Padharo Mare Des
On Introducing oneself to another, after the first interaction of each other’s
name; It is the notion of home that is brought up most commonly: “Where
do you live?” “Where is your home?” “Where are you from?” It is through this, we use ‘home’ to distinguish ourselves, regardless of location (most of
the time.)
Studies show: Global Indian Diaspora, is extensively high. However, the
ability to, adjust over time, to the new environment and socio-economic
structures is universal. The subject of ‘Diasporic Ubiquity’ and reinstating
one’s known assets— mostly brought from the motherland, to help adjust
better is seen regularising in every community, let alone Indians.
Eg: The Chinese have managed to adapt themselves into any culture widespread,
over the world, by rehabilitating a small part of china into the topography, as
by creating ‘China Town.’ If one can contrast and relate to the song “Padharo Mare Des”, one can identify that state of mind an individual holds, while away from his/her native land. The words of the song is breathtakingly beautiful, as it helps
distinguish the emotional barriers the singer had to go through, while
crossing over to an unknown destination.
In this state of mind, he identifies himself, to a boatman; who is also ideally boundless and has no permanent ground under his feet. But, alongside, he sends a message over to his motherland, through this boat man to come visit his new homeland, to get rid off all preconceived notions and inhibitions—to unite two hearts into one soul, and come rejoice to the joys of her sand and his new findings in
another land. While, the singer praises and compliments, the new found riches of his
homeland, he still misses his motherland—he cannot compare the native
earth he was born on, to any other, but with deep yearnings in his heart, still
urges one and another, to come by him, to break all man made boundaries—
for the earth is one and for all. He sings out to the heavens in hope, that his
prayers of reuniting the divided soils come true, and continue his urge to
come visit his ‘homeland’— “Padharo Mare Des.”
-Esha Basu
Kat Lord, who did Masters Of Philosophy from Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada, wrote this essay. I chose to work on the part called ‘Diasporic Ubiquity’. I have interpreted this part of the essay by breaking it into small paragraphs of few lines each, and explaining each of these paragraphs, sometimes using visual representations that came to my mind and also breaking up the difficult words into their simpler meanings. I have only selected line which I felt were important. A lot of my reflection is involved. However, there were a few things which I did not understand.
Diaspora basically means involuntary movement/ dispersion. Ideally, it meant the dispersion of the Jews beyond Israel, or the dispersion/spread of any people from their original homeland. However, today, in short, it means ‘involuntary movement’.
The above itself, I feel, is a simple example of Diaspora of and idea.
“Diaspora is used across a variety of academic disciplines because of its capacity to look holistically at movement, tying together both quantitative and qualitative understandings of movement.” Have a look at the visual below. We’ll take the example of, the taste of food getting changed from state to state within India. Here, the idea of ‘Dosa’ is different in south (origin), north-west (Maharashtra) and northern India. Personifying the term ‘idea’; The ‘idea’ is forced to change its characteristics against its will, by the influence of people, to suite their taste buds. This is the involuntary movement of the ‘idea’.
Now, when we study this change, starting from northern India i.e. backwards, we are compelled to trace back to its origin i.e. southern India. As such, Diaspora has the capacity to look holistically at movement. As we try to understand WHY (effect of movement), HOW, WHEN, etc. the movement changes from (1) to (2), and (2) to (3) and so on, it shows, “the greater complexity of movement – it studies the effect of movement.”. By effect we mean how something like the idea of dosa can change the notion of home at each stage of its movement. This shows how Diaspora ties together both quantitative and qualitative understandings of movement. This is an extremely basic example though.
Coming to the next important thing, as the term related specifically to the movement of people, involuntary movement (Diaspora) reports the motivation of the human (body/mind) movement in such a manner that terms like ‘immigrants’ and ‘refugee’ cannot. There is much more beyond this act of moving out. E.g. the impact of someone losing their home to a tsunami on the notion of home.
