Textiles in wilderness : Through the eyes of Bahinabai

 

 Arey khopyamandi khopa sugaranicha chaanglaa !

Marathi literature has many facets. It is rich due to contributions from the poet saints like Sant Tukaram and Sant Dnyaneshwar. Their poetry carried the sublime spiritual truths in simple verses for the common man to understand. There were more relatively modern day poets like Tambe, Borkar, Grace, GaDiMa, Mangesh Padgaonkar, Suresh Bhat etc.

 A different genre of poetry was found almost accidentally in 1952 after the death of an illiterate woman from Khandesh in Maharashtra. This woman’s ability to compose daily life observations into traditional couplets called ovyaa( singular ovi) was a natural gift. In her own words Mother Saraswati made her pour these from her heart, just like fine flour keeps pouring out from a stone grinder. The verses were in the local dialect from the region; deceptively simple, yet carrying a profound message in each line. The picture was always something you see commonly in rural living yet the substance was far from the ordinary. A woman who couldn’t read or write a word brought forth such timeless literature because of her extraordinary vision. Again in her own words,”this was possible because she could see heaven in the mirror of the earth”. 

This woman was Bahinabai Choudhary who passed away in December 1951. That’s seventy years back. The wisdom in her poetry is pertinent even today irrespective of time, place and person. Her son Sopandev Choudhary who himself went on to become a noted poet showed his mother’s lyrics to noted writer Acharya Atre who recognized the worth of these compositions and urged Sopandev to publish them. 

Many of her poems have been recorded as songs in the voice of noted singers and thereby become familiar to Marathi speaking folks. One of the most popular ones is the description of the weaver bird which is known as Sugaran in Marathi.

As Bahinabai toiled in the fields to help feed her three kids after the premature death of her husband when she was barely 30, she observed keenly the skill and effort of the weaver bird who made these nests on trees in the open. She drew comparisons with the bird and her own life. 

In the series of couplets she praises the skill with which the bird weaves this exquisite nest only to provide a shelter to its babies and let them enjoy the comfort and swinging of the free hanging nest while she hops around in search of food. Her attention is pinned on her babies even while she is away. Just like Bahinabai herself ! 

But she doesn’t stop with just this observation. The most important lines are in the conclusive couplets where she points out that the bird has one tiny beak that serves as its teeth, lips as well as hands. It achieves creating the artistic nest as well as fetching food and feeding its babies with that same little beak. And we humans are gifted with two hands and 10 fingers !! 

The positive message that she conveys in these lines is truly inspiring. Let her poetry be our shining star as we enter into a New Year ! If we are able to see heaven in the mirror of earth and put to use our two hands and ten fingers we can surely achieve so much more than we can imagine. 🙏🏼🙏🏼💕💕

Today it’s a rugged Hubli saree from Karnataka in black with one border in kumkum red and another in turmeric yellow. 

अरे खोप्यामंदी खोपा
सुगरणीचा चांगला
देखा पिलासाठी तिनं
झोका झाडाला टांगला

पिलं निजली खोप्यात
जसा झुलता बंगला
तिचा पिलामधी जीव
जीव झाडाले टांगला

खोपा इनला इनला
जसा गिलक्याचा कोसा
पाखरांची कारागिरी
जरा देख रे मानसा

तिची उलूशीच चोच
तेच दात, तेच ओठ
तुले देले रे देवानं
दोन हात दहा बोटं
__ बहीणाबाई चौधरी