Friday, Jan 31, 2014
New Delhi
They wear bright, shiny uniforms, play the instruments like professionals and add glory to a celebration. In the marriage season the bandwallahs (musicians in marching bands) can often be spotted traversing on foot or riding on tempos to reach the venues. An integral part of north Indian weddings, they are not only a reminder of the past, but also hold a contemporary appeal.
Sadly, though the immaculately dressed bandwallah adds a glamour quotient to a wedding, his own life is no song and dance. They include labourers who migrate in large groups from neighbouring states and play at weddings.
Dressed in a grey worn-out jacket and trousers, Ravi, a farmer from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh state, goes unnoticed riding his bicycle in an east Delhi bylane. He enters a shop.
Ten minutes later, he walks out dressed as a bandwallah, complete with red-white-golden suit, a matching hat and black shoes. Children begin admiring him and people passing by give him a second look. The transformation will soon earn him an extra buck.
Others follow. And within half-an-hour, the team of 20 bandwallahs is ready to leave the dingy lane to add fervour to a wedding happening at a nearby well-decked apartment block. Their arrival will mark the beginning of the noisy spell that accompanies a marriage.
Changing times
Ravi checks his instrument. “I have been playing the flute for the last seven years. Every season, I become a part of the bandwallah tribe in the capital and earn a decent amount. But no one in my family knows that I am a bandwallah,” he reveals.
He does not want his son to follow his footsteps. “I have admitted him into an English-medium school and want a bright future for him. Being the sole bread-earner of the family, I have lot of responsibilities, including marrying two younger sisters,” he says.
Ravi often thinks of them when the band plays Meri pyaari beheniya bane gi dulhaniya or Mehndi laaga ke rakhna, doli sajaa ke rakhna, the Bollywood hit numbers.
Incidentally, the music of the 60s, 70s and 80s remains an all-time favourite with them and also people attending the weddings.
“But unlike the past, the new generation prefers the DJ and do not dance when we play the instruments,” rues 55-year-old Sheeshpal, who plays the drum. He retired from Delhi Transport Corporation four years ago and his sons are doctors and engineers. Though Sheeshpal leads a comfortable life no one can stop him from playing the drum at marriages.
“It is not for money. Playing the instrument has been my hobby for the last 14 years. Even while in service, I would become a bandwallah after office hours, even though my wife and children always dissuaded me.”
So, is the concept of bandwallahs, earlier a “must have”, now under threat? “Not really. The band has always accompanied the marriage procession on the road and outside the marriage venue, whereas the DJ plays inside the premises. The two can never substitute each other and the traditional still prefer the bandwallahs,” Jankidas, a cloth merchant, who plays the trumpet, says. No wonder, their services dot numerous colonies all over the city. Shiv Mohan, Sai Brass, New Prabhat, Jai Hind and Jitendra Band, are preoccupied taking bookings. Provided a basic training, with the bandmaster giving instructions, for the men playing the drum, trumpet and flute, it is not a permanent job, as work is not steady.
A bandwallah recalls the time when he used to accompany his father to railway stations and airports to receive wedding guests. “But now, even walking on the roads is difficult because of the traffic,” he said, adding, “Whatever people may say, as long as there is unemployment, people will join a band.”
And as long as lavishness and splurge continue at weddings, the bandwallahs’ glory and future remain secure.
By Nilima Pathak Correspondent
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
