Tappe: Punjabi Folksongs with Tadka

A Tik Tok Video

Recently, a member posted in our Club Literati WhatsApp group a Tik Tok video which I played and liked, but the lyrics went above my head. What is the song about, I asked a friend? It’s a Punjabi Tappa with many Urdu words. Possibly, a Pakistani Punjabi tappa, he said.

Another dear friend offered to help with the meaning, and hosted an afternoon tea for a lively chat, joined by a few lovers of Punjabi folk-songs. The small group was amazingly talented and diverse with a Punjabi who grew up in Jaipur, another in Nigeria, another in MP, and a Sindhi who had married a Muslim! Our gracious host played a few tappa songs on her mobile music player pausing where needed to explain the meaning. It was a privilege and a treat to get help from not one, but four persons familiar with Punjabi and Urdu language, literature, and culture.

The Tik Tok video# appears to be a recording from an event: MazaQ Raat, and the singers are not named; so, I’ve no idea if they are popular singers. In the video, the star singer's opening tappa is:

Now, it's time for Tappe,

Here I am, Lahore shaher di Kudi,

Never lost in Tappa duels.

It is a stylised template to begin a round of Tappe, similar to the opening couplet to begin antakshari rounds:

Since we are at leisure, why not make it fun-filled, and

Begin a round of antakshari, Leke Prabhu ka naam.

She sings several tappe or snippets from longer tappe, and the three male singers join in briefly towards the end.

Punjabi Tappa

Tappa, not unlike Punjabi tadka which adds that zing to a simple dish, is a light-hearted banter between a male and a female singer, sung during marriage celebrations and other festive occasions. It is playful, teasing, taunting, and at times insulting; all in good humour to evoke a laugh or at least a chuckle.

It is a small poem, or a series of poems, each of three lines with ABA rhyme structure. Sometimes, it may have four lines or other variations, too.

How about the lyrics? Rustic, earthy, unpremeditated, not composed by shaayars but by one who has a song in his or her heart and the knack for quick, impromptu rhyming. The little poem is not meant for serious reading, but to delight an audience who have little time or inclination to muse over the literary merit of the composition. If it is fun, the poems are relished even if the lyrics are banal or have no meaning at all.

Check the last tappa in the Tik Tok video which says: You got two pomegranate leaves, if you chance to have three more, you’d have five pomegranate leaves – punj patran anara de. Yes, sometimes the lyrics may be as inspired and creative as that!

Folk Music to Classical

Tappa, originally the folk song of the camel drivers of the Punjab-Sind region, is believed to have been adapted by Ghulam Nabi Shori. Popular tappe retain the fast pace, rhythm, and rustic charm of folk music. However, classical singers of the Gwalior and Banaras gharanas have also sung several tappe, though in a very different vein. 

Tappa travelled from the north-west of undivided India and reached Bengal where it became popular as Toppa. Rabindranath Tagore wrote several Toppas and used it for Bengali theatre (Jatra) performances, too.

Link for Rabi Thakurer Teppa: 

https://youtu.be/1O6vxj-R_3s?si=8R0Gfft21zPvZ6jv

Links for further readings on tappa are given at the end.

Kothe Te Aa Mahiya

Kothe Te Aa Mahiya is a famous duet by Jagjit and Chitra (also sung by other singers), which I had heard years ago and had liked even though I didn’t fully understand the banter. After my initiation to tappa, I realised that this is one of the most popular of the genre.

Link for lyrics in Hindi and English transliteration:

https://lyricspoet.com/kothe-te-aa-mahiya-lyrics/#2-kothe-te-aa-mahiya-lyrics-in-hindi-

The most memorable lines beginning with ‘Baghe vich aaya karo’ by the beloved and the repartee by the lover are a typical example of tappa banter.

Beloved: Maybe you’d visit my garden, and when I take a nap, you’d fan my face to keep the flies away.

Lover: It may help if you take a bath daily! Also, cut down on jaggery!

