Indian music comes to yoga center

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The instruments are made of wire, clay and metal. The musicians sing or chant. The music they play is thousands of years old and has been passed down for 37 generations in an oral tradition. For the most part, they cannot read or write. They are the Merasi—musicians drawn from the “untouchables” of India.

On Saturday, a small troupe will present a concert of their traditional folk music at One Ocean Yoga in Bridgehampton. The performance is part of a month-long tour designed to preserve their musical heritage and to raise money and awareness to help secure their future.

Besides the social station that generates it, Merasi music differs from classic Indian music because of the instruments. They are banned from using the same instruments as those in higher castes, and are not permitted to play sitars or instruments with strings made from any part of an animal.

Instead, the Merasi developed their own instruments made from found objects. Wire is bent and molded into a string instrument that sounds like squiggly lines wiggling. A clay water pot is used for percussion when it’s tapped with a ring or as a wind instrument through the breath of the musician. Bamboo sticks are rapped against the edge of a metal pan filled with water. Mouth harps and hand cymbals are used. So is a harmonium made of natural materials.

Instruments are passed from performer to performer. A single female dancer helps weave a sense of joy into the sounds. Balancing metal pots on her head as she moves would not be unusual. The troupe dresses in bright colors and traditional ceremonial garb.

Back home, members of the Merasi learn how to hum even before they speak, said Karen Lukas, executive director of Folk Arts Rajasthan, who has organized the United States tour. Traditionally, learning music and the songs of their ancestors has been the only formal training they have had.

Songs are passed from parent to child in an oral history dating back more than 3,000 years, she said. The toys the children have to play with are musical instruments, said Sarwar Khan, the director of the Local Folk Arts Society in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, in India. Music is made with cans, with spoons and with found wire.

“The children learn how to hum before they learn to talk,” she said. “This is how they communicate. Merasi means musicians and they are the musicians of India.”

Sometimes the music the Merasi play is just for them—their songs celebrate rituals of joy when children are born or upcoming weddings. There are songs for female celebrations and songs for males, although it is mostly the men who sing. There are songs for gathering everyone together. The words can be chanted or sung. Voices are raised in solos or in harmony. The music also includes sacred songs sung for their masters, who may be Hindu, Muslim, Sufi or Catholic.

The Merasi music knows no caste and speaks to everyone, Mr. Khan said. The music they play is ancient and sacred and goes directly to the heart of those who hear it. Its power to transform and to uplift translates immediately, even if the actual words are not understood.

“The music follows the heartbeat and is understood by the heart,” he said.

The Merasi (as they have named themselves) live in the desert of northwestern India in Jaisalmer. In their rural location, caste system discrimination is still strong despite laws designed to prevent it, said Ms. Lukas. Most of all, the Merasi hope to be treated with dignity and respect by those around them, and to have the chance to improve their living conditions. Running water, education and knowing they will not be victims of violence because they are “untouchable” are not givens.

“In the United States, there is big freedom and we are treated with dignity and respect here,” Mr. Khan said. “We feel we are human and not animals and we have something to offer. What we have is our music. It has been passed down for 37 generations. We would like to preserve our music and build for our future.”

India’s rapid modernization is threatening the future of their music, Ms. Lukas explained. As the culture shifts, the Merasi’s traditional jobs are disappearing and they need to gain new skills and education, said Caitlie Whelan, the educational director of Folk Arts Rajasthan and the Merasi School. Such lessons might be as simple as learning math skills to calculate change at the market and understanding how money functions.

The Merasi and the Hearts with Hope 2 tour is making a stop at One Ocean Yoga on the recommendation of Jane Umanoff of Amagansett. She met Ms. Lukas five years ago when she was a decorative painter working in the Hamptons. By that time, Ms. Lukas had already been to India, met Mr. Khan and been introduced to the Merasi and had begun forming the organizations that are now in place to assist them.