Vaoaiya (Bhawaia) – Part 2

The Folksong of Northern Bangladesh

by Wing Commander Mir Ali Akhtar (Retired)
and
David Courtney

Vaoaiya (Bhawaia): The Folksong of Northern Bangladesh       Part 1 – Introduction       Part 2 – Music and Texts       Part 3 – Glossary, Misc., Works Cited

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Musical Characteristics

We must look at some of the mus­ical char­acter­is­tics of the vaoaiya folk-song.  This will require an ex­ami­nation of the melodic forms, rhyt­hmic forms, as well as forms of mus­ical accompaniment. 

Modal Characteristics – There are two com­mon modes used in the vaoaiya.  They are found in dif­fer­ent parts of the country.

The first mode that we will dis­cuss is found in the southern part of Rangpur.  It is cha­rac­terised by the minor third and the minor seventh.  It may be expressed as follows:

There is an­other com­mon mode which is found in the nor­thern part of Rangpur, Jalpaiguri, Coch-behar, Goalpara areas.  It is exactly the same, except it is cha­rac­terised by the use of only the minor seventh.  It is shown below:

There are two points to keep in mind about these modes.  One should note that neither of these modes have a name in the lo­cal dialects.  Another thing to re­mem­ber, is that these modes have been normalised to the key of C for notational convenience.  These modes may be performed in any key which is convenient to the performers.

The register of these songs is gen­erally limi­ted to slightly over an octave.  Although this may seem limi­ted, peo­ple have proposed a num­ber of practical rea­sons why this should be the case.  The most ob­vious rea­son is to accommodate the varied mus­ical capabilities of singers who are not pro­fes­sional music­ians.  But it has also been put forth that sing­ing in the higher octaves would cause distress and agitation among the herds of the cows, buffalo herds, and elephants.  Others have put forth an even simpler rea­son; why would a tired working folk, want to expend the energies to sing in the higher octaves?

We have dis­cus­sed at some length the mus­ical char­acter­is­tics of the vaoaiya.  We have seen that there are seve­ral modes in which they are performed.  We should now turn our attention to the rhyt­hmic forms.

Rhythm of Vaoaiya – The rhyt­hmic sys­tem of South Asia is known as “tal”.  It is structurally si­mi­lar to Western con­cepts of rhythm, in that it has three main units of struc­ture.  There is the beat, the measure, and there is the cycle.  How­ever the emphasis is dif­fer­ent in that in South Asia, the major emphasis is placed on the cycle, while the measure is con­si­der­ably downgraded in importance.  This has the practical re­sult of making “mixed measure” ext­remely com­mon in South Asia where it is a rarity in the West.

The rhyt­hmic patterns used in vaoaiya is very typical of the folk music found throughout Nort­hern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

The most com­mon is Kaherava tal which roughly corresponds to the Western “common time”.  This is gen­erally classified as two measures of four beats each.

Another rhyt­hmic form which is oc­casion­ally found is a rhythm named “Teora”.  The term of course a cognate of Tivra, and indeed the abs­tract struc­ture of Tivra tal is the same as the Bengali folk Teora.  How­ever, stylistically there is a difference bet­ween the folk Teora of Bangladesh, and the more classical Tivra tal found in the Hindustani sys­tem of classical music.  Teora is gen­erally con­si­dered to consist of three measures, of three beats, two beats, and two beats respectively.  It is gen­erally con­si­dered to have the struc­ture:

^XDhaa GheRe NagGa | ²TeRe KeTe | ³GoDi GheNe |

It has been sug­gested that perhaps this tal is a recent import into the vaoaiya.  Older trad­itional vaoiayas are conspicuous in their ab­sence and even today it is sel­dom heard.

