Darbawiya-The Saudi Punks

Remember the "Anonymous Saudi Man" who shared with us his insightful thoughts on tribalism, love and marriage in Saudi Arabia? (You can read that post here.)

I'm so excited to share Saudi Man's candid thoughts on Blue Abaya for the second time.
I really enjoy his open and to the point approach of analyzing the Saudi culture. This time he's bringing a very interesting and unheard of phenomenon to our attention. In his article Anonymous Saudi Man analyzes the sub culture of  the so the called "Saudi punks", the Darbawiya, in Saudi Arabia and its parallels in the west.
It's my first time to hear the term 'Darbawiya' and to learn such detailed descriptions from what is their drink of choice to power dynamics and sexual preferences.

Please leave a comment on the bottom and let him know what you think!

Darbawiya And Punk

"I like to consider myself an observer of western and especially American subcultures. I am Saudi/American but I always find other sub-cultures fascinating. I have hung out with punks, emo, classical hippies as well as neo hippies, Hip-Hop followers from underground to Hip-Pop (yes they branch out), pop followers and with anyone who really identified themselves as a sub-group of society. It was fascinating and very entertaining. When I got back to Saudi Arabia I found that I got detached from such interactions, this is part of why I get bored in Riyadh. Lately though I have discovered a sub-culture in my own backyard that I have never observed from a foreign eye. Those are now called Darbawiya, or “the people on the path”. They are a group that share lots of parallels with the punk culture in the western countries. I will, in this article, define both and talk about their parallels.

So what is punk?

This is a very debatable question, but lets summarize my observation in a couple of points that define “Punk”

●     resistance to authority

●     lack of sense of danger

●     listen to high tempo rock music

●     shocking and alternative fashion

●     glorification of anarchy and chaos

●     glorification of being unrefined culturally

●     alternate sexual preferences

●     Distinct Brands of Beer that they consume

●     some are highly self educated

To me, this is what defines being Punk, regardless of fashion or music you listen to. The punk culture became more of a “for show” scene these days, but many still hold true to the punk spirit. Punk can be a positive force in changing societies and forcing them to question social norms. Sadly punk also became synonymous with substance abuse.

So who are the Darbawiya?

Darbawiya in their modern form have always existed under different names. They are a group of male Saudis in the central or eastern parts of Saudi Arabia, they probably exist in other areas too. They are usually from low income, uneducated families and they really didn't have a chance to become something. They lived a more simple and primitive life compared to city folk and still held tribal values strongly. They are young men who usually competed with each other on more traditional masculine testosterone driven traits and challenges like physical strength or fearlessness in the face of danger. This translated to their love of drifting with cars dangerously, love of firearms, constant fights and glorification of old tribal feuds. Like in most male dominated societies, many prisoner social dynamics start showing up. For example, domination of softer males through homosexual acts, similar to those that we see in high security prisons. These acts do have a presence in the darbawiya scene.

These people were called many things in the past, some call them bedouins, “sand dunes”, or nomads by city and educated folks. I was surprised to hear that lately they started to call them elves, “Darbawiya”.

So where does the word “Darbawi” come from? 

It's relatively new. After doing a little research I found that it's in reference to a web forum called “darb alkhatar” or “path of danger” where people post their drifting videos and talk about their adventures with other people from that same group. So people who attended that forum regularly started calling themselves the “Darbawis” or “Darbawiya”. Soon everyone who shared their interest started having the same name. I also backed up this theory by asking many people who have interacted with Darbawiya.

How is that Punk?

Darbawiya have some traits that are very similar to Punk. So what are the shared traits you ask? 

●     Resistance to authority

Many Darbawis do illegal drifting and escape from police and drink and drive as a way to prove their “I don’t care” and “I don’t give a F***” attitude, which is the core principle of being punk. Some of them also hold illegal firearms. Since at its core darbawiya are more traditional, they still hold tribal authority dear to them and stay close to their tribal roots, which is a contradiction that is very fascinating to me. I wish to dig deeper into that one day. It would be an interesting topic for the discussion at the bottom.

●     Lack of sense of danger

High speed Drifting is scary enough, especially when people die regularly as spectators to races at illegal drifting parties. Also drinking home made alcohol, smoking cigarettes hashish and shooting guns while drifting is an extreme challenge for many darbawis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaejHWv9w7o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_PVxqL1wj4

●     High tempo music

Many love more traditional songs that are sped up to be on high tempo. Of course there are some known musicians that Darbawis hold to higher levels, like “Azazi”. Sped up traditional music really resembles how punk might have started, and it has become a core Darbawi trait. Many sub-cultures get defined by the music they listen to, and this is no different with Darbawis.

●     shocking and alternative fashion

Darbawis wear traditional garments and thobes. They choose not to wear fancy thobes or designer shoes, but rather wear really cheap traditional clothing and cheap eastern sandals, which makes them look raggedy and dirty. They also started showing up wearing only their undergarments as to shock people. They often use their shumaghs to cover their faces. that is also very punkof everyday life, and tend to commit many traffic violations.

●     glorification of being unrefined culturally

This is a new trait that I started noticing, being proud of being uneducated or being from unrefined backgrounds is a really scary thing to see glorified. Here is where I see some differences between darbawis and punks. Most Punks have a cause or a purpose. Some of the punks I have met are highly educated and opinionated about politics and are very aware of the political atmosphere, but with Darbawis, it's different. I can’t help but wonder, will an educated few from them be the leaders of the pack in the future? Will it evolve to a movement with a cause later on?

●     glorification of anarchy and chaos

I think that goes without saying with the first point I made. Glorification of anarchy and chaos gives them more credit in the resistance to authority arena. They don’t follow rules of ignorance. Being uneducated is a good thing for them as that feeds into the first points again, resistance to authority.

●     alternate sexual preferences

In high security prisons we find people abusing others in homosexual acts due to power dynamics. Sometimes its not about the sexuality but about the power trips. This happens with Darbawiya. Not all of them participate in this of course, but there are some incidents that rose that supports this as a thing that happens in the scene of darbawiya. To me what people do behind closed doors is their own business, but once rape and pedophilia comes into play it starts to get disturbing. Many kids go to these Drifting parties that darbawiyas organize and they seem to get mesmerized by these “strong” “manly” men who do these dangerous things that they start following them and idolizing them. In many cases this leads to pedophilia since at the end, prison dynamics take place and the man with the most “pets” gets to be the most manly.

Distinct Brands of Beer that they consume

While there is no Brand of beer being sold in stores in Saudi, many Darbawiya drink home made alcohol called Araq mixed with their most popular drink, Miranda Citrus. Miranda Citrus has become their Drink of Choice, many drink it warm to show their devotion to the scene.

As for education, this is where I find the difference between Punk and Darbawiya to be strong. Darbawya might not have the education or political awareness as punks, actually they are far from that, but if some of those started to be more aware politically or highly educated, it might lead to a very unique punk movement in Saudi Arabia.

Well there you go everyone, my own observation on what the punk movements and darbawiya sub-culture have in common. Leave your comments below and lets start the conversation!"

-Anonymous Saudi Man