Folk literature has been the vehicle of the sensibilities, imaginations, and aspirations of societies since the development of human language. The 5^th South Asian Folk and Oral Literature Festival, organized by the South Asian Poets of New England, was held on Sunday, August 22. The objective of the session was to attempt to showcase the vast gamut of South Asian Folk Poetry, rich in its contents, rhythm, and expression, to an assembly of international poets and enthusiasts of oral literature.

Nineteen poets from Arunachal Pradesh to Gujarat and Kashmir to Tamil Nadu participated in the literary session celebrating the natural beauty, seasons, festivals, romance, wisdom, and everyday life of India. Each poet displayed a map indicating the region of their selected song, a picture representing the area, and a description or explanation of the song.

The session was opened by SAPNE Convener Bijoy Misra, who welcomed the gathering of poets representing the diversity of the region. The first presenter Rahul Ray started the session with a Baul song “What is Lalon’s faith” by Lalon Shah from Bengal. Bauls are mystic singers who are strong believers in the universality of the spiritual experience and social harmony.

Sangeeta Prasad followed with a Phagwa, a song sung on the festival of Holi, from Chhapra in western Bihar. Representing the Awadh belt of Uttar Pradesh, Maneesh Srivastava recited a self-composed Kajari set to Raga Yaman. The song described the longing of a wife for her husband during the monsoon season.

Chanchala Priyadarshini from Varanasi presented a Sohar, a genre of songs to welcome the newborn. The song described scenes from the auspicious night of the birth of Krishna. Rita Pandey followed with a Kajari song that celebrated the advent of the rainy season, marked by the singing of the Koyal bird and the thundering of the clouds. Representing the region of Vrindavan, Amit Khare sang a Krishna song composed by the poet-bhakta Mirabai. The song was a call to Krishna to wake up at dawn.

Hailing from Kashmir, Sunayana Kachroo followed with a love song titled “Sonn Vach” or “When Sparrows Sing.” Neena Wahi sang a Tappa, a traditional love song from the mountains of western Punjab. Amandeep Singh expanded on the genre of Tappa, which were originally sung by the camel drivers of the region. The song that he presented was influenced by Sufi philosophy. Preetpal Singh also represented Punjab by presenting a nostalgic song “Pind” in which the singer reminisces about his childhood days in the village.

Prem Nagar took the audience on a tour of the rich tradition of folk ballads from Rajasthan. These folk ballads cover diverse themes ranging from Bhakti to the valorous deeds of Rajput kings. He sang a devotional song addressed to Ramdeva, a folk hero who became deified due to his magnanimity and generosity.

Mahendra Bakshi recited a Duho song traditionally composed the by Charans of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The composition by Dulla Bhaya Kag of Saurashtra exemplified folk wisdom on generosity towards a guest. Subsequently, Chandu Shah sang a Gujarati folk song that narrated the beauty of a small town called Morbi and its people. The song described a local king singing the praises of a woman on her way to fetch water from a lake.

Kushagra Aniket followed by reciting his self-composed poem (Narmadāsragviṇī) in Sanskrit on sacred geography of the River Narmada in Central India. The composition was an attempt to present Sanskrit as a folk language (Loka Bhāṣā) and enrich the classical tradition of nature poetry in Sanskrit by drawing inspiration from local cultures and traditions.

Ambuja Salgaonkar presented a unique folk song sung by women in Maharashtra while grinding grain in the morning. The song evoked memories of the strenuous labor undertaken by the women of the region to produce food for their families. On a similar note, Geetha Patil recited the “clay potter’s song” from Karnataka. She described the creative process through which a potter and his wife mold clay into different images while humming the song.

Sivaram Subramanian followed with the “fishermen’s song” (Neithal Thinai) from Tamil Nadu, home to Kodiakkarai Fishing Village (Point Calimere). The song depicted the fishermen’s everyday life, their view of the nature surrounding them, and their high spirits.

Bijoy Misra presented bard poetry from Odisha. These songs are often sung by local bards to the tune of Kendara, a single string bowed instrument and the beat of several drums and percussion instruments. The song chosen for the occasion was by Banamali Dasa (17th-18th century). It invoked the image of a pet parrot to drive home the message of Bhakti.

The session was concluded by Timita Mungyak, who sang the Tai-Khamti Folk song of the farmers of Arunachal Pradesh. The song symbolized a call to action to the farmers of the region to follow traditional harvest practices in the Kharif season.

At the conclusion of the event, the participants reflected on the session and expressed satisfaction that while a tour of India through people's voices was not easy, they were able to accomplish it to a limited extent. Six entries from the event were selected for presentation at the New England Regional Folk Literature and Oral Poetry Festival.

The video recording for the event is posted at  https://youtu.be/ufoIXPkl0j4

The next SAPNE event is the First Regional New England Folk Literature and Oral Poetry Festival to be hosted as a virtual session on Saturday, September 25, 2021 at 10 AM USEST.   Please register by sending email to idcinboston@gmail.com for the internet link. SAPNE https://www.sapne.boston is a sister organization to India Discovery Center https://www.indiadiscoverycenter.org

Kushagra Aniket is an economic and management consultant based in New York. He is a Scholar-in-Residence at Indic Academy and focuses his research on literary aesthetics in Sanskrit and contemporary Sanskrit literature.

|