There is also a three or six beat pattern which is com­monly found in the region.  Throughout most of Sub-Himalayan South Asia, this style is re­fer­red to as Dadra, but in this region it is re­fer­red to as “chotka”.  Chotka is the out­come of early nineteenth cen­tury fusion of vaoaiya with Saontali Jhumur (3/4 time).  This ap­pears to be the re­sult of a cul­tural mixing bet­ween the Santalis and the Rajbongshis. 

The tempo of the vaoaiya folksongs vary.  Songs related to bathan, moishal (buffalo herders) are of higher tempo than songs related to mahoot (elephant keepers).  Songs related to garial and chilamari bondor carts are the fastest of all.

Ornamentation – There are two types of ornamentation which seem to be par­ti­cu­lar char­acter­is­tics of the vaoaiya folk-song.  One is a cha­rac­teristic exaggeration of aspirated syllables, and the other is a type of yodelling re­fer­red to as “gola vanga”.

There is a peculiar type of ornamentation that is a cha­rac­teristic of vaoaiya.  This is called “gola vanga” which literally translates to “breaking the voice”.  This type of ornamentation does not appear to have an Western equi­val­ent.  It has been des­cribed as yodelling; this prob­ably is the closest approximation, be­cause the technique is very si­mi­lar.  The major difference is that where yodelling involves a continuous trill of notes, the gola-vanga merely involves the sudden shift from one note to an­other note of suitable harmonic re­la­tionship.  In other words, it is the linking of two dis­tantly placed notes in a man­ner that you start with a high note and sud­denly shift down to a dis­tant note using the vocal technique of yodellers.  The “gola vanga” ornamentation comes with­out effort to the nat­ive singers, but non-native singers gen­erally have a dif­fi­cult time with this.

The “gola vanga” form of ornamentation may have evolved from natu­ral causes.  It is sug­gested that sing­ing as the cart rode upon bumpy and uneven ground would natu­rally cause such irregularities in the voice.  After some time, such irregular pitch changes be­came a mandatory ornamentation for the vaoaiya.

The “gola vanga” ornamentation may be performed with seve­ral variations.  For insta­nce the harmonic re­la­tionship may be varied.  It may be performed within mid­dle octave, mid­dle octave down to lower octave, in one octave within 2 to 4 notes.  Its duration may also change; it may cover one, or seve­ral words.

There are ac­tually two versions of gola vanga.  In the Nort­hern parts, the gola vanga is much slower than in the southern areas.  There­fore where the fas­ter cuts of the southern version resemble yodelling, the nor­thern version is more of a glissando.

The “gola vanga” pitch change ornament is not the only type of ornamentation that is com­mon in the vaoaiya; an­other ext­remely strong ornamentation is a highly exaggerated aspiration of the words.  It has been postulated that this exaggerated aspiration was also ori­gi­nally the re­sult of sing­ing while riding a cart over very uneven ground, and that like the “gola vanga”, it too be­came a mandatory ornament for the vaoaiya.

Instrumental Accompaniment – The vaoaiya folk-song may depend primarily on the voice, but there is also a rich trad­ition of mus­ical accompaniment.  The com­mon in­stru­ments used to accompany the vaoaiya and their classification is as follows:

(1) Chordophone group: are dotora; gholtong (i.e., khomok), sharingda; banshi (bamboo or reed flutes); bena.

(2) Aerophone group: are bombashi; mukhbashi (fipple flute); folk shehanai; folk beena (abolished now).

(3) Idiophone group: are kashi, mondira (i.e. manjira), khafi (i.e. large Manjira) kortal; Nupur (i.e., Ghungur or ghungharu).

(4) Membranophone group (Rhythm in­stru­ments): are dhol, khol, akhrai (a practice dholak); korka (jhorka).

