Namita Waikar

PARI GSP Team

Samyukta Shastri

Photographer

Subuhi Jiwani

Editor

Sharmila Joshi

Series Editor

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For Diwali, here are 13 ovi related to Bhaubeej from the Grindmill Songs Project – celebrating the ties between brothers and sisters. The singer is Shahubai Kamble of Nandgaon village in Pune districtThe poignancy in Shahubai Kamble’s voice can stir any listener. It compelled us to plan a trip to Nandgaon village in Mulshi taluka in September 2017. We went with the hope of meeting her, shooting a video of her, and taking some photographs. But we learnt that she had died a year ago, and we were only able to get an old photograph of her from her family – her husband, two sons, their wives and children.

Shahubai had contributed 401 songs to the grindmill songs database, of which 170 were recorded in October 1999 (the others were only handwritten in 1995-96). These are among the 110,000-plus ovi from rural Maharashtra in the database. The project is now hosted on PARI, and a team has been revisiting some of the villages to talk to the singers, take photographs and record videos.The songs celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali featured here point to social structures rooted in patriarchy – it’s the men in the family (husband, father, brother) who are honoured by the women in the family, it’s the men who wield economic power, and it is they who are in a position to give cash and gifts to the women during festivals.In the ovi featured here, Shahubai, sings about Bhaubeej, the fifth day of Diwali (on October 21 this year). On this festive occasion, women and young girls felicitate their brothers, who in turn give them gifts, usually new clothes or cash. As on some other Hindu festivals, the women perform a ritual called ovaalne in Marathi, with kunku (red vermillion) and a lit oil lamp on a platter.In these ovi, the singer tells her friends that on Dussehra (which was on September 30 this year), she felicitates her husband with a jewel on her platter (usually, a bejewelled ring, signifying his worth and value to his spouse). Shahubai’s ovi for Dussehra, the festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil, are featured on PARI in <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/melodies-that-thrive-like-marigold/">Melodies that thrive like marigold</a>. So on Bhaubeej, it is the brother’s turn.  And from the money he gifts her, she will buy a brocade saree of her choice.

The singer says that a brother breaks his Monday fast at his sister’s home, where she cooks a festive meal with five different kinds of sweets and fried slices of bitter gourd.Sometimes, the guest doesn’t eat well and the sister wants to hold his wrist to insist that he should, but how can she, when he is not her brother but her brother-in-law.The sister uses jaggery to make these sweets, and she makes another with semolina. The brother, the ovi tells us, was born only after the prayers of his mother, implying that the sister is fortunate to have such a brother.The woman who lives next door to the singer asks who the guest at her home is and what she will offer him to eat. The singer says that she will make anarasa, a special Diwali sweet made with rice flour. The guest, she says, is not a guest at all but her own brother. Their affection runs deep like the soft sugary core of a custard apple with a rough exterior.In the last two couplets, Shahubai’s singing alludes to the influence of the brother’s wife on the affectionate relationship between a brother and a sister. The siblings, who were like two oranges from one tree, grow apart after the arrival of the sister-in-law. This also symbolises the changes that take place in human relationships over time.

On Dussehra day, I have a jewel on my platter O woman, let’s felicitate our respective husbandsWe, sisters, will together celebrate our brothers’ Bhaubeej I tell you, my sister, we shall buy brocade sarees we likeOn Dussehra day, I did not felicitate my brother We shall celebrate Bhaubeej for my brother during DiwaliA meal with five kinds of sweets and fried slices of bitter gourd –   A brother breaks his Monday fast at his sister’s houseA delicious meal – I insist he eat it, but he refuses How can I hold his hand to stop him? He is not my brother but my brother-in-lawFive kinds of sweets are made with jaggery for the festive meal Brother, have this special Bhaubeej mealA guest has come to my house; the woman next door asks who he is My brother for whom mother had made a vow, I give him sweet semolinaA guest has come to your house? The woman asks me in the courtyard The woman asks me while dipping a jug in an earthenware pot [of water]A guest has come to my house, the woman next door says, what will you do I shall get anarasa [a special Diwali sweet made with rice flour] for my brotherA guest came to my house in the evening, but he is not a burden My brother has come, he is very dear to meA sister and brother have deep affection for each other Like a green custard apple with sugary flesh insideA packet of sugar is surrounded by ants My brother loves me dearly but my sister-in-law broke our relationA brother and a sister are like oranges from the same tree A sister-in-law comes from another family, she caused a rift between them

<hr/>Performer/Singer: Shahubai Kamble Village: NandgaonTaluka: Mulshi District: PuneCaste: Nav Bauddha (Neo Buddhist)       Age: 70   (She died in August 2016 due to uterine cancer.)               Children: 2 sons and 2 daughters   Occupation: FarmerDate: These songs and information were recorded on October 5, 1999. The photographs were taken on September 11, 2017.Poster: Shreya Katyayini

'Brother-sister are oranges from the same tree’

अशी बहीण भावंडं – एका झाडाची संतरं

Nandgaon

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'Brother-sister are oranges from the same tree’

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