09 Chapter 3
09 Chapter 3
09 Chapter 3
CHAPTER III
FOLKLORE
thereby seeks its connection with folklore. The study, however, will not
deal with a thorough reading of Assamese poetry over the years. In fact it
is not easy to discuss all the poets since the pre- Sankardeva era in a
single chapter. That is why the discussion will be confined only to those
(pastoral song, ballad, myth) was the key foundation of that literature.
27). In this context Neog further cites Jules Blochs view that folk-
those Assamese texts where folklore made its initial appearance. It seems
immemorial.
poetic exercises can be found in some works produced during the pre-
among others, were renowned poets to take note of in the milieu. The
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puranas as the poets chiefly treated the issues of Hindu mythology and
III. 1
books and episodes of The Bhagavat Purana, the most significant text
among all the puranas. His Kirtan and Rukmini Haran Kabya are two
major poetic achievements. Most of the works by the great saint are
text of poetry where the term ghosha (a type of religious song) was
employed instead of calling poetry (kavya) in the title. Stressing the major
devotion of the poet to the supreme God, formless and omniscient, with
Kobi were those poets who had a shift from their contemporary poets in
Maheswar Neog remarks that their poetry had similarity with folksongs
such as Baramahi Git. (Neog, M 103). Poets like Ananto Kondoli, Ram
has been a major characteristic in their texts as they took elements from
the puranas and from the two epics- The Ramayana and The
Burmese produced almost a sterile condition for the growth of art and
literature in the region. At the same time, East- India Company, and thus
the British started to rule Assam from 1826 as per the treaty of Yandabo
the British, various western institutions like school, court etc. appeared in
the schools and courts as the British had thought that the standard of
Assamese language was too low to be the official language in the state.
Assamese literature and language in a way began with Orunodoi. But still
there were some lacks to say it a standard modern language. (Deka 12). In
fact there was no stiff difference between the language of prose and
1929) which got published in Assam Bandhu, were too, not up to the
century taking the story of the Bible as the model. Sitaharan Kavy also
drew material from the great epic, the Ramayana. Mention may also be
standard language in 1873 and took a more modern shape from the time
III. 2
in the late nineteenth century in the hands of some important writers and
others, were the major litterateurs who started writing poetry with some
or other, were still writing poetry, it was basically Jonaki which paved the
might be dispute regarding the use of the term modern in case of poetry
only in the last two decades of the first half of the twentieth century.
Therefore as Harekrishna Deka says, the poetry of the time of Jonaki can
has own features which are mostly rooted in folk-life, so in folklore. The
rural places of Assam, to a great extent, had shaped the poetry of the age.
Poetry) opines that Assamese poetry in the nineteenth century was greatly
fashioned by the flow of folk-poetry which had been continuing from the
(Phukan, K 12).
stated the matter in the preface to Kadam Kali (1913). Yet some of his
poems reflect his radiant merit as a poet. Folk-life and folklore are two
Dukhar Katha (Dear, What would I Tell the Sad Story) Priyatamma
life in a naturally rich Assam of the late nineteenth century. The poet
articulates his feelings amidst such beautiful rustic scenes, which also
show a social life in the rural areas of Assam although almost all the
folk-musical instrument and the people who sing (like the bards in
Europe) songs playing the bin are called baragi. The baragi with a tokari
through such a baragi mourns for the lost glory of Assam under colonial
Beula, Chand Sadagar, Jaymati and so on. Again, the poet used
Assamese in essence. The folk heritage of Assam and the rustic life that
55
he reflects in his poetry show that Bezbaroa adds a local color to the
words direct our attention to an extra facet. Bezbaroa, along with his
poetry that were generally used orally during the time. His sense of a
heritage that is essentially Assamese has been a moving force behind his
make the people aware of the past glory and present slavery; although
brings in various elements from certain myths and history and creates his
own text. But the depression of the poetic persona in this poem
humanistic one. (Deka 96). Apart from the title, there is no major element
the poem as its key reference is taken from a popular folk-tale called
Tejimala. The tale was initially included in Burhi Aair Sadhu (1911), a
mother kills Tejimala inflicting extreme torture to her while her merchant
father goes out for trading. Adopting this frame of the tale, the poet
expresses human nature and mens cruelty leading to suffering. The text
on. All these poets more or less expressed a romantic spirit in their
several new horizons. Though Bhaben Barua says that modern Assamese
The poets rendered a noteworthy status to poetry not only with altering
language too. (Borgohain 561). Many of the poets used folklore in their
107). Ranjit Kumar Dev Goswami, on the other hand, hears echoes of
Hemingways The Old man and the Sea in the association of flying fish
in the poem. (Dev Goswami 64). But the poet says that the poem has its
root only in the Kirton and the Bhagawata Purana. (Dev Goswami 65).
