Beats of autumn

Arindam Sarkar

Sound is rhythm. Sound also connects. It is the centuries old rhythmic cadence of dhak – the traditional drum of Bengal – and the percussion created by dhakis kick off Devi Pakshya by celebrating the Agomoni of Durga.

Clad in a dhoti and kurta with the dhak slung on the left hip, the dhakis (drummers) with their sticks produce the effervescent rhythm – the central sound of Bengal psyche – on their dhaks and connect the people during the festive season.

But festivity over, few care about these poor villagers and part-time percussionists who create the rhythm of joy in their lives. Every year, four to five thousand dhakis from North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Bankura, Purulia, Murshidabad and Malda leave their villages to play in the Durga pandals of Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Patna, London and New York.  

“Playing dhak is a family tradition. We learn it aurally at an early age from our father. The original dhakis are from erstwhile East Bengal, now Bangladesh, who settled here,” said dhaki Pradip Das, 47, who is playing dhak for 35 years.

Pradip Das, who played dhak for 10 years in New Delhi, said being a dhaki is not a full-time occupation. Dhakis earn between Rs 6,000 and Rs 8,000 during Durgotsav and rest of the year they work as shopkeepers or sharecroppers. “I have a band called New Master Band which plays in marriages when the festive season is over,” said Pradip Das, who learnt dhak from his father Prafulla Chandra Das.

Forty-year-old dhaki Shankar Das said the dui taal,tri taal, jhaap and dhamal of dhak creates an auditory magic and makes people sway and tap their feet. The playing season for a busy dhaki is from March to June every year. But such dhakis are far and few. Most get hired only during Durga and Kali pujas.

“During Durgotsav, the dhaki plays from dawn to night interspersed with gaps. The bajna begins with Agomoni and ends with Bisorjon. We play for the goddess and in pandals people also pay us to play for them the oscillating rhythm of dheer and drut taals,” said Shankar Das, who is playing dhak for 23 years.

Since the dhakis don’t have any musical notation, they use phonetics to pick up the rhythm. Thecantus firmus of their rhythm, around which all patterns are weaved, is `Bol Dhak Krishna Radha’.

Between Shosthi and Dasami, dhakis play six to ten matras on their dhaks to appease, awaken, invoke and glorify Devi’s beauty, divinity and shakti. “The percussion for Agomoni, giving life to Devi, Bodhon, Sandhya arati, Dhunuchi, Aradhana, Sandhi Puja, Boron and Bisorjon is an intricate display of percussion and rhythm,” claimed Pradip Das. But Durga puja over, dhaki is forgotten.

Tabla player Tanmoy Bose is credited with reviving the dhak in modern times. About eight years back, when he was judging a dhak competition during Durgotsav, he was moved by the performance of a poor dhaki Gokul Das from Ahiritola.

Tanmoy took him under his tutelage. For four months, he taught him tabla bols, rhythmic patterns and jati (time sequence). Training over, he held tabla and dhak concerts in the USA, Europe and Indonesia.

“An impressed Ustad Zakir Husain collaborated with Gokul. My high-point with Gokul was the Hollywood Bowl concert in Los Angeles three years ago,” said Tanmoy.

Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar composed the music for this percussion show and Anoushka Shankar conducted it for National Geographic, added Tanmoy.

Dhak produces treble tune. It is similar to Nagara of North India and has a tremendous high-pitch. Dhakis pick up rhythm aurally from their gurus. “Unlike tabla and other membranophones, whose bols are defined, dhak has no bol and has limited options,” Tanmoy said.

A drummer in a pop or jazz band has an ensemble of Floor Tom, Floor Rotto, Snare and Kick drums, Cymbals and High Hat to produce variety of sounds. But dhakis are limited to their parampara of 4/4 and 6/8 beat patterns for creating a rhythm.

There is a difference between dhakis of erstwhile East Bengal and those who are from West Bengal. Dhakis of Dhaka, Mymensingh and Rajshahi have their exclusive musical structure and rhythm in contrast to those from Bankura, Purulia, Nadia, Murshidabad and Malda.

The manner they make their drums is also different. Those from East Bengal use animal hide for base and mango wood for body. Those from West Bengal use neem wood and synthetic fibre for body and base respectively.

“Dhakis from East Bengal never use feathers to decorate their dhaks. There is also a difference in counter-rhythms played during arati and bisorjan,” said Tanmoy, who with Andreas Weiser on drums, collaborated with dhakis.

Percussionist Bickram Ghosh emphasized though dhakis have a limited repertoire, but their dhak, essentially an outdoor drum, with a high pitch and sharp frequency on the treble side, when struck with sticks, create fantastic sound and rhythm. “They require no acoustics back-up. It is terrific,” said Bickram Ghosh who collaborated with 300 dhakis to enter the Limca Book of Records.

Bickram pointed out both the western drummers and dhakis use sticks to generate sound and play in triplets with the fractions of 4/4 and 6/8 beats. So at times some western compositions sound like dhak sounds.

“The rhythmic pattern is similar. First is the introduction (peshkar). Then comes the complex stage (qaida) and finally the climax or resolving of the crisis (tehai),” explained Bickram.

Many Indian and western drummers have played patches of dhak rhythms in their compositions. Indian Guru of Drums Sivamani’s fondness for dhak echoes in his composition Rain Dance with James Asher. A bit of Glen Velez is dhak in his composition Pan Eros. So is Michael Shrieve in Flying Polly.

A drummer for 43 years who plays rock, pop and jazz, Nondon Bagchi said dhak is different from drums but there is an universality of rhythm and the sound of dhak can be replicated in drums.

“Though a rural instrument, dhak is a highly evolved instrument and percussionists worldwide understand its sound. Certain sounds of dhak and drums might overlap with a similar rhythm but their sounds are different,” explained Nondon.

No wonder, dhak has influenced reputed drummers such as Trilok Gurtu, Ed Mann, Chad Wackerman, Karsh Kale, Ravi and Hossam Ramzy. “Many are influenced by Dhak. It is a powerful medium. Pulsating!” claimed Tanmoy.

However, Tanmoy rued dhakis are yet to get proper recognition as musicians. When the festival season is over, they fend themselves doing odd jobs. “None cares about fostering their art. We need to help them play dhak whole year and earn money,” Tanmoy said.

Bickram appreciates the revival movement of dhak and said dhakis should not be treated merely as five-day entertainers of Durgotsav. Musicians and government must bring their art into the mainstream.

“Dhak is not obsolete. If Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma can bring a staccato instrument like Santoor into classical music, I find no reason why dhak should not find a place in classical music,” stressed Bickram.

Indeed, as drummer and percussionist Geoff Johns, who teaches in Boulder, Colorado in the USA, observed a composition could be simple or complicated but what matters is rhythm. And like the blazing drums, dhak is all rhythm.