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A folk song is essentially a subjective
expression of the emotions walling up from the depths.
It borrows its metamorphous and imagery from the
simple things in life. Punjabi folksongs are varied
and colorful. Laughter, happiness, pain, sorrow,
all form ingredients of these songs. They are simple,
charming, and full of the sincerity of emotion,
and the purity of feeling. The entire Punjabi culture,
so to speak, is reflected in them.
The Folk music of Punjab has crossed the borders
of not only Punjab but also India and become popular
all over the world. There is hardly an event or
occasion in the countryside which does not find
resonance in the soul of the people. Just as the
villagers grow their own food and produce their
own raiment’s, they frame folk songs to articulate
the wordless passions seething in their hearts.
These songs are chastened and polished from generation
to generation, and like everything of slow growth,
they develop an individuality, which does not lend
itself to imitation.
A young maiden of the plains, wrapped up in thoughts
of her lover sees a graceful ‘Pipal’ tree
and breaks into a song or busy in the fields she
begins to hum.
A young farmer returning from his daily labor comes
across a group of frolicsome maidens. Twilight has
deepened into night and the moon has spread its
mantle over the land. He stands spellbound and a
song pours out from his beat.
A newly married girl is at the spinning wheal spinning
helplessly late in the night. She does not leave
off for fear of the mother-in-law and yet she is
pinning to run to the arms of her husband waiting
for her. She breaks into a song.
The days of carefree childhood have passed and the
shadow of inevitable separation from her parents
lengthens every day as youth blossoms menacingly.
The maiden is conscious of this and so is the mother
who sits dressing her hair in silence. The pent-up
feelings break at last through a song.
Folk songs are untranslatable. They cannot even
be imprisoned in print. They are songs and not word
composition and their charm consists solely in the
rhythm, the emotional import, and the sweetness
of their music. No stage free nature can provide
the settings, which they need.
The real spirit of a folk-song rests not only in
its text but also tune. The Popular tunes of Puniabi
folk-songs ring with the heartthrobs of the simple
unsophisticated villagers.
The rhythm and beat of Punjabi folk music is simple.
The rhythmic patterns are determined by the day-to-day
activities of the villagers, the sound of the grinding
stone, the drone of the spinning wheel, the creaking
of the Persian wheel, the beat of the horse’s
hooves etc. These rhythms refine into symmetrical
pattern form the basis of the entire folk music
of the Punjab.
There is a wide spread variation in the tunes and
melodies of different regions of the Punjab. Boli
is popular all over the Punjab. Even in one area
the same song is sung differently by different groups.
This element of flexibility in Punjabi folk music
adds a lot of variety to it.
Punjabi folk music is primarily vocal in character
and is seldom accompanied by instruments. But for
songs which are sung on special occasions, the use
of instruments is essential, particularly the dholak.
The dholak is very popular with the Punjabis and
is used on all occasions of social and festive significance.
Innumerable memories are associated with its sound
because all gaiety and celebrations of the family
include the dholak as the basic and essential instrument.
SONGS ABOUT RELIGION, CULT AND SACRAMENT
The Punjab is inhabited by people of different sects,
religions and cults, which have their own modes
of prayer and worship. But since folk poetry belongs
to a whole social group, only those songs become
popular which are acceptable to the entire community.
Religion reflected in the folksongs is religion
not of a sect but of the whole community.
Some remnants of nature worship can still be found
in Punjabi culture. This worship has found expression
in songs. When a Punjabi woman, especially an orthodox
one, sees the new moon, she folds her hands and
bows to it respectfully and recites folk songs.
Some people in the Punjab still worship trees.
The peepal tree is supposed to be the manifestation
of Brahma and all gods are believed to be residing
in it. The peepal is thus extolled in a folk-song.
Punjabis are very religious. Theirs is the land
of the Vedas enriched by the experiences of saints
aid sages. Folk-songs abound in eulogies of famous
gurus, bhagats and jogis, like Guru Nanak Dev, Guru
Gobind Singh, Farid, Namdev, Gopi Chand, Bharthrihari
and Puran.
