Mandu’s flute man, winning fans with his raw talent

INDORE: He is often seen in a dishevelled dress and a bright-coloured turban, roaming around in the pavilions of Baz Bahadur’s or Rani Rupmati’s mahal, or simply walking down the streets of Mandu. He sings melancholies and plays his pawli (a handamade two-foot bamboo flute) for hours in a trance-like state after having consumed mahua. Meet Ramesh Bhili, a tribal resident of Mandu’s Nadlalpura area, who is famous by the name of ‘Madhosh’ among locals.Despite his uncivilized ways and his capricious personality, spectators soak into his wildness when he pours out folk songs and love stories of Rani Rupmati and Baaz Bahadur in Bhiili dialect.
He is representative of music in its purest form, far from jarring music of the civilized world. He is not a musical maestro doling out concert passes. Tourists who are drawn to his tunes come and listen for a while, and drop a few pennies happily before leaving.
Ishit Bawania, a freelance photographer from Dhar, who has photographed him on various occasions said, “Ramesh has been singing and playing for more than two decades. Hailing from a tribal family with a flair for music, his traditions are deeply embedded into his consciousness. He sings songs of festivity, mourning, of the Narmada, all in his dialect”.
It’s a pity that a talent like his is not being recognized. Amlan Tripathy, Commissioner of the Income Tax Department in Hyderabad, who has been a listener of this man’s mystical tunes, said, “I was fortunate to make a thirty-five day visit to Dhar last year during the monsoon season for some work. When I finished my work, I decided to go around and visit Mandu, when its touristic beauty was at its peak. During one such magical morning of my stay, I saw this man appear out of nowhere on the baradari (pavilion) of Rani Rupmati, playing a whimsical tune on his flute. I was not as much carried away by his intoxicated state, but more by his intoxicating music echoing in my ears.” He said that Ramesh’s personality is incoherent, but when his flute does the talking, it’s in perfect harmony as he sings songs as if ‘memorized by heart.’