This is a love song that tells a little story. It begins with the lady soliciting: why don’t you come more often to my place? The man replies: I’d love that, but won’t I meet with a hostile reception from your family. What if I’m beaten with slippers (chhitra)? The lady lists out his many shortcomings: You’re dark-complexioned (kaale, kaale), have daughters and sons, but don’t even have a moustache. How can I give my heart to a man without a moustache? No issue, to please you I’m happy to grow a beard, too, says the man.

It is a love song, even though the man has no likeness with Ranjha or Mahiwal, nor the woman with Heer or Sohni. The man is married, but how about the woman? The song doesn’t say that she is young, nubile, and unmarried; nor that she is married. It is left to the imagination of the audience whether the relationship is licit. However, the pair is already in a relationship, and are enjoying teasing each other.

The song ends with the joyous chorus by the pair to celebrate their love like a phing (Punjabi word in the lyric), the apogee of a swing ride.

Patna te mil maahiya sung by Ghulam Ali is a mournful, melancholic tappa since the beloved charh gayi doli ni!

BING’s Choice

I asked Bing to name the five most popular Punjabi tappe, and it listed the following:

- Kothe Te Aa Maahiya

- Mera Laung Gawacha

- Latthe Di Chaadar   

- Chitta Kukkar Banere Te

- Kala Doriya 

I am not sure if Bing got it right. Wedding songs possibly constitute a genre by themselves, as in Latthe Di Chaadar and Chitta Kukkar Banere Te; sung by only a female singer. To my understanding, a tappa involves a tete-e-tete with repartee between the beloved and her lover, as in Kothe Te Aa Mahiya; or between a man and a woman ready to match taunt for taunt.

Naya Daur Song

Naya Daur (1957), a Bollywood film starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala, has a hit song Ude Jab Jab Zulfein Teri sung by Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhonsle, which I guess is based on Punjabi Tappa tune. Each stanza has three lines but with ABB rhyme structure:

Tujhe chaand ke bahane dekhun

Tu chat par aa ja goriye

Jind meriye

That is how I heard the song, but you are free to make it a couplet by merging the third line into the second.

Incidentally, the lyrics for this evergreen song were written by Sahir Ludhianvi (pen name of Abdul Hayee), and the music was composed by O.P. Nayyar; both from Lahore, then in undivided Punjab. Nayyar won the Filmfare for Best Music Director in 1958 for Naya Daur. Sahir Ludhianvi won the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for Taj Mahal (1963) and for Kabhie Kabhie (1976). He was honoured with Padma Shri in 1971.

Interpreters of Melodies

I gratefully acknowledge the indulgence of my kind interpreters of melodies: Anshu Vaish, Harleen Guliyani, Dr. Amita Singh, and Kaneez Zehra Rizhvi. Many thanks for helping me to appreciate the charm of Tappa songs.

#Tik Tok Video

 

Resources

1.   https://www.shivpreetsingh.com/2021/04/punjabi-tappe-tappa-from-folk-tradition.html

2.   https://scroll.in/article/832039/listen-krishnarao-shankar-pandit-siddheshwari-devi-sing-the-swift-and-melodic-tappa-in-raag-kafi

3.   https://scroll.in/magazine/1014226/how-a-music-form-inspired-by-the-songs-of-camel-drivers-of-punjab-sindh-became-popular-in-bengal

4.   https://ling-app.com/pa/punjabi-folk-songs/

5. Wikipedia

***

Postscript

A few Punjabi friends, well-aware of my compulsive DASH to territories where angels fear to tread, offered most gracious inputs on Punjabi language and culture to improve my blog.

I am overwhelmed with your generosity, Dear Friends.

Anjuly's comments:

"Bing isn’t totally accurate. Only the following are tappe:

Kothe te aa Maiya

Chitta Kukkar Banere te.

The remaining three are folk songs, parts of which mention tough adjustments made in life."

