Nepali band raises money for Swiss charity

After the devastating earthquake in 2015, the Nepali classical musical band Sukarma travelled to Switzerland to perform concerts to raise money for reconstruction back home.

This time, the folk-classical musical trio went back to southern Switzerland to raise money for relief and reconstruction for the damage caused by massive storms and floods there in June — possibly the first time Nepalis have reciprocated for Swiss assistance over the past six decades.

“It was truly an honour, and a proud moment for us as Nepalis that we could give back to the Swiss people in their own time of need,” said Dhrubesh Chandra Regmi, the renowned Nepali sitarist and founder of Sukarma, on return to Kathmandu after his concert tour. 

As the name of the band itself implies, it is all about earning good karma points, and proof that help does not always have to be one-sided. Sukarmal's renowned tabla maestro Atul Gautam died in 2005 of brain hemorrhage. Flutist and Grammy award nominee Manose Newa was also a part of Sukarma at one time.

Sukarma was founded in 1997, has performed often in Europe and several times in the southern part of Switzerland on behalf of Kam For Sud, the Swiss non-profit working on education, health and ecology projects in Nepal, especially after the 2015 earthquake. 

This time, Sukarma’s Europe tour included two concerts on 6-7 September in Maggia and Mesocco in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland that was devastated by storms and landslides in late June. Four people were killed when rivers burst their banks on the southern side of the Alps. 

The concerts were held at the church of S. Maria delle Grazie in Maggia and S. Maria del Castello in Mesocco, and Sukarma performed together with the four-member choir Vocalia known for its  Romanesque diphonic singing.

“Sukarma has always stood for using music as a source of harmony, compassion and togetherness,” Regmi told Nepali Times. “So it was natural for us to return the generosity the Swiss people showed Nepal after the earthquake. The concerts were a symbol of solidarity and mutual help.”

The concerts were organized by Kam For Sud, which had invited Sukarma several times to Switzerland to raise money for its activities in Nepal. But after hearing about the storms that ravaged Ticino, Regmi expressed the desire to perform for Switzerland in return.

“All three of us in the band felt a strong urge to share our music in solidarity with the Swiss people who had in the past shown tremendous support for Nepal during our disaster,” Regmi noted.

Sukarma is made up of Regmi on sitar, Yati Raj Adhikari on violin and Jagannath Dhaugoda on tabla and madal (pictured). The band has performed in Nepal and around the world to spread its message of harmony and peace through music. 

Both concerts at the Swiss churches served as a moving demonstration of the deep ties between Nepal and Switzerland, with Sukarma’s music symbolising unity and support across borders. The Alps and the Himalayan are both at risk from the impacts of climate breakdown and the extreme weather events as a result.

Glaciers are shrinking and receding in both mountain ranges, affecting water supply in the two countries as well as downstream. There have been unseasonal heat waves melting the ice cap on the Alps and unleashing severe storms like the one in June, while the Himalaya have suffered successive winter droughts and record-breaking rainfall.

Says Regmi: “Our music is also a call for humanity to live in harmony with nature, so that the ecological balance of Mother Earth can be restored.”