Crafting the beats: Dahisar’s karigars

Dum-dum-dum…dum-dum-dum…! The almost hypnotic sound of dholaks being made and tuned and toned to perfection follows you through every lane of Shanti Nagar basti. We are walking along with a 37-year-old dholak maker, Irfan Shaikh.  He is to introduce us to other artisans of this migrant basti in Mumbai’s northern suburb.

Almost all the artisans here trace their ancestral roots to Barabanki district in Uttar Pradesh. There are about 50 of them here in the trade.  “Wherever you see, you will find our biradari [community] busy crafting these instruments," he says, proudly proclaiming that it is from here that the dholaks travel around Mumbai and other parts of the state. (Biradari literally translates as ‘brotherhood; but is more often used to denote clan, community or fraternity).

Irfan has been immersed in the trade from childhood. The craft of making these medium-sized double-headed drums passes down through generations. The process is meticulous. Irfan and his community handpick materials from Uttar Pradesh, selecting everything from the wood to ropes and paints. “We make it ourselves; we repair it…we are the engineers,” he says with some pride.

Irfan is very innovative. He has expanded his production to include the djembe, a musical instrument he discovered after seeing an African play it in Goa. “What a great instrument. People hadn't seen it here,” he recalls.

Innovation and craftsmanship aside, he feels the profession has not brought him the respect he deserves. Nor has it brought great profit. In today’s Mumbai, dholak-makers face stiff competition from cheaper online sales. Here on the other hand, customers often bargain and assert that they can find cheaper alternatives online.

“Those who play dholak, have their traditions. But in our communities, we do not play it, we merely sell,” says Irfan. Religious restrictions do not allow this community of artisans to play the instruments they are making. Yet, they craft these dholaks for customers who play them during the Ganesha and Durga Puja festivals.

There are women in the basti who love to play the dholak and sing but none of them either make, sell, or even play the dholak professionally out of respect for religious norms.

“This work is good but it’s not interesting as there is no business. There is no profit. There is nothing today. Yesterday I was on the road. Today also I am on the road,” says Irfan.