Listen: Hindustani songs in which the cry of the papiha reminds us of separated lovers
We conclude our series on bird representations in Hindustani compositions and raags with the ninth episode returning to the papiha or hawk-cuckoo, a bird we had referred to peripherally in the very first episode. As I had mentioned in some of the previous episodes, references to more than one bird or even to animals and insects may appear in a single composition to recreate the natural ambience of a particular season that reminds the protagonist of the separated lover.
We begin this episode with a track featuring the famous Gwalior vocalist DV Paluskar, who sings a popular drut or fast-paced composition composed by Mahavat/Mahabat Khan “Manrang” in Lalit, a raag prescribed for the morning.
It is set to the 16-matra Teentaal. The song-text describes the papiha, koel (cuckoo), mor (peacock), jhingar/jhingur (cricket), daadur (frog), crying aloud, almost in delight because the lovers are going to be together again.
Begum Akhtar presents a saavan, a song-form prescribed for the monsoon. The song-text describes the protagonist appealing to the papiha to “speak” softly, implying that the papiha’s cries reminds the protagonist of separation from the lover.
A popular bandish or composition in Sur...
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