There are devotional folk-songs about Indra, Brahma,
Saraswati, Vaishno Devi, Ramehandra and Seeta and
many that narrate small, interesting episodes from
the life of Krishna. But characteristically these
songs are not sectarian. They are sung and enjoyed
by all Punjabis, depending upon the suitability
of the occasion. There are some folksongs in which
Hindu gods and goddesses and Muslim pirs are invoked
simultaneously.
SONGS RELATED TO RITUALS AND CEREMONIES
Songs for ceremonial occasions have a great cultural
significance. They are more an expression of the
deeply felt emotions of the community as a whole
and not of an individual. These songs are generally
sung in groups. They are of great variety, and there
are different songs for different occasions; for
example, haria, suhag, vatna, ghorian, sithanian
and alhanian. The life of a Punjabi is studded with
songs. When a baby is born, all women of the family
and the neighbourhood get together and sing haria.
Some even sing ghorian on the birth of a son because
according to Punjabis son is like bridegrooms from
birth itself. The child grows in the midst of lullabies.
The theme of the lullabies is invariably a mother's
dreams about her son.
The wedding songs are the most interesting and
popular ones. When girls come from the husband’s
house to the parents to attend the marriage of their
brothers, they sing sohile, the subject matter of
which is superlative praise for the brother and
the parental home. A few days before marriage, women
get together daily at night and sing to the accompaniment
of the dholaki. The songs sung at the bridegroom's
house are called ghorian and those at the bride's
house suhag. What the mother, sisters and sisters-in-law
look forward to at the marriage of a boy of the
family is all expressed vividly in ghorian.
Suhag is the echo of a young Punjabi girl's feelings.
It draws attention to the young girl's hopes, dreams
and joys of life. In Punjabi villages a young girl
has no say in the choice of her husband. It is the
parents who make the selection. The girl's feelings
in the matter are sung of in many of the suhags.
Devin ve babla us ghare (Send me only to such a
house, 0 father),
This song is an expression of a Punjabi girl's desire
to go into a family where the mother-in-law is good
and virtuous. The father-in-law holds an esteemed
position, where the mother-in- law has many sons
and is always busy celebrating marriages, where
there are many buffaloes and such abundance or milk
that the girl will always be busy churning curd
and making butter.
When the marriage party arrives at the bride's
house, songs are sung, which are doggerels full
of wit and sarcasm. Sometimes women find them a
handy medium to point out the weak points of the,
bridegroom's party or of any particular member of
it. These songs are packed with pungent wit but
are accepted in good humor.
Similarly, expressive songs are sung on many other
occasions connected with marriage. When the bridegroom
is led into the bride's house before the wedding
is solemnized, he has to recite chhand. This is
a test of the boy's ability to speak intelligently,
and also of his ready wit.
Songs are sung at the departure of the Doli. This
is the time of separation. The girl has a heavy
heart since she has to bid farewell to her parents
and parental home; at the same time there is a subdued
thrill at the prospect of her going to her husband's
house. The Doli songs are very touching.
Sada chirian da chamba ve, babal assan ud jana.
Sadi lammi udari ve, babal kehre des jana.
Tere mehlan de vich vich ve, babal dola nahin langda.
Ik it puta devan, dhiye ghar ja apne.
Tera baghan de vich vich ve, babal charkha kaun
katte?
Merian kattan potrian, dhiye ghar ja apne.
Mera chhuta kasida ve, babal das kaun kade?
Merian kadhan potrian, dhiye ghar ja apne.
Mera chhuta kasida ve, badal das kaun kade?
Merian kadhan potrian, dhiye ghar ja apne.
Ours is a flock of sparrows, dear father,
We’ll fly away
On a long, long flight,
We know not to which land we shall go.
Through your mansion’s door, dear father,
The doli won’t pass.
I’ll have a tali tree uprooted,
Go, for that is your home, O daughter.
In your mansion, dear father,
Who will do the spinning?
My Grand daughters will spin.
