{"id":26429,"date":"2024-03-18T11:23:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T05:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/?p=26429"},"modified":"2024-03-18T11:18:15","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T05:48:15","slug":"subversive-humour-and-socio-sexual-politics-womens-gaari-geet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/subversive-humour-and-socio-sexual-politics-womens-gaari-geet\/","title":{"rendered":"Subversive Humour and Socio-Sexual Politics: Women’s Gaari Geet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a social event of paramount importance, few occasions can boast of the emotional range and intensity that characterises weddings in North India. Women\u2019s wedding songs from the region likewise express the many moods and emotional registers associated with the event; these range from the joy of union and the blessings for the couple\u2019s future to the bride\u2019s anxieties regarding her new home and the grief of bidaai<\/em>[1]<\/a><\/sup>. Given the general atmosphere of levity and celebration, it is no surprise that the humorous is one of the dominant moods of these folk songs. One genre of that extensive spectrum is the Gaali<\/em>[2]<\/a><\/sup> or Gaari geet<\/em> \u2013 abusive wedding songs performed by women, which are generally obscene and bawdy, and humorously insult members of the other party, who in turn accept these insults good-naturedly. What role does humour in general and the genre of Gaali <\/em>in particular play in north Indian weddings? Why is the Gaali <\/em>integral to the wedding celebration in this tradition? Finally, how does the genre negotiate with the social and sexual politics of its cultural context using humour? In this essay, I attempt to show how Gaali<\/em>, as a distinct genre of festive humour, serves the dual function of containing, redirecting, and diffusing the subterranean traffic of certain antagonistic interests between the wedding parties, while also providing, as an exclusive domain of women\u2019s expression, safe channels for a carnivalesque celebration of female sexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the outset, it is necessary to clarify that my context of analysis here is the \u2018traditional\u2019 north-Indian wedding within predominantly Hindu communities. The following analysis must be understood in the context of those communities which still operate within a \u2018pre-modern\u2019 culture of strict sexual repression and relations organised around authority. Before diving into a more detailed analysis, some preliminary functions of Gaali<\/em>\u2019s humour can be enumerated: it serves as an ice-breaker between the two parties given their limited former interaction in the context of arranged marriages, relieves the tedium of prolonged ritual activity through comic entertainment, and its licentiousness serves the \u201ctraditional legitimation of sexual pleasure\u201d (Palmer, 1994, p. 23) where the default mode is one of sexual inhibition. I suggest that one major function of Gaali<\/em>\u2019s festive humour is to diffuse the tensions ingrained in the material exchange characteristic of these events on the one hand and to tease out the profits for one\u2019s party via ridicule and name calling on the other hand. Hindu weddings, like many others, constitute a \u2018gift economy\u2019 where large amounts of material and wealth are transferred between the parties. This context of negotiated exchanges and commitments of expenditure pervades most expressions in the genre. Here is an example (as cited in Henry, 1975) of a Gaali <\/em>sung by the bride\u2019s party when they host the groom\u2019s side:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh people of Mardapur, shine the lights, the thieves of Dudhuara come.
Thieves of mothers, thieves of sisters, the thieves of Dudhare come.
You shouted that you would bring elephants; you didn\u2019t bring elephants
Fuck your sister; you didn\u2019t bring elephants!
You come to ravish the bride!
You shouted that you would bring a band; you didn\u2019t bring a band! (p. 74)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the bride-givers\u2019 turn to mock the groom\u2019s wedding procession (baraat<\/em>). The groom\u2019s kin are mocked as loud mouths who \u201cshouted\u201d their promises of plenty but are now revealed as miserly and deceitful \u2013 suggested by their failure to come riding on elephants or accompanied by the pomp and spectacle of a band, which are both symbols of social prestige in weddings. These are markers of the economic status of the groom\u2019s family, and therefore of the bride\u2019s family by association, hence their absence is an affront to the bride-givers (Henry, 1975). The guests, furthermore, are not only stingy but also thieving; insulting them as \u2018thieves of mothers and sisters\u2019 allows the bride\u2019s kin a catharsis of emotional anxieties related to the sending off of a loved one alongside those related to expenditure and prestige through the medium of insult humour. No wonder the tone is likewise more risqu\u00e9 and spirited \u2013 \u201cfuck your sister\u201d. Thus, while allegations of deceit and miserliness are common expressions of material tensions between the two sides, bride-givers\u2019 Gaalis <\/em>also use accusatory insult-comedy to manage apprehensions around sexual power dynamics: \u201cYou come to ravish the bride!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obscenity and licentiousness are other notable features of the genre since sexuality is a major site of repression in these societies, especially female sexuality. This repressed sexual energy must, therefore, find occasions of safe release which is achieved through the earthy base comedy and ribaldry associated with the genre. Gaalis<\/em>, like all wedding songs, are sung exclusively by women. Expectedly then, the obscenity is generally directed at emasculating the targeted male, mocking his sexual incompetence, or insinuating his lowness by ridiculing alleged immoral sexual deviations such as adultery on his part. Curiously, humorous abuse of a sexual nature is not only directed towards men but also towards other women. However, it appears that while the male\u2019s sexual attributes are derided in these songs, those of the women are celebrated via playful insults. This leads to the second claim of my argument that as a form of women\u2019s performance, Gaali <\/em>facilitates a carnivalesque celebration of female sexuality through its bawdy humour. Consider the following Gaali <\/em>(as cited in Raheja & Gold, 1996):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ram Kishan had a son, a floppy-eared fellow.
Take down my full water pot, small husband dear.
Small, small what’s to be done?
