Gabbah Shareef Bhalwan
Member
- Messages
- 237
Dear Bhangra Teams Forum Community!:
It’s been a while. Good to see that this site is still active. It’s always been a great community.
Some of you may know me from the past as a sometimes scholar of Punjabi dance and dhol traditions, though my main focus has been elsewhere recently. For those who don’t know me, for the entire 2000s I was working on documenting these traditions mainly in Indian Punjab (while also paying attention to Pakistan and some of the Punjabi diaspora). My focus was/is on the traditional dholis, documenting their lifestyles, the applications and the cultural meanings of dhol. I was a shagird of late ustad Garib Dass (though I am not much of a dhol player these days!). I’ve published articles on bhangra, jhummar, sammi, Punjabi musician communities, etc.
Now has come the time when I’ll be writing a book about dhol. It needs to be relatively short and focused, so it won’t include all of my past research findings, but rather it will be more about the evolving tradition of dhol and its implications for Punjabi identity. We have seen, for example, dhol go from being a relatively low prestige occupation of a small number of people in certain families to being a sort of icon of Punjabi culture generally and an explosion of new players.
If anyone remembers the bhangra scene in the 1990s, they’ll remember that there were very few dholis around in the “diaspora” (e.g. North America). Most bhangra teams did not dance on dhol. Then, a few North American (etc.) born individuals had the privilege of learning dhol from the small handful of ustads that had emigrated. (Note: I am essentially leaving out UK, Australia, etc. not due to lack of acknowledgement, respect, or interest but only for practical reasons.) Around 2003-ish, dhol playing started to explode among younger people outside of India, and the advent of YouTube subsequently made learning dhol "remotely" a possibility. Some will remember the old message board Dholis.com, for example. The mid-to-late 2000s trend of traditionalism in bhangra in North America created more demand for local dholis, and knowledge increased, quality improved. Those students of the early ustads started teaching their own students. At the same time, by the end of the decade (when my guru passed away), most of the old school dholis were no longer with us or retired. I’m referring to the ustads who were born before/around Partition/1947, who had weathered the changes to a new era of dhol and Punjabi dance. It was the end of a generation and the end of an era. And most of my own work (which I intend to publish for posterity) pertained to that era.
The dholis since then are operating in a pretty different landscape. One big difference is that dholis from the tradition are now connected to internet and social/new media. Back then, the only way to learn dhol was through hearing it from someone in your presence. It was a strictly “oral/aural” tradition. Every community and/or region had its own dhol style. Dholis in the new era now have different/more opportunities, too. And, I imagine, interpretations of the meaning of dhol have changed somewhat. Attitudes towards who “may” play dhol must also have evolved. Whereas before, 99+% of dhol players in Punjabi came from traditional families, the number of “non-traditional” dholis in the diaspora has grown.
Anyways, the book I’m working on will be based in the historical/traditional, but I also want to bring it up to date, somewhat, and give some space to the dhol scene outside of Punjab. And because the latter is actually a huge area to cover, I don’t plan to cover “dholis outside Punjab” comprehensively. Rather, I aim to follow the threads of traditional dhol playing that spread out from Punjab—to a modest extent. For this, I’ll be reconnecting with people in these lineages to see “Where are they now?”
THE QUERY: To start, I’ll be in the New York and Toronto areas for a short time next month, and I’m looking for recommendations on whom to meet and interview. I’m mainly interested in seeing any ustads who emigrated from Punjab, first; second, their students (the earlier the better); and lastly, anyone or anything that might be interesting that illustrates new developments in dhol in those areas.
I do know many names/people, but I’ll need to update their whereabouts and such. Relevant info could also include temporary visits of ustads from Punjab, especially if their visit was very influential on the local dhol scene. This is where I’d welcome your recommendations!
I believe the “first” ustad in Toronto area was the late Amar Nath (whom I think aslo went as “Amba”). He was a student of Jalandhar’s ustad Charan Dass ji (Charna). I think he was related to the Amritsar ustad Harbans Lal Jogi. It would be good to know, for example, if any students of Amar Nath are around. (Possibly related: Who is/was Nana’s ustad?)
Ustad Jolly Bawa, son of Jalandhar ustad H.L. Kaku, most know, passed away this year. He had been in Toronto temporarily earlier in his career (after which he returned to India), but I understand he had been there a lot again in recent years. What have been the repercussions of his influence on Toronto dholis? Etc.
In greater New York area, there was an ustad Boota Sheikh. I understand he came from Pakistani Punjab? Does anyone have experience with him? There is also ustad Jarnail Singh, son of ustad Mali Ram of the Chandigarh area (my ustad’s cousin). I recall he located to NY/NJ in the early 2000s and I know that he is active. Perhaps someone has close experiences with how he may have influenced your playing if you’re in the NY area.
I also once heard of an ustad Madan Maddi who came to New York in the mid-1990s, and who was a student of the late Jalandhar ustad Des Raj. (It gets confusing because there have been numerous renowned dholis named Maddi, for example Ravi Dana’s late father. And I’m not referring to the Des Raj of Surrey BC [Garib Dass’ son], but rather to Des Raj from Charan Das’s parampara.) Anybody know of him?
I am focusing on New York and Toronto for the time being; I’m aware of the dholis in Vancouver and California Bay Area to an extent, sure. And there are other names I certainly know well, but I don’t know if these individuals specifically influenced NY/Toronto. Feel free to comment on the other places, but recommendations pertaining to the NY and Toronto scenes will be most immediately useful.
And if anyone reading is based in these areas who feels they are well connected to this history would like to chat with me, we might also see if I have time for that during these (too short!) upcoming visits if there’s interest.
Thanks for your kind attention. Yo!