Therefore, Diaspora looks at how the notions of Home (here, home (1) and home (2)) interact, to shape the new notion of Home. This explains the lines, “As a term related specifically to the movement of people, diaspora accounts for the motivation of human movement in a manner that terms such as 'immigration' or 'refugee' cannot. Such terminology concerns itself with counting immigrants or mapping refugee camps. Although reasons motivating such movement are offered, they do not look at the deeper issues associated with dispersion; namely, the impact of a lost homeland on the notion of home and how that interacts with and shapes new notions of home.”
Next, I related a few lines of this part of the essay and the song ‘Padharo Mhaara Des’. Given below is an amalgamated piece of insight. The song conveyed that by heart, we (the world) are all one race. Hence, we are like one big family. And therefore, there is one HOME-The Earth. If you can connect with peoples hearts, you get the feeling/sense of being home. Here, all traditional boundaries (country borders) are broken. We begin creating imaginary boundaries and hence create imaginary worlds of our “Home”. E.g. The Gujaratis of India have created a Gujarati community in the United Kingdom. They also run Gujarati food businesses. The Chinese are close to China even when they are in any other country because of the highly demanded Chinese food and products. These imaginary worlds have a great influence on the global mass in the context of colonized ideas, cultures, habits, etc. I think it also has a lot to do with the emotions and feelings of joy, happiness, security besides other things like business strategies, lifestyles, etc. This influence on the people, ideas, etc. exists within the many separate imaginary worlds,, that overlap.
Every IM interacts with another IM at some point. The parts that have other layers/parts on them have a different influence. As such, people, ideas, etc. are involuntarily (and also at times unconsciously) moved. As such we ought to know that these imaginative worlds are subject to and are formed by varying notions of Home. (P.S.- The singers notion of home I related to this part of the essay is an e.g. of a notion of ‘Home’.
I also interpret from this part of the essay that someone’s notion of home radiates the essence of that person i.e. his character attributes, his way of thinking, etc. It may also tell us about his experiences that made him coin his notion of ‘Home’ which maybe the ideal idea of home for him.
Diaspora of people, media, technology, ideology, etc. is present everywhere at the same time and thus it is hidden to most people. This justifies the title of this part of the essay- ‘Diasporic Ubiquity’. Quoting from the essay, “It not only offers a focused analytical framework for the examination of specific movement – whether it be people, economy, media, technology, or ideology – but also a broad framework through which we can examine the essence of a movement, and not just its effects.” Also, this Process of Diaspora has lead to the exchange of cultures and cultural practices across the globe (Globalisation) E.g. India is highly influenced by the Western culture, their clothes, ideologies, etc. As a result we have dissolved our own original identities in doing so. We have lost our authenticity! We are not satisfied with material wealth e.g. a new pair of mobile will give you happiness temporarily. After a while, you want a new model and so it goes on. Diaspora is actually leading to warped emotions-unhappiness, discontent, restlessness, etc. Diaspora has lead to the vicious cycle of trade and hence consumerism, and we are very much the targets!
The song ‘Padharo Mhaara Des’ had a very powerful metaphor i.e. the boatmen. A boatman is someone who carries people from one part of the land, across the water body, to the other part of the land. Here, each part of the land is symbolic of two people from two different regions. The boatman plays the role of a mediator and tries to make the two people one, by heart, by empathizing with them and helping travellers confront their fears of falling into the water. Here a chain of empathizing people is formed, making them one by heart. By uniting people, sailing on the same boat, everyone tends to empathize with everyone. As such, an imaginary world of ‘Home’ gets created.
Farid Ayaz, the singer, breaks traditional boundaries in this song and creates an imaginary world where everyone is equal and invites others (specially his beloved ones who went to Delhi after partition) to join this ‘Home’ where everyone is one. I quote from his song. “ …we left here for Pakistan during partition. So, those now in Pakistan call us ‘Delhi fellows’ and those in Delhi call us ‘Pakistan fellows’. But today, we sit squarely in our own land, in that undivided country and say, Oh beloved! Please come to my country.” (imaginative world). He also says offers to treat everyone who comes to his world with a warm welcome (by fanning them, calling them kingly love,etc.)
