Marriages: Band parties sans sound

ROURKELA: Band Baaja Baraat, the three main ingredients that make a marriage fun have gone missing. The traditional instruments, euphonium, saxophone, trumpets and drums which once belted out the ‘Nagin’ tune with everyone swaying to the music are nowhere to be seen. DJs have made inroads into most family functions leaving the crew with little option but to look for other means of livelihood. The white and red uniform has been shed with most members eking out a living by roadside vending or other menial jobs. Selling gutkha on a pavement here, Basant Sahu recalls the good old days when band parties were an integral part of household celebrations. It is an irony of sorts that Sahu does business in front of the now defunct Munna Band. In the background, musical instruments including drums, saxophones, trumpets, horns, euphonium and trombones have gathered dust never put to use in the last eight years. Reminiscing the golden era, Sahu said the band members would wait for the wedding season from November to July and rehearse endlessly to get the note right. The high-pitched DJ music spoiled the show, he rued. Sahu was the manager of the band. A skinny trumpet player, Sukhadev Mallick laced with flutes and balloons can be seen attracting children in fairs and colonies playing a flute. Others have either migrated or do menial jobs. Sources said less than a dozen band parties, including New Munna Band, Calcutta Band, New Calcutta Band are struggling for survival amid dwindling patronage.