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International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) Volume 5 Issue 4, May-June 2021 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD41272 | Volume – 5 | Issue – 4 | May-June 2021 Page 332 The Green Parrot and Other Poetic Beauty of Orāon Folksongs Dr. Milan Mohanta Lecturer, Rairangpur College, Rairangpur, Odisha, India ABSTRACT Oraon is one of the progressive tribes in Odisha. The people of this community communicate each other in Kurunkh and Sadri languages. Thousands of Oraon folksongs are in prevalence in these two languages, in this state. During my field work I collected some of these both from primary and secondary sources. In this essay I’ve analyzed the aesthetic views of Oraons, reflected in their folksongs. As I found they have very particular and subtle sense of beauty; which collects the elements of expression from their own small periphery. Over all, the real small incidents, experiences of their life and the natural scenic sights are the key source of Oraons’ aesthetic world of imagination. KEYWORDS: Kurunkh-A North-Dravidian dialect, Orāon- A progressive tribe of Odishā, Budi- An wild creeper, Dewān- The minister of Orāon social domain, Talang- The lower part of of a dhoti, Banāi- A town of Sundargarh district of odishā, Gandari- A small bird, Kundari- A kind of vegetable, Mānder- A music sysytem made of earthen drum and dry skin of animals, Dhol- Drum, Kimād- A wild green used as food, Pālki- A bamboo craft used in marriage ceremony for transportation of the bride. Kusum- The name of a wild tree, Bijabane- In the forest named Bijaban, Chandowā & Pāenri- Ornaments used by the females of Oraon society. How to cite this paper: Dr. Milan Mohanta "The Green Parrot and Other Poetic Beauty of Orāon Folksongs" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456- 6470, Volume-5 | Issue-4, June 2021, pp.332-335, URL: www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd41272.pdf Copyright © 2021 by author(s) and International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development Journal. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) The Orāons, concentrate across the Mid and North-East- India, speak Kurunkh, a North-Dravidian sub-dialect as their mother tongue and most often share ideas using Sādri, a lingua franca, spoken in the adjoining areas of Odisha and Jharkhand in India. Usually they contribute several songs during their festivals and marriages in these two languages- Kurunkh and Sādri. Even they sing some devotional songs during their assemblage in ‘Pārhā’, an emerging socio-religious hub of their community. In this way Oraon folksongs can be classified into three prongs in consideration of its context-(a) Festive Songs, (b) Marriage Songs and (c) Devotional Songs. However, we have to analyze here exclusively the poetic beauty of all these songs. Before going to the analysis of the aesthetic view of Oraon folksong it would be mention-worthy that the parrot is one of the inevitable poetic elements of their marriage songs. They express their sense of beauty taking parrot as a metaphor of a young unmarried, pretty girl. Parrot symbolizes the active, productive, soft and subtle physical beauty of a girl. These kinds of metaphorical expression envisage some organic-images as below. “ The green paddy field Oh my mother! See the green field Parrot flows down to it. Oh my dad ! parrot comes forward Whether a grown-up daughter is there To that home men come forward.” Or “Where did you come from Parrot? Stood and stared like a black crow Sitting on the dried tree Like a black crow You came from the east only My father is not at home Mother is not as well From where did you come, dear guest!” In the second song the parrot has been depicted as a simile of a boy, who is supposed to be the bridegroom of a virgin girl. In this way the social sub-conscious of Oraon folk is engrossed by the beauty of the wild green-parrot again as follows: “The green parrot The green parrot Pretty the parrot The rājā on a pālki and an elephant Comes with the dewān.” (Archer W.G) Or “In the corn fields, in the wheat fields Parrots from other sides have gathered IJTSRD41272 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD41272 | Volume – 5 | Issue – 4 | May-June 2021 Page 333 The parrot of the house has flown The parrot of the house has flown away to the jungle. Parrots from other sides have gathered.” In this way very ordinary and very negligible elements are found to be colorful, and unprecedentedly beautiful in imagination of Oraon-folk-poet, which are negligible in the eyes of great poets. Therefore the felt truths as well as the blissful small scenario become the classic and eternal beauty for him/her. As such the aesthetic sense of Oraon-folk-poet is always found to be inclined to truth and beauty- “ Oh the moon rises Over the purple headed mountain Our moon rises up Let it be risen up It would look after the world Our world would come under Supervision of the moon The country would be supervised By the moon Our moon rises up Let it be risen up, risen up.” Or Oh dear the Tamarind pasted bride Stands under the kusum tree Gold rings swing beneath both the ears.” Or Green-Kimād The red colored green-Kimād Red fudunā of the towel of my Young boy-friend Attracts the young girls The red colored Kimād The green-colored Kimād The green-Kimād.” The beautified adornment of an Orāon chap is the symbol of hi aristocracy as well as a