you need to bring along is moti­vation,” says Karki. Young­sters between 16 and 19 are the most engaged age group in this park. “It has taught them discipline and engaged them so that they stay away from social problems,” adds Karki.

Karki, who himself started this form of exercise in a cal­isthenics park in the United Kingdom, says he sees a pros­pect for more calisthenics parks in Kathmandu. “Con­ventionally, people see gym as synonymous with fitness but with calisthenics parks people can get better results than gym, and for free. Unlike gyms, calisthenics are suitable for people of all age groups.”

Setting up an outdoor calis­thenics park is fairly inexpen­sive. As it only requires steel beams and bar, the park can be set up in an area of 15-20 square meters with invest­ment of as little as Rs 100,000.

Shanti Park at Partitar is the only outdoor calisthenics park in Kathmandu

This kind of a park has had a salubrious impact in the whole community, says Karki, who is also a resident of the Partitar community in Boudha. “You see the kids as young as 20 months come with their par­ents to exercise. The elderly of the community use the park for morning walk and light exercise. It has created a positive notion of fitness and improved people’s perception of staying healthy.”

“It is a series of things,” says Karki when asked about how it has helped improve people’s health. “When they get into calisthenics they automatically become con­scious about their eating hab­its and inculcate a discipline. Thus they also stay away for social problems.”

Karki is working to set up more calisthenics park but says getting approval from the authorities has been a major hindrance. “We wanted to set up one at Narayan Chaur but getting an approval has been a hindrance. It seems that they do not see the health benefits or that they refuse to see the benefits of calisthenics pro­motion in our city.”

Karki says NYFC is open to any kind of help and support to promote calisthenics in Kathmandu.

I’ve just wasted an hour trying to convince people in a backpacking Facebook group that the Himala­yas ain’t no walk in the park. But have you noticed the majority of young, on-a-shoestring trekkers feel it’s not only perfectly safe, but part of the ‘experience’ to trek alone? Their come-back is pretty much that they should not have their trip spoilt by taking others along with them. Usually in these cases I suggest to at least take a porter—someone who knows the route, can predict (as far as possible) weather conditions, can go for help if necessary, and—here is a unique thought—whose income will go to support his family. But no; dare we use the word, millennials are not for this. And this is hardly countered by the trekking fraternity here who keep any accidents, missing per­sons, etc pretty much under wraps. I doubt very much, unless it’s some­one from their own hometown, very few people outside of Nepal hear about these incidents. Accidents and deaths while summiting Everest or other 8,000-ers are a different matter of course. These are usually widely known because the climb­ing community is small and often victims or their climb leaders are well-known. And then those back­packers turn round and say that mountaineering is a whole different ball game.

But gung-ho trekkers forget that mountaineers have prepared well, have climbed other high mountains and are generally in great shape with great support teams and equip­ment. Yet climbers understand the real dangers that mountains’ pose. Meantime, backpackers swap their flip-flops for trekking boots in Thamel and imagine that Himalayan trekking routes are very much like the mountain trails they have at home.

But even so; let’s take a quick look at the highest ‘mountain’ in the UK, Ben Nevis, situated in Scotland. Ben Nevis is—okay don’t laugh—1,345m in height. It takes approximately 3.5 to 5 hours to summit, and sees about 150,000 hikers every year. But Ben Nevis is a very fickle moun­tain where the weather closes in at exceptional speed. The mountain rescue people report that in 2017 they responded to 78 call outs and rescued 82 people. In 2016 they report 20 people died on the moun­tain. And that is with the hiking season of June to October.

So given this bit of a hill, less high than Kathmandu, sees this many deaths a year even with the excellent helicopter and dog rescue teams always on standby, what makes people think they can happily trek 4,000 or 5,000 metres in the Hima­layas without the mountains occa­sionally fighting back?

Gung-ho trekkers forget that mountaineers have prepared well, have climbed other high mountains and are generally in great shape

Are we in Nepal promoting trek­king as an easy thing? Something that anyone and everyone can do, and enjoy without much thought, planning or, potentially, negative outcome? If you go with an experi­enced trekking company or guide and know your own body’s limita­tions there is no reason why your trek shouldn’t be safe and enjoyable. But if you take a look at the trek­king websites, in order not to scare potential customers off, I feel a lot of less reputable agencies down-play how arduous trekking can be. And stretching the truth aside, let’s not forget what is an ‘easy’ or ‘moder­ate’ trek for your average mountain dweller or trekking guide is far from easy or moderate for your average office worker on their two week annual leave!

Then there is whole giving back to the local community angle. It doesn’t take a lot for tourists to work out that most of the trekking companies are Kathmandu based and the majority of the money does not go to communities they are trekking through, especially if it is a camping trek. So for some, this is another reason not to go with a registered agency or guide. The on-going question is how to address these issues. Trekking people, répondez s’il vous plait.

ArTree Nepal is hosting its second edition of Open Studio titled “Oppo­site Dreams-The Politics of Local” inside its premises at Tripureshwor. The exhibit, which runs through till Nov 17 from 11:00 am-5:00 pm every day, features works of Mekh Limbu, Hit Man Gurung, Lavkant Chaud­hary, Sheelasha Rajbhandari, Bikash Shrestha and Subhas Tamang.

The exhibition highlights the dis­regarded historical narrative of the marginalized, underprivileged and indigenous communities and draws attention to the importance of equal representation of diverse ethnic­ities, identities, cultures and lan­guages. The pieces on display make use of different mediums like stone and wood carving, terracotta pots, videos and lights to accentuate the theme of the exhibition.

Curator of this open studio and creator of the piece “Mahendra Mala” Subhas Tamang, says that he used stone carving to portray Mahen­dra Mala from the perspective of a Tamang who was forced to accept the mainstream and discriminatory account of his culture through the educational system established by the Panchayat-era government.

Mekh Limbu, creator of the piece “How I Forgot my Mother Tongue Language”, says that adoption of a single language—Nepali—in the cur­riculum resulted in the loss of many stories, memories and rituals that are associated with native languages of the indigenous communities.