DJ wale babu…mera gaana baja do

Jasmine Singh

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Macarena, Saadi rail gaddi aayi, Saturday Saturday, Nucleya, Sapney main milti hai, Laa ke 3 peg baliye...You don’t have to arrange the songs in order, you just have to go with the flow, and dance to the potpourri of songs that the desi DJ walas play at marriage functions. No questions asked about the decade old songs still being given space on the play list, why a sudden English number in between a daru wala Punjabi number... just dance! 

We don’t need to tell you that the marriage season is around; we bet the shaking windows of your house (if you stay close to a community centre or a wedding resort) have said it all. What we need to tell you is that it is the desi DJs who are burning their CDs day and night to keep these parties going. Most of the DJs here are self-learners, with a fairly okay sense of music, carry five to six pack of CD bags that have an assortment of songs right from Hindi, English, Punjabi and some electronic too, and are willing to play Saadi rail gaddi aai a hundred times on request. Not all of them have elaborate hi-end consoles but each one of them does know for a fact that without the DJ wale babu, no marriage function is complete, so play whatever you like. 

Play this, play that 

The DJ services generally keep updating their list. In fact, you’d be surprised to see that eight out of 10 DJs play almost similar kind of songs at all marriages. Fun cannot be discriminated against ... right? Raj Bagga of Xpert DJ Services Sector-66, Chandigarh has been in this trade for almost six to seven years and more than anything else, he talks about the challenges of being a DJ at a marriage event, which most people do not know. “At any given time seven to eight persons are standing on my head with their song requests. Each of them wants their request to be played first. Some want a Hindi number, some do not want me to play the entire number, they repeat the first para of the song 10 times. Imagine, how DJs deal with it.” Nonetheless, Raj still enjoys his work, he nurses a small grudge though. “The demand for DJ services in marriages is increasing but the money being paid is decreasing, due to the competition.” 

Upgrading, all the time

While there are DJs who haven’t brought much changes in their set-up, someone like Goldy, owner B21 Chandigarh has taken his work way too seriously. A self-taught DJ, Goldy houses all the hi-end DJ set up, “What makes a marriage party enjoyable, the DJ of course,” Goldy laughs, “and which is why it has to stand out. I buy whatever new gadget or instrument that comes in the market.” A hi-end DJ would ask for a hi-end price. “These days people are willing to spend 2-to-3 lakh on a DJ, all they expect is a good show, and we give them that.”

Play on…to the gallery 

Marriages in Punjab are about going overboard, spending as much as one can. Shelling a few lakhs on DJ doesn’t seem to pinch.  So, what is expected of the DJ services at marriages? One, they should have a foot-tapping play list and, “he should patiently tend to all the requests,” offers 21-year-old Sonu from Zirakpur who has been playing at marriages since he was in class tenth. He can now judge the mood of the party from its set up and guests. “I see the guests and I know whether they are into Punjabi music or Hindi.” Sonu finds this work very thankless. “People dance, create mayhem, shout on the DJ and call us orchestra wale. “I don’t like it, in fact, I don’t like how people throw money in the air, . But all said and done, I know, bina DJ wale de party nahi hundi,” adds Harry from Kharar.