In my last lesson, my teacher gave me a composition he called a "carpenter wali." I had meant to ask him what wali meant but didn't, and I thought that in the meantime I'd ask here. And what seperates this type of composition from other compositions?
Wali or wala means "some who does". For instance a "chai wala" is one who makes or serves tea. A majan wala is one who washes. The carpenter wali composition is probably a composition from badai sahib - who was a carpenter but eventually became a tabla player. David explains him in his tabla solo on this site
I was thinking that as well, but I also thought that it might be because of the tihai at the end of this composition; it goes "Kre Dha-re Dha-re Dha-- Kre Ta-re Ta-re Ta--" (x3) and it sounds a little bit like a carpenter pounding nails. :-) But maybe it was composed by the same person that david mentions in his solo (and in the documentary).
