He beats, she sings

He beats me for no crime. He sows doubts in his mind.
My pastoral lord beats me for no fault of mine

That surely sounds startling as an opening line for a folk song. However, the harsh reality that it presents, common beyond the border of Kutch in Gujarat from where this folksong comes, is even more alarming.

Intimate partner violence, including wife-beating, is already a global problem. Both in terms of violation of human rights of women, and as a public health problem as well.  One in every three women is subjected to some form of physical and sexual violence from a partner, according to the UN’s global database of violence against women.

Is a husband justified in hitting or beating his wife?

More than 30 per cent of women and 28 per cent of men in Gujarat answered this question in the affirmative according to the National Family and Health Survey 2019–21 ( NFHS 5 ). What did such respondents consider as being good enough reasons for the beating of wives? A wide arc of them, ranging from suspicion of being unfaithful, being argumentative, refusal to have sex, going out without informing the husband, to neglecting the household, and not cooking good food.

Much like the statistical national survey, but in a more fascinating manner, folk songs often present us with a psychological survey. One reflecting the complex emotions and feelings of the inner worlds of women, and their communities' workings.

You may or may not choose to call these songs the resources of the oppressed. In the present song, for example, we are not sure if it is her sly slander, stealthily walking in, disguised in the romantic tune of the song, or in its apparent compliance to a traditional meter. Nor are we sure if we can interpret a respectful form of address for her husband “ maladhari rano ” as a sign of her hidden resistance.

The song may not have the power to bring justice for the woman or even just disturb the dominant structures. But such songs  do offer her the space to speak about the awful realities of her daily life. In their powerful, lucid, musical flow, she may let go of the hardened pain that she can otherwise barely share with anyone. Maybe it is in the comfort and warmth of a familiar tune that she can wrap the unbearable truths of her life and gain the strength to carry on for one more day in a society where there is little in the name of structural support.

Type of song: Traditional folk song

Cluster: Songs of awakening

Song: 14

Title of the song: Mujo maldhari ranu muke je guno jo mare

Composer: Deval Mehta

Singer: Juma Vagher from Bhadresar village of Mundra taluka

Instruments used: drum, harmonium, banjo

Recording year: 2012, KMVS studio

English translation: Pratishtha Pandya

These songs, 341 recorded by a community-run radio Soorvani, have come to PARI through the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS). For more of these songs visit this page: Songs of the Rann: archive of Kutchi folk songs

A special thanks to Preeti Soni, Aruna Dholakia, secretary, KMVS, Amad Sameja, project coordinator KMVS for their support and to Bhartiben Gor for her invaluable help.