poem.
the Door) echoes Keats line Much have I travelled and Jibonanandos
Gosaito nalage/Thake tol vori xori) are directly taken from the following
bihu song:
(Why thou did blossom dear Moder, why thou did bud, so though you are
Wintry Days) again echoes a bihu song. Apart from such use of folk-
and deep, through his poetry. He has a good number of anthologies such
Emperor) (1961) Ati Duti Agharoti Tora (One Two and Eleven Stars)
(1957), and Mor aru Prithibir (Mine and the Worlds) (1973). Navakanta
Barua brings a new mode into modern Assamese poetry using modern
life and men in the poems which are often puzzling to specify, but one
poetry Navakanta Barua seems to use various texts of folklore that can be
modernists, his area was never attached merely to the city-life. He also
61
goes to the rustic scenes and attaches his self to such rural conventions
remember Kopili, his native river that swells up by monsoon rain during
summer. (Ratir Gos, The Tree of the Night). He talks about keteki
the genre of modern poetry. Here the poet critically gazes the present
time and scenario recollecting the rich past of his nation with the aid of
some myths. The poet uses references from the well-liked folk-tales such
Saudar Sadhu (Tale of the Merchant) and so on to view the change of the
elements of history with the passage of time: land, river, forest and over
all, the living condition of people. The poets handling of the folk-tales to
to the readers:
Where is water?
Water ?
kings and queens of the Ahom kingdom among the people of Assam, the
poet tries to reconcile contemporary reality with such myths at the milieu
of history. Each stanza of the poem figures out diverse images of folk-
tales. At the same time the poem seems to represent a modern version of
subtexts within the prime body of the poem and hence it approximates to
Praphulladatta Goswami:
of understanding the folk around us...To illustrate again it is quite possible that
an examination of the deh-bichar would explain more the general apathy of the
(Goswami 11)
criticizes the crisis of identity of king Dhritarashtra. The poet also opens
out the dilemma of his mind, his morbid psyche and his confession
Ramayana and The Mahabharata are fairly inseparable from folk-life, the
poet effectively uses such narratives to illustrate the dithering (like Eliots
be well manifested in the use of such mythical text in the poem. His
clearly expresses this tendency and his likeness for folk-life. The line
kino juiye loga soku (how the firing eyes) in Jengrai 1963 directly
64
same line is there in the novel. The line Bhabi sale Lilimai ei jibonot eko
nai (there is nothing in this life if you, Lilimai really think of it) is also
taken from a popular folksong. Similarly his poems such as Hothat esat
the book that he has taken the line Edinakhon eta Dhekura Kukure
another line Somoy Bondho Hoi Jay from the title of Aldous Huxleys
book Time Must Have a Stop. (Barua, A 9). Again the poet was greatly
wrote his famous poem Brahmaputra. (Barua, A 75). Similarly the poet
takes several allusions from Ronald David Laings The Divided Self and
vision of the sea came partly from his listening to his fathers reading out
found in them. But we have restricted our discussion to the few poets
because we have seen that the history of Assamese poetry has good
between two poems with similar title called Sap (Snake): one is by
Homen Borgohain and the other one is by Mohendra Bora. Though his
all such visions in mind, we would like to read the poetry of Nilmani
Chapter V.
66
Works Cited
2002. Print.
Barua, Hem. Mon Mayuri. Tinsukia: Mitra Ajenci & Kung, 1967. Print.
Print.
2013. Print.
1994. Print.
Print.
1999. Print.
Print.
68
Print.
Assam,2005. Print.
2000. Print.
Print.
69
Notes:
1
May be the poets of pre-Jonaki age have not been assessed well so far, as,
when Kabin Phukan has all praise for Ratneshwar Mahantas Patni- Bilap
labeling it one of the best modern poems in Assamese. (Phukan, K 1996: 31)
2
Holy songs initially written by Vaisnavite saint Sankardeva and
Madhabdeva