Hazara Singh Ramta may be remembered as the first and foremost Punjabi folk singer, a bard, a comedian, a satirist and a social commentator par excellence. He was more of a precursor of the modern-day stand-up. He penned his own material, whether it was the verses he sang or the jokes he regaled us with.

He took pride in flaunting the image of an innocent rustic Punjabi countryside young man. Every time he performed, he would dress up in a starched turban with a towering shamla; a long, knee-length kurta, delicately embroidered; a matching waistcoat wore over it; an ankle-length tehmet; and a pair of Punjabi curved pointed juttis (calf leather shoes) as his footwear.

His repertoire began with the age-old Jugni (folk-songs tracing the travels, trials and tribulations of a wanderer) and the ditty, Jugni Gayee Sadar Bazaar (Jugni Visits the Sadar Bazaar).

The songs that followed were essentially also couched as travelogues, each with himself as the protagonist, but depicted as a country bumpkin forever at odds with modernity. Initially, he sang of his adventures as he ventured around Punjab and Delhi, then beyond around the subcontinent, to more distant locales around the world. He was gifted with an amazing imagination. He wrote `London di sair` and `Ramta memaan wich` much before he actually visited the place.

His ’tales’ were hilariously self-deprecatory and, when mixed with a rustic and simple vocabulary, had his audience rolling in the aisles. It was the child-like innocence and yet awe of the new world that made his verses so delectable. Even as a young boy who had a limited Punjabi vocabulary, he used phrases and their nuances, and found in them a treasure-trove of humour.

Ramta`s widow, Raj Raani Ramta, in association with Kalcine Enterprises Inc. presents his famous songs of `Ramte da doosra viah` and `Ramta memaan wich`. We hope you would like it. Please like, share, or comment.

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