Teej songs in Nepal

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Teej songs mark our difficult times

By Neetu Dubey/Sanu Ghimire

nepalnews.com Sept 04 2005

 

Teej, one of the heartiest festivals of Nepali women, has once again

knocked in, albeit the mood of the nation is quite not buoyant.

Famous it, of course, is as a festival of delicious food, songs and

dances, `women fashion' draped in red colour and --of warm wishes

shared among the loved ones. For Nepali women in particular, Teej,

at the least, is the festival of their identity.

 

As song and dances are the part and parcel of Teej, women in their

usual course of singing and dancing tend not only to pour out their

pangs and the inequalities prevalent around them, but also tend to

communicate with our times.

 

Along with the passion attached to it, for womenfolk, the festival

has vast connotation in terms of conjugal prosperity. Married women

take to daylong fasting - which is preceded and followed by an

eating binge - for the sake of longevity and blissful marital life.

 

The overall picture of the country is certainly not rosy. In fact it

appears dreadful with 12,000 Nepalis losing their lives in the

decade-old conflict. Some have died by the bullets of the Maoists

and others lost their lives at the hands of the government's

security forces.

 

Being at the receiving end, women, for sure, are the ones who have

felt the burnt most in the ongoing conflict. Thousands of women have

been widowed and are living in heightened austerity coupled with the

social ignominy widowhood brings with it.

 

Times are just as gloomy as this Teej song sang by popular folk

singer Hari Devi Koirala, aptly describes:

 

Sabko manma piraipir chha ke gaune ho geet pani

[We all have problems; what we can sing if not one song?]

Roeko man jhan ruwana aaipugyo Teej pani

[My heart is crying, and now in Teej times, it cries more.]

 

[in the above song, the woman remembers the distant relatives or

lost ones.]

 

Previous Teej songs used to be mostly about token complaints of

women – necessarily against uncouth mother-in-laws and wayward

husbands or about other petty grievances – but there has been a

marked change in the tone and theme of Teej songs since past few

years.

 

Koirala's another recorded song, which is heard in Teej functions

these days, depicts the horror of war:

 

Naachne gaune maidanama ragatako khola chhan

[Where now we sing and we dance there is a river of blood]

Madal bajna chhodisake barud gola chhan

[No longer sounds the madal drum, but instead arms sound]

 

Some songs have revolutionary colour in them, marking a clear

departure from the traditional pattern. Such songs are either about

protest of a daughter against her father for the infringement of her

right to education or of awareness on girls trafficking. Pangs and

sufferings of thousands of Nepali girls who have been lured or

forced to work in brothels in India have found wide space in Teej

songs. Just note the undertone of protest against the criminals:

 

Yo deshama janmera tyo kothiko marana

[We are born in a country where many people die]

Cheli bechne paapiko chhala kadhana

[The people who take away our children should be skinned]

 

Teej songs also commonly cover major events and incidents occurring

in the country during the year. In 2058 B.S, for instance, a number

of recorded Teej songs were based on the ghastly Royal Palace

massacre.

 

It's exactly not known when the singing and dancing on the occasion

of Teej festival started, though, predictably, it is there since

time immemorial. As the fate of Nepali women has seen little change

since ages, women just keep on cherishing this festival as their

own – a festival that brings with it the pretext for breaking free

from their humdrum, arduous household works, not to mention the

exploitation, — and give voice to their plights, wishes and

aspirations.

 

First Teej song album 'Teejko Kosheli Bhag 1 " was released in 2045

B.S, a combined work of Hari Devi Koirala and Chandra Kala Shah.

Encouraged by the popularity of that album many singers tried their

hands in Teej songs. Since then, according to recording companies,

the trend of releasing cassettes prior to Teej festival began.

 

Talking to Nepalnews, Ram krishna Regmi, a media expert, said, "Some

changes are seen in the songs as compared to that of yesteryears. It

has moved from casual romanticism to urging to establish peace in

the country."

 

In Regmi's view, there are, however, some wrong practices prevalent

in the name of Teej. Basically, Teej is not a symbol of exploitation

of the fairer sex; it is a festival that gives identity to Hindu

women, he observed.

 

He further added that the changes witnessed in the trend of Teej

songs in the course of time have to do with the process of

modernization. "A couple of years back, I happened to come across

illiterate village woman in Pokhara singing Teej songs that had

words like Internet and Email requesting their husbands abroad to

send message and photographs through Internet!"

 

That said, Teej songs still continue to embrace the women voice.

And, maybe for this very reason, Teej as a festival continues to be

as endearing as ever for Nepali women.

 

http://peacejournalism.com/ReadArticle.asp?ArticleID=5567

 

[Translation from Nepali by Toni Aguilar, Anju Dhungel, and Kalpana

Tamang]