As Balbir Jagga drives a tractor around his farm in northwestern India, he dreams that the fields he tills will propel him to international music stardom. Jagga, like thousands of other amateur singers in Punjab state, sees Bhangra music as a route out of rural life- and he is saving all his income, and even selling off a small plot of land, to make his debut music video and album.

當賈加在位於印度西北部的農場開著牽引機時，他夢想著，他耕種的這片田地，有朝一日可以幫他躍登國際音樂巨星。一如旁遮普省成千上萬其他業餘歌手，賈加視邦格拉民俗音樂為一條可以幫他走出農村生活的路。他存下所有積蓄，甚至賣掉一小塊地，以發行首張音樂影帶和專輯。

“For years, I have been a mundane farmer, buying seeds, waiting for the rains, harvesting crops, season after season,” said Jagga at his farm in Pathankot, 150 miles from Punjab's state capital Chandigarh. “But in the evenings, I am a super Bhangra music star, recording songs for my album and planning a video shoot.”

「多年來，我一直是個平凡的農夫，買種子，等老天下雨，收割莊稼，一季過了又一季。」賈加在離旁遮普省首府昌迪加爾150英哩的帕坦科特農場說：「但入夜後，我立刻變身邦格拉樂超級明星，為我的專輯錄製歌曲並規畫拍攝影帶。」

Jagga, 30, is one of many Punjabi villagers trying to repeat the success of Jasbir Jassi, Mika Singh and other big names as Bhangra dance music has become a major international music trend over the last 15 years. He has penned more than a dozen songs in Gurumuki script used to write the Punjabi language and now he hopes his music video will be the next step to stardom. Jagga admits that he is taking a big gamble investing all his savings in the video, which will cost more than 10,000 dollars. “You may laugh at my venture but for the people of Punjab, music is the biggest high and I am addicted to it,” he said.

隨著邦格拉舞樂15年來蔚為國際一大音樂潮流以來，30歲的賈加是旁遮普省諸多巴望能像賈斯比．賈西和米卡．辛格等大咖一樣揚名國際的村民之一。他曾用旁遮普語「古魯木齊」（the mouth of guru，意指「大師之口」）寫了十餘首歌，現在他只希望他的音樂帶能成為步上歌壇巨星的晉身階。賈加並不諱言，把畢生積蓄全投入音樂影帶是一大賭注，影帶製作費要上萬美元。他說：「你可以嘲笑我這項冒險嘗試，但對旁遮普人，沒有什麼比音樂更high的，我已深深沉迷其中，不可自拔。」

Bhangra originally began with Sikh farmers like Jagga singing folk songs to celebrate the arrival of the harvest season, before developing into popular music. It spread across India via Bollywood, where actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan have often danced to its energetic beat, and has gained popularity in many other countries where Indians have emigrated.

邦格拉樂最早源於像賈加這種愛唱民歌以慶祝收成季節到來的錫克族農民，後來才逐步發展為流行樂，並透過寶萊塢散播到印度全境。寶萊塢演員，像阿米塔巴吉汗及沙魯克汗，常在充滿活力的音樂節拍下跳舞，並在印度移民較多的其他國家普遍受到樂迷歡迎。

Today it often symbolizes the extrovert, party-loving side of south Asian culture and attracts an international audience with dance competitions and radio stations in Britain, the United States and Canada. “Bhangra is an integral part of Punjab's everyday life,” one of Jagga's heroes, Jasbir Jassi, told AFP. “We are crazy for our music and we have made the world go crazy for it too.”

今天，邦格拉樂往往象徵南亞文化活潑外向，愛開派對尋歡作樂的一面，並因舉辦舞蹈比賽，及英國、美國和加拿大廣播電台大放送而吸引不少國際樂迷。賈加的偶像賈斯比．賈西告訴法新社說：「邦格拉舞樂是旁遮普省日常生活不可或缺的一環，我們都為本土音樂痴狂，我們也使全世界為之瘋狂。」

Many years ago, the now famous Punjabi singer Jasbir Jassi became an overnight star with his album “Dil Le Gayi Kudi”. He was born in Gurdaspur, Punjab and adorned with a Masters degree in vocal classical singing. But success didn't come easily for him. His home environment was hardly conductive to the promotion of music and creative arts. But his devotion towards music and his perseverance coupled with hard work melted the hearts of his family members and Jassi like several of his counterparts became a first generation musician.