Madan Upadhyay

Kothe means the terrace, and is different from Kothi, a mansion. In Kothe te aa Mahiya, the beloved is soliciting her lover for a visit to her terrace, not to discuss the weather, it is obvious. The visit would be clandestine, and if discovered would have unpleasant consequences, as apprehended by the lover. The meaning of a single word changes the whole tenor of the tappa, and makes it a titillating risque song.

Devour Your Husband

The opening tappa, the first stanza, is interesting. The lady sings:

kothe te aa mahiya, kothe te aa mahiya

milna ta mil aake

nai ta khasma nu kha mahiya

She has invited him to meet at the secret venue, and is eagerly awaiting him; but cannot bring herself to beg. She says, in mock anger, "Come if you will, or be damned (go to hell)".

Khasma nu kha mahiya means devour your husband. This is an idiomatic curse, invariably addressed to a married woman, meaning: Be a widow, and may your evil stars be the cause of his death. In Sambalpuri, there is a similar curse word: ghaitakhai (eater of husband).

But in this song, why is the idiom addressed to the man? Maybe, just to rhyme aa mahiya with kha mahiya.

Kedar Rout

Kedar, a friend, made an interesting observation:

"When life itself has no meaning (going by the existentialists), why should we expect meaning from Punjabi folk music..! Music may sometimes be only for listening and to satisfy our ears only and not our mind..."

G Subbu

Subbu wrote the following limerick:

When a  Kudi is boisterous and gay,

She croons a Tappé,

 A mischievous ditty ,

Which is a bit witty,

And endears herself to the Punjabi Papé !

Coffee: Lovelier than a thousand kisses!

Beethoven Special

Years ago, visiting a senior colleague in North Block, I found him in an expansive mood. No stack of files, no upcoming meeting, and not many phone calls either. Tea or coffee, he asked? Coffee, I said, and noted that I had gone up a notch in his estimation, for he proceeded to a side table on which sat a personal coffee-maker, pressed a button and the machine ground the desired quantity of coffee.

‘Beans sourced from my favourite plantation estate in the Western Ghats, and roasted fresh for every cup,’ he mentioned with pride.

Black or white? He asked.

White, please.

‘An expertly made espresso from high quality beans, roasted just right brings out the true flavour of coffee. Next time, I’d give you black, and you’d note the difference.’

Not a south Indian, but for sure, he loved his coffee.

Connoisseurs are fastidious about their coffee, but none so much as Beethoven who was the barista’s nightmare since he insisted on his cup of coffee made from sixty beans, no more or less!

How Do You Like Your Coffee?

How do you like your coffee – strong or mild; black, latte, mocha, or cappuccino; with or without sugar; hot or cold; Instant, Filter, or Espresso; Arabica, Robusta, or Blended? Coffee with Conscience, Fair Trade Coffee? Commodity Coffee, Specialty, or Third Wave?

Commodity coffee is for the common man, cheapest coffee beans sometimes blended with chicory, and spray-dried to make instant coffee. A sachet, good enough for a cup, costs as little as two rupees.

A Specialty coffee is one which receives 80/100 score or more by a Q-Grader, who is to coffee what a sommelier is to wine.

Third Wave coffee is Single Origin - coffee which can be traced to a specific plantation estate distinguished by its location, elevation, climate, harvesting and processing method, crop year, and may also be Organic and Fair Trade-Coffee with Conscience!

(Cappuccino by Bing Image Creator)

Coffee: Globetrotter

How did the coffee plant native to Africa reach other continents? Of the many legends about coffee, here are a few interesting ones.

Goatherd’s Discovery

A goatherd in Ethiopia was puzzled at the strange behaviour of his flock after grazing in a particular area of the forest. After feeding sumptuously, instead of taking a nap as usual, they frolicked merrily as though in a boisterous dance. Next day, following the flock, he discovered the red and green berries which the goats feasted upon. Through this chance discovery, Coffee revealed its mystique to the world.

