The development of the dhol tradition in the Indian Punjab since Independence has been such that a handful of artists can be recognized as its major players. Those who early on were selected to play in national events like the Republic Day parade, chosen to represent Punjab abroad, or consistently employed as accompanists in major colleges, became both influential and well known. Garib Dass is one such artist, who has been active as a dholi for the last half-century.

Garib Dass was born 'Vilayati' in 1939 in the western Punjab district of Gujrat. Some 40 family-units of his Bazigar tribe lived and roamed together. On arriving near a village, some men from the tribe would notify the landowner of their presence, so that they might be hired to do agricultural labor. During the stay, villagers also came to know of their presence, and the Bazigars were called on to play kabaddi, vini pharni (a wrist grabbing game), and kushti (wrestling). They were of course also called to perform baazi. As a small boy, Garib Dass' father would flip him over and lift him high above his head to prepare him for baazis, although after coming to India that practice would end.

In 1947 with the Partition of India and Pakistan, Garibu's tribe was compelled to relocate to India. After an initial stay in a refugee camp in Ambala, Garibu's own family settled in the village Sialva Majri in Ropar district. There he worked for a landowner by doing labor in the fields, earning 10-30 rupees per month.

Meanwhile Garibu's interest in dhol slowly grew. His caaca's son, Mangat Ram, played dhol, and inspired by this Garibu began to play on "tin cans in the alley." By 1954 at age 15 he began playing dhol in earnest. His initial training consisted of various rhythms he had picked up here and there, in addition to what he could learn from his cousins Mangat Ram and Prem Chand. In the beginning, Garibu played dhol for kushti and kabaddi matches, and at the Gugga maahri. One of his first paying jobs was to make announcements with the dhol to advertise for the local travelling cinema, the "kacci talkies."

In 1955, when bhangra as a staged art was just beginning to develop, Garib Dass received his first job in accompanying the dance when he was called by a college in Chandigarh's Sector 20. He came on foot each day from the village to prepare what he describes as a very simple bhangra.

Besides playing dhol, Garibu also took an interest in wrestling, and in his late teens he trained as a wrestler. He remembers seeing bouts of Dara Singh, Kesar Singh, Nazir, and Surjit Bindrakhia's dad, the latter whom they called Bijli ("lightning") because he was so fast. At that time he even got a tattoo of a peacock on his thigh (a popular practice of wrestlers). Although he did not continue his training, he has kept the interest throughout his life. Later on when Dara Singh was training a group of wrestling students at a gym in Sector 10 Chandigarh, Garibu played the dhol for them.

Garibu got his break at age 25 in 1965, when he was invited to play for the bhangra team of Panjab University Chandigarh's "Evening College." The team came in first at annual competitions for 10 years.

It was circa 1968-69, during the shooting of the film Heer Ranjha, which included several of the prominent dholis of the day, that Garib Dass met dhol master Ghuggi. Garibu made a modest gift of luddus and a few rupees, and Ghuggi accepted him as his disciple. Afterwards Garib Dass would make regular trips to Amritsar to serve the guru, bringing him gifts of meat and liquor, and massaging the guru's knees in the typical gesture of a disciple. Undoubtedly the most impressing lesson the late ustad gave to Garib Dass was the message, "Never do bad works with the dhol. Never cheat anyone by means of the dhol, nor commit immoral acts in its presence."

©2005 Gibb Schreffler