Indian Brass Bands: A Disappearing Saga

The Fate of Indian Brass Bands Shining brass instruments, old military style clothes, shining logo, and an undying spirit, is what represents our very own Indian brass bands. If you know what I am talking about, the picture of marriage processions (‘baraat’), religious ceremonies or any other celebrations would float right in front of your eyes. There was a time (not so long ago), that these brass bands were a part of every festival, every celebration of ours. In fact, there was not a single ‘baraat’ which would have been considered complete without the presence of the brass bands playing old Hindi songs and carrying lanterns on their heads. Despite the hard work of playing for hours at a go, and carrying the lit lanterns on their heads, it was more of a matter of pride to the band members to see people dancing to their tunes and enjoying to the fullest. After all, they would also get to be a part of someone else’s happiness. However, with the passage of time, things remained no longer the same. Today, the brass bands, without the presence of whom any celebration was not considered complete, is struggling to have their presence felt. The talent, the hard work, the long hours of playing live music, has eventually been replaced by digitalization. Yes, the digitalization of music has taken over the place which our very own brass bands proudly owned. The tastes of the young generation today have changed to that of electronic music from that of traditional live instruments. The young and the wealthy today has swiftly moved from these live band performances to DJ’s playing electronic music. Although, in almost all the cases the cost involved in hiring a DJ is much higher as compared to that of hiring a brass band to perform at an auspicious occasion. This shift in preference has left various brass bands and band owners gasping more opportunities to showcase their talent and earn their livelihood. In a recent conversation with Madhukar Edke, one of the brass band owners in Pune, who also plays multiple instruments himself, realized how difficult times have become for them. Poor wages, irregular work hours, endless travel and a diminishing demand of the band, is what have taken a toll on the business and his personal life. A teary eyed Shridhar says, at the end of almost 3 decades of playing for different bands and mastering the art of playing multiple instruments, he does not even have enough savings to fund his family’s basic needs. When questioned about how it used to be in the past, we witness a bright glow in his eyes as he walks us through his past experiences and the time which he spent as a brass band musician and now an owner. He excitedly claims, “It used to be a different picture altogether back in the day. With the marriage season dawning on us, we used to have both our hands full with contracts, and it used to get quite difficult to manage the bookings on time”. ‘Line lagi rehti thi office ke bahar shaadi ke Mausam mein’,(there used to be a queue in front of the office during the marriage season), says Sachin Yadav, another musician in the band. As he walks around in the tiny room (their office), he says, just those 30 – 90 days of performances in various marriages, and we used to save enough to run for the rest of the year. “Yes, it used to be difficult”, he recalls. “We used to reach here early in the morning to collect our uniforms and instruments. We then used to stuff ourselves along with our instruments in small tempo’s (vehicles used for transportation) and travel to various parts of the city and sometimes beyond city limits. After a complete day of tireless performances, we used to return to this very place, completely tired, exhausted from the long trips. However, every one of us had smiles on our faces. The joy of being able to be a part of something, of being needed, of being able to provide for the family, of being able to put smiles on someone else’s face cannot be compared with anything”, says Madhukar. “But now it is a completely different time. We are no longer in that much demand these days”, states Sachin. As we continue our conversation with the band, we realize that the change in preferences, the changing times and the changing tastes have really taken a bad toll on them. Does it mean no one hires them any longer? No, it is not that, they are still hired for playing in marriages, but the number of such contracts have gone drastically low. While we are not here judge people’s preferences, it is also important that we understand the challenges these people face and how life is getting increasingly difficult for them. With the prices of daily necessities increasing steadily, I wonder how these people make their ends meet, after all, they too have expectations and maybe aspire for a better life for themselves and their families. Maybe it is time that they venture out into other professions, or maybe find innovative ways to market themselves to get back in demand. But at the same time, we, the people who hire them or the DJ’s for our celebrations, need to take time and think, who needs it more. It is true that spending lavishly has become a trend these days and we absolutely have no issues with that. However, it would be nice, if we as humans could spare some time, some thought for our fellow humans and ensure they are also able to fulfill their family’s needs as we fulfill ours. To know more about Indian Music, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.