You go to your home, O daughter.
There is my left over embroidery ;
Who will finish it, father?
My grand daughters will do it, O daughter,
You must depart, for that is your home.
When the girl goes to the house of her in-laws,
the mother-in- law performs certain ceremonies.
Songs are sung on this occasion too.
In the Punjab there are set tunes even for typical
dirges. Alhahni and Vain belong to this category.
The content, besides an assortment of rhythmic wailing
cries, is a sad and philosophic commentary on the
transience of life. Mourning songs are generally
sung as slow, dragging chants, punctuated by shrill
and wailing cries. Vain and alhania are songs for
mourning. They are poignant songs, which help to
release the pent-up emotions of the bereaved persons
by stressing the pain of the departed soul.
Songs related to Fairs, Festivials, Important Days,
Seasonal, Gods & Godesses are also included
in this category. These songs are sung on occasions
like birth of Son, naming ceremonies, Basant, Teeyan,
Rakhari, Holi, Basakhi, Songs of Sati, Hanuman.
Punjabis are very religious. Theirs is the land
of the Vedas enriched by the experiences of saints
aid sages. Folk-songs abound in eulogies of famous
gurus, bhagats and jogis, like Guru Nanak Dev, Guru
Gobind Singh, Farid, Namdev, Gopi Chand, Bharthrihari
and Puran.
There are devotional folk-songs about Indra, Brahma,
Saraswati, Vaishno Devi, Ramehandra and Seeta and
many that narrate small, interesting episodes from
the life of Krishna. But characteristically these
songs are not sectarian. They are sung and enjoyed
by all Punjabis, depending upon the suitability
of the occasion. There are some folksongs in which
Hindu gods and goddesses and Muslim pirs are invoked
simultaneously.
LOVE SONGS
Love lyrics comprise the best part of Punjabi folklore.
The songs of this category express the ecstasy of
union as also the pangs of separation. These are
mostly related to famous love stories like Heer
Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal. Sassi, Pannu, Mirza Sahiban.
Other songs in this category are Mahiya, Tappe,
Boliyan, Jindya, Dhola, Kafiyan, Saddan, Birhade.
Heer Ranjha, Sassi ,Punnu, Mirza Sahiban, and Sohni
Mahiwal are particularly popular as tales of romance,
and many eminent poets like Waris Shah and Hashim
have narrated them in verse form. These sentimental
tales are always sung in typical strains. For every
tale the popular tune is different.
Mirza Sahiban is sung in long wistful notes; the
tune is known as Sad (call). It is a mournful tune,
and the singer generally puts one hand on his ear,
and makes gestures with the other while he sings.
This sad tale has been sung in many styles.
The tune used for Heer Ranjha is different from
the one used for Puran Bhagat. The notes of Sindhu
Bhairava can be traced in Heer Ranjha, while Puran
Bhagat is sung in the musical notes of Asavari and
Mand. Sohni Mahiwal is sung in Bhairavi, as also
Yusuf Zulaikhan, but the tunes are different.
Although there are various folk tunes prevalent
in the Punjab, Mahiya, Dhola and Boli are more popular
than the rest.
As popular as Boli is Mahiya, which presents an
expressive picture of the torments of separation
and the thrills of reunion. Dhola like Mahlya is
an appealing storehouse of the softest sentiments.
Mahiya, which originally became prevalent in the
area now in western Pakistan, especially Pothobar,
is today sung all over the Punjab. In almost all
parts of Pothohar before the Punjab was divided,
one came across people singing Mahiya while at work,
especially the farmers toiling in their fields.
A triplet of Mahiya is called tappa because it throbs
with the heart-beat of the singers. The word, Mahiya
originates from the word Mahi, both meaning the
lover, because of the legendary lover Ranjha who
was called Mahi (tender of buffaloes) as he looked
after the herd of cattle owned by Heer's father.
The word Mahi has now come to be permanently associated
with this amorous relationship. Mahiya in substance
is that form of folk verse in which the lover is
addressed in the most touching expressions of love
and pathos.
