On a wing and a message

Often called India's first Dalit rock band, Dhamma Wings doesn't subscribe to the tag. Its songs preach peace, not revolution

Kabir Shakya reacts sharply if your refer to his band, Dhamma Wings, as India’s first Dalit rock band. “We don’t see ourselves as Dalits. I am not Dalit — I am a convert to Buddhism,” he says. “And what is Dalit? We have Marathas and Brahmins, too, in our band. We sing about harmony, peace and equality. We speak of ‘India First’ in our songs. They always tag me with people of other mentalities.”

Just under 30, Mumbai boy Shakya was drawn towards rock and western styles of music because those had a wide reach among a generation that desperately needed an ideology. “There is no point in appealing to old people,” Shakya says. “They already know what they want to think. It is the young who are searching.”

Shakya became a Buddhist monk for three months, understanding and delving into a world where desire has been conquered. The search for Pali literature led him to rich sutras and he adapted them to his music. He then started reading B R Ambedkar’s writings and “the way our people live”. “Dalits have no fixed definition in India,” he says. “So I don’t believe I am a Dalit. I believe in Buddha and Babasaheb (Ambedkar). I believe the problems of our people are not just our problems — they are the problems of the whole country. We want to make our country a better place. So we sing about it.”

Has he heard the music of other liberation gurus? Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Janice Joplin? He laughs. “I have heard music, a lot of music. If Michael Jackson sang about racism, he was not just singing to the blacks. He was singing to the entire United States. That’s what we want to do.”

Shakya says revolution is passé. “Ambedkarite songs used to be critical of Hinduism,” he says. “Words were used as a tool to agitate the masses because that was the need of the hour, then. Today, people are well aware of the circumstances and do not need to be provoked to react against social injustices. Therefore, we don’t name and blame anyone in our melodies because we believe that the past should be treated as such and the present is what matters. Our message to the new generation is: Do not let social evils prevail now. Set the course for the future.”

The song that put Dhamma Wings in the limelight was “Jai Bheem se”; it had sounds of chanting set among the lyrics, making the song exude peace. Shakya composed a song about the miserable situation of the Koli community in Maharashtra, which also got a good response. He concedes that the band’s success is due to social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube, which provide everyone access to their music. “Today, many from the upper class communities, non-Dalits, non-Buddhists… all say how much they like our music,” he says. “For me, this is the objective. After all, we do not play together just for the heck of it. We come together and create music with a message, a message we firmly believe in… and the internet helps us take this everywhere.”