Wishing the readers a very Happy Chhath festival
My fellow bloggers Madhu and Anu are apt to say, no sooner do you put two Women together in our films than they start singing. There must be something about women and singing – female solos outnumber male solos by more than three times, and female duets outnumber male duets likewise. Therefore, if there are several women together that should instantly lit a spark for singing. And that is what happens in our culture, which has sanskars and rituals from birth till the end of life, all accompanied by women’s songs.
Parallel to the religious part of the ceremonies is a universe of women’s folk customs each of which is accompanied by singing in chorus, specific to that occasion. The pandits also give due importance to their roles. I am quite fascinated by our traditional weddings when the Panditji would at different stages announce playfully to the giggling gang of the ladies swarming around the mandap, ‘Ab aap logon ka department shuru hota hai; Aap log apna kar lijiye, phir main ata hun’. That also gives him a convenient break for loo or coffee. After the women are done with their own folk customs and singing, Panditji resumes his recitation from the scriptures. This inter-mingling and co-existence of shaastra and folk (लोक और शास्त्र) is an integral part of our society in all ceremonies and festivals, the folk being almost exclusively women’s domain. Apart from sanskars and festivals, female chorus songs have also been an integral part of the daily chores, such as grinding, pounding, churning, and agricultural operations like transplanting and harvesting.
Female duets have always evoked fascination leading to interesting discussion on SoY. Hans has separately sent me a big list of female duets. I include songs by more than two singers also in the generic category of ‘duets’. These are ‘filmy’ duets – you know what I mean, and I may someday get around to doing a post on them. But fortunately, there have also been in our films a number of women’s folk custom songs which I am talking about here. As these traditions are disappearing from our society, so too are these songs gone with the wind. Going back in Time Machine let us enjoy these songs of the women, for the women, by the women.
1. Rani Kaushalya kahe more lalana nahwaaoji by Amirbaki Karnataki (?) from Bharat Milap (1942), lyrics Pt Anuj, music Shankarrao Vyas
An essential custom of our weddings is Haldi Ceremony in which the mother and other women of the family apply ubtan (turmeric paste with natural herbs) to the bridegroom, and then give him the customary bath. Here Lord Ram goes through this ceremony smilingly. In parallel, the mother of Sita and other women perform the same ceremony to her who sits with a beatific smile. In earlier days, since the weddings took place between families living in villages not too far apart, there was also a custom of sending the bride’s ubtan to the bridegroom and vice versa. Apart from the aesthetics, the scientific reason was its antiseptic properties. Please notice that there is a horde of women around, but you don’t see a man (except the bridegroom, in the first part). This song always leaves me spellbound, and is, in fact, the reason for this post. When I got down to writing this post, I could not locate it. I have to thank Mumbaikar8 for her help in searching this song.
2. Gaao badhai ri suhagan aangan ayi by Lalita Deulkar & chorus from Bhakta Dhruv (1947), music Shankar Rao Vyas
After the wedding and bidaai, the bride reaches her new home where there is a ceremonial welcome at the doorstep by the ladies of the family. The welcome ritual and the song is led by her mother-in-law.
3. Aao ri suhagan nari mangal gaao ri by Saraswati Rane, Amirbai Karnataki & chorus from Ram Rajya (1943). lyrics Ramesh Gupta, music Shankar Rao Vyas
A natural corollary of marriage and its sanctified purpose is procreation. The expected arrival of a child is a momentous event celebrated by Gode bharai (गोद भराई). It goes by different names in different parts of the country performed at different stages of pregnancy. In some communities it is a part of the pre-wedding ceremonies. This is similar to ‘Baby shower’ in western cultures, now getting wide currency in India too, among the modern educated women in the family way. In this song, Mata Kaushalya is leading the ladies to shower an expectant Sita with gifts. It is interesting that the first three songs on the trot have been composed by Shankar Rao Vyas, a trained singer from the Gwalior gharana. He was the brother of the more celebrated Pt Narayan Rao Vyas. Saraswati Rane also was thoroughly trained in classical music. She had impeccable pedigree, being the daughter of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, the doyen of Kirana gharana, and sister of Hirabai Badodkar and Sureshbabu Mane. These songs show the confluence of folk, classical and cinema.