Gibb Schreffler
Assistant Professor of Music, Pomona College (California)
It’s been a while. Good to see that this site is still active. It’s always been a great community.
Some of you may know me from the past as a sometimes scholar of Punjabi dance and dhol traditions, though my main focus has been elsewhere recently. For those who don’t know me, for the entire 2000s I was working on documenting these traditions mainly in Indian Punjab (while also paying attention to Pakistan and some of the Punjabi diaspora). My focus was/is on the traditional dholis, documenting their lifestyles, the applications and the cultural meanings of dhol. I was a shagird of late ustad Garib Dass (though I am not much of a dhol player these days!). I’ve published articles on bhangra, jhummar, sammi, Punjabi musician communities, etc.
Now has come the time when I’ll be writing a book about dhol. It needs to be relatively short and focused, so it won’t include all of my past research findings, but rather it will be more about the evolving tradition of dhol and its implications for Punjabi identity. We have seen, for example, dhol go from being a relatively low prestige occupation of a small number of people in certain families to being a sort of icon of Punjabi culture generally and an explosion of new players.
If anyone remembers the bhangra scene in the 1990s, they’ll remember that there were very few dholis around in the “diaspora” (e.g. North America). Most bhangra teams did not dance on dhol. Then, a few North American (etc.) born individuals had the privilege of learning dhol from the small handful of ustads that had emigrated. (Note: I am essentially leaving out UK, Australia, etc. not due to lack of acknowledgement, respect, or interest but only for practical reasons.) Around 2003-ish, dhol playing started to explode among younger people outside of India, and the advent of YouTube subsequently made learning dhol "remotely" a possibility. Some will remember the old message board Dholis.com, for example. The mid-to-late 2000s trend of traditionalism in bhangra in North America created more demand for local dholis, and knowledge increased, quality improved. Those students of the early ustads started teaching their own students. At the same time, by the end of the decade (when my guru passed away), most of the old school dholis were no longer with us or retired. I’m referring to the ustads who were born before/around Partition/1947, who had weathered the changes to a new era of dhol and Punjabi dance. It was the end of a generation and the end of an era. And most of my own work (which I intend to publish for posterity) pertained to that era.
The dholis since then are operating in a pretty different landscape. One big difference is that dholis from the tradition are now connected to internet and social/new media. Back then, the only way to learn dhol was through hearing it from someone in your presence. It was a strictly “oral/aural” tradition. Every community and/or region had its own dhol style. Dholis in the new era now have different/more opportunities, too. And, I imagine, interpretations of the meaning of dhol have changed somewhat. Attitudes towards who “may” play dhol must also have evolved. Whereas before, 99+% of dhol players in Punjabi came from traditional families, the number of “non-traditional” dholis in the diaspora has grown.
Anyways, the book I’m working on will be based in the historical/traditional, but I also want to bring it up to date, somewhat, and give some space to the dhol scene outside of Punjab. And because the latter is actually a huge area to cover, I don’t plan to cover “dholis outside Punjab” comprehensively. Rather, I aim to follow the threads of traditional dhol playing that spread out from Punjab—to a modest extent. For this, I’ll be reconnecting with people in these lineages to see “Where are they now?”
THE QUERY: To start, I’ll be in the New York and Toronto areas for a short time next month, and I’m looking for recommendations on whom to meet and interview. I’m mainly interested in seeing any ustads who emigrated from Punjab, first; second, their students (the earlier the better); and lastly, anyone or anything that might be interesting that illustrates new developments in dhol in those areas.
I do know many names/people, but I’ll need to update their whereabouts and such. Relevant info could also include temporary visits of ustads from Punjab, especially if their visit was very influential on the local dhol scene. This is where I’d welcome your recommendations!
I believe the “first” ustad in Toronto area was the late Amar Nath (whom I think aslo went as “Amba”). He was a student of Jalandhar’s ustad Charan Dass ji (Charna). I think he was related to the Amritsar ustad Harbans Lal Jogi. It would be good to know, for example, if any students of Amar Nath are around. (Possibly related: Who is/was Nana’s ustad?)
Ustad Jolly Bawa, son of Jalandhar ustad H.L. Kaku, most know, passed away this year. He had been in Toronto temporarily earlier in his career (after which he returned to India), but I understand he had been there a lot again in recent years. What have been the repercussions of his influence on Toronto dholis? Etc.
In greater New York area, there was an ustad Boota Sheikh. I understand he came from Pakistani Punjab? Does anyone have experience with him? There is also ustad Jarnail Singh, son of ustad Mali Ram of the Chandigarh area (my ustad’s cousin). I recall he located to NY/NJ in the early 2000s and I know that he is active. Perhaps someone has close experiences with how he may have influenced your playing if you’re in the NY area.
I also once heard of an ustad Madan Maddi who came to New York in the mid-1990s, and who was a student of the late Jalandhar ustad Des Raj. (It gets confusing because there have been numerous renowned dholis named Maddi, for example Ravi Dana’s late father. And I’m not referring to the Des Raj of Surrey BC [Garib Dass’ son], but rather to Des Raj from Charan Das’s parampara.) Anybody know of him?
I am focusing on New York and Toronto for the time being; I’m aware of the dholis in Vancouver and California Bay Area to an extent, sure. And there are other names I certainly know well, but I don’t know if these individuals specifically influenced NY/Toronto. Feel free to comment on the other places, but recommendations pertaining to the NY and Toronto scenes will be most immediately useful.
And if anyone reading is based in these areas who feels they are well connected to this history would like to chat with me, we might also see if I have time for that during these (too short!) upcoming visits if there’s interest.
Thanks for your kind attention. Yo!
Gibb Schreffler
Assistant Professor of Music, Pomona College (California)