More of my grandmother's songs.

What else do I remember of my grandmother's songs? As a response to Tulika books' Blogathon 4 I wrote a quickie post with a few songs that came to my mind immediately. It triggered off an avalanche of many such memorable songs from my childhood, and I would love to share those too. Mindful Meanderer reminded me of this one in her comments. Loosely translated, it speaks of the gold and silver jewellery worn by the baby and ends by putting a 'kala-tikka' on the baby to ward off the 'evil eye.'
Adgula madgula
Sonyacha kadbola
Rupyacha vala
Sonya bala
Teet lav

Sometimes when I got annoyed with my grandmother and went and sat in the corner- a self imposed timeout of sorts- she would sing
Rusu bai rusu
Annoyed little girl
Kopryat basu
Sitting in a corner
Tikdun ala___ (insert name of someone I liked)
Someone__ has come here
Khudkan hasu!
Suddenly you laugh!

Girls played a lot more with dolls in those days. OK, there was no Barbie (I'm talking about mid-70s to mid-80s. I suppose a childhood around that time makes me ancient. Never mind.) and no teddy bears to speak of. We had well-loved rag dolls, and would celebrate doll weddings if anyone among friends had a boy-doll. Hmmm...nostalgia. But I digress. Back to the topic at hand. This is a song we sang to our dolls. Now A, my daughter, has well-loved dolls, and this is one she loves.
Ya bai ya
Come O you girls
Bagha bagha kashi mazhi basali baya
See how my little one is sitting
Iku na yete
She cannot hear 
Bagha bagha kashi mazhi soni baghate
See how my lovely one looks at me.

All children are fascinated by the moon. We were too. My grandmother sang this one for us.
Chandoba chandoba bhagalas ka?
Moon, moon, are you tired?
Limbonichya zhadamage lapalas ka?
Why are you hiding behind the neem tree?
Limbonicha zhaad karavandi
The neem tree is heavy with fruit
Mamacha wada chirebandi
My mama's (maternal uncle) house is strong and big
Mamachya wadyat yeun ja
Come to my mama's house
Tooproti khaun ja
Eat ghee and roti
Toopat padli mashi
Oh! there is a fly in the ghee
Chandomama rahila upashi!
The moon has remained hungry!
This song was followed by a lot of gleeful clapping. Why we were amused by the moon remaining hungry is something my adult self does not understand.

The maternal uncle's home is associated with a lot of fun. Even while addressing the Mama, we say "Tu" which is different from the "Tumhi" used for the paternal uncle. Somehow the use of "Tu" is for someone who is emotionally closer. A song for going to the mama's house-
Zuk zuk zuk zuk ageen gaadi
Dhuranchya resha havet kadhi 
Palti zade pahuya
Mamachya gawala jauya
Mama motha talewar
Reshim gheyi hazar war
(something...something)
Mamachi bayako sugrana
Roj roj poli shikarana
Gulabjam khau ya
Mamachya gawala jauya
This song is about going to mama's house or "Ajol" as it is called in marathi. It sings the praises of the mama and of the mami's (aunt's) culinary skills. Shikarana poli is roti eaten with a mash of ripe banana with milk and sugar- a delicacy for a small child.

Then there were the songs we sang in the monsoon. Maharashtra is originally a region of farmers, and it is quite recently that it has become (in)famous for other things. This song invites the rains to come and promise it some money.(as bribe?) But the song tells us that the rain does not like the bribe and only comes down when the paisa is not a real one. The song is from those days when one paisa was a large amount. Juxtapose this with the "Rain rain go away", which is not from a primarily agrarian society.
Ye re Ye re pausa
Tula deto paisa
Paisa zala khota
Paus ala motha
Ye ga Ye ga sari
Mazhe madke bhari
Sar ali dhun
Madke gele vahun!

Then there was a game in which we ran amok- I forget the actual game- and sang
Dongrala aag lagli
Pala re pala
Something along the lines of 'Fire on the mountain.'

And the game we girls played along the lines of 'Oranges and lemons' And sang
Chincha limbu paishya paishyala
Shaletlya mooli alya kashala
Khaun khaun khokla zala
Mamachya wadyat chor shirla
And the 'chor' who was caught was out.

Then here is something all mumbaikars will recognise. It is something we say as the idols of Ganesha are immersed at the end of the festival.
Ganapati bappa morya
Pudhchya varshi lavakar ya
Ganapati challe gavala
Chain padena amhala

There are so many more I could go on and on. There were the prayers my grandmother taught me. We would come home in the evening at the time the lights would come on "Divelagani" in marathi. Then we would say the "Shubhang Karoti", "Ram-raksha" and other shlokas. These are too long and many to write about here. Maybe another post sometime. I try to teach A whatever I can. A lot of it has been eclipsed by other, more pressing things like homework and after-school classes, and so many other trappings of our current existence. I would like to thank Tulika books for triggering off this line of thought. And I would like to end the post with a favourite of my grandmother's, a verse by the celebrated marathi poetess who was born in 1880, Bahinabai Chaudhari who has written some very down-to-earth and heartfelt poetry.
Are Saunsaar saunsaar
Jasa Tawa Chulyhawar
Aadhi Hatala Chatake
Teva Milate Bhakar  

Loosely translated- The world is like a pan on the fire. Only if we can take the heat on our hand, can we get the bread-bhakar