Get the book
Bhangra Is Not A Thing
A note before we begin
This book is about one word, and everything that word has been made to carry. Bhangra began as a celebration among farming communities in Punjab. It has since become a wedding dance, a band, a chart hit, a competition, a film number and a fitness class, and the English word has been stretched over all of it.
I wrote this book because I teach exercise to Punjabi music, and I kept seeing the same honest mistakes: a mispronounced name, a track credited to the wrong tradition, a costume mistaken for the culture. Almost nobody makes these mistakes out of bad intent. Most of us were simply never given the right version.
So this is not a scholarly history and it is not a telling-off. It is a plain, friendly guide for anyone who dances, teaches or listens: Punjabi or not, beginner or professional. Where I rely on published sources I say so, and where they disagree I say that too.
You can read the chapters in order or jump to the one you need. If you remember only one idea, make it this: say it correctly, credit it generously, and keep learning.