The next time a new movie of the immensely popular Punjabi actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh releases, watch out for the melodious sound from the high-pitched single-string plucking instrument called the tumbi.
Synonymous with Punjabi folk songs in earlier times, the tumbi had fallen on bad times and somewhat gone out of fashion.
But things are about to change.
According to media reports, Dosanjh has learnt to play the tumbi and is now preparing to play the instrument for songs and background music in his upcoming movies.
If that be the case, it should be mutually beneficial.
The tumbi has had a storied history and the instrument had been an essential part of Punjabi folk music until it became somewhat passe. But Dosanjh is the current craze and he popularising the instrument could certainly fast-track the tumbi’s revival.
Signs of a comeback
There have been some early signs of the tumbi gaining back favour.
Though it escaped general attention, the instrument was used in popular songs such as Jee Karda in the Hindi movie ‘Singh is King’ and Kala Chashma in ‘Bar Bar Dekho’.
Music aficionados say the tumbi’s debut in Dosanjh’s songs can definitely pitchfork it back to limelight.
It is music to the ears of Jai Ram, 73, of Bela village in Rupnagar district of Punjab, and a huge fan of the tumbi.
He grew up listening to the instrument first popularised by yesteryear folksinger Lal Chand Yamla Jatt. Old-timers say it was at the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Sunheri gurudwara of Ludhiana where Lal Chand first performed a song with tumbi.
A few years later, in the 1950s, he began performing on the All India Radio, Jalandhar, as well. And when Doordarshan began telecasting in the city from 1979, Lal Chand could be seen with his tumbi on television.
Ram continued to be under the spell of the tumbi even after Lal Chand’s passing. Later-day singers such as Lal Chand’s son Jasdev Yamla, Kuldeep Manak and Amar Singh Chamkila used the tumbi during their performances and Ram was mesmerised.
‘The tumbi gave a lot of sharpness and variations to the songs,” recollected Ram.
Stung by its beauty, Ram wanted to play it too. “I do not come from a well-to-do family. We are traditionally a family of masons who make domes for gurudwaras and mosques. I used to save money for days to buy a tumbi of Rs 4 from a fair,” he said.
The right notes
Alongside playing it, he also started making one for himself. In 2017, a video of him on YouTube making a tumbi went viral. Soon, people started placing orders for the instrument from him. He now earns about Rs 35,000 a month from it.
Jai Ram has set up his tumbi workshop in a peer dargah of his village.
The process is tiresome and time-consuming. But the result is both melodious and profitable.
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It takes many things to make a tumbi, including dried coconut shell or dried gourd, goat leather, wooden stick and a string. He first boils the coconut shell to drain it of all oil and then cuts it from the top. He polishes its surface and sticks the leather on top. A wooden stick is then fixed to the shell to which he then attaches a string.
The music it produces is heart-touching, insisted Ram.
As Ram works hard on making more tumbis, the current crop of Punjabi folk singers are continuing to pluck on the stringed instrument.
“My grandfather used to play it along with dhol. Now to keep connected with the younger audience, we also fuse it with drum beats,” said Vijay Yamla, the grandson of Lal Chand.
A technical assistant at the Youth Welfare department in Punjabi University in Patiala, he is also a part-time tumbi teacher. His youngest student is only eight years old.
Tumbi faithfuls believe the instrument will rediscover its lost glory and reclaim its preeminent spot. No wonder, everyone is fixated on Dosanjh’s next movie for tumbi’s loud comeback.
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The lead image at the top shows Vijay Yamla playing tumbi at his home in Patiala, Punjab (Photo by Sanskriti Talwar)
Sanskriti Talwar is an independent journalist who writes about gender, human rights and sustainability. She is Rural Media Fellow 2022 at Youth Hub, Village Square.
