"Mera pehla naal 30kg ka tha aur main 20kg ka tha,"A native of Samastipur, Arjun inherited the love for music from his self-taught father Pandit Lakshmikant Chaudhary.

PATNA: Ask even a child what is a trumpet or a bagpipe, and he will promptly come up with the description of the instrument. But ask him if he knows of 'pipihi', and his response would be definitely of bewilderment. Even many of the elderly do not know that 'pipihi', 'dagar dhol' and 'janam dhol' are some of the intrinsic instruments belonging to the ancient musical heritage of Bihar. However, they have slipped into oblivion with the passage of time and due to the onslaught of foreign melody on ours. This angers Arjun Chaudhary. "People are pretty well informed of guitar, drum and trumpet but are clueless about 'veena', 'pakhawaj' and 'pipihi'," he says.

This man in his early 40s can be frequently seen acquiring a corner on the stage with his 'naal' and 'tabla' while noted singers like Sharda Sinha, Vindhyavasini Devi, Pandit Shyam Das Mishra, Pandit Balram Ram and Barali Bandhu regale the audience with their musical rendition - to the accompaniment of Chaudhary's tabla, of course. What agonizes Chaudhary is not the fact that he is provided a corner seat but the increasing disuse of indigenous musical instruments that once spoke tall of Bihar's rich tradition.

A native of Samastipur, Arjun inherited the love for music from his self-taught father Pandit Lakshmikant Chaudhary. As a child he saw musicians at his village play the 'naal' and from that instance he developed a fascination for 'naal'. "Mera pehla naal 30kg ka tha aur main 20kg ka tha," he quipped.

His passion for ancient musical instruments took him to every nook and corner of the state, the avowed aim being excavating the dying tradition. "While travelling I once came across nonagenarian Sumarit Goswami who plays 'iktara' in traditional folk style. May he live long," Chaudhary prayed as he said few, if any, 'iktara' players were seen these days.

'The Rhythm of Bihar', a musical group of senior instrument players of Bihar, is the brainchild of Chaudhary. The group members are skilled to play 15 ancient instruments such as 'dafli', 'nagara', 'mandar', 'jhaal' and 'pakhawaj' which through their various rhythms create beautiful canvas portraying the culture, the change of seasons and the rituals like marriage and childbirth. The team gave its debut performance at the Commonwealth Games - 2010 in New Delhi.

Chaudhary wishes to see 'The Rhythm of Bihar' perform at an international platform so as to let the whole wide world know about Bihar's rich musical heritage. He also wishes to organize an exhibition of the dying instruments so as to arouse people's interest in them. For now, meanwhile, he is busy chronicling the details of the art of playing these instruments so that the ancient tradition may be preserved for the coming generations. For, he regrets, there's no text which has even a passing reference to the state's indigenous musical instruments.