New Delhi- It’s the season of winter and weddings in Delhi. It’s that time of the year when marriage halls and hotels are overbooked and DJs are busy sorting their client’s playlist. It’s when the markets witness a rush with florists busy decorating houses and cars, wedding outfit shops crowded with customers, jewellery shops getting a glow, and food caterers and confectioners preparing mouth-watering dishes and sweets.

However, the affair of an Indian wedding is incomplete without the Band Wallahs. From trumpeters to drummers, their team works in cohesion to make baraats unforgettable for families. However, they live a life which is in complete contrast with the glitz and the glitter of their workspace.

India has been a home to big fat weddings. It's not only the Ambanis and the Kapoors, but even a smaller household in this country spends a large chunk of their earnings and lifetime savings on the weddings, and 2024 is no different.

With over 4.5 lakh weddings set to take place in Delhi during this winter season- averaging about 20,000 weddings per day, the industry is set to fetch a revenue of over around Rs. 6 trillion, according to Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

With the start of the auspicious ‘lagan’ timings according to Hindu beliefs, over 50,000 weddings were slated for the opening day alone on November 12. This marks a significant increase from last year's 3.8 million weddings, which generated a business of Rs. 4.7 trillion.

The band owners said that they have received unprecedented bookings this year. Rajdhani Band received over 75 bookings for November, with new requests coming in daily. Similarly, Jea Band Group reported over 80 bookings, and noted a growing trend in destination weddings.

With the wedding season underway, the roads have been transformed into impromptu dance floors and horns have got louder as cars get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic amid baraat processions. To manage the surge in traffic, the Delhi Police have reportedly deployed between 1,500 to 2,000 traffic personnel to streamline vehicular movement across the city.

 Putting the spotlight back on the band wallahs and their woes, the biggest challenge they face is to feed their families. Most of the band members are migrants from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who work for long, backbreaking hours just to get paid meagre wages.

Moreover, they take public transport like DTC buses to reach the wedding venues while carrying their heavy instruments. Band wallahs are often made to wear oversized indigo-coloured kurtas with golden and silver embellishments for their performances.

Manoj Kumar, 35, a band member who hails from Bihar, said that they hardly earn anywhere between Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 per month. He says he’s also engaged in selling vegetables in the market during the daytime and when wedding season is not in place. He wraps up his work by evening and rushes to the band shop where he is assigned a wedding venue to go and perform during the baraat procession.

Another band member, Rahul- who recently got married, also has his family back in Bihar. Like Manoj, he is also involved in other  occupation apart from being a part of the band. He works in a clothing showroom throughout the day, starting from 9 AM in the morning till night. It’s only the wedding season when he gets some time off in the evening to go and perform with his musical instrument in the baraat procession.  

This profession is unregulated and unorganised and they lack a workers’ union. This is one of the reasons their struggles and grievances go unheard.

Beyond this, they also run the risk of getting respiratory illnesses. A study by the scientists at University of Nottingham in 2019 found that band members, especially brass players, are 16 per cent more at risk of developing a respiratory illness.

The increased risk is due to bacteria build-up within the instruments. Moisture from breath and saliva, which get trapped inside the instrument, create the right conditions for bacteria and fungi to grow. These are passed on to the musician, or any player sharing the instrument, the next time they pick it up.

The study found that 58 per cent of the band members have never been taught how to clean their musical instruments properly, while 61 per cent of brass musicians are unaware that they might be at higher risk of developing a chest infection like bronchitis.

Among brass players, the results found a total of 62 chest infections per 1,000 players. This is in comparison with 49 to 54 infections per 1,000 among the general population.

From juveniles to the elderly, the bands employ staff members cutting across age groups. Some of them find a moment to rejoice amid the battles of their own lives, and occasionally shake a leg while performing on their instruments.

Often dressed in eye-catching livery, the band wallahs also face a threat of losing their jobs by the arrival of DJs and recorded music.

 No matter how tough it gets for them, the band wallahs never fail to bring smiles on the face of baraatis, giving them memories of a lifetime that the families cherish forever.

(Sumit Singh and Syed Abubakr are freelance journalists based in Delhi)