My
late father Sardar Sochet Singh was a great thinker, philosopher and an
excellent narrator of what he read, saw and knew. Once during the early
seventies, I solicited his thoughts on the evolution of Punjabi folk dance
“Giddha”. He told me frankly that he has no definite knowledge about
the time frame of the evolution and transformation of “Giddha”, but
from what he observed and heard, he can give me his own hypothesis of the
evolution of “Giddha Dance”.
Until
recently the girls (women) have been milking the cows and buffaloes in the
privacy of their parental “Havelis” (stylish dwellings of the well to
do). The rhythmic motion of milking the milch cattle has been incorporated
into one of the several conspicuous features of Giddha dance. In the
evenings, the girls used to boil the milk and prepare it for making curd
(in America curd is called yogurt). In the following morning, the curd is
ready for making butter and butter milk. The girls transfer some of it
into a burnt clay pitcher and then start churning it with a wooden
vertical and round shaped piece called “Madhani”. The “Madhani” is
lowered into the curd and moved alternately in clockwise and
anti-clockwise directions with a thick cotton or jute string wrapped
around it and held in both hands of the girl and after about half an hour
of persistent churning, the butter gets separated from the churned curd.
Some water is subsequently added to the churned curd and it becomes
buttermilk enough in quantity for quenching the thirst of a family for an
entire day. The rhythmic churning action of “Madhani” by the women has
also crept as a step into the Giddha dance.
Sometimes,
the girls make a “Masala” powder after grinding the traditional Indian
spices. They put the whole spices in a thick stone bowl and start beating
the spices with a thick round shaped wooden piece. First one girl lifts
the wooden piece up a bit and then releases it over the spices, then the
second girl, standing opposite to the first girl, does the same thing.
This rhythmic action is repeated several times over until the spices get
ground adequately. This action also has been incorporated into one of the
several steps of the “Giddha” dance.
My
father told me that during the centuries of the yore, the girls used to
perform “Giddha” in the privacy of their parental “Havelis”. The
practice of “Giddha” spread from one “Haveli” to the other and so
on. This practice travelled from one village to the other. Some people
believe that “Giddha” originally developed in the rich and politically
powerful central “Majha Region” comprising of the districts of Lahore,
Amritsar and Gurdaspur. But my father believed that it originated in the
then culturally more liberal and financially well off “Malwa Region”
district of Ferozepore, which consisted of big land owning “Tehsil” of
Muktsar, another rich area of Fazilka and Abohar as well as Moga, Zeera,
Jalalabad and Ferozepore tehsils. From Moga tehsil, it spread its wings to
Jagraon tehsil of Ludhiana district. And from Ludhiana district, it spread
to the princely states of Patiala, Nabha, Jind (Sangrur district),
Faridkot and Kapurthala. “Giddha” may have originated in the “Malwa
Region”, but it flourished in the Punjab’s capital Lahore,
neighbouring financial centre of Amritsar and “Doaba Region’s”
premier district of Jalandhar. Today the name “Giddha” is synonymous
with the Punjabi female culture all over the world.
|
TRANSFORMATION
OF GIDDHA DANCE OF PUNJAB Harjap Singh Aujla
Every great art and craft in this
world has to go through a long
passage of evolution. Most of the popular art forms ancient and modern had
a long history of evolution and transformation. “Giddha” happens to be
the most popular and glamorous folk dance art of Punjab. Of course “Rome
was not built in a day”, similarly “Giddha” in its magnificent
choreography did not pop up overnight. It took centuries, if not
millanniums to evolve. But the end product is a very eye catching
experience. Well groomed “Giddha” dancers while performing are a treat
to watch.
In spite of a long centuries old
history of prevalent girl child faeticide in Punjab, he explained that a
girl child, after birth, had naturally become the dearest child to her
father. From the day of her birth to her playful childhood, her attraction
towards the dolls, her playing habits and the daily chores that she
performs, have all been dear to the father and all have gotten woven into
the fabric of Giddha dance in one form or the other. The grace with which
the girl child walks and the style in which she runs, jumps and gets
ecstatic, all these have entered Giddha dance in one form or the other.
