THE SONG THAT BROUGHT TEARS TO ALL EYES IN KASHMIR

                                                           

 

"HIYE ME GWOD DEUT BAAG NEIRVUNIYE".....

..

I NURSED THE JASMINE PLANTS BEFORE  I   LEFT THE GARDEN ..

 

 

“ Hiye mey gwod deut baag neirvuniye

Sheyyi Ryei’t draayas bazaar kunaye.

Samkhaan ta samkhyo'm bub panuniye ,

Kharaan ta khaar’nas ku’th panuniye,

Rang kuthi kornam prang vatharuniye,

Zoori pyaath thov’nam sha’maa dazavuniye,

Brontha –kani beuthum *pothi/ *quran Parravuniye,

Zor zor heutmas seer baavuniye,

Loe’ti loe’ti heutmas oush traavuniye ,

Dopnam koori yi chhu tsaaluniye ,

Vaariev gara chhuyi dhyaen bharooniye,

Maalien garie chhuna kenh laaruniye,

Baaey maaleun guv bael maaleuniye,

Gatchhi gatchhi koori garra 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 saw my darling farther .

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 Bhagwad Gita / Quran .

Loudly I start narrating my woes ,

Softly do the tears trickle down my eyes .

And he keeps consoling me to endure all this .

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 and finally making the steps fast and faster. . 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 Mehndi raat functions of Pandits and Muslims . *Instead of *Quran in the seventh line above ,Pandits would use word *Poeth ( Pothi or scriptures generally Bhagwad Gita) .Muslims used the word Quran .That was the only difference . 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 the then Kashmiri society . From all quarters she was made to believe in one line .

“ You have to bear with it “

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

 

( Avtar 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\.