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Vaoaiya Lyrics

Example 1

Story Synopsis – On the Dhorla river bank, a trapper has fixed a trap.  A male crane (boga), in his de­sire for the puti fish bait, flies in and gets caught.  A red-goose (chokowa ponk-khi) sees this, and flies away and informs the crane’s mate (bogi) about the si­tua­tion.  Upon hearing the distressing news, the she-crane (bogi) spreads her wings and flies to the Dhorla river bank.  Upon seeing her trapped mate, she is at a lost for words as her mate will surely be dead soon.  Here the proverb “some­times silence is more eloquent than sound” proved to be true.  With tears in both of their eyes boga and bogi see each other for the last time.

Sample lyrics one of the most pop­ular/famous vaoaiya:

Sample-1

Bengali

1. Fande poriya boga kande.
   Fand boshaiche fandi re vai puti macho diya,
   O’re macher lobhe boka boga pore urao diya re.
    
2. Fande poriya re boga kore tanatuna
   O’re aha-re konkurar shuta holu noa-ar guna re.
    
3. Fande poriya re boga kore hai re hai,
   O’re darun bidhi, shathi chai ra aji re.
    
4. Aar boga ahar kore ashe aro pashe
   Aar amar boga ahar kore dholla nodir pare re.
    
5. Ooriya jai re chokoya ponkhi bogik bole thare,
   O’re tomar boga bondi hoiche dholla nodir pare re.
    
6. Ei kotha shuniya re bogi dui pakha melilo
   O’re dholla nodir pare jaiya doroshon dilo re.
    
7. Bogak dekhiya bogi kandere,
   Bogik dekhiya boga kandere.
    

English Translation

1. Being trapped he-crane is crying,
   With puti fish trapper fixed the trap,
   Oh foolish crane in greed of fish flies in.
    
2. Pull and haul does the crane in trap,
   O’h koncura thread be­comes steal noose,
    
3. Flying in the trap boga, regrets
   “O” rude fate of mine, my mate parts”.
    
4. Other cranes eat here and near
   My crane eats on dhorla river bank
    
5. Gesturing flying red-goose tells bogi
   “Your boga is trapped on Dhorla bank”.
    
6. Bogi, hearing that spreads wings
   Reaches Dhorola bank and meets;
    
7. Seeing boga bogi weeps.
   Seeing bogi boga weeps.
    

Example 2

Synopsis of Song – A cart driver ref­lects upon the longing for his woman, and her longing for him, du­ring the long monotonous ride to the Chilmari river port

Bengali

1. Oki garial vai,
   Koto robo ami ponther dike chaiya re.
   Jedin garial ujan jay
   Narir mon more jhuriya roy re.
    
2. Oki garial vai
   Haka gari chilmarir bondore.
   Aar ki kobo dushker jala, garial vai.
   Gathiya chikon malare.
   Oki garialvai,
   Koto kandim mui nidhuya pathare.
    

English Translation

1. Oh cart driver dear,
   How long I do await look­ing at path.
   The garial drive upstream,
   My wo­men soul is gloomy, oh.
    
2. Oh cart driver dear,
   Drive cart to chilmari port.
   And what to say of my grief,
   Making lovely wreath,
   Oh cart driver dear,
   How long do I await in the vast barren land.

Example 3

Synopsis of Song – A unmarried woman ref­lects upon her cruel fate which has not sent her a husband

Lyrics of Song – prin­ted copy of vaoaiya (collection-1898 A.D.).

Bengali

1. Pothom jouboner kale na hoil more biya,
   Aar koto kal rohim ghore ekakini hoiya,
   Re bi dhi nidoiya.
    
2. Halia poil more shonar joubon, moleyar jhore,
   Maobape more hoil badi na dil porer ghore,
   Re bidhi nodoiya.
    
3. Bapok na kow shorome mui maook na kow laje,
   Dhiki dhiki tushir oghun joleche dehar majhe,
   Re bidhi nidoiya.
    
4. Pet fate tao mukh na fote laj shoromer dore,
   Khuliya deikhle? moner kotha ninda kore pore,
   Re bidhi nidoiya.
    
5. Emon mon more korere didhi emon mon more kore,
   Moner moto changera dekhi dhoriya palao dure,
   Re bidhi nidoiya.
    
6. Kohe kobe hani naiko more tate,
   Moner shadhe korim keli poti niyasathe,
   Re bidhi nidoiya.
    

English Translation

1. At dawning youth I was not by Hymen favoured,
   How long still am I to remain sin­gle at home,
   O fate marble-hearted!
    
