Big brass wedding band

Big brass wedding band

Advertisement

The songs they play might sound loud and raucous, but no wedding in North India is quite complete without the accompaniment of a big brass band.

The musicians, dressed in gaudy uniforms, serenade the procession in which the groom’s family dances all the way to the wedding venue, where the bride’s family waits to receive them.

1 / 18

Slideshow

Members of a brass band are reflected in a pane of glass while standing outside their office in their flashy, military-style uniforms.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

Members of a brass band are reflected in a pane of glass while standing outside their office in their flashy, military-style uniforms.

A selection of brass instruments hangs on the wall of a basement, where a band member gets ready to perform.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

A selection of brass instruments hangs on the wall of a basement, where a band member gets ready to perform.

Rafiq Mohammed, a 25-year-old band member, rests before leaving to play at a wedding procession.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

Rafiq Mohammed, a 25-year-old band member, rests before leaving to play at a wedding procession.

Musicians wait to get on a bus, as they travel to perform at a wedding.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

Musicians wait to get on a bus, as they travel to perform at a wedding.

Band members sit on a bus on their way to a performance.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

Band members sit on a bus on their way to a performance.

Musicians walk down the street as they go to play at a wedding, attracting a stare from a young man standing by a motorbike.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

Musicians walk down the street as they go to play at a wedding, attracting a stare from a young man standing by a motorbike.

Band members practice in an empty spot outside town. Their music tends to be too loud for them to hold practice sessions in residential areas.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

Band members practice in an empty spot outside town. Their music tends to be too loud for them to hold practice sessions in residential areas.

The band has found a spot to practice in a secluded place behind some bushes.
. NOIDA, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

The band has found a spot to practice in a secluded place behind some bushes.

A band member adjusts his colleague's headdress before they perform at a wedding.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

A band member adjusts his colleague's headdress before they perform at a wedding.

One of the musicians takes a picture of his fellow band member before they start work.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

One of the musicians takes a picture of his fellow band member before they start work.

As night falls, a band member holds up a board announcing the names of the couple getting married.
. NOIDA, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

As night falls, a band member holds up a board announcing the names of the couple getting married.

As a wedding procession gets going, relatives and friends of the groom dance.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

As a wedding procession gets going, relatives and friends of the groom dance.

A man dances during a wedding procession illuminated by red and white lamps.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

A man dances during a wedding procession illuminated by red and white lamps.

The groom's family and friends dance during a wedding procession.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

The groom's family and friends dance during a wedding procession.

Band members rest against a wall as they wait to perform. They often wait long hours for the groom’s family to arrive and the procession to start.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

Band members rest against a wall as they wait to perform. They often wait long hours for the groom’s family to arrive and the procession to start.

Music blares as fireworks are set off during a wedding procession.
. NOIDA, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

Music blares as fireworks are set off during a wedding procession.

Band members share out the tip they were given after a wedding performance.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

Band members share out the tip they were given after a wedding performance.

Two band members stroll down an empty street as they wait to perform.
. NEW DELHI, INDIA. REUTERS/Mansi Thapliyal

Two band members stroll down an empty street as they wait to perform.

"The music, loud and screechy, is something I can’t listen to everyday and is something meant only for special occasions."
Mansi Thapliyal, Reuters Photographer

Music bands play an integral part in a ‘Big Fat Indian Wedding,’ especially in North India.

Weddings there are never complete until the families of the bride and groom dance to the tune of popular Bollywood songs. Brass bands are hired to play at the wedding procession, in which the groom's family dances all the way to the wedding venue where the bride's family waits to receive them.

The procession, known as ‘Barat,’ is usually accompanied by bright lights, fireworks, loud music and dancing, and the bands play a mixture of Indian and western instruments.

The men who make up India’s brass bands are regularly seen marching through cities and towns dressed in their flashy outfits, spicing up parties. Despite their loud presence, they usually go unnoticed.

I wanted to take a closer look and find out more about them. What do they do when they’re not entertaining wedding guests? And what are their day-to-day struggles?

Brass band members’ normal routine consists of leaving their shops sometime around late afternoon. Once they reach the venue where the wedding procession will start, they often wait hours for the groom's family to gather.

One of the band members told me that, in earlier times, the hours used to stretch on endlessly but now, thanks to mobile phones and internet technology, things are different. They use their mobile phones to kill their boredom – huddling together to watch a film on the handset’s small screen, listening to songs or talking to their girlfriends.

They also use their phones to download songs and lyrics to help them practice, something they used to do with records and cassettes, which were more expensive.

At one point, I was sitting and talking with the band and I told them that I would print the photos out to show them. But one of the younger band members cut in and said I only had to give them a link and they would be able to see and share the photos on their phones. I felt so stupid!

When the band members walk around the streets or wait for a bus, their gaudy military uniforms and old-style brass instruments draw a lot of attention, especially from children.

The tunes they play may sound very scratchy, but the bands work long hours perfecting them. They practice when there are no weddings planned for the day. Since the music is so loud, they can’t practice in residential or crowded areas. So I was curious to know where they actually go and, to my surprise, I found they practice behind the bushes next to a railway track. They spent a whole day there, working on a new song.

I spoke to band members like Rajesh Kumar, 32, who saw it as a good way of making extra money alongside other petty jobs he does back home when he is not playing with the band. Kumar says he gets between 500 and 600 rupees, around $10, for every wedding where he plays, which is not really enough to survive on and support his family.

The music that the band plays is recognisable to many Indians. When I see a wedding procession, it’s strangely compelling and I’m drawn to it. But the music, loud and screechy, is something I can’t listen to everyday and is something meant only for special occasions.

I think there is a sharp contrast between the brass band players I documented and other musicians for whom playing music is almost like meditating. It’s common to find musicians performing with their eyes closed and their faces full of pride. Even in the smallest of towns, you will find satisfaction in the face of a performer for possessing the special gift of music, which many other people lack.

But I feel the same can’t be said about the wedding band I got to know.