However, I am not clear as to why they refer to the boatman as Guru/ Ali, Ahmad? Are they referring to their God who is the creator of this world? World being one single Home!
Some of the question that came to my mind during the
course of the day are:
-
Can there be a home away from home?
-
Is home a cluster where you can fit in well?
-
Is home a momentary/temporary feeling?
- Parina Dhruve
Padharo Mare Des
Kesariya Balam Aao Re Padharo Mhare des....
A Rajasthani folklore which is been sung by many artists. The singer here talks about calling back his beloved back to his country. But where exactly is he trying to call him back. Is he talking about coming back to his home, but which home/country? Here home has many meanings, it could be a literal place or a state of mind or a particular faith he/she has lost. The singer talks about how the wanderer talks about asking the boats man to help him reach the shore. This happens to us in everyday life, when we are confused we usually tend to depend on others. But is there any possibility that if we don’t dependent on other will ever find our shore or destination. The question that arises in my mind is “What is the shore”? The shore could be a home for the homeless, a path to a wandering soul, an answer to someone in doubt and a satisfaction to a curious mind. But is home something that we can come back to? We always talk about going back to our home. Can it not be a new beginning? Can a home be a place for new beginnings or is it all about going back?
-Archana Bilgi
Padhaaro Mare Des
The song starts with the words “oh beloved, you and I are one..” and “weigh one heart by another and you’ll never know them as two… ” possibly implying, according to me, oneness, equality and hospitality. The boundaries of the land shall be erased, and erased further, as Khusro says, “You and I are one”.
But what interests me most in the song is the metaphor of a request to the boatsman to sail him to the other side.
What I feel is, there is a desire to travel to the land of the other. So we can possibly meet each other halfway at a destination where we are all one. This land would be a “home”. “Home”, in this case, in my view would be a state, a world where all prejudices and stereotypes are put aside permanently. Everyone is one. There is a general idea of acceptability.
This is why I like how our land is spoken about as “unity in diversity”, even though it might not be entirely evident nowadays. It is the summary of the system of a world which I would be able to call home. It is a phrase which sums up the entire meaning of the song the way I see it.
-Inês Barros
s
Padharo Mhare Des.
Home a kind of space.
Home is a very subjective term. It might refer to a place
where one stays or a place where one belongs. It becomes
difficult to identify the true meaning of this word, ‘Home’.
When asked to an immigrant where he/she is from, the
person is left with no other alternative to say that he is from a
foreign land because in the situation he identifies himself not
be one of the locals but if the same question was asked by a
person who is from his native land, the answer would
different.
Though home has various aspects to its existence, a
physical space, which is controlled or dominated by a being,
is the basic necessity. Home need not be a brick
construction, it could be a caravan, tent or any such space
but it being a physically accessible space is a must.
Home is always associated with its owner or its resident.
Having a person to rule over a specific area often might give
rise to a sense of possession. Thus the term ‘private
property’ is used
An owner would never tolerate an invasion of any sorts on
his home. The guest will always be treated as an outsider.
This might not be done intentionally but unconsciously. This
treatment might not always be hostile but the fact that it
exists itself is a proof of the possessive nature of its resident.
The song “Padharo Mhare Des” deals with this possessive
characteristic over the home as it being a physical space in a
mesmerizing way.
Farid Ayaz & Abu Mohammed quote “ oh beloved, you and I
are one, only to speak of we may be two. Weigh heart by
heart and you’ll never find those two to be separate entities.”
When the feeling of people being different anyway ceases to
exist the home will be a place for all and the possession over
the space will be mentally lost.
Two nations which used to be a single space once are
divided not just by the border but by the mental block in the
minds of the residents of each country.
in this case the country is referred to as the homeland so the
people who can not identify their home because of the shift
of origin due to some factor, This is resolved by unifying the
two and such a country can truly be the home to such a
person and the poet invites us to such a place.
- Athang Samant