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Bhimraaj ki Beti hooñ/ Maiñ Jai Bheem Wali hooñ

Bana Aata Bhimkanya: the Bhimkanya fights injustice singlehandedly, using the attackers’ weapons on them.

Zhenda Bhimacha Tya Dilivari Udto (The flag of Bhim flying in Delhi): Earlier in this video the blue flag is shown flying atop India’s official symbolic seat of power, Delhi’s Red Fort

From the title track of the album I Love You Ambedkar

Bhim Geet

Marathi: 2015

(Bhim Geete, in Marathi)

The song he died for / Mithila Phadke, The Times of India, May 24 2015

Bhim geet, which praise Ambedkar's movement, are songs of self-respect for many Dalits

`Kara kitihi halla, majboot Bhimacha killa.' (Attack all you want, Bhim's fortress is strong) The song, praising Dr B R Ambedkar, is many SC youths’ mobile ringtone

Songs like `kara kitihi halla' are called Bhim Geet -songs espousing Ambedkar's social and political philosophy . A pre-Independence musical form that grew around Dalit activism, Bhim Geet continue to draw followers across ages.Long before writers like Baburao Bagul and Namdeo Dhasal and organizations like Dalit Panther made their mark, Bhim Geet were the community's voice.

“When Babasaheb Ambedkar began his activism in the 1920s, Bhim Geet singers played a vital role in spreading his philosophy,“ says Ganesh Chandanshive, professor at Mumbai University and a folk performer himself. He recalls Keruba Ghegde, Bhau Phakkad and Hariharrao Sonule as some of the earliest singers of the genre.

“There used to be a saying, `Bamna ghari lihina, kunbya ghari daana, mahara ghari gaana (there is scholarship in a Brahmin's home, grains at a Kunbi's, and music in a Dalit's),“ says professor Prakash Khandge, head of Mumbai University's Lok Kala Acad emy . The folk songs and ballads spoke of equality and fraternity to the then largely illiterate community .

“Like the protest songs of the Civil Rights movement in the US, Dalit activists used Bhim Geet to challenge the system,“ says poet Vaibhav Chhaya. In the 1940s and early 1950s, the songs of men like Wamandada Kardak captivated audiences, soon followed by Shravan Yeshwante, Prahlad Shinde, Pirajirao Sarnaik and Annabhau Sathe. “Ganatich majhi gulaamaat hoti, zindagich majhi salaamaat hoti...Todlis majhi gulaamachi bedi (I used to be counted as a slave, I spent my life bowing before others...You were the one who broke my chains),“ sings Shinde.

The Bhim Geet movement, says Khandge, slowed down with the start of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement in the mid-1950s.“Ambedkar, too, was part of the movement.The primary concern then was the creation of a separate state,“ explains Khandge. The Bhim Geet movement fell further behind in the 60s with the Shiv Sena raising the decibel on the Marathi manoos issue. “Slowly , all those who were singing Bhim Geet began to explore broader social themes. Some moved to folk theatre,“ Khandge says.

It was around the same time that Dalit activ ism found new voices in writers like Bagul and Dhasal. “Golpitha by Dhasal and Baluta by Daya Pawar were written. The `little magazine' movement that began then produced several writers and poets,“ Khandge says. “The work that used to be done by the Bhim Geet singers was then taken on by the new wave of activists.“

Though largely replaced by literature, the Bhim Geet movement refused to disappear. The songs continued to thrive in pockets of Mumbai and outside, through qawwali events. “The Dalit community lived in areas that also had a large Muslim population,“ says Chhaya. Bhim Geet qawwalis flourished in Mumbai neigh bourhoods like Bhendi Bazaar, Mazgaon, Naigaon, and also inside Worli's BDD chawls.

“Both were minority communities,“ Khandge says. “That created a bond and they learnt from each other.“ Repartee and animated ditties flew back and forth, and Bhim Geet qawwali events ensured that the tradition adapted to the changing times. In fact, in time, these performances began featuring film-inspired romantic themes.

