Who plays 12 madals simultaneously  will be discussed here in details. How many Madals can one person play simultaneously? One, two…five? Is it more difficult than this? of course Sarada Dangol is the instrumentalist who overcame this difficulty. She can play a dozen madals at once. His talent is to tune 12 different sized Madals.

It was not easy for Sharda, who has been playing Madal for two decades, to establish herself as an instrumentalist. Despite the desire and good fortune, the society sometimes got in the way. Still stuck. ‘I like to fly like a bird. It depends only on the dreams you have seen. But for a woman to decide her own life means to climb a big mountain in this society,’ said 36-year-old Sharda.

He is not one of those people who are shocked at the sight of mountains. The stoppages kept coming, she pushed on and on.
Born in Kathmandu’s New Road, Sharda’s Madal was closely associated with Sino School. She was studying in eighth grade. In one of the rooms of the school, the sound of madal banging hit his ears. One day she went to see. There was an instructor and some students playing Madal, all boys. Madal’s melody became thick in Sarada’s child mind. Chulbule Mana sat in Madal. The dream of the future crashed into Madal’s lake.

I also wanted to play Madal. I went to class the next day, the teacher gave me permission,’ said Sarada. His school taught him how to play various instruments including Madal. Nhuche Bahadur Dangol was the coach. Nhuche Bahadur is a famous instrumentalist who plays 26 madals simultaneously. He has earned fame by playing Madal in different places of the country and abroad.

Two decades ago, when she started playing Madal with Nhuche Bahadur, Sharda’s heart stayed on it. ‘In the society we live in, it was not easy for a daughter to be allowed to play Madal. But I got the support of my parents since the school taught me,’ she said. His uncle bought him the first dress of his life. His joy knew no bounds when he got the award. And she started learning more at home. She dedicated herself to Madal and her sadhana.

After passing her SLC, Sarada wanted to study music. Parents’ wish was that their daughter should study science. Sarada did not want to go against her parents’ wishes and enrolled in science. Even though I didn’t study music, I never stopped playing Madal. I worked very hard,’ she said.

In the morning she used to play Madal. She used to go to college at ten o’clock. She was sharp in studies. After getting good results in the proficiency level, she studied pharmacy in graduation. Even at that time she continued to play Madal. Playing madal was his sadhana, it became a part of life.

She also achieved good results in pharmacy subject. Now she is in the profession according to her studies. Madal has become a part of his life! In the early days, it was difficult to incorporate this part of life. ‘At first it was difficult to understand Madal’s language. Had to learn to tune out. I used to play till my hands bleed,’ she remembers.

Coach Nhuchche Bahadur taught him the language of Madal, i.e. tune, from one Madal. He taught me how to play many Madals at the same time, doing one, two, three. Sarada gave both diligence and hard work. And she could play 12 Madals simultaneously. Sarada also plays Dhime. It was taught by Nhuche Bahadur. At that time the Guthi of Tol used to teach the boys to play dhime. Sharada also felt the urge to play the song. She reached Guthi and asked, but did not get approval.

The people of Guthi said that a girl should not touch the dhime,’ she said, ‘later I requested the Guru. He taught.’ While learning Madal, not only the page of Sarada’s musical life was written, but also the story of love was written. There were five boys in the Madal learning class. Sarada fell in love with one of them, Vinay Maharjan. Vinay used to play flute.

Later, Vinay was invited to China by a Chinese citizen to play flute music. Sarada also reached China with Madal along with Vinay. At that time, she had just enrolled to study pharmacy. It was an opportunity for Sarada to go to China to play Madal. If I go, I will miss the study, if I don’t go, I will miss the opportunity!
If I had not gone at that time, the opportunity would have been missed. Even though I left my studies, I went,” she said, “to a place called Lichang, like Thamel in Nepal.

The Chinese had a house, like an art gallery. I played Madal right there.’ After four months in China, she returned. His parents were unhappy that he missed his studies. Again she enrolled in pharmacy and completed her studies.

Love relationship with Vinay went on. Fourteen years later, Sarada and Vinay gave their love the form of marriage. How the music was broken in the wedding of the couple who was sung by the music. Sharada also played Madal at her wedding.

Under no circumstances does she stay away from Madal. After all, what makes Sarada play Madal? She says, ‘When I was learning, I used to play only with my hands. Now I play with emotion. Playing it is also a feeling. I have an emotional connection with Madal.’

She also formed a band playing Madal while playing. Once he met singer Ani Chhoeing Dolma. Ani wanted to teach the girls the instrument. On her own wish, Sharda formed a group of five people. Ani took a rented room in Lazimpat and arranged for a coach. There the trainees learned to play Madal, Sarangi and Flute.

They named their group ‘Shritara Band’. But after a few months the trainees stopped attending regularly. Ani also shook her hand. Sarada did not back down. She invited the interested ones to her house and taught them how to play Madal. She completed one level of practice. Apprentices learned but did not play the instrument. He has a complaint about it.

Although the members were few, Sritara Band was not disbanded. Even after marriage, she ran the band. She also organized a band program at her own expense. Over time, the friend left. The band relaxed. Sarada says, ‘If there was a little support from friends, maybe the band would have reached a higher level by now, but it could not be run.’ The band didn’t last but Sadhak Sarada didn’t agree.

He registered the organization 6 years ago with the name ‘Ghintang Nepal’. She taught me how to play Madal. She also gave training in schools. Those who play Madal never stop their hands.

Sharda has established the identity of a successful Madalvadak. But there is no shortage of critics. On top of that, she says that there are a lot of people who lie about being a woman. ‘For me playing many Madals at once, I get comments on the clothes I wear, my hair and even my participations.

I have to keep answering,’ she said, ‘In the Newar tradition of Kathmandu, women should not touch the Newari instrument. Playing is very different. Who comes to learn from you rather than I teach others and says.’

She wants to answer all these by teaching Madal to more and more girls. She wants to coordinate between Kathmandu Metropolitan City and her organization Ghintang Nepal to teach free. She says that she is ready to provide training if the ward of the metropolis provides the place and salary.

Some people still say to her that she has already played Madal, ‘stop playing Madal and take care of the pharmacy’. Some even say ‘knowing more’. It is sometimes late at night to return home from such events. In this way, she gets into trouble and gets criticized. That’s why she says that she stays late and comes back. Daughters-in-law have their own problems. “Society has many questions about daughters-in-law,” says Sharda, “We women need rights that apply not only in words, but in practice.”

Nowadays relatively more women play Dhime. According to him, some women had to rebel because of this. She says that most of them learned in the family. That’s why Sharada sometimes feels that the issue of women’s freedom is limited to slogans – one has to struggle so much to play the instrument, how can one believe that women are free? But he is not one to be daunted by the mountain of difficulties. Stoppages keep coming, she keeps moving forward.

She wants to make Shritara band active along with Ghintang Nepal. Through this, there is a desire to revive the tradition of playing Madal, which is disappearing. ‘For conservation, we should play our instruments on all cultural occasions,’ Sharda, who plays 12 Madals simultaneously, wishes, ‘even if it is only one, let the number of people playing our instruments increase!’.

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