Parv Kaur the first UK Dhol Player is beating stereotypes along with the dhol
She doesn’t wear a necklace around her neck, doesn’t holding a glass of wine at a wedding or tie her hair in a neat bun. She is the woman with a string around her neck, a string that carries a dhol, a string that outshines all diamonds and gems and stones.
Blazing the passion and burning up patriarchy, this young lass from UK is the first dhol player ever!
Parv Kaur got hooked to music at an early age as her father Balbir Singh mentored her. She learnt to play the dhol, keyboard and drums at the age of fourteen. Balbir Singh was the lead singer of a bhangra band called Bhujangry group-- the first band to introduce bhangra to the UK in 1967.
While men were busy playing the dhol, she was busy wondering why no women! And then she became a part of the same picture by picking the instrument that her father picked- the dhol.
She soon started her own company in 1999 named --Eternal Taal, which then took its flight from a highly sought-after weekly class attracting students to a performance group. More than a dhol prayer, she took over the conventions and flood the dhol-playing industry with women.
I used to get Dj’s and musicians looking at me and giving me the eye—thinking what is she doing? And as soon as I d pick the drum and play, they would all be shocked. The shock factors—that’s what I love about my job the most!, Parv says.
She got a part-time job as a lecturer in Computer Science through which she saved funds and made the group her life. Her mom sew a few uniforms so they group looked like a team and so the Eternal Taal was on its way to stardom.
In 2010, Parv's efforts towards the art were recognized when she was presented with the award for 'Contribution of bhangra music in the UK’ by the House of Commons.
Now they play at high-profile events like UK's Glastonbury festival and have also featured in Bollywood movies like Shaandaar, Yamla Pagla Deewana and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
Her hands are graced with sticks banging stereotypes and conventions, while making the world dance to her beats!
-PTC News
