At 90, his music still mesmerises

Ninety-year-old Baba Kanshi Nath Jogi of Jhoral Nali village in Sirsa district of Haryana is a singer, musician and dancer par excellence.

While he has been singing since the age of 11, beginning in Lahore, the flute used by snake charmers is his favourite instrument. Requiring very strong lungs to play the been, one hardly comes by very old musicians playing it, however, Jogi still plays it with panache. "I have to go on to sustain myself,'' says Jogi, who is among the very few in the country who can sing Raag Bihag and Dakhni Raag. Besides, he is also the master of Sindhra, Tailang, Jog, Sindhi Jog, Khaival Sindhra, Multani Sindhra, Pahar, Jhhanjhoti Pahari, Dogri Pahari, Bhairavi, Barasuk, Sindhi Bhairavi, Malkauns and Bageshwari.

His family has been in the profession of music since seven generations, and while he admits, it isn't paying at all, he still has trained his son in it. Visibly upset about the 'near-nude' song performances on TV, he suggests that culturally-aware people should discourage such shows and make efforts to promote Punjabi culture. Jogi, who has performed four times in England in the presence of the representatives of 70 countries, has always preferred to live in India despite alluring offers from Punjabi communities living abroad.

Dr Gunam Singh of Punjabi University is making a documentary for Sant Sucha Singh archives of music on him for which Jogi has danced to the music of the been, dafli or tambourine and ghungroo or anklets after 40 years.

''It was the need of the hour to popularise original Punjabi music to younger generations,'' avers Jogi.