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