Bhangra Is Not A "Thing‪"‬

Ask a hundred people what bhangra is and you will get a hundred answers: a wedding, a drum, a fitness class, a film song, a costume. This book argues that the problem is the word itself. Bhangra is not a thing to be owned, packaged and sold. It is something people do, and it grew from particular people in a particular place.

Written by Ravi Sandhu, founder of Pungra and a group exercise instructor, this plain and friendly guide covers the name and how to say it, the harvest roots, the Punjab region, the dhol and the family of Punjabi dances, the story from village to Southall, how bhangra differs from Bollywood, women on the dance floor, and what happens when bhangra meets the gym.

It is for Punjabi readers who have felt the wince, for anyone who wants to get it right, and for teachers who want a standard to hold themselves to. Not a scholarly history, and not a telling-off.

Say it correctly, credit it generously, and keep learning.