But through shahirs like Sambhaji Bhagat, the ballads began exploring themes like globali zation and feminism. “My performances have female sutradhaars,“ says Bhagat, who has just returned from a rousing event in a slum settle ment at Pune's Mangalvar Peth. “There are many young performers on the scene today . And it's the younger generation that makes up most of the audience at these events.“

Those like Kabeer Shakya and his band Dhamma Wings have even adapted songs writ ten by veterans for newer audiences. Shakya's repertoire includes a popular, guitar-accompa nied version of Wamandada Kardak's `Chaan danyachi Chhaya'. “These songs had played a huge role in changing society during their time,“ says Shakya. “We want to do whatever it takes to bring them, and the path-breaking ideas they talk about, to today's generation.“

Rap, pop, hip hop: 2018

Ketaki Desai, Bhim rap to Dalit pop: How the music of protest is thriving, December 23, 2018: The Times of India

“I am the Eklavya of these times, my archery is hip-hop, the words erupting in my mind are turning into arrows,” raps Sumeet Samos in Odia. He goes on: “This time, the fingers won’t be cut, these arrows will instead pierce this very society, disturb its stability”. Samos, a Delhi-based Dalit rapper, brings up issues rarely heard in the mainstream music industry — from a song about the Kandhamal riots of 2008, to a critique of the limited vocabulary around reservations: “All you know is five words: Dalit, merit, caste, Ambedkar, reservation,” goes the catchy chorus.

Samos, who raps in English, Hindi and Odia, feels the mainstream music industry thinks of Dalit artists only as folk artists. “I wanted to show them that we’re more than that,” says the 26-year-old, who is one of many young musicians taking on caste in genres like extreme heavy metal and pop.

Ginni Mahi, 20, describes her music as part pop, part hip-hop, and part devotional hymns. The Jalandhar girl shot into the spotlight three years ago after her hits Fan Baba Sahib Di, Danger and Danger 2 racked up millions of views on YouTube. Mahi was hailed as belonging to the sub-genre of ‘chamar pop’, because of the lyrics that turn a slur into a badge of pride. “People use the word ‘chamar’ in a derogatory and discriminatory way. I want to sing about equality and breaking down barriers as much as possible,” says Mahi, who regularly performs at live shows.

Meanwhile, The Casteless Collective takes ‘gaana’, an indigenous genre popular among the working class of north Madras, and makes it world music. Comprising 19 members, the collective was the brainchild of filmmaker Pa. Ranjith. The group includes diverse music-makers, from ‘gaana’ artists to rappers from Mumbai’s Dharavi slum. The group sees itself as a “political awareness outfit,” taking on matters of Dalit identity, issues like beef-eating, manual scavenging and the idea of a modern-day Ambedkar, and also LGBT rights and feminism. “If you see a video about manual scavenging, it might not affect you. But, if a manual scavenger is the one singing a song about his life to you, that’s powerful,” says Tenma, 30, who leads the band.

Samos sees his music as an extension of his activism. “In 2016, Rohith Vemula committed suicide and I was involved in the student protest. It pushed me to do something.” That’s where rap came in.

“Growing up in Odisha’s Koraput district, I experienced direct kinds of discrimination. There were segregated colonies, your school and access to water were determined by your caste identity,” he says. At JNU, however, he began to see more indirect forms of discrimination such as being denied opportunities at seminars despite being the course topper and feeling patronised by professors “like they’re giving us charity”.

Music is a very effective means of liberation and protest because “it works more subtly to transmit messages,” says Dr Zoe Sherinian, professor of Ethnomusicology and author of Tamil Folk Music as Dalit Liberation. Genres like rock and rap, she says, are good urban equivalents to the traditional folk forms that Dalit liberation has used. “Rap music especially can be performed with just vocals accompanied by beats. If the music remains technically accessible and participatory, young Dalit musicians can use these genres, as well as contemporary folk styles like gaana in Tamil Nadu, to unify young people in their struggles against caste, class, and gender oppression”.

The name of Kerala-based death metal band Willuwandi translates to ‘bullock cart’, a reference to the solo revolt by activist Mahatma Ayyankali in Kerala in 1893, when he drove a bullock cart through a public road, wearing a turban, at a time when the oppressed castes were not allowed to be seen in public places. The band hopes to “to wake up Dalits and backward castes” with its music, says its frontman, Sethu Willuwandi. “We want to motivate people. Inspiration only changes thoughts, but motivation changes actions,” he says.

Samos feels inspired by the sense of community that has come from his music. “When I started doing this, young Dalit people from all over the country started messaging me, telling me how they related to my music.”

Mahi, too, has received immense support from the Dalit community, but she wants the socially dominant to pay attention too. “I sing for everyone — so we can end the caste system and break barriers. It isn’t enough for just my community to hear my message of equality,” she says.

