A.P Chandarana: The Kenyan of Indian Heritage who Help Protect Indigenous Cultures Through Music
The Nairobi-Kisumu highway passes through my hometown. Between an old tiny colonial building that houses KCB and another that houses Standard Chartered bank, there is a road that breaks away from the main highway and quietly leads you into the town.
When you take this road, you will find a roundabout that branches off to the left and the right. If you keep on the road that branched off from the main highway, you will find a tiny building on your left. The building has colonial architecture but not the kind influenced by the British or Indians. No, this building was built by the indigenous people. You can tell because it has a standard native design found in most rural centers across Kipsigis land.
One significant trait of the design is windows. It does not have windows. The Kipsigis never had too much care for windows. Even if they did have windows, they were tiny, nothing too big or too fancy. You know the design is Kipsigis because those who built it designed large wooden doors that served as doors and windows.
On this particular side of the building, you will find a group of men playing checkers, a woman selling sweet bananas. Then an open space leading to a doorway. Then past the doorway, more vendors. No one ever sets up their makeshift stall on the pathway leading to the door. Even when the shop is closed, of which it is always closed. You never find anyone blocking the door.
Now, the doorway is an opening to a music shop and a historic one for that. Chandarana recording studio is where precolonial African music from Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda was recorded. Musicians came from across Africa to have A.P Chandarana record their music.
Chandarana was also known for having the highest quality of music instruments in East and Central Africa. Those who took music seriously would purchase musical instruments from him.
Throughout his career, Chandarana was a skillful producer who played a critical role in the creation of the Kenyan music sound. As respect to the indigenous people he worked with and to their cultures, he helped the African musicians produce sounds unique to their heritage. That is why Benga from Bomet is different from Benga from Kisumu. The respect he had for African cultures is so deep he never imposed his Indian heritage on the musicians. You will never hear benga music from the 1950s that have Indian influences. They are all strictly ethnic-specific.
Dr. Mordecai Ogada recounts;
I’ve read so much about this man, that I’ll forever regret not having met him. Chandarana is the reason why the early Dholuo Benga scene thrived completely divorced from Nairobi. Kericho was right next to Nyanza and he provided top quality equipment and production services. Unlike the mzungu producers of the time, Chandarana had a small studio which enhanced sound quality. This also meant that singers could stand slightly back from microphones, and crucially for Luo musicians, this controlled the sibilance from the missing six bottom teeth! It may seem like a small issue today, but back then the mzungu producers would bully them and force them to wear dentures (belonging to the studio!!) while singing to eliminate the whistle
Creating music in your language, using ethnic influences and musical style was an act of defiance. Every aspect of Kenyan life was infiltrated by the British in an attempt to change our ways of life. Chandarana gave natives a physical space where they could be themselves without feeling threatened. A space where they could preserve their heritage, express their creativity, and forge new identities through creating and recording music.
In Kericho, Chandarana is known as babu! Just that! Babu. I got to know his name from Google. To differentiate him from other Babus in the town, we called him yule Babu wa music shop. We had Babu wa Bata; Babu wa wholesale; Babu wa nyanya (nyanya was this old Indian lady who would sit outside their shop). The way we describe the older generation in my town whether Asian, Kipsigis, Luo, or Kikuyu highlights the social connections that exists within the community. A community that took colonial policies that meant to alienate them and turned it around to build a new identity that went beyond the colour of their skin and the languages they spoke. Forced by circumstance to redefine who they were, our grandparents and great-grandparents forged relationships based on mutual respect. That is why, where I come from, when we speak to our elders we respect the pre-existing relationships that our great-grandparents and grandparents nurtured while fighting against subjugation and oppression.
Before Kericho became a county. Before it became the center for the county government administration. Before people from other parts of the country came in pursuit of a share of the green gold. It was a small town with tightly knit social relations rooted in mutual respect, friendship, and kinship.
When I think of the social connections in my hometown, it makes me challenge the use of the term racism to define prejudice that exists within the Kenyan society. Racism implies power and racial dominance, which is not valid for minorities, especially minorities who were forced to come to Africa to be indentured servants or slaves.
Remember, you cannot demand respect. You have to build relationships that foster respect. Thus, when you think of strained relations within your community, think about the nature of your interaction. Think about how you are examining your identity as your towns and villages transition to multicultural communities.
That said, next time you listen to Sauti sol. Next time you dance to Benga, Kenyan Afropop, or Ohangla. Next time you marvel over Daudi Kabaka, Kipchamba, and Sal Davis. Think of Chandarana, the Kenyan man of Indian heritage from a tiny town in the middle of nowhere who made it all possible.
Update: The building that housed Chandarana Records has been torn down. Chandarana Records and the music Chandarana produced has become an important part of Kipsigis, Luo,Luhya, and Kamba cultures. Also, it is the foundation of contemporary Kenyan music