Mahiya comprising triplets has its own special
structure. The first line contains a pen-picture,
a description or an illustration, but sometimes
it has no special meaning or relevance, since it
is there only to maintain the rhyming pattern. The
real substance is contained in the second and third
lines. These two lines are very expressive and overflow
with the most deeply felt longings of the people.
Because they are deeply-felt emotions put into words,
they are very effective. Every tappa is an entity
in itself.
Do kapre sile hoe ne,
Bahron bhaven rusdhe an, vichon dil tan mile hoe
ne.
Two pieces of cloth are stiched into one,
Though we sulk and fume without,
Within we two are one.
Dhola, an equally popular form of folk music, is
highly lyrical and sentimental in character, love
and beauty being its chief contents. Dhola has a
variety of forms, those prevalent in Pothohar being
quite different from those popular with the tribes
of Sandalbar.
The Pothohari Dhola is rather condensed in form.
Each stanza consists of five lines which can be
further sub-divided into two parts of three and
two lines, respectively. The first two lines of
the first part rhyme with each other, while the
third one is left loose. The second part, which
is a couplet, intensifies and polishes up the meaning
of the first three lines. Although this couplet
is a sustained part of the first three lines, in
a way it is quite self-contained. The singers of
Dhola liberally use this couplet even independently.
The rhythm keeps changing according to the variety
of emotions portrayed. Singers themselves are the
folk poets of these songs. When they sing with a
hand on the ear in a long lifting refrain, there
is such depth of feeling in the voice that it sounds
like the moan of a love-sick soul or the heart-rending
song of a damsel torn apart from her lover.
Dhola ve dhola hai dhola, hai dhola
Aja doven nachiye, hai dhola
Rut mastani, hai dhola.
Badi divani, hai dhola.
Boli is the most popular form of folk music of
the eastern Punjab. It is generally in one line,
a kind of couplet, and is the most miniature form
of folk-song, in vogue. Boli, however, is very deep,
effective and interesting in its impact. It has
the brevity of a proverb, the appeal of Mahiya and
sweetness all its own. It expresses a variety of
emotions. In form, a Boli may, however, vary from
one line to four, five or even more lines. The two
famous folk-dances of the Punjab, Bhangra and Giddha
are danced to the accompaniment of this form of
folk-songs.
SONGS SUNG FOR AND BY CHILDREN
Lorian, Kikli, Thal etc. Loris or lullabies, a class
apart, are sung in different tunes but the tempo
is invariably slow. Every tune, whatever its text,
tends to create a droning, dreamy atmosphere which
leads the child into the alleys of sleep. Its rhyme
scheme is crisp and brief and takes the form of
an address. At the end of each rhyming arrangement,
plain and simple syllabic sounds like "0, 0,
0," or "Ec, Ec, Ee", are hummed.
WOMEN AND FOLK-SONGS
A woman's sentiments are deftly woven into the fine
fabric of the folk-songs of the Punjab. The main
supposition at the back of these songs is that a
woman has two lives and two minds, one for her parents
and the other for her in-laws. She draws strength
from both families. In her new home after marriage,
she leans on the husband, whereas in the parental
home her attention is concentrated more on the brother
than anyone else. In all her childhood games, she
idealizes her brother, and after marriage, on all
occasions of family celebrations, her brother brings
her home from her husband's house. A Punjabi girl
almost worships her brother. She is proud of him
and custom has taught her to look forward to his
visits, because on all festive occasions it is the
brother who brings gifts to her house. Though she
would like to show an extravagant hospitality towards
her visiting brother, the inhibitions of the joint
family stand in her way. She is afraid of the taunts
of her mother-in-law.
Next to the brother it is the mother who is remembered
most by the Punjabi girl for she is the sharer of
her daughter's sorrows. A mother having borne much
the same sort of suffering in her own life can understand
her daughter's predicament best. The daughter comes
to her and talks freely about the injustice and
cruelty which she receives at the hands of her mother-in-law
and sisters-in-law .
