She is the voice behind ‘Danger Chamar’, and has a story to tell about it. Amid slogans on the street and in Parliament, hers is a viral voice online of assertion by ‘lower’ castes through Punjabi music. ‘Chamar pop’ and ‘Ambedkar folk’ have a new star in 17-year-old Ginni Mahi.
“There was this girl who asked me my caste,” recalls Ginni, now in first year of college, from school. “I am from among the SCs,” Ginni told her. “Which one?” the girl asked. “Chamar,” Ginni replied.
“Oh! I should be careful. Chamars are danger, they say,” the girl laughed, innocently casual in her casteism.
“That’s perhaps where the song ‘Danger Chamar’ comes from,” says Ginni, “She’s to thank for it. She’s still my friend.” ‘Danger Chamar’ in 2015 and a sequel in February this year have nearly 80,000 views on YouTube.
Ginni was born to Rakesh and Paramjeet Kaur Mahi in Jalandhar, the heartland of Dalit-dominated Doaba region of Punjab, the state with the highest proportion of SCs at 32%. In Doaba, this goes up to 45% in some segments.
She showed her singing chops around the age of 7, when her father took her to a friend who got her some training. She found chances in multi-artist albums soon, and her first solo album, ‘Guraan di Diwani’ came out early last year.
The second album, ‘Gurpurab hai Kanshi Wale Da’, was released in February this year, on the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidass, the 15th century saint who is one of the contributors in Guru Granth Sahib and is revered as a Dalit icon.
She is a favourite for cultural and religious congregations of Dalits, particularly Ravidassia community — the Dalit breakaway religion from Sikhism — since 2011.
There have been Ravidass singers before. What makes her stand out is the near-religious stature in her folk-pop to Ambedkar. “I do not want to say I sing caste songs,” she insists. “What did Baba Sahib preach? Bhed-bhaav nahi hona chaida (That there should be no discrimination). Basic humanism!” But she gets acerbic reactions too online. “For every bad comment, there is a counter from other users,” she says.
