ICH SINDH (review)
LOK GEET
Desert dwellers' folk songs are deeply connected to nature, reflecting events like rain,
peacock dances, and cool breezes.
Themes in these songs often include longing for rain or expressing gratitude when it
arrives, with some songs addressing real issues like thirst and others expressing dreams,
such as wishing for a river in the desert.
Women’s songs often reflect their emotional pain and longing, particularly when men
migrate with livestock during droughts. Examples include Paaniari songs sung while
fetching water and monsoon songs where women plead with their husbands to stay home
during storms.
Men’s songs include Karo, sung while traveling on camels to distract from the heat.
Hamercho is a popular song that boosts farmers' spirits during harvest.
Wedding songs, sung from engagement to the bride's move to her new home, include
joyful songs, advice for the bride, and humorous or satirical songs about the mother-in-
law. Koel Geet is performed during the dowry exchange.
Songs from the time of the 1947 Partition express the pain of displacement and longing
for family members left behind.
Lok Geet, folk songs created by the people, are especially popular among women and are
performed during festivals like Janamashtami
. Other folk songs are sung during religious festivals like Holi and Diwali, often at gatherings
called Rahayan, where folk singers are invited and paid for their
performances.
TEETO-TATTOO MAKING
Tattoo making skill/art has been an important ICH of the Thari community. The younger girls
used to make tattoos on each other, and the designs would vary, some would be geometric,
others floral etc.
It was a customary practice for every unmarried girl to make tattoos before getting married.
However, as time progressed, the skill started declining. One major reason is that the new
generation feels shy and avoid making tattoos as members of other communities make fun.
Also, now they feel, it is a custom and are no longer interested to learn or practice it.
At present, only a few elder women are now left in Meghwar and Rabari communities who still
have these tattoos.
Tattoos used to be made by the following process: It is practiced by first gathering the
ingredients which include, ‘Ras’ (soot from beneath the cooking utensils) and water. Ras
collected is in form of a black powder which is then mixed with small quantity of water to make
a thick paste. When the thick black mixture is ready, then with the help of a stick or any other
material that would aid in making the design (tattoo) by dipping it in the mixture and applying
on the body. Once the design is ready, then a needle is taken and pricked on the design. Small
pricks are made on the entire deign to ensure the ink/black mixture seeps inside the skin. Then
the mixture is left to dry and washed after an hour. The tattoos are permanent.