In her husband's home she is afraid of the mother-in-law's
conventional tyranny. If the mother-in-law is good,
life becomes a heaven, but what happens more often
is that the cruel mother-in-law makes life a hell
for her. She taunts her over small things, passes
scathing remarks on her parents, brothers and sisters,
and irritates her so much that her heart is filled
with hatred for her. This dislike for the mother-in-law
is expressed in many folk-songs of the Punjab.
SONGS OF TRINJAN
Women seldom sit idle in the Punjab. When they are
free from household chores, they bring out their
spinning wheels and sit out in the open under a
tree. Women of all ages and from all houses of the
locality sit together and spin, and as they spin
they sing. This is a common sight in the villages.
Sometimes on a winter night they all assemble at
someone's house and keep spinning and singing throughout
the night. These spinning sessions are called trinjan.
The day session is known as Chiri Chirunga (sparrows
big and small) and the night session is called Rat
Katni (spinning at night). Sometimes there are spinning
competitions among young girls with a chain of songs
in the background. Spinning is seldom independent
of the song. Spinning goes on accompanied by spontaneous,
unrestrained music.
Trinjan songs cover all aspects of life particularly
the long cherished dreams of a woman, her aspirations,
fears, love longings and tuggings at the heart.
These songs combined with the drone of the spinning
wheel create an enchanting atmosphere. There are
endless profusion of the songs of the spinning wheel
which are as varied and colorful as the flowers
in the full blown garden. But the most are those
which give expression to the feelings of the youth.
This is how a newly wed who is happy in the love
of her hubby sings;
Har charkhe de gere
Yad awen toon mitra
During these sessions life long friendships are
are formed and the girls who are married in far
off places remember such meetings with nostalgic
cravings;
Nit nit vagde rahn ge pani,
Nit patan te mela,
Bachpan nit jawani bansi,
Te nit katan da mela,
Par jo pani aj patano langda,
Oh pher na aonda bhalke,
Beri da poor Trianjan dian koorian,
Pher na bethan ral ke.
Streams flow from day to day
And folks at ferries meet,
After childhood is youth
And Trianjan must repeat.
But waters gone ahead
Their backward flow restrain,
Boat crews and Trianjan girls,
Shall never meet again.
SONGS OF TEEYAN
The festival of Teeyan is an occasion for all married
girls to visit their parents for a few days, and
thus enjoy again the carefree days of their childhood.
They run to the swings on the peepal trees. It is
fascinating to see the earth all round becoming
green again, the welcome drops of rain falling,
and the youthful girls in colourful dresses. The
girls sing songs and dance Giddlia. Songs of Teeyan
mostly speak of love, and are highly charged with
emotion.
The peepal tree becomes the centre of attraction
when the girls swing on the ropes thrown on the
tree and the song goes
"Dhan bhag mera", peepal akhe;
"Kurian ne pingan paaian".
Sawan vich kurian ne
Pinghan asman Charhian.
"How blessed am I", says peepal
"That the girls have hung rope-swings on me"
In the month of Sawan
Girls have swung their swings sky-high
FOLK SONGS OF BATTLES
Considering that for centuries the Punjabis had
to bear the brunt of foreign attacks, some folk-songs
have a historical significance and reflect the attitude
of the entire community towards certain events.
The Punjab has been a frontier province and Punjabis
have always suffered from the aftereffects of foreign
invasions. Every invasion brought plunder, rape
and arson in its wake. There is a song which gives
a heart-rending description of the cruelty of a
marauder who forcibly carries away a beautiful young
lady. Her husband, father and brother, in spite
of their earnest efforts, fail to rescue her, and
the brave girl, instead of falling prey to that
brute's passion, burns herself to death. The entire
poignant tale is contained in a ballad.
The invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali
created terror among the people of the Punjab. There
are some songs expressing their indignation towards
them. When the long enslaved Indians started their
fight for freedom from the British yoke, the offended
masters let loose upon them a bell of spiteful cruelty.
Some folk-songs refer to these movements of rebellion
in the Punjab.
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