Part 3
....
It was in 1967, during the shooting of the film Heer Ranjha, which included several of the prominent dholis of the day (incl. Harbans Lal Jogi, Charan Dass, and Biru Ram), that Garib Dass met first-generation dhol master Ghuggi. Placing the modest gift of a ser of laddu at his feet, Garib Dass approached the master, who subsequently accepted Garib Dass as his disciple. Afterwards Garib Dass would make regular trips to Amritsar to serve his guru, bringing him gifts of meat and liquor, and massaging his legs in the typical gesture of a disciple. Undoubtedly the most impressing lesson the late ustad Ghuggi gave to Garib Dass was the message, “Never do bad works with the dhol. Never cheat anyone by means of the dhol, nor commit immoral acts in its presence.” He also taught, “Son, don't do any thuggery or dishonorable deeds; don't lie. If you play dhol with a true mind, God will cross you over.” Such sentiments are central to Garib Dass’ own teachings of dhol.
In 1970, Garib Dass met Chandigarh's folk dance guru Sardar Bhag Singh, and soon became “attached” to the bhangra innovator’s stable of artists. As part of Bhag Singh's group, Garib Dass appeared for the first time at the Republic Day (26th January) festivities, New Delhi, in 1970. The group’s bhangra received the national dance award that year. Indeed, a photo of members of this group has become a ubiquitous archetype for bhangra representations. Seven more times, between 1971 and 1986, Garib Dass participated in the annual function, until other work prevented him from doing so.
By 1971, Bhag Singh had developed a new form of dance-drama dubbed “Punjabi Folk Theatre.” The core group of performers associated with this included Mrs. Laj Bedi, her son Babli, Surinder Sharma, Surinder Pal, and Mahinder Singh. As the accompanying dholi, Garib Dass contributed the rhythmic component to Bhag Singh’s theatrical-dance works like “Harvest Dance” and “Hir-Ranjha.” During this time, Bhag Singh also made several additions to the art of staged bhangra, and so in his capacity as one of Bhag Singh's dholis Garib Dass made his own contributions to what became the more or less standard university-style bhangra that we see today.
Garib Dass went to the Republic Day parade in Delhi for the last time in 1986, at which time the number of dholis who were performing had swelled to 30-40. At that event there was a competition between Garib Dass' group from Punjab and another team of drummers from Kerala. The challenge was to play a rhythm that the other team would not comprehend. Garib Dass stepped forward and played a 21-count tal, as well as a 16-count tal in which the sam was de-emphasized, both of which stumped the Kerala team.
In addition to the greater Punjab and Delhi, by the mid-1980s Garib Dass had given performances in many states throughout India. These include Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, among other places. Notably, he went to Bombay for seven years consecutively with Bhag Singh's group, to play for events like Vaisakhi and Lohri melas.
Garib Dass went abroad for the first time in 1983, to Bangkok for a Punjabi conference. That same year he also gave performances in Thailand and Singapore. A new era in his career had begun. The visit abroad that Garib Dass is clearly most fond of is when he stayed in Canada for six months during the 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver. At that time he taught privately, gave workshops, and performed in Vancouver, as well as performing with the Mehak Cultural Group in Toronto. This was the crucial event in his time of traveling abroad, after which he had the credentials to travel all over. The next year he was invited back to Canada for performances in Vancouver, Surrey, Toronto, and Calgary. He was thereafter invited back to Canada four times. Garib Dass' three passport books are full of visas for other countries he has visited, including Germany (1990, 1999), Finland (1991), Turkey (1992), UAE (1994), Austria (1996, 1998, 1999), Australia (1997), Norway (1998), Sweden (1998), and France (1999). In May 2003 he traveled to the United States for the first time to hold workshops, visit classes, and give performances at the University of California, Santa Barbara. [I brought him again in 2007, for my "Music of Punjab" course.]
Like all dholis, Garib Dass began his professional dhol-playing career performing for informal events and at religious places. Once his dhol playing matured he gravitated towards more prestigious work, playing for dance groups in schools, colleges, and universities, as well as private groups. Eventually he was able to give up playing for barats— considered to be the work of younger or novice dholis— and limited himself to only indoor wedding functions and ladies’ sangeet parties. Another form of work, that of playing with a band behind a singer in concerts, is nowadays considered prestigious by the younger generations. However, while Garib Dass had opportunities to do this earlier in his career, for instance when he played with Gurdas Mann in Bombay, such work was not to his liking as he grew older. He criticizes the arrogance of some dholis who say they will not “lower” themselves to accompany students and who instead seek work only with stage singers. He notes that when such limited work dries up, these too-proud dholis are left without income.
Whereas many professional dholis have experience working with college-aged youths, Garib Dass has become especially adept at working with young children. In 1988, he became in charge of a dance performance group made up of young people aged 10-15. The group toured Europe and the Middle East under his direction, an incredible feat for an illiterate man who does not speak English. In recent years he has led a daily summer camp class for young children. He is regularly called by local schools in Chandigarh and Mohali to ready their youngsters in dance performances at their annual and holiday functions. One could consider this area to be a niche that Garib Dass has developed for himself. He notes again that some arrogant dholis, who consider themselves “artists,” consider work with children to be non-prestigious. However, Garib Dass has successfully made his employers—often private schools for children from well-off families—aware of the value of having individuals like himself work with the children. In his sessions with them, he imparts an awareness of history and heritage that the children miss in their own highly Western-influenced upbringing. Even in the case of very small children who are not mature enough to learn the dancing and arts, their sessions with Garib Dass serve at least as a type of exercise and energy-burning activity that the parents appreciate.
to be cont...
Rest In Peace
