This Entrepreneur & Luthier From Meghalaya Aims To Offer Luthiery Trainings By Starting An Academy

Baishali ThapaMarch 3, 2022

Many people love working as a craftsman, ditching a 9 to 5 job working with their hands by shaping raw materials into something beautiful. Today’s entrepreneur story is about Markynsai Diengdoh, a luthier from Meghalaya. He is a craftsman who makes and repairs stringed instruments.

To know more about his journey as an entrepreneur, we had a short conversation with Markynsai

Please introduce yourself to the readers

My name is Markynsai Diengdoh. I was born on February, 28th, 1987 to my poor parents, Late Mr. Basandar L Nonglait and Mrs. Twelda Diengdoh in a remote village of Lawbyrtun in the erstwhile West Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya. I am the youngest among four siblings, three brothers, and a Sister. I didn’t have a good formal education when I was young but finished my Bachelor of Arts in History at Synod College, Shillong. My father was diagnosed with cancer when I was just six and passed away when I was just eight, so I didn’t remember him very well since he spent most of his time at Hospitals for treatment, but I did remember that he was a music lover especially Traditional Country and folk music.

He was a pious and religious man, a church leader, and a music teacher in the church. He taught us to never accept bribes or to bribe anybody, that’s the reason why he quit the job of a building contractor and chose to live a poor life as a farmer till his illness and death. Since Daddy’s illness and his death, I was raised and schooled by my mother, my eldest brother, Batkupar Diengdoh, and my Sister, Bankiewshait Diengdoh. As a family, we mostly lived in poverty. Now at 35 I am married to my beautiful wife, Memorable Iawphniaw, and blessed with three kids- two boys and a girl.

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Tell us about your business.

I started working as a luthier in the winter of 2019, before the covid-19 lockdown in the state. I founded Basandarson Luthiery as a tribute to my late father, who was my hero and who always is, and hence the name Basandarson. Here at Basandarson Luthiery, I build a variety of musical instruments ranging from Khasi Traditional musical instruments to Western acoustic and electric instruments like guitars (both six-string and twelve-string), mandolins, ukuleles, and instruments that are not available in Indian music shops and markets like the resonator guitar, steel guitar, the western banjo (that is used in Country music and Bluegrass) and many more. 

I also offer services to old and damaged factory-made instruments by repairing them as few people in our state do musical instruments repairing. It can also be mentioned here that while mostly factory-made instruments are made of laminated wood or ply, I handcraft them out of solid wood which gives my instruments a more unique sound.

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What was your driving force of inspiration in starting Basandarson Luthiery?

The First and foremost driving force of inspiration in founding Basandarson Luthiery is my love for Traditional Country Music and Bluegrass. When I first learned to differentiate the sound of different kinds of musical instruments, I learned that the instruments used in Country and Bluegrass have a very unique sound. There you can hear the sweet sound of fiddles, resonator guitars or steel guitars, banjos, mandolins, and so on.

The other driving force in poverty. Had I been born to a rich family, I would have purchased these instruments from abroad but being poor is in itself a blessing in disguise. It helped me try to find ways and means to build these instruments for myself and I believe with hard work and by the Grace of God, I could make the almost seemingly impossible job a possible one.

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What were the challenges that you face during the initial stage?

The greatest challenge is the lack of formal training in luthiery, as there is no school of luthiery in the state and I can say there are few in the whole of India too. For me becoming a luthier is out of passion and hard work. I had to do a lot of research through YouTube and many luthiers’ websites. But then again through hard work, dedication, passion for the job, sacrifice, and by the Grace of God, I am who I am today. 

Starting a luthiery business is not an easy job; you have to buy working tools, musical accessories, and so on. Besides that most of the accessories or parts are shipped from outside the country, be it from China, Japan, Europe, or the USA, there are no Indian factories that manufacture accessories like fret wires, truss rods, pickups, and even good tuning pegs. All of these have to be purchased through online markets which costs a lot of money. It is a problem that I still face today as a luthier.

What is the main goal of your startup?

As a luthier, the main goal is to provide high-quality handcrafted instruments be it in build or sound, and also to make available to local musicians the instruments that are not manufactured in Indian factories and that cost a lot of money when buying from abroad.

Any wow moment you would like to share.

Building my first instrument had not been a very good experience but in the summer of 2020 after a few builds and with more experience, I had one of my acoustic guitars and a banjo tested by a professional Musician named Moonlight Tynthai (who graduated from Trinity College, London) and got positive feedbacks and comments. That was the most amazing and satisfactory moment in my life.

What are your future plans?

(i) To start an academy or school of luthiery or a training institute, though it might take time and costs a lot of money

(ii) To provide employment opportunities to our people especially the youth and I hope that if I had the right investors I would start the academy at the earliest where our youth can start earning their livelihood through luthiery, especially in a society where employment opportunity is scarce.

(iii) To make Basandarson Luthiery one of the musical instrument brands in the country and even outside India.

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Please share a message for future entrepreneurs and our readers.

When you have a dream to do or achieve something, don’t let others talk you out of it. Everything seems impossible until it is done.

Always have passion, hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and humility, and always trust in God!

We thank Markynsai for sharing his journey and rendering a wonderful message for the readers. We also wish him all the best for his future endeavours.