Folk-songs of Bengal

In Bengal of late there has been a movement for the revival of folk-music, in the sense of its introduction even among classes which were hitherto not quite interested in it. So are not only folk-tunes being incorporated into the musical structure, but efforts are being made to learn and sing genuine folk-songs. Imitative efforts have accompanied the movement, but have not, owing to the absence of natural mental and physical environment, been much of a success. Earnest attempts for collection and preservation of folk-songs have also grown up under private and public auspices.

Handed on through generations, folk-songs have been rich in power and variety. Their authorship is generally unknown; only in some of them have the composers mentioned their names in the last lines, but nothing more than the bare name is ascertainable. Nor have the songs been much recorded. They have lived from day to day, have spontaneously circulated through the villages. Most of them have their popularity confined to districts; but some have found response beyond the borders as well.

The songs well come up under a few distinct heads. First mention might be made of the Kavi–literally, the Poet's songs–which, though regarded as folk-music, were at one time much in favour also with the higher classes, Bhadraloks as they are called. It is a sort of block music, often centered on some devotional, mythological or social subject, but sometimes relating to topical matters too. Fights in verses among Kaviwallahs, as Kavi singers are called, with different points of view, used to enliven many a gathering; the singers’ ready improvisations in rhyming were the most striking feature of these fights and drew crowded audiences. With the advent of Western education, this kind of music has lost favour with the Bhadraloks, and has gradually decayed. The tradition is however still being bravely carried on by some composers.

Panchali represents connected stories with a largely religious ground. It includes recitations, and used to be sung in appropriate tunes before interested audiences. Though no longer as popular as it once was, Panchali still finds a place in religious or semi-religious environments. Gazi songs of Mahomedans also represent connected stories.

Sari is the song of the boatmen, and has the river and the sea for its setting. It is in essence an effort to face the problems of life in the spirit of the always uncertain journey over the river. Over the river of the rains, full to the brim, Sari music, in the coalescing voices of the boatmen plying their oars, is a marvel in representation. Sari preserves its tradition un-checked, through its votaries on the river.

Jari is a song of Mahomedans. It depicts stories from the past of devotional, heroic and kindred achievements. Often in East and North Bengal villages, Jari music, by a harmonious blending of voices of people mostly belonging to the peasant class, enlivens the slumbering midnight. It. has also contributed many of its tunes to revivalist efforts.

Baul songs, which are increasingly coming into vogue, sprang out of the Baul community which has a distinct mode of thought, philosophy and method of worship, allied but not wholly similar to those of the Hindu religious sect called Vaishnavas. They owe their popularity with the educated public to the efforts of certain workers including Rabindranath. These songs reflect a simple, mystic outlook on life, completely free from the crudities and complexities that have come to be associated with the traditional Hindu ideology. It would not be out of place to give the meaning of a few lines of Baul song:

"There is a town near my home, and thereat lives a neighbour whom I have never seen. For, between my home and that town, a deep sea rages; the sea shows no end, and on it there is no boat. So, even though I wish to go to my neighbour, I cannot.

I have heard that the neighbour is without a constant form; sometimes he floats over the water, at other times he soars in the air.

Had my neighbour touched me a bit, all my pangs would have been gone; but he is far away; and between him and Nalin is a distance of lakhs of miles."

Murshida is a type allied to Baul. Bhatial denotes the village songs in general as distinguished from the particular types mentioned before. The word connotes the ebb-tide, and in East Bengal parlance, also the endof the day; and a sad sweetness pervades the tunes. Bhatial is predominant in East and North Bengal. It is thistype that is coming to be particularly appreciated and cultivated. Here is a brief specimen:

"My room opens unto the south, and by the south you go playing on your flute, oh my friend! Oh the friend of my soul, come and drink at my room water from the river Sital-Lakshya.

You may go after you have drunk; you may go after you have spoken a word to me. He who does not respond to love is guilty.

You go about the city, oh my beloved! Drink the water of the Sital-Lakshya and then go to the south, playing on your flute."

Rakhali is a variation of Bhatial. Local variations of the general types are in many places to be found. The songs women sing at marriage ceremonies bear individual grace and beauty, and deserve particular mention. In Bengal, as in many other lands, folk-songs have been at once the expression and the refuge of the soul of the people. Unaffected by the rise and fall of kingdoms, they remain an abiding treasure, and all efforts to preserve them in form and tune are to be welcomed.