When two sisters or for that matter two friends hold each other’s hands
in the form of a cross, the right hand of one girl holds the right hand of
the other girl standing opposite to her and vice versa, the left hand of
one girl holds the left hand of the other and they start moving
rhythmically in a circular movement without loosening the grip, either in
a clock-wise direction or in anti-clockwise direction, the action in
Punjabi is called “Kikli”. “Kikli” has also become a part of the
overall mosaic of Giddha dance. Also when the hands of the two girls do
not hold each other and the girls run in the same patternlike “Kikli”
in a circle in either clockwise or counter clockwise direction, this
action has also become an integral part of Giddha dance. Dancing without
proper rhythm is a mockery of dance, it is true of “Giddha Dance” too.
Similarly, during the days gone by,
the women used to grind their own wheat and maize floor. They used to
operate a stone made round shaped grinder called “Chakki” by hand. The
“Chakki” has the upper round shaped stone piece moving over the base
circular stone piece. The rhythmic motion of the floor grinding wheel in a
clockwise direction has also become a feature of Giddha dance. Until about half a century ago, the
women used to make their own cotton thread from raw cotton. For this
purpose they used to operate spinning wheels in groups of two and more.
The rhythmic motion of running the spinning wheels has also become a part
of Giddha dance.
During the monsoon season in
particular, the girls enjoy riding the swings with ropes tied to the
higher branches of trees. This swinging action with two girls driving the
swings in opposite directions has been incorporated in “Giddha” dance.
In Bhangra, the beat is provided by a two ended large sized drum called
“Dhol”. But in “Giddha” a smaller version of “Dhol” called
“Dholaki” is used and “Dholki” is played by a girl. These days
some other instruments producing melodious sounds are also used to enhance
the effect of “Giddha” dance. Some verses of rhythmic poetry are also narrated in set sequences by the “Giddha” dancers. One girl recites a couplet of poetry called “Boli”. After the “Boli” is finished, the other girls erupt in a vigorous dance. Once they finish their dancing steps, the other girl comes forward and recites another “Boli”. This is again followed by another spell of vigorous dance. Sometimes two girls branch out of the bunch and coming to the front they perform a set of synchronous dance sequences. The other girls stay behind. But after one group completes the act, that group recedes to the back. Then another group emerges into the front, performs similar acts and then recedes to the back. Sometimes pairs of girls are replaced by trios. Some girls perform kite flying actions too. As the time is passing, just like any other art, “Giddha” is becoming more and more sophisticated and the number of must perform steps is increasing. The “Giddha” dancers perform in
circular, semi-circular, arcs, stars and diamond formations. Since it is
not a competitive sport, there is no limit to the number of participants
in the “Gidha” teams. The number can be as small as four and can go on
to exceed twenty. If the performers are well trained, then the more the
numbers of participants, the merrier the event is. “Jaago” is a
tradition in the cis-Sutlej Malwa region of Punjab. One woman leads the
group of dancers with a baked earth pot balanced over her head. The pot
has a burning fire in it. All the actions involved in this ritual held
during the weddings, have creeped up in the “Giddha” dance sequences
too. These days folk songs are also sung during “Giddha” dances. Some
vintage recordings of legendry singers like Surinder Kaur and Parkash Kaur
are played these days to accompany the “Giddha” dancers.
“Giddha” was of course dormant
during the cruel invasions of Ahmed Shah Abdali and Nadir Shah. Cultural
activity was discouraged during the invasions and subsequent reign of
Zahiruddin Babar and his dynastic successors with the exception of the
reign of very liberal Akbar the Great. But “Giddha” came to life in
the “Havelis” of the Sikh aristocracy during the period of ascendency
of the twelve Sikh Misls during the later part of the eighteenth century.