很多年前，今天已經家喻戶曉的旁遮普語歌手賈西發行音樂專輯《女孩偷走他的心》（The Girl Has Taken His Heart）之後一夕成名。他出生於旁遮普省古達斯浦，並擁有古典聲樂演唱碩士學位。但成功得來不易。他的家庭環境幾乎完全無助於他的音樂藝術創作，但他對音樂的熱愛，加上過人的毅力和努力不懈，終於打動家人的心。賈西和其他幾位歌手也成為第一代音樂家。

In Punjab itself, at least 45 channels play non-stop Bhangra music -- often with videos from amateur singers hoping to make it big. Industry experts and owners of recording studios estimate that more than 10,000 Punjabi music albums are produced every year. “It is a mad race among farmers, students and even housewives to establish themselves as a singer. Everybody here wants to be signing autographs for fans,” said Ramandeep Singh, manager at Josh, a 24-hour music channel in Chandigarh.

光是旁遮普省起碼就有45個頻道，日夜不停播放邦格拉樂，通常會搭配希望成為大咖的業餘歌手的影帶。據業界專家和錄音棚業主估計，每年錄製的旁遮普語音樂專輯破萬。昌迪加爾全天候音樂頻道「喬希」的經理辛格說：「農民、學生，甚至家庭主婦全抓狂了，大家都想當歌手，這裡每個人都想為粉絲開簽唱會。」

Singh says many artists currently ruling the Bhangra scene in India such as Satinder Sartaj were once farmers. “Some clicked and became stars, but most have been forgotten and faded away,” he said. Singh is now producing an album which will feature 12 farmers singing about the struggle and distress of amateur performers who cannot break into the glamour world they crave. Deepak Bali, owner of Plasma Records production company, admitted that the music industry has given a false hope to many Punjabis. “All the hype and over-exposure surrounding the billion dollar market has the potential to kill the craze for Bhangra,” he said. “The quality talent has gone missing. Every village seems to boast three singers and four lyricists.”

辛格說，目前獨步印度紅火的邦格拉樂壇的多位Ａ咖藝人，像沙汀德．薩塔傑都是農民出身。他說：「有些人三兩下，突然翻身成為大明星，但大多數人都被遺忘消失。」辛格目前正在錄製的專輯就請了12個農民，唱出業餘歌手無法打入他們深切渴望的光鮮世界的掙扎和痛苦。Plasma唱片錄製公司老闆巴里也承認，樂界帶給旁遮普很多藝人虛幻的希望。他說：「所有繞著上億美元市場的炒作和過度曝光，反而可能扼殺邦格拉熱潮。高格調的人才已經消失。每個村落似乎都號稱擁有3個歌手和4位詞曲家。」

But the dream lives on for many, including Sukhdev Kaur, a housewife and a mother of two who is due to release her album “Adventure Meri Life” （My Life Is An Adventure） next year. She sold her gold jewellery to produce the album, on which she sings love duets with her neighbour's son. “My husband is a farmer, he refused to help me so I decided to sell the gold,” she said. “We are farmers but that does not mean we cannot be Bhangra stars.”

但很多人還是繼續做著美夢，包括家庭主婦兼兩個孩子的媽蘇克德芙．考爾，她明年將發行個人專輯《我的生活是一種冒險》。為了出專輯，她變賣金飾，在專輯裡她和鄰居的兒子表演愛情二重唱。她說：「我老公是農夫，他拒絕幫我，因此我決定變賣黃金。我們是農民，但這並不意味著我們就不能當邦格拉明星。」

In this photograph taken on September 4, 2010 Punjabi singer Jasbir Jassi （L） poses during the shooting of a video for his new album 'Jassi Back with Bang' on the outskirts of Pathankot. （AFP）

在這張攝於今年9月4日的照片中，旁遮普語當紅歌手賈西（左），正在帕坦科特郊區為新專輯影帶《平地一聲雷，賈西回來了》取景。（法新社）