AN ARTISTIC collaboration between musicians Kerolin Govender and Zawadi Yamungu is hoped to inspire a spirit of unity in the country, following the recent unrest and related racial flare-up.
Govender, from La Lucia, and Yamungu, from KwaMashu, have been working together on musical projects for two years.
Said Govender: “We instantly connected at an event hosted by the Indian Consulate and ever since then, we have become good friends. We are both from two beautiful cultural backgrounds, exploring two unique artistic styles of music, but we have always experienced the same feeling on and off stage.
“Coming together and sharing our cultures and artistic styles have given us so much joy. We are learning so much from each other in celebrating our similarities and learning from the differences that make us unique. Fostering social cohesion is much deeper than just coming together and sharing from two cultural backgrounds. It’s about understanding the self and how we think as a human race, putting humanity first above all.”
Their latest collaboration was produced by Jivanmukta music and the videography was by Neorox productions.
“The song ,Vaishnava Janato, has a significant message that resonates with the aim of addressing the social issues that we have experienced. This song is set in a traditional bhajan style. The combination of both the isiZulu and Gujarati languages expressed together are seamless. The musical instrumentation used are the tanpura (harmonic drone), Pakawaj (barrel-shaped drum) and Manjira (cymbal).
“Vaishnava Janato is a 15th century Gujarati poem written by Narsinh Mehta. The poem speaks about the life, ideals and mentality of an ideal human being. During the unrest, this song serves as a reminder to us all about the responsibility we have in upholding the morals, values and integrity of humanity, where race, religion, language and social status are insignificant because the common thing that connects us is love.
“This devotional hymn became popular during the lifetime of Mahatma Gandhi and was rendered as a bhajan in his Sabarmati Ashram. It was popular among freedom fighters throughout India. Often sung by singers since then, it serves as the final song to end a concert and touch music lovers with the philosophical thought of poet Narsinh Mehta.”
Yamungu has been involved in indigenous African music for the past six years. She said she enjoyed collaborating with Govender.
“Kerolin and I have been working together for some time now. He has been teaching me to read Hindi and Tamil, and I have been teaching him to read isiZulu. Our collaborations have always aimed to boost the message of social cohesion. But, with this latest song, and especially considering the racial tension that has flared since the unrest, we hope to encourage unity and peace.
“Music has a tendency to heal. It can look at history and help us to move forward. This is a song to promote unity and social cohesion. We will record a video and incorporate traditional Indian and African musical instruments as well as dancers. We will do this via the K-Cap Arts Centre in KwaMashu under its director, Edmund Mhlongo.”
You can listen to this collaboration, and others by the duo, on the YouTube channel Kerolin Govender and also on Facebook pages: Jivanmukta, Kerolin Govender and Zawadi YaMungu.
