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192 JPS 17:1&2
It was in 1967, during the shooting of the film Heer Ranjha, that
Garib Dass met the legendary dhol master of the pre-Partition generation,
“Punjab Champion” Ghuggi of Amritsar, and made him his ustad. Later,
Garib Dass met Chandigarh's folk dance guru, late Sardar Bhag Singh,
and soon became attached to his stable of artists. As part of this group, he
appeared for the first time at the Republic Day festivities, New Delhi, in
1970, and made regular appearances at the event through 1986. During
this period, the art of staged bhangra was going through development,
and in his capacity as dholi, Garib Dass made contributions to what
would become the more or less standard university-style bhangra that we
see today. He gave performances throughout India, including annual trips
to Bombay to play for events like Vaisakhi and Lohri melas. Garib Dass
had cameos in several films, including Sat Sri Akal (1977) and Jat
Punjabi (1979). He was the drummer for the instructional video Learn
Bhangra in 7 Days (1989), in which one can see the classic bhangra
routine at the height of its development.
Garib Dass went abroad for the first time in 1983, to Thailand and
Singapore. With this, a new era in his career had begun. The visit he was
clearly most fond of is when he stayed in Canada for six months during
the 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver. After this experience, he had
the credentials to travel all over, including: Germany (1990, 1999),
Finland (1991), Turkey (1992), UAE (1994), Austria (1996, 1998, 1999),
Australia (1997), Norway (1998), Sweden (1998), and France (1999),
and four more trips to Canada.
Once Garib Dass had become an internationally performing dholi, his
status was elevated such that his family were able to move out of the
jhuggis in Attawa (Sector 42, where the hockey stadium now lies) into
pakka housing in village Dhanas. They eventually shifted to the Bazigar
ward in Dadu Majra where they reside today. However, Garib Dass did
not intend for his family to live forever in government housing projects.
He invested for the future in a plot of land in Mohali. For the once
nomadic Bazigar community, the owning of land is a big step that cannot
be overemphasized. From growing up riding on camels in West Punjab’s
jungles, Garib Dass’ hard work and success was such that he has put his
grandchildren in a position to be landowners. Indeed, providing for the
family—a group effort—was one of his foremost values.
Garib Dass’ other core values were hard work and humility. It
displeased him to see people use the dhol for certain kinds of excessive
profit making, in which category he even included giving dhol lessons
for payment. He lamented the trend for performers to appropriate folk
musical traditions only to serve their egos and increased popularity.
Garib Dass criticised the arrogance of some dholis who say they will not
“lower” themselves to accompany students, or who seek work only with
popular stage singers. Indeed, whereas many professional dholis have
experience working with college-aged youths, Garib Dass had become