The Bhawaiya Song : Origin of Bhawaiya

                               There have some queries about Bhawaiya that how old the Bhawaiya is, how has it originated and what course of evolution has it taken. It is very difficult to get exact replies to such queries. The scholars and musicologists have arrived at certain decisions on the basis of circumstantial evidences from sociological and anthropological findings. As such, it is assumed that the beginning of such songs was intrinsic to various rites, customs, worships of deities prevalent in the primitive society and the same has spread into various walks of life in later years. Side by side with Bahwaiya one finds ‘Chatka’, the brisk form of Bhawaiya. 

                                 It is assumed that Bhawaiya song was evolved in the 15^th or 16^th century and the same have been sung and transmitted orally for centuries together. The written form of lyrics of Bhawaiya was available first in the book Linguistic Survey of India, published by G.A. Grierson in 1904. He collects a few folk songs of local dialects from the districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Rangpur towards the end of 19^th century. Some more examples of lyrics of these songs are available in printed form from the Rangpur Sahitya Parishad Patrika published in 1908-1912.But nothing can be known as to when and who composed these songs.

                           Most of the popular and important Bhawaiya – Chatka songs have been sung and orally transmitted before the 1930’s. Quite a good number of such songs were rendered into gramophone records in the 1930’s. The initiative was taken by Harish Chandra Pal, a devoted folklorist of Cooch Behar. Some other lyricists who composed Bhawaiya – Chatka songs were Abdul Karim, Pyarimohan Das, Gangadhar Das etc. But the number of their writings was negligible compared to the number of most popular traditional Bhawaiya – Chatka songs.

                               As the popular Bhawaiya – Chatka songs have been orally transmitted and have not been printed in any books, they have had some variations in lyrics quite often. For this reason we can notice variations in lyrics of a particular song. The particular groups of people who sing those songs have retained them through proper scrutiny and selection process only because they have found in them the medium of expression of their feelings, happiness and sorrows, love, affections, their philosophy of life.

                              An example of a very popular Chatka song will be helpful to explain such variatons…..

Variation – 1 :    Oki bap re bap mao re mao, kam karibar na paon muin

                             Ai komorer bise na re.

                            Hal boyya asilen pati bhale karilen kam

                            Chagal bandhilen pati bhale karilen kam

                            Urun giant bir kariya dhan pac syar ban.

Variation – 2 :    Chagol duita bandhi asilen bhale karilen kaj

                             Ghar chairta samti ela bhara khora maj

                             Bhara khora majlu pati tui re amar pran

                             Urun gain joteya ani dhan pac syar ban.

Variation – 3 :    Oho bap re bap, oho mao re mao, na paon muin kamai karibar

                             Kamai karir na paon pati oi kamarer bise

                             Hakkat kariya ki hail kabar na paon kise

                             Hal boyya asilu bari jhapi mathat diya

                             Hutti tho tor nangol jongal bara banek asiya.

Variation – 4 :    Hal boyya asilu musa bhale karlu kam

                            Nangol jongal atti thuiya bara chairta ban.

                        Bhawaiya – Chatka songs, therefore, have no longer remained a genre orally transmitted, as it has usually happened to other forms of folk songs also. It is, however, still a fact that the compositions of unknown lyrics that have been transmitted and accepted by the people are the ones that are mostly sung by the traditional singers and as such very popular. Songs of new and unknown composers, except for a few, have not gained much popularity.

 Reference:

1. Bhawaiya __ Dr . Sukhbilas Barma 

The Bhawaiya Song : What is the meaning of the word Bhawaiya

             According to Abbasuddin, the most popular singer of Bhawaiya – “Bhawaiya song is the wealth of North Bengal. Its movement is like that of wind blowing at random and so it is called Bhawaiya.”

            Cooch Behar and some other districts of North Bengal such as Jalpaiguri, part of Darjeeling, northern part of West Dinajpur and Dhubri and Goalpara districts of Assam and Rangpur district of Bangladesh are famous for Bhawaiya song. The language of this wide area is Rajbanshi or Kamrupi. The lyrics of Bhawaiya are in Rajbanshi language. The feelings of love and separation are one of the most popular themes of these songs. This genre of singing is very popular among labourers.

            There are various viewpoints on the meaning of Bhawaiya. Some argued that the term Bhawaiya has come from ‘Bhawa’. ‘Bhawa’ is low lying places left behind by the change of course of the rivers which remain inundated during most part of the year and which are full of water grown shrubs and bushes that are known as Kush or Kasiya. These are good grazing lands for buffaloes. The buffalo-keepers who are known as Maisal used to sing these Bhawaiya songs while grazing buffaloes on these Bhawas and songs waved through the nearby villages. They speak of huge number of songs connected with buffalo and its keepers in Bhawaiya in support of their argument.

            Others say it has come from ‘Bao’ and still others refer to ‘Bhao’. There is another viewpoint according to which it has been derived from the term ‘Baudiya’ or ‘Baura’. Others opine that Bhawaiya is the changed from of ‘Bawaiya’. The ‘Bao’ means breeze or wind. The tunes of the songs sung by the buffalo-keepers on the Bhawa, by the farmers on the working fields waved through the villages carried by wind and the song was therefore called Bawaiya from which came the changed form of Bhawaiya. But this is a minority view.

