<p>Meet Mahesh, the ‘dhaki’, who now makes it a point to pitch his tent around this time every year to earn some fast bucks by drumming in the pandal of his choice. <br /><br />As Kolkata gears up to welcome goddess Durga on her five-day sojourn to the earth, dhakis tend to breathe a new life and ambience as they dance to the tunes of a divine rhythm. The likes of Mahesh are not to be missed as they potter around the Sealdah station waiting for puja organisers to seal a contract for drumming up those divine tunes during the five-day festivities.<br /><br />Mahesh, who is from a village in the Sunderbans Island, still takes pride in claiming that Durga puja without them are incomplete and it starts with them and obviously ends with them.<br /><br />“Dhakis are an integral part of any puja organised in the city or elsewhere. The deafening yet divine drumbeats add a world of glory to any puja. With the rapid commercialisation of the Puja, the custom of arranging dhakis has been dwindling though,” said an octogenarian priest at a popular puja pandal.<br /><br />It is the sound of these traditional rural drums that welcomes the deity to the mandap (pandal) and it is this sound that still carries a magic during the festival, he says. “ ...and it’s this sound that makes us cry during ‘bhasan’ (immersion)”. <br /><br />Mahesh does not argue the point that the art of drumming up new tunes has been dying as the young generation hardly has any devotion .”<br /><br />Another aspect posing a threat to this is a fad which the ‘dhakis’ abhor. Some organisers have discovered a substitute for the ‘dhakis’ by replacing them with tape-recorded drum beats. <br /><br />Standing at the crossroads are the poor drummers many of whom might be rendered jobless if this becomes the reigning trend as the cost cutting spree have started re-shaping the tradition.<br /><br />In overcrowded pandals, they are sadly aware, what matters are the ‘dhak’ beats and not necessarily the men behind the ‘dhak’.</p>
<p>Meet Mahesh, the ‘dhaki’, who now makes it a point to pitch his tent around this time every year to earn some fast bucks by drumming in the pandal of his choice. <br /><br />As Kolkata gears up to welcome goddess Durga on her five-day sojourn to the earth, dhakis tend to breathe a new life and ambience as they dance to the tunes of a divine rhythm. The likes of Mahesh are not to be missed as they potter around the Sealdah station waiting for puja organisers to seal a contract for drumming up those divine tunes during the five-day festivities.<br /><br />Mahesh, who is from a village in the Sunderbans Island, still takes pride in claiming that Durga puja without them are incomplete and it starts with them and obviously ends with them.<br /><br />“Dhakis are an integral part of any puja organised in the city or elsewhere. The deafening yet divine drumbeats add a world of glory to any puja. With the rapid commercialisation of the Puja, the custom of arranging dhakis has been dwindling though,” said an octogenarian priest at a popular puja pandal.<br /><br />It is the sound of these traditional rural drums that welcomes the deity to the mandap (pandal) and it is this sound that still carries a magic during the festival, he says. “ ...and it’s this sound that makes us cry during ‘bhasan’ (immersion)”. <br /><br />Mahesh does not argue the point that the art of drumming up new tunes has been dying as the young generation hardly has any devotion .”<br /><br />Another aspect posing a threat to this is a fad which the ‘dhakis’ abhor. Some organisers have discovered a substitute for the ‘dhakis’ by replacing them with tape-recorded drum beats. <br /><br />Standing at the crossroads are the poor drummers many of whom might be rendered jobless if this becomes the reigning trend as the cost cutting spree have started re-shaping the tradition.<br /><br />In overcrowded pandals, they are sadly aware, what matters are the ‘dhak’ beats and not necessarily the men behind the ‘dhak’.</p>
