It was barely noon when my ears were assailed by the heavy bass of commercial speakers. The percussive beats hit my head in waves and I wondered, for the umpteenth time, why people enjoyed decibels more than music itself. One incomprehensible song after another played out as I rummaged in the bedside drawer for some headache pills. Eventually, I figured out this was no disco — the speakers were placed in a truck outside the Durga Puja pandal (tent) and were belting out Devi bhajans set to Bollywood beats. It was the last day of Durga Puja and a crowd had gathered to take the idol for immersion in a truck. The organisers had arranged for a large music system connected to a generator to travel alongside — with a deejay to coordinate the whole thing, all the way to the river.
This was all very new to me. Perhaps, I wasn’t abreast of the latest religious trends, but I’d never heard of deejays being employed for religious purposes. “It began with deejays in wedding processions, and now people have started calling them for religious functions too,” said the local vegetable seller, one of the chief organisers of the event. He told me that nowadays, deejays not only added the extra pep when people carried idols of Durga and Ganesh for immersion, they were also sought after by groups of kawadiyas as they made the arduous journey to carry water from the Ganges back to their chosen temple. “In fact, they’re gaining popularity even to conduct all-night jagratas,” he said. Deejays and disco bhajans must, I commented, struggling to understand this new trend, spice things up a little during long religious ceremonies. “More than that, it’s a great way to rope in the younger generation, and keep their interest in religious traditions alive,” he said.
Meanwhile, the deejay, a man wearing dangerously low-waist jeans, was belting out bhajans amid protests from local residents that the music was too loud. “We thought the loud music would alert people that we’re soon going to depart with the devi’s idol,” said the organiser. “It’s worked so well.” It had indeed. I found myself standing next to a woman with a shopping bag. “The deejay they’ve hired is good,” she said. “He’s playing all the latest religious songs, most of which have been released for this festive season.” As we watched, some girls joined the band of dancers on the truck, mostly boys in red and gold headbands. “See how they’re dancing,” she exclaimed. “While their parents would never let them go to a disco, they are quite happy to let them participate in this religious function.”
By now my headache was full-blown, but the enthusiasm of the dancers was unabated. “That’s the good thing about having deejays,” the organiser said. “Their loud music pumps up people’s energy levels, which would have otherwise flagged in the noon day heat.” It was all too reminiscent of an unruly party, even though they were all dancing before the beautiful idol of Durga. “Many of these kids would not have come for this puja had the deejay not been there… Hiring him for a mere Rs 3,000 has been a great idea and money well spent.” He hastened to add that the deejay was only called when the occasion wasn’t too solemn. “But I think it’s nice to bring in a more contemporary feel to occasions such as this one,” he said.
Eventually, the procession led by the noisy truck carrying the Durga idol and the deejay left, leaving behind an unearthly silence. At the dawn of this brand new age of the devotional deejay, I mused that I urgently needed to invest in some noise-cancelling headphones.
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