Music with its unlimited manifestations has forever been a source of both inspiration and bafflement. History talks about tunes that induced sleep and compositions that summoned rain-bearing clouds and in pre-Independence India, music was used as a weapon in the hands of freedom fighters and activists, who used songs to
express dissent and build mass resistance against oppressors. A large number of these forgotten songs have either been preserved in the memory of people from those times or in memoirs and the voice of people like Sumanagala Damodaran whose recently released album, Songs of Protest, brought back the momentous 1940s.
Damodaran, an associate professor at Ambedkar University Delhi, has been involved in research and documentation of Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and the forgotten musical tradition of the 1940s and 50s. Her album, produced and managed by Indian Ocean’s Susmit Sen blends an impeccable mix of the songs of revolt in contemporary style with modern instruments. She informs about it, saying, “This, my debut album, it has nine tracks in four languages, Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali and Punjabi — the languages spoken in regions where the protests and uprisings happened. These are based on a particular repertoire from Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), which was formed during the vibrant phase of Indian history.”
Sumangala has performed, documented and archived IPTA’s works and talking about the challenges involved in recreating something so momentous, she says, “The basic challenge was to retain the old charm with a contemporary feel without corrupting the original. It’s our history and we couldn’t afford to tamper with it. These songs deal with subjects like famine and hunger which are still very relevant today and we added contemporary musical instruments to establish a connection with the young audience.”
While Sumangala provides the vocals, Asmit has arranged music and talking about his experience, he says, “My cousins were involved in the Naxal movement of Bengal so it brought back certain memories of the past and I feel these compositions have it in them to be popular.”