The Dilliwala, diasporic Punjabi
By
Jaskiran Kapoor
Rabbi Shergill
Rabbi Shergill
The Journey Continues
‘As the song goes, I haven’t found what I am looking for. I haven’t achieved it by a long shot. Trying to find the road to projecting whatever I have.’
The last three decades have been musically eventful. From albums, Rabbi has moved on to releasing singles, and has even launched his own label, befittingly called, Odd One Out. It represents artists that perform in Hindi, Punjabi, Himachali, and the repertoire is growing. His money is on those who express genuinely, and steer clear of the entrapments of a ‘manipulative industry addicted to likes and followers’.
‘Earlier, channels like MTV and Channel V were fairly democratic. They were the gatekeepers, which was good. Now we have YouTube, and there is no gatekeeping or check; the whole world is on it, and it leaves the culture largely impoverished. Art post 2007 falls in this category. Music in the last ten to twelve years has not nourished the country/society. India is not the USA, inherently individualistic. There is no justice at doorstep here, India as a country has its own challenges, and needs certain organic movement in the arts which we are missing. Even something as basic as music press is missing. Artists still have to explain their work here. The job of the music press or a musicologist is to know what I am playing or doing.’ Unconscious influences, choices shape his music. He even dabbled with one of his mother’s unreleased poems ─ Agg Beeji (Sowed Fire) ─ and will soon be released.
The job of the artist is to alleviate the people, the masses, and the movement towards it should be organic and at grassroots ─ see what people genuinely want and what plagues them. There have been breakthroughs, but there is a need for new classics, creations, a revival of the language.
‘Punjabis seem to be embarrassed by their language. Chandigarhians (those from Chandigarh in Punjab) don’t even speak in Punjabi. Chandigarh must realise it cannot substitute a language for culture. Embarrassment is the first step towards suicide. Don’t be embarrassed by your language, it’s an expression of the times, of the turbulence, of the churning, of discourse, of identity, and if you don’t preserve and practise it, it will fail to resonate and get the love it deserves.’
Rabbi’s thoughts, his awareness, his concern runs deep. Punjab is not about truck drivers and lumpen louts. Art happens only when the artist evolves, when big labels with monopolistic designs end, when music coming out of Punjab reflects the true ethos of the state. ‘We are the waris (descendents) of Varis Shah! But then, I am an outsider, a Dilliwala, a diasporic Punjabi who lives on the outside, who makes observations from afar. It is presumptuous of me to speak on behalf of Punjab.’ We beg to differ. We need more voices like that of Rabbi Shergill.
