Watch the film: Dhol on wheels

Srilal Sahani is a musician. Locally also known as Lakhapatibabu, he lives with his family in Bolpur, West Bengal. He has the unique talent of riding a bicycle with his hands behind him playing two instruments – a dhol and cymbals.

For 27 years, Srilal has made two trips every day on his cycle – one in the morning to sell fish in the local market, and another in the evening around the streets of Santiniketan, covering six kilometres while playing his music.

PHOTO • Sinchita Maji

The film featured here includes camerawork by former students of Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan: Sramana Sengupta, a 2016 PARI intern, who now leads the digital marketing team at Quest Media and Entertainment, Kolkata; and Subha Bhattacharya, who works as a volunteer at Radio JU, a UNICEF project at Jadavpur University.

Riya Dey contributed to the field work and did the translation of the subtitles, and made a version of this film for a documentary project while studying at Visva-Bharati. She now works with a non-governmental organisation, the Alipore Unmish Society, Kolkata.

Sinchita Maji

Sinchita Maji is a Senior Video Editor at the People’s Archive of Rural India, and a freelance photographer and documentary filmmaker.

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