“Giddha” flourished during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1793 to
1839). During this period the Cis-Sutlej Sikh states and misls were under
the protectorate of the Imperial British Rulers of India. The British
never interfered in the development of indigenous arts in the areas of the
princely states and Sikh Misls under their umbrella of protection. It also goes to the credit of the
British that rather than suppressing India’s indigenous art forms, they
allowed all kinds of home grown cultural activities in Punjab between 1849
and 1947. Of course all kinds of European arts were also propagated by the
British Rulers. These alien art forms flourished side by side with the
ethnic Indian art forms. In fact both cultures and fine arts gained
immensely from each other. The cities of Lahore and Amritsar became the
leaders of the hybrid Indo-British artistic activity in Punjab. Theatre
activity and live dance performances flourished, like nowhere else, in
Lahore. Giddha certainly gained a lot from this atmosphere.
Government College, Lahore During the twentieth century, the
women’s colleges in Lahore, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ferozepore and Ludhiana
became the centres of development and uninhibited exhibition of
“Giddha” dance. The Punjab University in Lahore and its post 1947
successor in East Punjab, the Panjab University in Chandigarh became the
centres of development and propagation of the art of “Giddha” dance.
Thus the twentieth century became the century of “Giddha” dance in
Punjab. Within that century “Giddha” spread to all the states and
territories of India, where the refugees from West Punjab (Pakistan)
migrated. Today “Giddha” is as popular in Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow,
Calcutta and Bombay as it is in Punjab. “Giddha” was firmly entrenched
in the souls of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana before they were carved out
of Punjab in November of 1966.
Punajb University, Lahore - Old Campus When the world famous Republic Day
of India Parade in held on the 26th of January every year in
New Delhi, the folk dance of Punjab displayed in this national event is
either “Bhangra” or “Giddha”. Wherever Punjabi diaspora has
spread, it has taken “Bhangra” and “Giddha” with it. Now the
cities of London, Birmingham, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Toronto, New
York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver are not
alien to “Giddha”dance. “Giddha” dance competitions are
held regularly in all the universities of Punjab. Even in the neighbouring
states “Giddha” is one of dances performed and evaluated in the youth
festivals. In my article on “Bhangra”, I
had mentioned that this art form is dying in Pakistan. The same is
certainly not true of “Giddha” in Pakistan. “Giddha” is used in
one or the other manifestation in the Punjabi film industry in Pakistan.
In East Punjab’s Punjabi classic film “Long da lishkara” (1981),
“Giddha” had a prominent place of pride. After that “Giddha” has
been repeated in several Punjabi block-busters. There are festivals of
“Tiyan” and “Punjabi Melas” held regularly in the American,
British and Canadian cities with sizable Punjabi population. “Giddha”
is an important dance displayed with gusto in all these festivals. In
places like Yuba City, Surrey, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, London, New
York, New Jersey and Birmingham “Punjabi Melas” are held during the
summers and in all these “Melas” “Giddha” takes the centre stage. The fashion bug, among others, has
bitten the “Giddha” dance performers too. If you look at the costumes
of the “Giddha” dancers today, these are at times absolutely dazzling.
“Giddha” these days is synonymous with glamour. Most of the winners of
the “Miss Punjaban” beauty contest titles these days are accomplished
“Giddha” dancers too. In order to make “Giddha” dance more
sophisticated, steps from other Indian classical dances like “Kathak”,
“Kathakali”, “Odisee”, “Bharat Natyam” etc are making inroads
into “Giddha” dance steps. We can claim with certainty that
“Giddha” is a dynamic art form, which is still evolving and
transforming. During the famous annual
“Republic Day Parade in New Delhi” held on 26th of January,
either the male dance “Bhangra” or the female dance “Giddha” are
performed. The audiences are eagerly awaiting these vigorous performances.
phone
732 329 0981
|