{"id":2974,"date":"2015-04-15T15:12:22","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T15:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/?p=2974"},"modified":"2023-09-08T09:12:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T09:12:37","slug":"a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"A charismatic singer spreads Ambedkar’s message, one sleepless night at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

Manjeet Mehra’s jagraatas are gaining fans and electrifying Dalit audiences across North India.<\/i>
\nNeha Dixit<\/p>\n

It was 11 pm in Banat village in Shamli district in west Uttar Pradesh. A short man dressed in an off-white kurta-pyjama and black waistcoat was on the stage at the far end of a tent filled with 1,500 people.\u201cBhai, coat, pant aur vote-note ka jisne haq dilaya,haai phir bhi Bhim kyun na yaadaaya?<\/em>\u201d he sang. \u201cHe who, got us the right to wear coat-pant,\u00a0earn money and\u00a0vote, why did we not remember that Bhim?\u201d The melody is based on the 1990s Bollywood number,\u00a0Hui Ankh Nam\u00a0<\/em>from the film\u00a0Saathi.<\/em><\/p>\n

The event is a night-long jagraata: a performance of song and dance to celebrate the month of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar\u2019s 125th birth anniversary. The man on the stage is Manjeet Mehra, the head of the cultural wing of the Bahujan Samaj Party.<\/p>\n

It is a busy month for Mehra. He and his troupe have been travelling to remote parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to perform for the Dalit community. After a string of events in Rajasthan, his tour will culminate at the Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, where Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with 500,000 followers in 1956 to escape the caste system.<\/p>\n

Upper-caste groups \u201cuse fancy posters, lights, stage to eulogise the unjust acts of Hindu Gods and Goddesses\u201d, said Mehra. \u201cThey organise durbars to lure our youth. We are using the same jagraatas and durbars to spread Ambedkar\u2019s message, to enlighten our youth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mehra has modeled himself on Narendra Chanchal, the flamboyant jagraata singer who transformed the tradition of bhajan singing into a multi-million industry in North India in the \u201990s.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0In his events, Mehra deconstructs events from history and mythology for Bahujans, his preferred term for Dalits, and interprets their political significance. \u201cMost of our people cannot read and write,\u201d he said. \u201cThey neither get a chance to look beyond popular perceptions. I use the same popular gimmicks to make them aware of their rights and duties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mehra kept switching registers, moving between songs and standup comedy. Each time he picked a reference from the Hindu epics, he reiterated, \u201cIt is not me who is saying this, it is their own holy texts.\u201d In one sequence, he said, \u201cTheir Lord Ram went on an exile but who did he kill in those 14 years? Our Dalit rulers. Taadka, Maarich, Bali-Sugreev, Shambukh. Still he is God. No one talks about it. It is a way to erase the Dalit history for convenience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donations,\u00a0STARTING from Rs 10, started to pour in as he sang. He asked one of the contributors his name. \u201cDharam Pal,\u201d the man replied. Mehra continued, \u201cYou know, 50 years ago, we couldn\u2019t have such beautiful names. A Brahmin with zero intelligence would be called Brahm Gyaani, a Kshatriya child even if a coward would be named Veer Singh. But a Dalit would have to go to his upper-caste zamindar to ask him to name his children. That zamindar would ask the day the child was born. If it was Budhwar [Wednesday], he would be called Buddhu. If it was Shukrawar [Thursday] then Shakku. That is how we were named then.\u201d A banter like this fired up the crowd.<\/p>\n

When the crowd became restless, Mehra imitated Bollywood actor Amrish Puri\u2019s famous bit of dialogue to announce, \u201cMogambo dukhi hua.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Mogambo is disappointed. Canned laughter\u00a0PLAYED\u00a0in the background. The crowd\u2019s attention was wrested back with this device several times during the night.<\/p>\n

The great emancipator<\/strong>
\nMehra turned to the women, sitting together on the left side. There were more than 500 of them, a rarity in political events in Uttar Pradesh, that too so late at night, except for those addressed by Mayawati. He told them that it was Ambedkar who ensured equality for Indian women when he crafted the Constitution. \u201cMothers and sisters, according to Babasaheb, the sari that you wear is meant to hold you back from running away unlike the jeans-pant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mehra, 40, has come a long way from the time he was a teacher of arts and crafts. That was 14 years ago. The performer was born into a Dalit family in Chiri village in Rohtak and attended a government school. He decided to kick his steady job and become a musician after coming under the influence of the Dalit leader Kanshi Ram, whose interpretation of Ambedkar the young man especially admired.<\/p>\n

Since then, he has been researching Dalit history and turning it into songs and acts. \u201cMy songs involve all those who helped the poor \u2012 Guru Ravidass, Jyotiba Phule, Kabir,\u201d he said. His songs are lucid, often simplistic, angry and accusatory, written with a popular audience in mind. They prompt the listeners to ask uncomfortable questions.<\/p>\n

At the jagraata, Mehra doesn\u2019t perform all night. As he takes quick naps, Dalit leaders make speeches and other performers belt out Gautam Buddha bhajans . On Monday night, a boy took to the stage to sing a tune about the devotees of Asaram Bapu, the so-called godman who has been accused of rape. Once he was done, Mehra mimicked Asaram and then proceeded to mock the recently arrested Haryana godman Rampal. \u201cThe boy sang well but it also shows who conmen are successfully luring our youth by polluting their heads with Manuwadi rituals and servility,\u201d Mehra observed.<\/p>\n

The last act of the night, at 3 am, described the life story of Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the community\u2019s great champion. Mehra described him as \u201cgol, matol, ghungraale baal and chauda seena<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 \u2012 a chubby, curly-haired, broad-chested child. Putting a basket \u00a0of cow-dung cakes on his head, he narrated the story of Ramabai, Ambedkar\u2019s first wife, who earned the scorn of the neighbourhood by using the patties as fuel when her husband was studying in America and the family was short of money. Mehra went on to talk about how Gandhi opposed the idea of a separate electorate for Dalits even though this could have empowered the community. \u201cThat Gandhi did not want rights for us,\u201d Mehra said. \u201cHe wanted us to be at his mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broad stereotypes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite his activist streak, Mehra is not untouched by the entertainment industry. He produced an album last year and in 2011, he co-directed a popular Haryanvi film,\u00a0Dhaakad Chorra<\/em>, brimming with gun-flashing machismo. The same virile references are present in his performances. He portrays the opponents of Dalits as effeminate and characterises upper-case women as people \u201cwho waste time on lipstick and nail polish\u201d.<\/p>\n

The popularity of his jagraatas reflects the growing confidence of Dalit communities across the country. Monday night\u2019s jagraata was held in a part of Muzaffarnagar that was torn apart by riots in September. It isn\u2019t certain whether the empathy and anger in these songs can start a social revolution. But it\u2019s clear that the jagraatas have created an energetic, sometimes emancipating, alternate culture.<\/p>\n

As Mehra wrapped up, he took a sip of water from a Bisleri bottle. \u201cToday, we are drinking Bisleri water,\u201d he said. \u201cFifty years ago, we were not even allowed clean water by the upper castes.\u201d Then he began to sing, \u201cPhir bhi Bhim kyun na yaad aaya?<\/em>\u2019 Why did we, then, not remember that Bhim?<\/p>\n

Published by Scroll.in on April 15, 2015.
\nOriginal link:\u00a0http:\/\/scroll.in\/article\/720541\/A-charismatic-singer-spreads-Ambedkar’s-message,-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manjeet Mehra’s jagraatas are gaining fans and electrifying Dalit audiences across North India. Neha Dixit It was 11 pm in Banat village in Shamli district in west Uttar Pradesh. A short man dressed in an off-white kurta-pyjama and black waistcoat was on the stage at the far end of a tent filled with 1,500 people.\u201cBhai,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103,118,476],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"yoast_head":"\nA charismatic singer spreads Ambedkar's message, one sleepless night at a time - Neha Dixit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A charismatic singer spreads Ambedkar's message, one sleepless night at a time - Neha Dixit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Manjeet Mehra’s jagraatas are gaining fans and electrifying Dalit audiences across North India. Neha Dixit It was 11 pm in Banat village in Shamli district in west Uttar Pradesh. A short man dressed in an off-white kurta-pyjama and black waistcoat was on the stage at the far end of a tent filled with 1,500 people.\u201cBhai,…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Neha Dixit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-15T15:12:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-08T09:12:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20150413_025945.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Neha Dixit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Neha Dixit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/\",\"name\":\"A charismatic singer spreads Ambedkar's message, one sleepless night at a time - Neha Dixit\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20150413_025945.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-15T15:12:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-08T09:12:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/#\/schema\/person\/38a566691e2400041fc249e59b72b440\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20150413_025945.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20150413_025945.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":960},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A charismatic singer spreads Ambedkar’s message, one sleepless night at a time\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/\",\"name\":\"Neha Dixit\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/#\/schema\/person\/38a566691e2400041fc249e59b72b440\",\"name\":\"Neha Dixit\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e90d20233206c32038264cbf59d8c76a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e90d20233206c32038264cbf59d8c76a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Neha Dixit\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/author\/nehadixit\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A charismatic singer spreads Ambedkar's message, one sleepless night at a time - Neha Dixit","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A charismatic singer spreads Ambedkar's message, one sleepless night at a time - Neha Dixit","og_description":"Manjeet Mehra’s jagraatas are gaining fans and electrifying Dalit audiences across North India. Neha Dixit It was 11 pm in Banat village in Shamli district in west Uttar Pradesh. A short man dressed in an off-white kurta-pyjama and black waistcoat was on the stage at the far end of a tent filled with 1,500 people.\u201cBhai,…","og_url":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/","og_site_name":"Neha Dixit","article_published_time":"2015-04-15T15:12:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-08T09:12:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":960,"url":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20150413_025945.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Neha Dixit","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Neha Dixit","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/","url":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/","name":"A charismatic singer spreads Ambedkar's message, one sleepless night at a time - Neha Dixit","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20150413_025945.jpg","datePublished":"2015-04-15T15:12:22+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-08T09:12:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/#\/schema\/person\/38a566691e2400041fc249e59b72b440"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20150413_025945.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20150413_025945.jpg","width":1600,"height":960},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/a-charismatic-singer-spreads-ambedkars-message-one-sleepless-night-at-a-time\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A charismatic singer spreads Ambedkar’s message, one sleepless night at a time"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/","name":"Neha Dixit","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/#\/schema\/person\/38a566691e2400041fc249e59b72b440","name":"Neha Dixit","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e90d20233206c32038264cbf59d8c76a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e90d20233206c32038264cbf59d8c76a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Neha Dixit"},"url":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/author\/nehadixit\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20150413_025945.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2974"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3348,"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2974\/revisions\/3348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2974"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=2974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}