RARELY have we ever heard of something sung to wake up a child, though lullabies, or a song or poem sung to put a child to sleep, is fairly common.
Aside from lullaby, or lori, Urdu offers a unique genre named jaagori, or a poem or song sung to wake a child up with love and care. Muslim Ziai, a poet and researcher, had written jaagori in Urdu and these poetic pieces had appeared in his magazine for children. The magazine was named taaraa, or star.
Literature in almost every language has examples of lullabies and they share some common traits, for example, soothing effect, repetitive lines and simple or onomatopoeic wordings. But they have some subtle uses, too. Lullabies, as put by Dr Qamar Raees, do not only reflect motherly love or interaction between mother and child, but they also introduce an infant to his or her mother tongue and its rhythmic patterns — something that clings to the newborn’s mind for the rest of their life.
While Urdu has abundant examples of lullaby, not much has been written on this all-important genre which carries numerous examples of rustic vocabulary, cultural norms and religious values. A few of the old and traditionally sung Urdu lullabies, handed down from generation to generation, were recorded in a few books. Muhammadi Begum had published a booklet containing Urdu lullabies. According to Malik Ram, Hamidullah Afsar Meruthi had also written lullabies in Urdu.
Songs sung at wedding parties are a unique phenomenon in our part of the world. There used to be different wedding songs according to the occasion, for example, mehndi, mayoon, rukhsati. Syed Ahmed Dehlvi, Basheeruddin Ahmed and Azher Ali Farooqi have quoted some of these songs.
Aside from wedding songs, another interesting and unique Urdu genre is zachcha giryaan. These are the songs sung right from the day a women is known to have become pregnant, through different stages of pregnancy, right up to the day the baby is delivered. Shahid Ahmed Dehlvi, Azher Ali Farooqi and Dr Bismillah Niaz have reproduced many of such ‘pregnancy songs’. There used to be some singers whose profession was to sing the peculiar songs at weddings and childbirths.
Another genre is saavan ke geet, or the songs sung during the rainy season. Muhammad Hussain Azad has quoted some songs presumably written by Ameer Khusrau. But it was not the rainy season alone that inspired the folk poets as in Urdu and Hindi there is a genre known as barah maasa. These poems described the 12 months of the year and the weather as well as one’s personal feelings during each month. Tanveer Ahmed Alavi had written a research-based book on barah maasa. Some poets had written even terah maasa, or the account of a year’s ‘13’ months — love sorrow and the pain of being separated from the loved one being the eternally long ‘13th’ month of the year.
Dukhra and zaari were the kind of songs that bemoaned the circumstances. These songs or poems, written mostly by women, narrated the sufferings, sorrows, toils and afflictions. Dukhra was a kind of elegy, too, but it was sung on other sorrowful occasions, such as the death of a child. Sometimes women would sing zaari collectively, sharing their grief with one another. Dr Maimoona Dalvi had carried out research on dukhra.
Chakki nama was a song sung while grinding a ‘chakki’ or stone hand mill. Aside from the popular marsiya (elegy) and nauha (dirge), a folk elegy or dirge was often sung by common people in the streets and the genre was called daha. These were the verses sung during the first 10 days of Muharram to mourn the martyrs of Karbala. Qurratul Ain Hyder has mentioned them in her novel Gardish-i-rang-i-chaman.
The popular genre known as doha is a two-line poem and is still in vogue in Urdu and Hindi. But the forgotten genres are keh mukarni, anmil, dhakosla and do sukhna. Believed to be originated by Ameer Khusrau, these are much amusing. Keh mukarni, based on double-entendre, is a riddle in which something is implied, such as love-making, but is denied. It usually depicts two women trying to solve some riddles. One poses a riddle apparently alluding to the eagerly awaited lover or husband, but the clues point to another idea as well, so the most plausible answer is denied.
Anmil, or the incongruent verse, is a brief composition trying to put apparently irrelevant items together in a funny way. Dhakosla is a kind of absurd verse meant to entertain only. It has words which are apparently catching but make no sense. For example: peepal paki peepliyan, or bhaadon ki paki phali’.
Do sukhna is a genre that has one answer to two questions.
Most of these genres are part of Urdu’s oral tradition and folk literature.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2021
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