Every year, on the occasion of Holi (the festival of colour), village folk from different clans loyal to the erstwhile rulers of Rampura gather to sing for, (since the word 'king' would be anachronistic) The Dude. They begin by gathering in the outer courtyard of the fort at Rampura and start singing the Phaag (ostensibly derived from Phagun or Falgun, the season of spring and hope). If they boys were from Liverpool, they'd do 'here comes the sun' or something. But these ol coyotes are from the badlands of Bundelkhand, an area that was once notorious as the nursery of outlaws, dacoits / 'daaku' in north India. The 'd' word is perhaps best avoided, as some locals, especially the badass him/herself may take it as a personal slight. Robbing the rich to share some booty with the needy, the outlaws used to be reverently addressed as 'Baaghis' or rebels. The Phaag has nothing to do with the bandits as such. These chaps you see are perfectly honest farmers or local labourers. In any case, all remaining dacoits were made to surrender or wiped out by the state governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh way back in the early nineties. But such is the raw power of the local music, it makes the otherwise diffident villager take on the hues of a Baaghi himself, wouldn't you think? The blood of colour and the scarred, moustachioed faces doesn't help any either, I reckon. Anyway.
Keshavendra Singh, the young scion of Rampura's erstwhile royal family ambles down the walkway from inside the fort, after an appropriate time-delay, might I add. When you're the dude, the boys are going to have to wait for you to show up, standard-issue sunglasses, spurs n all. (SFX: Whoo boy.) Then the men, whose forefathers once probably rattled sabres alongside Keshavendra Singh's ancestors get into the Bundelkhand Bad-boyz groove. If you're up for this stuff, it can make your hair bristle. Check out Wily Wilson McWhyte with the JHIKA, a local instrument made with twin mini-cymbal rows pivoted in a wooden frame. Shake thing and it gives the narrative a percussion backdrop, apart from the Dholak (Ubiquitous Indian drum that bangs both sides). Wily goes crazy at 8.15 into the video - just loved that move! I tried the JHIKA too but I just didn't get that slow-mo jive.
I got my bangs alright. Go get yours, just go there and check out Fort Rampura around Holi. If the 'dude' is in the mood, he might just set up a gig just for you. Really.