JASMINE FLOWERS AND A KASHMIRI FOLK SONG THAT BROUGHT TEARS IN ALL EYES .

                                                               

 " I NURSED ALL THESE JASMINE PLANTS BEFORE I LEFT THE GARDEN .."

To the above photograph  , I am adding lines from a popular folk song from Kashmir with simple English rendering done by me  for friends who do not understand Kashmiri .

This is not my photograph  But my due  thanks to the photographer who clicked it..I received it from a friend and I have no knowledge about its  actual source . Here goes the folk song ........
  

“ Hiye mey Gwod deu”t Baag neirvuniye

Sheyi Ryei’t draayus bazaar kunaye.

Samkhaan ta samkhyom bub panuniye ,

Kharaan ta khaarnas ku’th panuniye,

Rang kuthi kornam prang vathharuniye,

Zoori pyaath thovnam shama dazavuniye,

Brontha –kani beuthum *Pothi/ *Quran Paravuniye,

Zor zor  heutmas seer baavuniye,

Loei loeti  heutmas oush traavuniye ,

Dopnumm koori yi chhu tsaaluniye ,

Vaariev gari chhuyi tse dhyaen bharuniye,

Maalien garie chhuna kenh laaruniye,

Baaey  maaleun gav bael maaleuniye,

Gatchh gatchhi koori gara panuniye”................

( A kashmiri folk Song )

“ Nursing those jasmine plants ,

I came out of that garden.

And today after six months ,

I move out of my house

 towards the market.

Lo ! Among others , 

I also met my darling  farther ,

How affectionately he 

drags me to my parental home,

Here he takes me inside that decorated room

And  there he makes me sit comfortably .

There he lights the candle on the lamp stand 

And sits before me Reading from the scriptures / Quran 

Loudly I start narrating my woes ,

Softly do the tears trickle down my eyes .

And he keeps consoling me

 to endure this  all ?

And then he keeps telling me,  

“ You have to spend your days

 at your inlaw's house.

What shall you get in your parental home?

Worthless turns the parental home 

When your brother heads it ,

Proceed back to your inlaw’s house

 my darling child ” …

This was the most popular and emotional folk song that was sung by Kashmiris . I have heard it from Muslim women/ girls performing Roff dance in slow but measured steps. I have heard it from Kashmiri Pandit women and girls in Mehndiraat sung on fast Hikkat dance . I have heard it being sung on Tumbaknaari beats in Mehndiraat functions of Pandits and Muslims . *Instead of *Quralan in the seventh line above ,Pandits would use word *Poeth (Pothi or  sometimes Gita  ) .Muslims used the word Quran .That was the only difference . A shared cultural legacy of Kashmiris. Women wept while singing it . It touched the listeners as well. The words echoed the pain and pathos of a married girl who was desperately seeking some support system that did not exist in Kashmiri society . From all quarters she was made to believe in one line .

“ You have to bear with it and endure it  “

A reconciliation .A compromise at self peril . A small leap to freedom ended in a hasty retreat to her inlaw’s house .

( Autar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.