Dhaki - Outside Bengal

Outside Bengal

Bengali communities outside Bengal get dhakis from Bengal for Durga Puja. In Delhi around 400 Durga Pujas are organised. Many of the older and established pujas have their fixed dhakis, but others engage free-lancers who arrive on their own in Delhi just before the pujas. Some 100 dhakis travel to Delhi from Malda and Medinipur. Not all of them are engaged and some return empty handed.

Durga Puja is the time for the dhakis to earn some money. They are generally landless farmers and play the dhak in their villages when they have time to spare. The cost of a dhaki in Delhi is a little more than it is in Kolkata. It costs around Rs. 3,000 to 4,000 per dhaki plus Rs. 2,000 for the accompaniments.

The dhakis routinely brave police harassment in order to reach the capital with their large dhaks. With terrorism in the air, the harassment has increased. Even after checking with metal detectors for guns and bombs, the police do not allow them to go unless they pay. The return journey is more hazardous because they have money in their pockets.

Dhaks appear in the numerous Durga Puja pandals at Patna. In Jamshedpur, they also have a competition for dhakis. Dhakis travel to far way places like Hyderabad and Kochi for Durga Puja.

Sushil Das, a dhaki from Sukbazar village near Bolpur had an invitation to go to the USA, but could not accept it because of his lack of knowledge of English. A highly skilled dhaki, he can play six dhaks at a time. Some Indians residing in the USA were impressed by his performance in a puja pandal in Delhi and offered to take him to the USA.