Tappe: Punjabi Folksongs with Tadka
A Tik Tok Video
Recently, a
member posted in our Club Literati WhatsApp group a Tik Tok video which I
played and liked, but the lyrics went above my head. What is the song about, I
asked a friend? It’s a Punjabi Tappa with many Urdu words. Possibly, a
Pakistani Punjabi tappa, he said.
Another dear
friend offered to help with the meaning, and hosted an afternoon tea for a lively
chat, joined by a few lovers of Punjabi folk-songs. The small group was
amazingly talented and diverse with a Punjabi who grew up in Jaipur, another in
Nigeria, another in MP, and a Sindhi who had married a Muslim! Our gracious
host played a few tappa songs on her mobile music player pausing where needed
to explain the meaning. It was a privilege and a treat to get help from not one, but four persons
familiar with Punjabi and Urdu language, literature, and culture.
The Tik Tok video# appears to be a recording from an event: MazaQ Raat, and the singers are not named; so, I’ve no idea if they are popular singers. In the video, the star singer's opening tappa is:
Now, it's time for Tappe,
Here I am, Lahore shaher di Kudi,
Never lost in Tappa duels.
It is a stylised template to begin a round of Tappe, similar to the opening couplet to begin antakshari rounds:
Since we are at leisure, why not make it fun-filled, and
Begin a round of antakshari, Leke Prabhu ka naam.
She sings several tappe or snippets from longer tappe, and the three male singers join in briefly towards the end.
Punjabi Tappa
Tappa, not
unlike Punjabi tadka which adds that zing to a simple dish, is a light-hearted
banter between a male and a female singer, sung during marriage celebrations and
other festive occasions. It is playful, teasing, taunting, and at times
insulting; all in good humour to evoke a laugh or at least a chuckle.
It is a
small poem, or a series of poems, each of three lines with ABA rhyme structure.
Sometimes, it may have four lines or other variations, too.
How about the
lyrics? Rustic, earthy, unpremeditated, not composed by shaayars but by one who
has a song in his or her heart and the knack for quick, impromptu rhyming. The
little poem is not meant for serious reading, but to delight an audience who have
little time or inclination to muse over the literary merit of the composition. If
it is fun, the poems are relished even if the lyrics are banal or have no
meaning at all.
Check the
last tappa in the Tik Tok video which says: You got two pomegranate leaves, if
you chance to have three more, you’d have five pomegranate leaves – punj patran
anara de. Yes, sometimes the lyrics may be as inspired and creative as
that!
Folk Music to Classical
Tappa, originally the folk song of the camel drivers of the Punjab-Sind region, is believed to have been adapted by Ghulam Nabi Shori. Popular tappe retain the fast pace, rhythm, and rustic charm of folk music. However, classical singers of the Gwalior and Banaras gharanas have also sung several tappe, though in a very different vein.
Tappa travelled from the north-west of undivided India and reached Bengal where it became popular as Toppa. Rabindranath Tagore wrote several Toppas and used it for Bengali theatre (Jatra) performances, too.
Link for Rabi Thakurer Teppa:
https://youtu.be/1O6vxj-R_3s?si=8R0Gfft21zPvZ6jv
Links for further readings on tappa are given at the end.
Kothe Te Aa Mahiya
Kothe Te
Aa Mahiya is a
famous duet by Jagjit and Chitra (also sung by other singers), which I had
heard years ago and had liked even though I didn’t fully understand the banter.
After my initiation to tappa, I realised that this is one of the most popular
of the genre.
Link for lyrics in Hindi and English transliteration:
https://lyricspoet.com/kothe-te-aa-mahiya-lyrics/#2-kothe-te-aa-mahiya-lyrics-in-hindi-
The most
memorable lines beginning with ‘Baghe vich aaya karo’ by the beloved and the
repartee by the lover are a typical example of tappa banter.
Beloved:
Maybe you’d visit my garden, and when I take a nap, you’d fan my face to keep
the flies away.
Lover: It
may help if you take a bath daily! Also, cut down on jaggery!
This is a
love song that tells a little story. It begins with the lady soliciting: why
don’t you come more often to my place? The man replies: I’d love that, but won’t
I meet with a hostile reception from your family. What if I’m beaten with
slippers (chhitra)? The lady lists out his many shortcomings: You’re
dark-complexioned (kaale, kaale), have daughters and sons, but don’t even have
a moustache. How can I give my heart to a man without a moustache? No issue, to
please you I’m happy to grow a beard, too, says the man.