See the male wonder:
In nine months I’ll feed a son.
Daughter have a lot of fun! (p. 58)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The groom\u2019s suggested sexual incompetence becomes the subject of laughter here; the stress on \u2018small\u2019 is a clear reference to his sexual organ which is also rather inadequate like his \u2018floppy\u2019 ears. This mockery of his sexual organ stands in stark contrast to the implied sexual prowess of the bride; despite the shortcomings of the \u2018male wonder\u2019, the singers are confident in their expectation of a child \u2013 \u201cIn nine months\/ I\u2019ll feed a son\u201d. In the spirit of inverting the general power equation of the conjugal relationship, the daughter\u2019s sexual capacity is implied to overcome her husband\u2019s lack. She can even arouse his incompetent male organ and bear a son. The final line addressed to the bride, \u201cDaughter have a lot of fun\u201d, may also be interpreted more radically as hinting at sexual liaisons to satisfy her carnal desires elsewhere. The resulting son would then further ridicule the unsuspecting, cuckolded husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the preceding song is insulting towards the male and marked by an attitude of gentle playfulness towards the female since she is the daughter of the house, other expressions of female-female Gaali <\/em>are spectacularly vulgar and celebratory. Here is a Gaali <\/em>(as cited in Raheja & Gold, 1996) targeting the bridegroom\u2019s mother, for instance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bridegroom’s mother asked for a sugarcane stick.
Take this one, a piece of prick.
Oh, but it’s sweet! I’ll plant more quick,
In my cunt I’ll plant that prick.
In my cunt I’ll plant that prick. (p. 61)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here the Samdhan<\/em>[3]<\/a><\/sup> is depicted by her insatiable sexual desire, the incongruity of such characterisation when contrasted with normatively chaste depictions of women produces the comic effect. Her desire for a \u2018sugarcane stick\u2019, the symbol of a particularly large phallus and the attendant connotations of its \u2018sweet\u2019 juice etc present her excessive lust through exaggerated comic imagery. The hilarity of the situation is only compounded by the fact that the Gaali <\/em>singers and their target both seem to have unlimited access to \u2018pricks\u2019 \u2013 \u201ctake this one\u201d, \u201cI\u2019ll plant more quick\u201d. As this example shows, obscene Gaalis <\/em>addressed to other women appear to be more in the spirit of camaraderie than outright ridicule as those addressed to males are. In fact, the joke here appears to be on her husband (the Samdhi<\/em>[4]<\/a><\/sup>), who has clearly failed to satisfy his wife\u2019s sexual desires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As seen in this essay, the Gaali <\/em>genre of wedding folk songs uses its ribald, earthy humour to various ends. On the one hand, this genre of insult humour is used to manage the tensions implicit in North Indian weddings given the economic and material negotiations intrinsic to them. On the other, we see that Gaalis <\/em>directed at other women provides safe passages for a carnivalesque celebration of female pleasure through the unrestrained idioms of sexual abandon. The ambivalent character of the Gaali <\/em>allows it to both express as well as contain antagonisms and repressed emotions in a non-threatening manner and humour is pivotal to this process. Risqu\u00e9 festive humour here functions as a safety valve and is, therefore, integral to communities characterised by a high degree of repression \u2013 for joking relationships have a \u201cstructural complementarity with and functional relevance to, social structure and cultural values\u201d (Apte, 1985, p. 30). These zones of licensed disrespect through joking relationships have to be institutionalised \u2013 as in the wedding context via Gaalis <\/em>\u2013 to manage the tensions inherent within certain social orders. Joking is sometimes a rather serious matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REFERENCES<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Apte, L. M. (1985). Joking Relationships. In Humor and Laughter: An Anthropological Approach<\/em> (pp. 29\u201366). essay, Cornell University Press.Henry, E. O. (1975). North Indian Wedding Songs. Journal of South Asian Literature<\/em>,
11(1\/2), 61\u201393. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/40861146<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palmer, J. (1994). Joking Relationships. In Taking Humour Seriously<\/em> (pp. 11\u201323). essay, Routledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raheja, G. G., & Gold, A. G. (1996). Listen to the Heron\u2019s words: Reimagining gender and kinship in North India<\/em>. Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1] Bidaai <\/em>or Vidaai <\/em>refers to the farewell ceremony of the bride when she leaves her natal home (Naihar<\/em>) for her marital home (Sasural<\/em>).<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2] Literally meaning \u2018verbal abuse\u2019 (Gaali<\/em>) or a \u2018song of abuse\u2019 (Gaari geet<\/em>).<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3] Samdhan <\/em>(the female equivalent of Samdhi<\/em>) may refer to the mother-in-law of the bride or the groom or any of the other female kin of her generation.<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4] Samdhi <\/em>predominantly refers to the father-in-law of the bride or the groom but may also refer to any other male kin of his generation.<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Cover Image: Photo by Joshuva Daniel<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ambivalent character of the Gaali allows it to both express as well as contain antagonisms and repressed emotions in a non-threatening manner and humour is pivotal to this process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":505,"featured_media":26432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4358,8],"tags":[16,1249,4419,4418,4417,296,4416,25,680,3384,3200],"class_list":{"0":"post-26429","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment-and-sexuality","8":"category-voices","9":"tag-culture","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-gaali","12":"tag-gaari-geet","13":"tag-indian-weddings","14":"tag-marriage","15":"tag-north-indian-weddings","16":"tag-sexualities","17":"tag-tradition","18":"tag-wedding-songs","19":"tag-weddings"},"menu_order":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/505"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26429"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26532,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26429\/revisions\/26532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}