आओ री सुहागन नारी मंगल गाओ री
जनक दुलारी की गोद भराओ री
आज राम घर सुख घड़ी आई
स्वर्ण कलश बहूरानी से भराओ री
आओ री सुहागन नारी…
मांग सिंदूर और शीश पे बिंदिया
पांच सुहागन सुहाग चढ़ाओ री
आओ री सुहागन नारी…
नैनों मैं लज्जा मुख गर्व की शांति
रूप अनूप सियारानी पे संवारो री
आओ री सुहागन नारी…
माता कौशल्या बलि बलि जाये
लाड़ली बहू मोरी हौले हौले जाओ री
आओ री सुहागन नारी…
4. Mori nanhi dulhan sharmaye re by unknown singers (Nasem Akhtar?) from Seedha Raasta (1947), lyrics Aman Verma, music SK Pal
This is converse of the first song. Here the bride is being feted by the women. It appears to be child marriage which makes me cringe, but the song brings out the flavor of folk customs at the wedding. The singer is not credited in the HFGK, but a comment on the YouTube mentions it is Naseem Akhtar
5. Dulhan ban jaao gale lag jaao by unknown singers from Zeenat (1945), music Mir Saheb and Hafeez Khan
Now another wedding song from a Muslim social in which the sahelis of Noorjehan are singing this song. Cutting across cultural differences, the spirit of wedding songs by women is the same
6. Dheere baho nadiya dheere baho hum utaren hi paar by Kusum Kumari & chorus from Achhut Kanya (1936), lyrics JS Kashyap ‘Naatwan’, music Saraswati Devi
Now you see different groups of women at the whole lot of primary food processors: chakki, okhal and soop (सूप, for winnowing), and singing this song in unison.
7. Kauni rang mungawa kauni rang motiya by Suman Kalyanpur and Sudha Malhotra from Heera Moti (1959), lyrics Prem Dhavan, music Roshan
This song is in a similar strain. While Nirupa Roy is at the grinding wheel, you see Shubha Khote tending to the cattle, mopping the floor and finally joining the former on the chakki. With such gorgeous songs, such monotonous activities become absolutely enjoyable. Balraj Sahni is enjoying the blissful song by himself on his hukka. Roshan was not only the master of qawwali, but also of folk.
8. Tore kajra lagaun mori rani by Beena Kumari and Baby Meena from Bahen (1941), lyrics Dr Safdar ‘Aah’, music Anil Biswas
Applying kaajal, too, can be with the melody of a song.
9. Amma mori ho by Rajkumari from Panghat (1943), lyrics Pt Indra, music SN Tripathi
There are many rituals meant for unmarried girls to seek blessings for a happy marriage. Here the girls are dancing and singing, wishing for a groom like Krishna Kanhaiya. You also fleetingly see elderly ladies performing some pooja at the banyan tree.
10. Pad gaye jhoole saawan rut aye re by Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle from Bahu Begum (1967), lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanavi, music Roshan
The Master Roshan again, and you get a superlative Saawan and Jhoola song.
11. Hamre aangan bagiya, bagiya mein do panchhi by Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar from Teen Bahuraniyan (1968), lyrics Anand Bakshi, music Kalyanji-Anandji
This song from Gemini’s mahaan paarivaarik film tells the complete story of joint-family bliss. The three bahuranis are doing different chores, such as looking after the pet birds, plucking flower for the morning puja, washing and hanging clothes, grinding spices on sil-batta, cooking and feeding. The ideal husbands too part with their share of income to the family patriarch Prithviraj Kapoor, and finally the bahus touch his feet every morning.
12. Peetal ki meri gaagri by Minoo Purushottam and Parveen Sultana from Do Boond Paani (1971), lyrics Kaifi Azmi, music Jaidev
Trudging miles in water-starved desert to collect water in your pitcher and walking back miles again can be quite dreadful, but if it is accompanied by songs the hardship is greatly mitigated. In many societies this hard physical work was left to the women, with menfolk mostly lazying around. The film Saandh Ki Aankh (The Bull’s Eye) beautifully depicts the rebellion of elderly women in a patriarchal society when the idling men try to show their authority with guns at the slightest sign of their womenfolk stepping out of home and showing some independence.
