Prof Rajpal Singh: took Punjab’s folk arts to where they belonged

Sarika Sharma

In the accompanying photo, wearing a blue kurta-chaadra, Prof Rajpal Singh seems to lead a group of young Bhangra dancers. And that is what he did all life. He held the hands of the young, taught them the basics of dance, trained them in its nuances and turned them into performers, winning praise not just in India but abroad as well. Two years after he passed away, his many contributions to Punjab’s folk arts and culture are still remembered.

As someone who took to folk music as a schoolboy, Prof Rajpal started training youth in dance when he joined Government Mohindra College in Patiala as lecturer in English and at colleges in Sangrur and Sunam. His wife, Kuldip Tiwana, who met — and thus joined — him at Sangrur, says he wanted Punjabi folk arts to spread across the world, which is why he wanted the youth to take the baton. “He took them on several tours — to Russia, Spain, The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, UK. He wanted to enrich them with experiences. And he would invite them here, to Punjab. He wanted them to get a whiff of our sensibilities too,” she says.

In a world coming rapidly closer, he knew the traditional arts were at risk. He took it upon himself to document several of these. A total of 12 albums were cut on arts ranging from dhadhi singing to kavishris and puadhi akharas, and he wrote several books. At the helm of affairs in cultural bodies of the state, among them Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi, Punjab Sahit Akademi and Punjab Arts Council, he knew that cultural activities tend to concentrate in cities that are home to these academies. But arts will be safe only among people, he believed, and took them to people in the villages, says folklorist Hardial Thuhi.

“He would also organise melas celebrating artisans’ crafts like Phulkari and Pakkhi. He even brought out a book on these,” he says.

Chairman of Punjab Arts Council and a longtime associate of Prof Rajpal, poet Surjit Patar says he was a man of refined tastes. “He will always be remembered for his understanding of dances. He was a specialist of jaago and Malwa’s arts.”

Perhaps Prof Rajpal’s most significant contribution to Malwa, which he hailed from (he was born in Bagadiyaan village in Sangrur), was bringing the now famous Malwai Giddha to the stage. Back then it was Babeyaan da Giddha (sometimes also called Mardaan da naach), that women were not party to. He organised its first-ever performance during the inauguration of the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, in 1985 and the audience had included former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

At another time, his audience had wowed UK’s Prince Charles at the annual Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, a festival of folk arts, which he and his team attended every year, from 1990 to 2015.

The last few years of his life were dedicated to Virsa Bhawan, a centre for performing and visual arts in Mohali, a dream that he had envisaged and was working towards realising. His wife, Kuldip, is working hard to ensure it comes true. “One floor of the building is functional and children are coming here already. But he had so many dreams, a different vision. He wanted our artistes to associate with foreign artistes and wanted them to learn from us. There is a lot that needs to be done and we are working towards realising it,” she says.