| Description | Kali Dasgupta discusses contradictions in Indian culture and folk songs. He talks about the influence of British administrators on culture in Calcutta, the themes of Indian folk songs including love, unhappy marriage, the oppression of women and other forms of social oppression. He goes on to discuss different melodic patterns of songs of different ethnic groups and sings excerpts from songs, some of which he sees as having a class basis, having sympathies with keeping social structures intact (tracks 1-2)
Track 3: Kali Dasgupta sings a song from North Bengal about a woman who has been married to a violent man with an alcohol problem, and discusses the meanings of the lyrics 3.38 mins
Track 4: Kali Dasgupta goes on to talk about other aspects of women's lives and the lack of social freedom because of feudal oppression. He introduces a song about a woman who has married for the second time 3.11 mins
Track 5: Kali Dasgupta talks about songs acting as a commentary on people's lives and discusses a Muslim song about an elephant driver, which Mahouts, or elephant drivers would sing 1.52 mins
Track 6: he sings part of the song he has been discussing and explains the meaning of the lyrics 2.01 mins
Track 7: he recounts a folk story about a poor Brahmin couple who lived in a forest, the marriage of the boy to the daughter of a rich Brahmin, the poor girl weeping into the river because she has to work as a servant for them and being helped by the elephant king. This story influenced the lyrics of the song, which Kali Dasgupta continues to sing 6.20 mins
Track 8: Kali Dasgupta discusses the different instruments used to accompany the folk songs of Bengal, and discusses the lyrics of popular songs of workers 4.55 mins
Track 9: Kali Dasgupta discusses differences between love songs from East Bengal and North Bengal, and the themes of restrictions on love between people because of the feudal system 3.11 mins
Total: 32.51 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF573E0716380 |