13. Main to aarti utaarun re Santoshi Mata ki by Usha Mangeshkar & chorus from Jai Santoshi Ma (1975), lyrics Kavi Pradeep, music C Arjun
Before this film, not many had heard of Santoshi Mata. This enormously popular aarti made her an important deity in our pantheon of gods and goddesses to be worshipped every Friday.
Chhath geet
I end this post with two Chhath geets by Sharda Sinha, famous as ‘Bihar Kokila’. Chhath, literally meaning the sixth, is observed on Kartik Shukla Shashthi, i.e. the sixth day after Diwali. It involves most rigorous rituals, spanning over four days, including fasting, holy bath, culminating in arghya to the setting and rising sun. It has become the primary identity of Bihar and Poorvanchal. Though known for religious piety, Chhath has taken the form of folk, and is primarily performed by the women. This is one pooja in which pandits have no role. The most heartening part of the festival is the deep reverence of the people for the festival. It charges the society as a whole into collective action to clean the streets that will be taken by the vratis for going to the ghat. The cleanliness in Patna and other Bihar towns during chhath is beyond imagination and it is beyond the capability of any state authority. This is also one festival in which any hooliganism or eve teasing is unimaginable despite the congregation of hundreds of thousands.
14. Kelva ke paat par by Sharda Sinha
A Sangeet Natak Akademi fellow and a Padma Bhushan awardee, Sharda Sinha has forayed into Hindi film singing too, with Kahe tose sajna (Maine Pyar Kiya), Taar bijli se patle hamaare piya (Gangs of Wasseypur) etc. Wherever Chhath is observed by the Bihari diaspora in any part of the world, Sharda Sinha’s Chhath songs reverberate in the air. Here is one of her most famous songs.
15. Pahile pehil Chhathi Maiya by Sharda Sinha
Chhath is specific to a region and its culture, but this music video is woven around an emotionally very powerful story which conveys a universal message how heart-wrenching is the loss of traditions. The video opens with a smart, young, professional couple at the breakfast table, both dressed up to go for office in some metro city, when the mother calls the son. The son is from Bihar, the daughter-in-law is a Punjabi. The initial conversation of about 1.20 minutes is in Bhojpuri, therefore, I give a translation here:
Ma: How are you, Beta?
Son: I am fine, Ma. How is Babuji?
Ma: Babuji is all right. (With sadness) Please get your tickets cancelled.
Son: Why Ma? We were planning to come to Patna after Diwali for Chhath.
Ma: I am not performing Chhath Pooja this year. Babuji has also advised me against it due to my arthritis.
Son: (Perplexed) But who then is performing it? (Chhath is performed unbroken from generation to generation. If a lady becomes too old and frail to carry it on, she passes it on to the bahu or any other lady of the house. – AK)
Ma: No one in our khandaan. Raju Chacha’s daughter-in law is not observing it either. Also, Ruchika (referring to her bahu, the young lady in the video) is a working girl. What will she think? That her mother-in-law is old-fashioned? Also, she comes from a different culture. An English medium-educated girl can hardly be expected to perform Chhath.
Son: (With a sad pause) OK Ma, we will then come in the New Year.
This conversation between two generations is without any bitterness or complaint on the part of the mother. She accepts the reality, though with sadness. The young couple too is saddened; the young lady, who could get some sense of the conversation, asks her husband, She was saying something about me? The downcast husband tells her, I have very fond memories of Chhath. Ma was saying, this year no one is performing Chhath in our family, and this is the end of the tradition. She does not want to impose her beliefs on you. The story has a happy and emotional ending which can’t but move you immensely. Outstanding acting, superb concept, great direction, and equally superb song by Sharda Sinha – I would urge the readers to must watch this 7-minute video, the backdrop may be Chhath, but the theme is universal of sadness at the loss of tradition and how the modern generation tries to negotiate the transition. (The song means, O Chhathi Maiya, I am performing the Chhath for the first time. If there is any lapse on my part, please pardon me.)
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer:
The video links have been embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog does not claim any copyright over these, which rests with the respective owners.
This post first appeared on Songs Of Yore - Old Hindi Film Songs, please read the originial post: here