Popular Bheem Geete on YouTube

The Diwani Bhimachi Diwani is also a Nagpurchi Nagin: at the same time a modern urbanite and an avenging Jhansi ki Rani, as the lyrics tell us.

Bhimachi Vaghin Tigress atop a horse. Singer - Anjali Bharti

Indpaedia searched YouTube for the most popular Bheem Geete. It would, of course, be unfair to compare the number of times a song posted six years was viewed with one posted only a month or two before this chart was prepared (towards the end of May 2015).

The oldest currently-available Bheem Geet were posted in 2009.

Methodology: Indpaedia’s volunteers looked at all the 180-odd songs listed as Bhim Geet that emerged on the first 10 ‘pages’ of YouTube in reponse to a query about Bhim Geet, and all 36-odd songs listed as Bheem Geete on the first two ‘pages’ of YouTube in reponse to a similar query about Bheem Geete, or roughly 216 Bhim Geet(e) in all.

113 of these 216 songs had been viewed more than 2,000 times. They have been ranked according to their popularity. Another 13 songs emerged randomly during this search, but have not been ranked because they were not selected according to fixed criteria.

Limitations of this method: Songs not labelled Bhim Geet(e) did not show up in the YouTube results and, to our regret, were not ranked in the table below. Errors and omissions may please be pointed out as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name within 15 days.

Therefore, for whatever it is worth, the cumulative popularity of the 113 most popular Bheem Geet(e) that have been listed as Bhim Geet or Bheem Geete is as below.

The top 113

Another 13 popular Bhim Geet

Political use of Bhim Geet

Replacing Hindu deities with Ambedkarite characters

Avijit Ghosh, Reworked lit, folksongs help BSP spread Bhim's ideology, Oct 17 2016 : The Times of India

Reworked folk songs and bestselling booklets have acted as key tools for BSP in spreading Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar's ideology since the 1990s and will play a vital role in mobilising voters in the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

“Songs performed by women while grinding foodgrains (jantsar) or during childbirth (sohar) used to have characters from Indian mythology . They were replaced by figures related to Ambedkar's life. For instance, in one song, Kaushalya Rani (the eldest wife of King Dashrath in Ramayan) is replaced by Ambedkar's mother. In other songs, words such as doctor are introduced to give it an Ambedkaraite twist,“ Badri Narayan, who has written a biography on the architect of the Constitution, tells TOI.

Similarly , Hanuman Chalisa was replaced or supplemented by Bhim Pachasa.`Jai Bhim' is one of the most used slogans among Dalit parties or those sympathetic to their cause. “Such rewor king of the past is meant to give confidence to people suppressed for hundreds of years.Indirectly , such initiatives also help in electoral politics,“ says Narayan, who teaches social science in JNU.

Songs and literature have been integral to BSP's politics.BSP was founded by Kanshi Ram in 1984. “In its first phase, BSP formed the jagriti dastas, which included painters and folk singer-songwriters. Now Dalit orchestras are being used in a big way for the buildup on the elections next year,“ says Narayan. Unlike the folk songs, which were partly an initiative of the party's cultural wing, the booklets were a product of individual creativity. Written by community intellectuals, they were devoured by those who had recently attained political consciousness through the BSP's politics. These low-cost booklets were available and sold in BSP's public meetings. “Some such writers are Chandrika Prasad Jigyasu, Guru Prasad Madan, Rajkumar Pasi and AR Akela. Their booklets on Ambedkar as well as Bahujan community and politics have sold in lakhs but few have heard of them,“ says Narayan.

India is celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar this year. The build-up to UP elections is being keenly followed by political pundits. BSP , under the leadership of Mayawati, is among the two frontrunners --BJP being the other -to replace the ruling SP. But in a new book, Narayan points out that about 30%-40% of the smaller communities among Dalits in UP remain invisible to state, political parties, even academics. “Dalit communities or sub-castes are marginalised. They haven't even acquired the capacity to aspire, acquire a decent life and a share in democracy,“ he says in the book, `Fractured Tales: Invisibles in Democracy'.

Language-wide

Punjabi

2016 FAN BABA SAHEB DI

Main dhee haan Baba Saheb di, jinhe likhya si savidhan (I am the daughter of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, who wrote the Constitution) She was just a teenager then but there was power and muscle in her voice. Jalandharborn singer Ginni Mahi’s powerpacked Punjabi song in praise of Baba Saheb Ambedkar personified

See also

Manjeet Mehra