             Suren Ray Basunia , one of the sinceremost devotees of Bhawaiya in the early part of 20^th century has given the view about the derivative meaning of Bhawaiya that is widely accepted. According to him, the song full of emotional feelings that urges the people to think deeply is called Bhawaiya. The derivative is Bhav > Bhao + Iya = Bhaoiya. The derivative meaning of this song is one who is emotionally charged. In this region one who eats is called Khaoia, one who sings is Gaoia and similarly one who thinks is Bhaoia. The song is so simple in its tune and theme that the feeling and meaning it conveys can be understood easily.

           It is noting that almost all the Bhawaiya singers have said that Bhawaiya has come from Bhav > Bhao + Iya = Bhaoiya. The question therefore arise what is the actual word – Bhawaiya or Bhaoia? If we notice carefully the viewpoint of Suren Ray Basunia and the way it is pronounced by the older generation people of Bhawaiya region the term appears to be Bhaoia. For example, they will say "চলো রে ভাযিয়া গান শুনির যাই "(Let us go to hear the Bhaoia song). There is a popular saying in the villages – "দোতরার ডাং আর ভাযিয়া গান, পাগল কইরেছে কইন্যার মন ".

           In Rajbanshi language the other meaning of Bhav is love and attachment. ‘Bhaver bandhu, Bhaver deora’ – these phrases are quite common these songs. Bhawaiya is firmly seized with love; love between man and woman, love for nature, animals, birds etc. With this meaning of Bhav, the viewpoint about the Bhawaiya from the word Bhav sounds reasonable.

               It is therefore, quite clear from the above discussion that the viewpoint of Bhawaiya being derived from the word Bhav > Bhao is much more reasonable and acceptable.

 Reference:

1. Bhawaiya __ Dr . Sukhbilas Barma 
2. en.wikipedia.org

The Bhawaiya Song : An Introduction

                             On writing about the traditional folk music Bhawaiya, the first question that comes to mind is why one person should be interested in Bhawaiya. The reason is the music itself. Bhawaiya is one of the oldest traditional folk form of Bengal which possesses the essence of traditional Bengali folk culture.

                 
                                    Music is an art. It combines the sound in such a way as to gratify our ears or effect our imagination or both. It is an atmosphere conditioned by a network of conjuring tones or of sensible variety of rhythm or both. It is an aesthetic representation of the artists' inner depth-production of the tonal form or picture, corresponding to that of the mind combined with colour, pitch, grace, harmony, melody, succession of tones and micro tones.

                        
                               To Yehudi Menuhin it is music that welds spiritual and sensual that can convey ecstasy free of guilt, faith without dogma, love as homage. According to him, music is the oldest form of expression, older than language or art.

" It begins with the voice, and with our overwhelming need to reach out to others, music touches our feelings more deeply than most words and makes us respond with our whole being......As long as the human races survive, music will be essential to us. We need music, I believe, as much as we need each other. " ___  Yehudi Menuhin

                       
                               The basic element of music is 'sound' which is manifested in the form of tone and micro tones. Indian psychologists and philosophers say that the psyche or soul of music is made up of sounds with emotions. Early Indian music was Srooti ridden, as the vocal-chord was then highly efficient to reproduce the subtle existence of tone. Srooti is the minutest form of sound that our ears can recognize.

                     
                                  The phrase 'folk music' is a German phrase applied exclusively to peasant songs originally. In 1907, Cecil Sharp defined folk music as the spontaneous music of the unspoiled, illiterate classes created out of their pure natural instinct. According to Sharp, folk music reflects feelings and tastes that are communal rather than personal. Folk community is a people of common backgrounds - social, economic, ethnic, sectional, urban, rural, mountainous, occupational. The common people always want to express themselves and their livelihood through this folk music.The songs and instrumental pieces in folk culture must be accepted by an essential part of the population; otherwise they will not live. The oral tradition is the only way in this culture to preserve and transmit the music. Generation after generation music is passed by word of mouth, songs learnt by hearing and instruments making and playing learnt by watching.
                     The main characteristics of folk song is transmission by oral tradition, not written down and as a result it develops variants and the original form is rarely known. Folk music normally is created by untrained, unprofessional musicians and performed by singers and players with little or no theoretical background. Song is old; style is archaic. But folk cultures do have a history; they allow their music to change, their compositions to be altered and their repertory to be turned over. It is the musical expression of a whole people or tribe or a significant portion of a culture.
                       
                         Such as Bhawaiya is the musical expression of the people of North Bengal. It is mainly popular in the rural areas of North Bengal especially in Cooch Behar and also in few districts of Bangladesh especially in Rangpur. The other districts those are popularly known for Bhawaiya song are - Jalpaiguri, part of Darjeeling, North Dinajpur of West Bengal and Goalpara and Dhubri of Assam. This is popular in Kamtapur state also.

The Two Bhawaiya Singers

Though entire North Bengal is known as the birthplace of Bhawaiya song, the village Balarampur of Cooch Behar is the core area for Bhawaiya. The language of this song is Rajbanshi.Bhawaiya is free from religious bias. These songs depicts longings and pathos or love, and some other similar feelings such as relationships of a woman with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law and so on.

The main instrument that is played with Bhawaiya is Dotora or Dotara.As the instrument has two strings it is called Dotara ( Do = Two, Tara = Taar = String).Though the Rajbanshi language is slowly become obsolete in modern days, the Bhawaiya song still has a popularity among the people of North Bengal as well as among the others those who love traditional folk music.

                         
                            


                     This is a short introduction on the folk music and the Bhwaiya song.



Reference:

1. Bhawaiyar Janmabhumi____ Mustafa Jaman Abbasi
2. Bhawaiya____  Dr. Sukhbilas Barma
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhawaiya