Coming Together as a Community to Drum
People of Jaipur encountered something uniquely enchanting on 26 June, 2016.
An enthusiastic crowd showed up for the first community drum circle event in Jaipur, a positive sign that Jaipur is ready for more such community driven events.
Hari was the facilitator for the event; Taal Inc being the organizer.
The whole event turned out to be relaxing and energetic, which might sound paradoxical, and that's why you should read on to know the hows and whats of it !
Hands on drum
Our dost and host, Hari began the event by introducing people to Djembe or jembe, a west-African instrument. He showed us how to perform some basic drumming techniques which were very easy to grasp. Base and Slap are two methods to hit the drum with your hand, base is when you hit the center of drum with your whole palm and slap is when you do hit the edge of it with your joined fingers. For simplicity and fun, hari renamed base and slap to "Boom" and "Pa".
Most people were holding the drums for the first time, and their faces seemed somewhat skeptical about whether they could really play it. Hari has managed to reduce the anxiety in the group to its minimum with his friendly presence at the center.
He started with some very easy to play rhythms, and the group followed, pretty much precisely ! As we went ahead, the drumming became louder, more energetic, and more variant. It was wonderful to see the confidence gaining in the group, ready to play whatever that is being asked from them.
By now, people have started to come up with their own rhythms. And some of them sounded truly brilliant !
The "Aha moment" was to see a little girl creating a beautiful rhythm and everyone paused while she did that.
For one of the fun games we played, the whole group was divided into two teams. During one round, one team was "makers" when they are supposed to come up with a rhythm and play it for a while, and other team who is "breakers" for this round will try to break the rhythm by making all kinds of possible sounds. This was super energetic !
Sad, but like every good thing, drumming circle came to an end.
As the event came to the closure, Hari told us the many benefits of community drumming, stress buster being the primitive one. And all of us had just experienced it. Last one hour, we were completely indulged in this vibrant activity, not letting even a single thought about the routine work of office or the ups and downs in relationships take over the joy that we were experiencing.
You can listen to drumming session in parts on sound cloud - https://soundcloud.com/jaipurmerashehar/sets/community-drum-circle-june
Organizations like Jaipur Mera Shehar and Home For Artists supported the event in promotion, registration, and management.
About Hari
About an year ago, Hari attended a two day workshop on drumming circle conducted by Taal Inc's founder in Banglore. Later on, he interned with Taal Inc and facilitated many drum circles in colleges and communities while working with Taal Inc. As Tall Inc. is expanding to north, and Jaipur being their first stop, Hari will be facilitating / organizing most of their drum circle events in Jaipur.
During the whole event, Hari is supported by Manu. Manu is a musician and a friend.
About Taal Inc.
Taal Inc. is an organization that brings people together in rhythm and positively influences the areas of health & well-being through music & arts.
Will there be more drumming ?
It sure was a thrilling experience for everyone. The energy was beautiful, faces were smiling even when the hands were tired, even harmed a bit. Many of us were wondering if we can drum for one more hour or if we can do it every week. How beautiful that would be ? To come together as a community, form a large circle, and engage in this intriguing activity often ! Later, it was promising to hear from Hari that Taal Inc has plans to organize one drumming circle event every month.
Missed this event ? No worries, there would be more ! Join this group to get updates about the future drum circle events - https://www.facebook.com/groups/TaalIncDrumCirclesJaipur/
Photographs by Raj Lalwani
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