Dancing to the dhol drums up joy but begs a question

Festival days mean gaiety, fervour, prayers and charity. During the recent Holi celebrations, we heard the dholwala merrily beating his dhol as he went from one street to another and pausing at each gate. A few conscientious souls came out to offer alms, but the majority didn’t even venture out.

I have fond memories of my adolescent years when we had just shifted in our own home in an upcoming planned colony and one fine morning the dhol reverberated the spring morning. A marriage ceremony or procession? We sisters rushed out to satiate our curiosity and that is when for the first time we saw a dholwala traversing up and down the streets. We called him over, tipped him and danced mad like wanton elves in our porch.

The dhol is perhaps one of the oldest Indian percussion instruments that has weathered the test of time and is popular with all ages. While its rhythmic beats drum up a patriotic fervour and bring back memories of the formative school disciplinary drill, the dhol reverberates in the heart and arouses a sense of abundant happiness. It compels one to shed all inhibitions, decorum and sway in a carefree, rigorous movement. The dhol symbolises joy, exuberance and happiness.

The rigmarole of mundane existence is lost in the cadence of the beat. No DJ or hi-fi music system can match the dhol. The sheer light-hearted merriment evoked is unparalleled. Even a bumbling dancer can’t resist joining the bonhomie.

In today’s ostentatious weddings, the sangeet and baraat ceremonies are elaborately choreographed. Somehow, they lack the gay abandon and joy. Remember the customary snake dance in traditional Indian weddings where the dancer would twist, turn and sprawl all over the floor? Or that one relative who gyrated to the beats with a liquor bottle perched precariously on his wobbly head? And the final deafening beats announcing the arrival ofthe groom? Many a times, the dholwala sang couplets inviting respective relatives to shed inhibitions and shake a leg. The raw wholesome merriment, the primitive untutored happiness enthused is unparallel in any other form.

For that matter the dhol and election results are inseparable entities till date. The victory lap of the winner smiling like a Cheshire cat with hands folded in humility and supporters dancing to the accompaniment of the dhol, has not been affected by human evolution and modernity. All other dance forms are dwarfed in the presence of a dhol. While the accomplished manoeuvre intricate steps, the novice just rejoice in shaking their limbs. No holds barred movements are bliss.

The dhol evokes an all-inclusive participatory response. Then why is this folk art neglected? In our blind race for modernity, we have relegated our folk culture into oblivion. Urbanisation has marginalised these artistes and pushed them into penury. They have no alternative left than to trudge door to door, showcasing their painstakingly acquired skill, their labour of love.

THE DHOL REVERBERATES IN THE HEART AND AROUSES A SENSE OF ABUNDANT HAPPINESS. IT COMPELS ONE TO SHED ALL INHIBITIONS AND DECORUM