I have a dirty secret.
Maybe kinky even.
I started listening to Bhangra music actively in the 9th
grade or so. Back then, this was largely driven by my attempt to rediscover my
roots (while I learned later that my ancestry is more Peshawari/Pakistani than
punjabi, and thus the said roots are closer to the NWPF than the five
sisters, we’ll leave that for a later post) as also UK /Canadian Punjabi
music’s fling with the mainstream. Even though most such music then (and even
now) veered around truck driver melodies, I was determined to bring to light
genuine evocative glorious (you get the drift) tunes from within this grimy
little underworld place. And so began what soon became a daily ritual of
sitting online on sites like simplybhangra, punjab2000, nachdepunjabi, chakdey
and such, discovering things like BitTorrent, DC++ (the best effing software
there ever will be) and DC groups where desi dj’s exchanged notes and sampled
music sometimes years before it got out (Did you know Tanu Weds Manu’s Sadi
Gali is actually from a 2008 RDB album? Do you even care? Who are you? What could this mean in the larger scheme of things? What if..).
And while the journey has had its highs and lows, peaks and
valleys, ebbs and flows, and stystoles and diastoles; artists, record labels and
even music channels have come and gone, your faithful author has remained mostly
so.
I remember I once forced charlie to listen in on my dilapidated
excuse for a diskman (*beams*) to what, to me, was a very catchy number (Jassi
Sidhu’s Ishq Vich Jogi) only to be given a look which was loosely based around
“I like you but I don’t like this song so I will smile politely and nod
appreciatively because how long can this song go on anyway right?”. At which
point she lost 50 points for Ravenclaw.
But anyway, what hasn’t changed is my faith (sometimes rock
solid, other times dangling by pinky fingers over lakshman jhoola) in the
potential of the Punjabi music space that is just waiting to be tapped like
something which must be..umm tapped. Exhibit A: Man of the moment, Honey Singh.
While one might like to believe that his audience barely transcends West Delhi,
you must know that he had been patiently biding his time delivering regional hit
after hit after hit (he’s been around since this) until he came out with the
monster that was International Villager. 20 million + youtube hits are crazy
numbers for any artist, let alone Indian. Sprinkle a bit of visibility (matlab this) and you got mistah midas touch. And there are many such corkers out there like
Bikram Singh, Surinder Shinda, Northern Lights, Tigerstyle, Aman Hayer,
Sukshinder Shinda, Master Saleem, Imran Khan (who did get fleeting moments of
celebrity actually), Feroz Khan and so many more who are probably peeling peas
while I wage their battle in the small hours because the poor lads’ PR
machinery is found wanting. And while we’re at it, whatever happened to Jasmine
Sandlas!
I feel sore now, so this is the end of this post. I mean
sore physically, not like a guy in the 1950s who’s angry in a movie.
Jay Sean, if you’re reading this buddy you owe a massive massive
shout out to our man Rishi Rich and the 2point9 crew.
Pritam, if you’re reading this, while it’s great you’re one
of the guys finally giving good Punju music (NOT an oxymoron) its deserved due
(by which I don’t necessarily mean giving Miss Pooja a break), it would be nice
if you won’t Bollywoodise (mess up) songs like these.
And dear Delhi readers with a cosy space for quality punju
music in their dil, you owe yourselves a Hari & Sukhmani gig.
If you got till this far, I leave you with this: The ‘Earth’
without ‘art’ is just ‘Eh’.
Does it make you want to stop and soak in, then stare at the distance in mild awe, and then roll about the
ground, yapping like a dog at the discovery? It shouldn’t, because this isn’t a
breakthrough finding. You were just too dense to notice it earlier.
Maybe you should write me an email about this. But don’t
send it, because there is already too much junk in my trunk. In all 3 ways.
Yes 3.
Actually I would love for you to write me an email.
No I won’t.
Yes I would.
Shut up!
No you shut up!
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Sidharth
P.S. You’re the only one who saw 6 whiles in the 600 or so words. No shit, sherlock!
P.P.S. I have been writing in bits and pieces over the past few months, but most of the stuff has been too deviant (dark perhaps?) to publish. Maybe I would put it up one day. Maybe I won't. Until I do, hold tight.
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