Just Beat It

“The Delhi Drum Circle started in mid-January this year,” informs Margot Bigg,an American writer who is co-founder of DDC along with friends Rakesh Mathur and Anisa Nariman. It was as if the city had been waiting for this — DDC instantly grabbed the attention of drummers,from professionals like Farhruddin “Sina” Ghaffari to Kanika Batra who “plays a little bit but sings and dances quite a lot”. The three DDC meets held so far have seen an increasing number of drummers every time. “The drummers are coming out of the closet and the initial six have now grown to 15. There is a core group of about 10 drummers,both men and women,” says Mathur.

Drum circles exist around the world,and in streets and parks of London,New York and Kuala Lumpur are major hubs. “Drum circles are modeled on community drumming in Senegal and other parts of West Africa,” says Bigg. The philosophy is the same everywhere—within the circle the drummers create a free-spirited space that’s as much about having fun as about letting go. Entry is free,everybody plays together and the spontaneous jugalbandi creates its own music. “The security guys once asked us to stop and we pointed out that we played softly and in fact cleaned up garbage before we left,” says Mathur.

The variety of percussion instruments runs a wide arc,from the tambourine,shakes and cow horns to the Arabic darbuka. But,it is the African djembe that dominates with its loud sound. “We’re unlikely to see a tabla and the Iranian tombak because both are softer,better on stage than community drumming,” says Ghaffari, a 23-year-old Iranian musician who has trained in Hindustani classical music and is the lead percussionist with the Baran Music Ensemble. Never mind how late he’s slept on Saturday,Ghaffari “will never miss the DDC at Deer Park”. “The atmosphere is mind-blowing. That’s a kind of camaraderie that’s different from a stage performance,” he says. Biggs adds,“Once,as we were finishing,a group of old people listened to us,amused. Drum circles are community events enjoyed by all.”

Batra says she loved being a part of drum circles in Brazil and when studying in the US. “In Pearl Street in Colorado,we set up a drum circle on a street corner. The vibe changed. Pedestrians would go to work smiling,” she says. At Deer Park too,street-kids join in to clap and dance along, a visitor to the park starts singing and even the deer in their cages,seem to turn a curious ear. Nothing to beat that.

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