Punjab Drummers steal thunder

BHUBANESWAR: Gone are the days when popular music bands and disc jockeys (DJs) were preferred for marriage processions in the Capital city. It is the Punjab drummers who are ruling the roost in marriage processions these days.  With the Commissionerate Police cracking down on errant music bands and DJs for flouting noise pollution norms with their ear-splitting music, drummers are finding a foothold in marriage functions again.The Commissionerate Police had been conducting raids on a number of music and band parties for flouting the Loudspeaker Act. The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police had made it mandatory for band and music parties to install sound limiters to amplifiers to ensure that the sound does not exceed 65 decibels. The police crackdown on bands has, in fact, come as a blessing in disguise for the drummers with almost all marriage organisers keen on hiring them to avoid police interference. “A good number of people are opting for the Punjabi dhol for marriage processions. We demand around ` 2,500 to ` 3,500 per marriage function. In our troupe, five of us beat the drums in the Punjabi style,” said Raju Singh, a drummer from Raipur who beats the Punjabi dhol here. There are around 15 to 20 such drummer groups in the city, particularly from Raipur and Haryana, who have made Bhubaneswar their temporary home.While they mostly get major offers during the marriage season, these drummers are also in demand by political parties during the elections. They, however, rue that money they earn does not suffice throughout the year. “This being a marriage season we already have many orders. But at the end of the day, the money earned is not sufficient as the expenses are rising every day,” said another drummer Hamid Shaikh, who also hails from Raipur. With no agriculture lands to eke out living back home, Hamid and his group of five drummers have been moving from one state to another beating drums during weddings. “This is our only source of living. Though the money is less, we continue with this profession as we have nothing to fall back on,” he said, adding that he and his group have been here for the last one year.