Last week, we heard Hindustani compositions that mentioned the koel and papiha . Today, we look at compositions that describe the crow as a...
Last week, we heard Hindustani compositions that mentioned the koel and papiha. Today, we look at compositions that describe the crow as a messenger carrying tidings between lovers, often requesting an early tryst.
A Punjabi couplet attributed to the Sufi spiritual leader Baba Farid has found its way through many translated versions into qawwali and thumri-dadra renditions and has equally been used in film and non-film popular music. The commonly heard version of the text is as follows:
Kaagaa sab tan khaaiyo chun chun khaaiyo maas
Do nainaa mat khaaiyo mohe piyaa milan ki aas
While its reference to the crow pecking at human flesh appears morbid, the metaphor in the second line of the eyes waiting eagerly to have a glimpse of the meeting with the beloved is what actually defines the significance of the couplet. It is for this reason that the couplet has been used to accentuate the emotional content of qawwali and thumri-dadra song-texts that describe the yearning for the beloved.
Here is an example of the couplet used as an introduction to a dadra in the raag Bhairavi set to the seven-matra Rupak taal. It is sung by the Patiala gharana vocalists Amanat Ali Khan and Fateh Ali Khan from Pakistan, accompanied on the tabla by Shaukat...