2. The full-blown flower of my golden youth
   Yields to Malay’s breeze,
   My parents have be­come my foes in not
   Sending me to am
   another’s homebound in his hymeneal,
   O fate marble-hearted!
    
3. My heart I can not open to my father for shame,
   Mother I cannot press by maidenly modesty bound,
   Slowly is love consuming my frame as fire within chaff,
   O fate marble-hearted!
    
4. Even though my soul give way to pressing
   Love within, my lips never open for fear of shame,
   if I give out the feel­ings of my heart, the folk would blame,
   O stone-hearted fate!
    
5. Such mind is mine, aught do I not care,
   A youth to my heart would I find;
   With him I fly to a dis­tant clime,
   O fate marble-hearted!
    
6. Stain who will my name, aught do I not care,
   To the fill of my heart will I enjoy the fine in my
   Loves sweet com­pany,
   O fate marble-hearted!
    

Example 4

Lyrics of song – prin­ted copy of vaoaiya (collection-1898 A.D.).

Synopsis of Song – These are the parting words of a wife to her husband, a merchant, on the eve of his sail­ing out to trade in dis­tant places

Bengali

1. Pran sadhu re,
   Jodi jan, sadhu porobas,
   Na koren sadhu porar ash,
   Apon hate sadhu, andhya khan vato re.
    
2. Pran sadhu re,
   Kochar kori, sadhu, na koren bayi,
   Porar nari, sadhu, apon noyay re,
    
3. Pran sadhu re,
   Je diya, sadhu, torongo dhar,
   Sei diya, sadhu, balu-char re,
   (O) Gohin dhare, sadhu, boya den nao, re.
    
4. Pran sadhu re,
   Pubiya pochchyia bao,
   Ghopa chaiya sadhu nagan nao,
   (O) Dar-i majhi, sadhu, akhen sadhu re,
    
5. Pran sadhu re,
   Jei diya sadhu, saudher mela,
   Sei diya sadhu, chhanden gola, re.
   (O) Bechi kini, sadhu, koren sabodhane, re.
    
6. Pran sadhu re,
   Tor ache sadhu, bapo vai,
   More ovagir sadhu, keyo nai re,
   (O) Kon dale, sadhu, dhoribe narir vora, re.
    

English Translation

1. Dear merchant O,
   if you go, merchant away from home,
   Not do, merchant, other’s hope,
   Own hand with, merchant, cooking eat rice, O.
    
2. Dear merchant O,
   In-corner of loincloth money, merchant, not do spend,
   Other’s wife, merchant, will-kill soul (O),
    
3. Dear merchant O,
   What direction-in, merchant, have force,
   That direction-in, merchant, sand bank O,
   Deep-current in, merchant, carrying give boat, O.
    
4. Dear merchant O,
   Easterly westerly wind,
   Sheltered-nook, seeing, merchant, moor boat,
   Rower helmsman, merchant, keep careful, O.
    
5. Dear merchant O,
   What direction-in, merchant, merchandise of-gathering
   That direction-in, merchant construct a-storehouse, O,
   Selling buying, merchant, do with-care, O.
    
6. Dear merchant O,
   Thine are, merchant, father brother,
   Me-of poor-soul-of, merchant, any­one is-not, O,
   What branch, merchant, will-support wife’s weight O.
    

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Vaoaiya (Bhawaia): The Folksong of Northern Bangladesh       Part 1 – Introduction       Part 2 – Music and Texts       Part 3 – Glossary, Misc., Works Cited

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