It is a love song, even though the man has no likeness with Ranjha or Mahiwal, nor the woman with Heer or Sohni. The man is married, but how about the woman? The song doesn’t say that she is young, nubile, and unmarried; nor that she is married. It is left to the imagination of the audience whether the relationship is licit. However, the pair is already in a relationship, and are enjoying teasing each other.
The song
ends with the joyous chorus by the pair to celebrate their love like a phing
(Punjabi word in the lyric), the apogee of a swing ride.
Patna te
mil maahiya sung by
Ghulam Ali is a mournful, melancholic tappa since the beloved charh gayi
doli ni!
BING’s Choice
I asked Bing
to name the five most popular Punjabi tappe, and it listed the following:
- Kothe Te
Aa Maahiya
- Mera Laung
Gawacha
- Latthe Di
Chaadar
- Chitta
Kukkar Banere Te
- Kala
Doriya
I am not
sure if Bing got it right. Wedding songs possibly constitute a genre by
themselves, as in Latthe Di Chaadar and Chitta Kukkar Banere Te; sung by only a
female singer. To my understanding, a tappa involves a tete-e-tete with
repartee between the beloved and her lover, as in Kothe Te Aa Mahiya; or between a man and a woman ready to match taunt for taunt.
Naya Daur Song
Naya Daur
(1957), a Bollywood film starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala, has a hit song
Ude Jab Jab Zulfein Teri sung by Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhonsle, which I
guess is based on Punjabi Tappa tune. Each stanza has three lines but with ABB
rhyme structure:
Tujhe chaand
ke bahane dekhun
Tu chat
par aa ja goriye
Jind
meriye
That is how
I heard the song, but you are free to make it a couplet by merging the third
line into the second.
Incidentally,
the lyrics for this evergreen song were written by Sahir Ludhianvi (pen name of
Abdul Hayee), and the music was composed by O.P. Nayyar; both from Lahore, then
in undivided Punjab. Nayyar won the Filmfare for Best Music Director in 1958
for Naya Daur. Sahir Ludhianvi won the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for Taj Mahal (1963) and for Kabhie Kabhie (1976). He was honoured with Padma Shri in 1971.
Interpreters of Melodies
I gratefully
acknowledge the indulgence of my kind interpreters of melodies: Anshu Vaish,
Harleen Guliyani, Dr. Amita Singh, and Kaneez Zehra Rizhvi. Many thanks for helping
me to appreciate the charm of Tappa songs.
#Tik Tok
Video
Resources
1. https://www.shivpreetsingh.com/2021/04/punjabi-tappe-tappa-from-folk-tradition.html
3. https://scroll.in/magazine/1014226/how-a-music-form-inspired-by-the-songs-of-camel-drivers-of-punjab-sindh-became-popular-in-bengal
4. https://ling-app.com/pa/punjabi-folk-songs/
5. Wikipedia
***
Postscript
Anjuly's comments:
Madan Upadhyay
Devour Your Husband
The opening tappa, the first stanza, is interesting. The lady sings:
kothe te aa mahiya, kothe te aa mahiya
milna ta mil aake
nai ta khasma nu kha mahiya
She has invited him to meet at the secret venue, and is eagerly awaiting him; but cannot bring herself to beg. She says, in mock anger, "Come if you will, or be damned (go to hell)".
Khasma nu kha mahiya means devour your husband. This is an idiomatic curse, invariably addressed to a married woman, meaning: Be a widow, and may your evil stars be the cause of his death. In Sambalpuri, there is a similar curse word: ghaitakhai (eater of husband).
But in this song, why is the idiom addressed to the man? Maybe, just to rhyme aa mahiya with kha mahiya.
Kedar Rout
Kedar, a friend, made an interesting observation:
"When life itself has no meaning (going by the existentialists), why should we expect meaning from Punjabi folk music..! Music may sometimes be only for listening and to satisfy our ears only and not our mind..."
G Subbu
Subbu wrote the following limerick:
When a Kudi is boisterous and gay,
She croons a Tappé,
A mischievous ditty ,
Which is a bit witty,
And endears herself to the Punjabi Papé !
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