LOHRI !!!

Original title: Smile! You Are On! Original description: She was waiting for her turn to participate in 'Gidha' which is the folk dance from the state of Punjab, India, during the Youth Festival in Amritsar. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sunder mundriye ho!
Tera kaun vicharaa ho!
Dullah Bhatti walla ho!
Dullhe di dhee vyayae ho!
Ser shakkar payee ho!
Kudi da laal pathaka ho!
Kudi da saalu paata ho!
Salu kaun samete!
Chache choori kutti! zamidara lutti!
Zamindaar sudhaye!
Bade bhole aaye!
Ek bhola reh gaya!
Sipahee far ke lai gaya!
Sipahee ne mari itt!
Sanoo de de Lohri, te teri jeeve jodi!
(Cry or howl!)
Bhaanvey ro te bhaanvey pitt!

Translation:

Beautiful girl
Who will think about you
Dulla of the Bhatti clan will
Dulla's daughter got married
He gave one ser of sugar!
The girl is wearing a red suit!
But her shawl is torn!
Who will stitch her shawl?!
The uncle made choori!
The landlords looted it!
Landlords are beaten up!
Lots of simple-headed boys came!
One simpleton got left behind!
The soldier arrested him!
The soldier hit him with a brick!
(Cry or howl)!
Give us Lohri, long live your pair (to a married couple)!
Whether you cry, or bang your head later!

Giddha is essentially danced in a circle. All of the dancers clap their hands and sing small couplets called Boliyan. These Boliaan are emotional, humorous, and teasing, and cover various topics such as love and nature. Then, two of the dancers come to the centre and perform the dance. These Boliyan cover themes from nature to the excesses committed by the husband or mother-in-law or other relatives, and love among other things.

Mimicry is very popular in Giddha. Giddha incorporates village life scenes of women spinning cotton, fetching water from the well, etc. This is accompanied with appropriate Boli songs.

---daman

13/01/2014