delicate element of aesthetic sense for a young maiden girl. Even wearing of a flowery-towel and Chādar of a boy stands as the cause and parameter of unavoidable attraction for an Oraon girl. She cannot forget the colourful gesture of that adorned and decorated boy and she becomes unstable herself in memoir. All her mobility, activities and every walk of life become unsteady. She suffers from embarrassing situations in front of parents and elders for her abnormality. But no unfavorable situation can suppress her strong emotions, soaked and penetrated by the attraction of sublimity. She urges her voice spontaneously- Banāi Banāi rebukes me oh mummy! I will be flying away with the young chap of Banāi Hi the young chap of Banāi Hi the young chap of Banāi His colored towel and its colorful fudunā I will be running away with the young chap of Banāi.” Oraon folksongs reveals the physical get-up and adornment including exclusive behavior, gesture and interest etc.- the inner beauty of a person. Even a very negligible incident but mind glowing for the Oraon-folk is used as poetic element or simile of songs. An artist gets satisfied by pouring the best artistic touch to his/her art. S/he gets inspired and pleasured expressing the artistic form, gesture, rhythm and tempo on his/her own face. But the wide scope of such self expression is very rare and limited in case of folk artist. Many of the times folk artists are engaged in the struggle for survival and earning of their livelihood. Consequently the preservation and propagation of art work is neglected by them. Still their squeezed artistic life is found to be full of nectar. A brief revelation of their artistic view is happened from within the smallest events of the restless life. They feel the value of their art of life and the price of valuable contribution towards others betterment in every walk of life. Even they sing looking at the healthy movement of their hard working. “Oh my buffalo comes forward Jumps and runs away Being mud pasted My buffalo jumps away Twelve feet oh my dear Oh my buffalo comes forward Being mud pasted Jumps and runs around.” Naturally the sub-conscious of folk-poet is exaggerated by the beauty of small things that come across in the incidents of day to from this category. Some illusive as well as exclusive scenic instance is found in their folksongs. “Only the ring of my toes Dear mother Nothing is looked well than that Without the ring of my toes Nothing looks good Oh my dear mother !” Or “Oh the turmeric pasted bride That turmeric colored bride Stands under the Kusum tree Gold swings beneath both her ears Oh my dears… Gold swings beneath both the ears.” Or “One of the girls looking darken like a crow International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD41272 | Volume – 5 | Issue – 4 | May-June 2021 Page 334 Oh my dears Father of a crane is interested there on the top On her leaf made rain-coat The elder one has decorated herself by plastic papers Oh my dears Feather of a crane is there On her leaf-made rain-coat You are a picturesque Gandari (a colour-feathered small bird) I am a well made butterfly Oh my dear You are the Gandari in the forest and fro I the butterfly only at Bijabane”. Or “The budi creeper is growing up along the upland I pounded the spices for budi The budi creeper is growing up along the cornfield Oh dear that looks lightened and pretty Oh her bangles tune When she grinds on the pestle-stone Her bangles tune much Oh dear the tune thrills more Oh my dear The bangles tune.” Or “A hill side of small size The karayā flowered on it and waved in the air You go my younger brother to the hill side Pluck some karayā for me And would wave in the air Oh my dear !” The Oraon love to perform their traditional dance and songs to a great extent. Through the unbreakable interest towards dancing and singing they reveal their joyous sentiment. Whether the drum is beaten everything looks to them beautiful including the green and grey kundari, a vegetable grows in a creeper in Oraon courtyards. Thus the commonest scenery of one’s own periphery appeals a lot to a folk and as a result of that s/he sings as follows- “The green kundari My mother the ripen kundari When the sweet drum is beaten Green one is looks ripen When the dual music comes from the drums The green Kundari looks ripen When the dhol and mānder are beaten. The green kundari becomes ripen.” Many incidents happen in one’s day to day life but some of them remain unforgettable lifelong. They remain deep- rooted up to one’s unconscious. One likes to cherish these experiences in the form of folksongs, when a scope of public dance forum is come upon. Accurate images of such subtle feelings, generated from such experiences- “How beautiful the train is ! Let’s go for watching it The bogeys are moving to and fro The fire is on the front top The train is moving like the cloud Let’s go for watching the How beautiful the train is…!” The youth-intervened life of Oraon folk becomes emotionless and distracted when one cannot join in dance. S/he reveals the anxiety if anywhere dance and music start amidst the dense forest or on the valley of a hill. S/he shows interest to visit the dance sight at least once overtaking the obstacle, created by the flora and fauna of the hill site. It happens only because of the persuasion of his/ her sense of aesthetics- “The music sounds on the Dhardhari hill Hi let’s go for watching the The young male and females are hand in hand Let’s go for watching