Update: We really need Punjabi, Kashmiri, Dogri, Naga, Assamese, Bhojpuri or Santhali rhymes, please. Also, rhymes and chants from the languages of the North East. Can you spread the word?
Tulika is looking for rhythmic songs, playground rhymes, clapping chants and just-for-fun rhymes in your mother tongue. Here's a sample from Hindi:
Ghar
Ek chidiya ke bacche chaar
Ghar se nikle pankh pasaar
Poorab se paschim ko aaye
Uttar se dakshin ko aaye
Ghoom liya hai jag saara
Apna ghar hai sabse pyaara
So think back now. What rhymes did your grandmother sing to you to make you eat? What are the lullabies you have heard? What songs have you inherited from your playground/home that you are now passing on to your children? Do they have new ones now? Or do you still recognise their chants?
Here's another one from Bangla:
Haatimatim tim
Haatimatim tim
Taader khaada dooto shingh
Taara maathey paarey deem
Taara haatimatim tim
And a Kannada rhyme:
Nayi Mari
Nayi mari, nayi mari
Thindi beke?
Thindi beku, theertha beku
Ella beku.
So ask your families and friends. Write your blog post and leave the link in the comments section below. Give us the transliteration in English plus a rough translation. Write about them in context - what games did they accompany, what were the rules of chanting? And, who knows? Your entry just might find its way into the Tulika book on the theme that is scheduled for the end of this year:)
June 5, 2010