Associate Professor of Asian Studies, University of Hawaii-Manoa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OSqseQQkPs In these days of social distancing we're all far away from each other--if only we could move our homes "a fishbone's width apart" as the song says. Missing you all! This recording is from August 19, 2011, at Nirmaya Rodhi Club, and I'm singing dohori with Badri Pangeni, with the help of Shila Ale,… Continue reading Dohori with Badri Pangeni: Timlai Tadha Malai Ni Tadha (8/19/2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncR7pkwjMb8&t=44s Nepali workers in Bahrain, including a nightclub owner, performers, truckers, and manual laborers, rely on popular music to get them through their days and nights. For the accompanying article of mine that tells more of their story from 2010, please see: Popular Music among Nepalis in Bahrain: Nightclubs, Media, Performance, and Publics, In David… Continue reading What Keeps Us Company: Nepali Popular Music in Baharain (2010)
The documentary film about Khusiram Pakhrin that Bhakta Syangtan and I made, Singing A Great Dream, won two awards at the Darbhanga International Film Festival on February 9, 2020. We're excited and honored! Here's the trailer: https://vimeo.com/364925937 And the poster:
CFP for a special issue of the journal Religions on Music, Sound, and the Sacred, edited by me! https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/music Dear Colleagues, This Issue of Religions addresses music and sound as integral parts of religious and spiritual expression. Inviting approaches inspired by the robust work on music, sound, and religious practice in ethnomusicology, anthropology, sound studies, and… Continue reading CFP: Music, Sound, and the Sacred
The Record asked for an article on Teej and Komal Oli, and I was happy to oblige. The article, Nachna Jaana Paam, can be found in its entirety on The Record's website, with more photos and video links. The gist: "Song words are important, and so is the dancing that the songs inspire. It can… Continue reading Nachna Jaana Paam: Thoughts on Komal Oli’s Teej Songs and Dancing
I'm thrilled that my book on dohori song, Singing Across Divides: Music and Intimate Politics in Nepal, has won the Bernard S. Cohn Prize for first books on South Asia, from the Association for Asian Studies. In this conversation with the AAS's #AsiaNow blog, I talk about interesting aspects of dohori, obstacles as learning experiences… Continue reading Bernard S. Cohn Book Prize
Translation of a report by Sewa Bhattarai from June 1, 2017, on BBC Nepali. Although Nepali communists today refer to the 1950 overthrow of the Rana regime and establishment of democracy as "change" rather than "revolution," members of the Nepali Congress refer to this change as revolution. At this juncture, as well as in the… Continue reading “Revolutionary Songs” of the Anti-Rana Movement
When I do pay attention to the literary study of songs, it's this kind of attention to the sonic aspects of lyrics that piques my interest.
मैले लोक संस्कृति पत्रिकालाई दिएको अन्तरवार्ता १) तपाँईले नेपाली भाषा कसरी सिक्नु भयो? सान २००० (२०५७) मा, अमेरिकन विद्यार्थीहरू नेपालमा पढ्ने कार्यक्रममा आएँ। त्यस कार्यक्रममा हामीलाई दिनको ४ घन्ता नेपाली सिकायो, साथमा नेपालको अन्य विषयहरू। अनि अन्तिममा एक महिनाको अनुसन्धान गर्नु पर्यो, र मैले शास्त्रिया संगीतको बारेमा अनुसन्धान गरेँ। यो ४ महिनाको बसाईमा मैले धेरै… Continue reading नेपाली पत्रकारहरू कृपया पहिले यहि हेर्नुहोला
"After Jagat Shah was killed in action during a revolt against King Mahendra's government in 1962, Rashmi Rajya stayed in Calcutta as a political refugee before she committed suicide in full bridal wear a day before Teej of the same year. The poem was penned during that time in memory of her husband."
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