Rajasthani Singer
Address - K- 175
Colony- Kathputli Colony; Shadipur Depot
City-Delhi
Pin code-110008
Phone - 257 02 960 / 98 107 57 910
Art form - This folk dance and music are very old and it have derived from some traditional dance forms of the tribal religions in Rajasthan. Kabelia is a famous folk dance of Rajasthan. Kalbelia is a catchy form of dance but is difficult to perform. There is a big demand across the country and abroad for this art.
About Babulal Bhatt - Babulal Bhatt is a 40 years experienced artist, he is rated as one of the top artistes and exponents of Kalbelia. He is originally from Kodimagob village in Nagor District (Rajasthan). His family belongs to the Badshah Shek Shalavat Khan Kingdom. He has 6 kids and two grand-children living with him in Kathputli Colony.
He was 5 years when his dad, Ranu Bhatt who was a very popular folk singer of his time, taught him the sensitive interpretation of this art.
At the age of 14, he got married. Thereafter, He formed his own troupe with his brother, Hari Bhatt, and his wife. Fortunately, his troupe was inducted into the Song and Drama Division. After that, the group decided to focus on Kalbelia folk dance and music.
Now Babulal Bhatt performs with a group of 10 people of which 4 women are Kabelia dancers. Babulal Bhatt has included his 16 years old son, Pawan, into his group. For him, it's very important to teach his art to his descendants.
Other art Forms - He can also play Dholak, Tabla and Harmonium.
Teaching Skills -Babulal is very good in teaching since he is fully dedicated to his art and have lot of patience.
Performances - He is in great demand for his shows all over India and also abroad. Then he has performed in many festivals in India (Assam, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Utter Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kashmir, Bihar and the last one was in Rajasthan, last October, for "Hanuman festival"). As he is popularly known all over, has also performed at a number of official celebrations including the cultural evenings on Independence Days.
During one of his performances in the USSR (erstwhile Russia), in the early nineties, the organisers were so impressed by his performance that the local university conferred an honorary doctorate of music on him, regardless of the fact that he is not literate. When he went back in Japan on March 2000 (It was one-month tour with the Japanese Embassy) the audience was so fascinated by the Kalbelia dance that some among them came to him and expressed their desire to learn this form of dance. They were even keen to join the troupe… That was a great reward for the troupe and the form of art they are performing for decades.
The troupe, often, has a long term contract abroad. For example they stayed 4 months in Japan (1995) and they spend 6 months in Taiwan (2001). But they also go for shorter periods (England, United States of America, France, Germany, Canada etc.). Their next trip is planned for September 2005, in London.
SPECIAL THANKS TO BOUIFROU LINDA
Doctorante allocataire de recherche en géographie urbaine/ Research Fellow in Urban Geography. Laboratoire SEDET / CNRS - Université Paris 7 - Denis Diderot.
CREATING A WEB PRESENCE FOR TRADITIONAL FOLK ARTISTS OF KALAKAR COLONY
SHADIPUR DEPOT, NEW DELHI.
A COLLABORATIVE ICT PROJECT OF
KALAKAR TRUST SCHOOL & ANAND FOUNDATION.