Islamabad - For Ustad Daryian Khan, music is more than passion and never-failing friend which can comfort and calm uneasy soul. “I have devoted my life to music and the art of making musical instruments and want to spread a message of love, peace and happiness,” he said.
Daryian Khan, 50, who hails from Sohbat Pur area of Balochistan’s Jaffarabad district, is a skilled Dambora and Saroz maker and a musician. He learnt the art of making and playing Dambora (musical instrument) and Saroz (musical instrument) from his father Maula Bux and is determined to transfer the skill to his offspring. From his childhood he wanted to be in music, to be a performer and to be an expert in making the instruments and, according to him, all of his dreams came true. “I was hardly 10-year-old when I started work with my father. At a young age I excelled in making Dambora and Saroz and playing both the instruments,” Daryian Khan told The Nation at Lok Virsa.
Saroz (also called Suroz) is a bowed string instrument with a long neck is played vertically. The instrument has closed resemblance with fiddle or Sarangi. Baloch tribesmen consider it a national instrument whether they are living in Balochistan, Iran or in Afghanistan.
In Balochi language music and musical instrument are called ‘Saz’ while they call player as ‘Sazi’.
Dambora also known as Tanbur, a long-neck lutes is another instrument that Daryian Khan makes and plays. Dambora is the most commonly used musical instrument used in Balochi folk music. Daryian Khan has made instruments for famous Suroz players Shayan Khan and Sajju Khan.
“I have the honour of making and playing Saroz and Dambora not for myself but also for leading Baloch folk artists; people respect me for my profession,” said Daryian Khan who represents Jalabzai subsection of Baloch tribe.
According to the artisan it takes almost two weeks to make a Dambora or a Saroz which is sold between Rs 5000 and Rs 25000 in the market. The price depends over the size of instrument plus the quality of wood being used in it. “Two kinds of woods are used in making Dambora; one is ‘Parpog’ and the other is ‘Gaz’, both are grown in local mountains,” he said.
Ustad Daryian Khan said that he came to Lok Mela for promotion of his musical instruments and to perform on stage. “The way my son Rahmat Khan is learning this art I want all other Baloch children to learn this art,” he said. He said that in Balochistan the art of making and playing the instruments was never dying and he wished the promotion of Saroz and Dambora among non-Baloch people.
Through his art he could not earn bread and butter for his family, so he generates some revenue from the crops he grows in his field and the cattle he keeps in his home. He also attends marriages and other functions in his area if he is invited.