My grandmother's songs

Tulika books keep challenging us bloggers with new topics to blog about. Blogathon 4 is here. Let me see what I can make of it.

When my brothers and I were growing up, my maternal grandmother lived with us. My parents both worked, and we came home usually to a grandmother who welcomed us with her yummy food. Most of my memories of TLC are to do with her.

Aaji (grandmother in Marathi) was a very intelligent and well-read woman, inspite of not having had much schooling. She had been married at a tender age of 13, a common thing to happen in pre-independence India. She educated herself by reading all that she could get her hands on, and was a treasure trove of stories and songs. My early introduction to mythology has much to do with her. She knew a lot of songs that were sung by women as they went about their daily chores. Many songs are to do with mundane, everyday things like food, playing and sleeping.

I do not remember all the songs she sang to us, but some have remained, and I, in my turn, have sung them to my daughter. Here is one we sing to a baby, just able to sit on your lap, hold it's head up, and recognise birds and animals. The singer points with her finger at the baby's open palm--

Ithe ithe bus re moraa
Sit here O peacock
Bal ghaltay chaaraa
Baby's giving you food
Chaara kha, paani pi
Eat the food, drink water
Shetala ja,
Go to the field,
Shenga kha,
Eat the beans/corn
Balachya dokyavarun bhoor udun ja.
Fly over the baby's head and fly far away.

Another one, for a game- the singer and the baby clap one hand over the other in rhythm.

Aapdi thapdi
Gulachi papdi
Dhammaka laadu
Tel kadhu
Telangicha ekach haath
Dhar ga bala mazach kaan
Chyau mau
Patrvalicha paani piu
Handa paani gud-d-d-uppp!

Can't really translate this word-for-word. This is a sort of nonsense verse where we talk about food like the laadu- or laddu in Hindi- and gulachi papdi which is a kind of roti stuffed with jaggery. The song ends with drinking water- paani- from the handa or water-vessel, and both mother and singer enjoy the ending sound of gudupp, which translated loosely means finished/dissappeared. A song depicting finishing a satisfying meal in a way.

This was a song for a game played by at least two girls. The participants clap and give sort of both-hand-high-fives intermittently in time with the rhythm. Being women's songs, most of them featured girls. This game is played at one of those all-women events when we have pooja in the month of 'Shravan', and married women are visiting their parents' homes. Underlying the festive mood of the song and game is an undercurrent of the realisation that they can be so carefree only because they are in their 'maaher' or mother's home. "Laad sangu baapala" literally means that we can tell only our parent about the things that we enjoy. Things are changing now, but this still applies across a large feminine population in India, even today.

Zim pori zim
Kapalache bhing
Bhing gele phutun
Pori gelya rusun
Chal chal govinda yeto
Majavari gulaal phekito
Ya ya gullaalachya ya
Amchya venya zalya lal
Amchya venya mokalya
Soniyachya sakhalya
Ghadav ghadav re sonara
Soniyachya bilwara
Bilwarala khidkya
Amhi donhi bahini laadakya
Laad sangu baapala
Koni sangu aamhala

And here is a lullaby she sang to put us to sleep. It is a song from a 50s marathi movie, "Bala gau kashi aangai". Nimbonichya zadamage.  Not being a good enough singer, I only ever sang lullabies to A when only the two of us were together.