Mahmood, a clarinet player, told Dawn that he had been attached with the profession for the past 21 years during which he had never faced such an economic crisis that he had been seeing for the last few months. He said his monthly income had shrunk to Rs2,500 to 3,500 from Rs5,000 to 7,000.
Unable to meet expenses of his seven children, five of them schoolgoing, he said every day he comes to Multan from Khanewal in the hope that he would get work and earn some money to run his kitchen. But most of the days were passing without work, he said, with every coming day tougher than the previous.
He said people seemed no more interested in hiring his service and as he knew no other skill, he had decided to do labour but that, too, was not easily available.
Saeed Ahmad, who has been running a band for a good 15 years, said he joined the profession when he was only eight and had come to the shop along with his grandfather.
According to him, people would hire a band for Rs500 to Rs1,000 until a few years ago and even today they were offered a maximum of Rs1,000, thanks to diminishing purchasing power.
And as Rs5 currency note had been reissued, few people give them Rs10 notes (in addition to the amount settled with the band for a performance).
He said: “Usually a band consists of 10 people, including four drummers, two pipers, one instrument keeper and one instructor.” He said people did not pay them reasonable charges for their services and even not provide them pick-n-drop service, though they spend lavishly on weddings.
Many had left the profession and others were following the suit for they were no more a public demand.