my dear The young male and females are in a chain We would go for seeing them Obviously we would go there But how would we return back The young chap would abscond us from the path Hi let’s go for watching the dance The young male and females are hand in hand The young male and females are in a chain.” According to Lokaratna Kunjabihari Dash all things seen compact in folk-world are underlying in similarity only. What are dissimilar or distracted have no beauty. Exactly in the social sector Oraons have their own particular type of life style. As if grinding of dal in a stone grinder looks serene only in the case of a woman. Similarly it looks lovely if a man moves around in the ākhrā shouldering mānder, the earthen musical instrument only. “Oh the grinder revolves The mānder sounds deep Oh the grinder revolves The grinder is for girl mānder is fit to the boy Oh my dear The grinder revolves.” The maiden girl is no doubt a becoming in her parental house, but the in-law’s house is only the befitting one for a International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470 @ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD41272 | Volume – 5 | Issue – 4 | May-June 2021 Page 335 grown-up Oraon girl. She becomes self-driven there with divinity. Hence forward she starts an outlet of her new worldly life. Especially, in view of folk poet the maiden girl is been praise worthy in her in-law’s house like the productive corn field, repaired and decorated by its care taker. So the grown-up girl is meant for others. She should be nurtured and decorated in her parental home for an unknown grown- up boy only- “Oh my foolish brother A sister does not fit in our home We have to hand over her to others A sister does not fit in our home The ridges round the corn field look gorgeous And it been scraped off annually for self But the sister is been nurtured for others Up to her marriage.” The fascinated male tends to poor himself to the female with all his flexible personality all his adornments are likely to descend down on the earth because of in-attention. And the female partner may dance for a long time. She may present a subtle denying to the male partner and her lecherous behavior by singing songs. She appeals with a sweet and soft gesture towards the tendency and lack of self-control of the male. On the other hand the tempted male cannot stop his music and dance due to his unbreakable attraction toward the fine art of dancing. He tries his level best to attract the female partner by dancing and creating music. Both the dance and forget their self entity. Thus the exclusive experience of reciprocal love between male and females is expressed in Oraon songs- “Oh dear! the intoxication of rice beer The talang tends to creep on the earth The dhoti creeps as well Oh ! let it to be crept on the earth Let it creep my dear sister I would dance along with you Oh my dear I would dance besides you.” Or “Go slow and steady dear māndriyā The pāenri of my foot swings and waves Go slow and steady my māndriyā The chāndowā on my chest swings and waves Go slow and steady my dear.” Thus the beauty-mingled-poetic-sentiment of Oraons is found to be curious in search of the source of beauty from their own periphery and state of affairs only. It seems as if truth is the only prime aspect of their songs. (Truth is beauty, beauty is truth- John Keats). Over all, the real small incidents, experiences of their life and the natural scenic sights are the key source of Oraons’ aesthetic world of imagination. References: [1] Archer, W. G. The Blue Grove –The Poetry of Oraons, Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi. [2] Chowdhury, Rajesh Kumar. Kora Tribal Community, The Jharkhand Tribal Welfare Institute, Ranchi. [3] Dalton, Edward Tuite. Ethnolohy of Bengal, Indian Studies Past and Present, Firma K. L Mukhopadhyay, 6/IA, Banchharam Ankur Lane, Calcutta-12, 1960. [4] Das, Amal Kumar. The Malpaharias of West Bengal, Special Series No. 7, Bulletin of the Cultural Research institute, Tribal Welfare Department, Govt. of WB, Calcutta, 1966. [5] Gupta, Jayprakash. The Customary Laws of Munda and Oraons, Tribal Welfare Research Institute, Moradabadi Road, Ranchi. [6] Gupta, Satya Prakash. The Asur : Ethno Biological Profile, The Bihar Tribal Welfare Institute, Ranchi. [7] Gupta, S. P. Disposal of the Dead and Physical Types in Ancient India, Pub-Oriental Publishers, Pataudi House, Daryaganj, Delhi-6, 1997. [8] Handoo, Jawaharlal. Theoritical Essays in Indian Folklore, Zooni Publications, Mysore, India. [9] Kharimohan, The Parhaiya: A Study in Culture Change, Bihar Tribal Welfare Institute, 1975. [10] Kerketta, Bro. Joseph. Know Your Adivasis, Chetnalaya, Brother Formation House, Bagdihi, Dist. Jharsuguda-768220, Odisha. [11] Kumar, Satinder. Encyclopaedia of South Asian Tribes (Ed. ), Anmol Publications, New Delhi-110002, India. [12] Narayan, S. Social Anthropology, Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi- 110007. [13] Pattanaik, Nityananda. Folklore of Tribal Communities (Oral Literature of the Santals, Kharias, Oraons and the Mundas of Orissa), Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi, 110002. [14] Risley, HH. The Tribes and Caste of Bengal, Vol. -2, Ethnographic Glossary, Vol-II. Published by-J. Mukherjee, FIRMA, Mukhopadhyay, 2/1 Dr. Aksay Pal Road, Calcutta-700034, 1981. [15] Sachidananda. Culture Change in Tribal Bihar, Munda and Oraon, Bihar Tribal Research Institute, Ranchi, Calcutta, Aallahabad, Patna.