Smuggling, Adultery, and Colonial Commerce

For long, the Arab traders had monopoly over the supply of coffee to Europe and the rest of the world. Mocha coffee got its name from Port Mocha of Yemen which supplied to Mecca, Istanbul, Venice, and other trading cities. Yemen allowed only roasted coffee beans to be exported, with the smuggling of coffee seeds punishable by death. 

A saint is an unlikely smuggler, you may think. But the charismatic seed tempted Baba Budan, the 17^th century Sufi saint from India, on his way back from Mecca through Port Mocha, to smuggle seven beans buried in his beard. He planted those seeds in his garden in Chikmagalur hills now known as Baba Budan Giri.  

Francisco de Melo Palheta, a Portuguese Lieutenant Colonel, during his diplomatic mission in 1727 to resolve a border dispute between French Guiana and Brazil, had a brief yet tempestuous affair with the French Governor’s wife who presented a few seeds to her lover as a parting gift. If this story is true, the Brazilian plantations owe their existence to the steamy ‘affair.’ Brazil is the largest exporter of coffee in the world!

Coffee plant grows best in suitable conditions – climate, soil, elevation, rainfall, sun and shade, ambient temperature, etc. – and is labour-intensive. Colonial empires, with access to suitable land and abundant cheap labour, established the first commercial plantations and promoted the global trade in coffee, which is now the second most traded commodity in the world after fossil fuel.

Coffee: Fun Facts

Coffee is the most popular beverage in world after water with consumption of 500 billion cups a year.

Wine of Islam

Since coffee, sometimes called the Wine of Islam, made the drinker excitable, religious establishments frowned upon it. Governor of Mecca banned it in 1511, but the ban was not effective as Sufi saints used the brew to stay awake for their nightlong Ibaadat.

Women’s Petition Against Coffee

British women submitted a Petition in 1674 demanding a ban on the newfangled, abominable, heathenish, enfeebling liquor called coffee which caused ‘Grand Inconvenience… to their SEX’ since it made men ‘unfruitful’!

King Charles II banned it in 1675, though not on the grounds cited by the women in their petition, but on the apprehension that the coffee houses were potential breeding grounds for dissent and anarchy. He had good reason to feel that way. During the English Civil War, King Charles I was executed in 1649 and monarchy abolished, and restored when Charles II was made king in 1660.

Most Expensive Coffee

A cup of home-made coffee may cost a little less than ten rupees, on a train twenty rupees, at Indian Coffee House seventy, and at Specialty Cafes 300 or more; but the most expensive coffee in the world - Kopi Luwak- would cost $100 (INR 8328) per cup! Why is it so expensive? Because the beans are collected from the droppings of the Indonesian palm civets who had feasted on the berries. Allegedly, the digestive juices of the civet lend that unique flavour and taste to the coffee! Would you still like to sample that coffee?

Adulteration, No; Blending, Yes!

Adding chicory to coffee was once a crime! Eighty years ago, the then District Judge, Anantapur, (Then Madras Presidency) A.S.P. Iyer was hearing a case of coffee powder that was adulterated by adding chicory.
Legendary Madras HC Barrister Nugent Grant argued that chicory being  superior to coffee in quality and taste, it cannot be said that coffee was "adulterated" with chicory.
Justice A.S.P Iyer countered: “Mr. Grant, in cases of "adulteration" and "adultery", the plea that the substitute is better than the original is not valid.'' 

Subsequently, blending coffee with chicory was allowed.

Madras High Court, in its order dated Jan 5, 1955 convicted Parthasarathy Ayyangar and another under the Madras Prevention of Adulteration Act for selling coffee jars containing coffee and wild date seeds powder against the permitted ratio of 75:25 for coffee: chicory. The convicted were directed to pay a fine of Rs. 5 each, or in default, to undergo simple imprisonment for 7 days.

Coffee Lexicon

Coffee lexicon is no less varied than the many varieties of coffee, and the amazingly diverse ways in which this brew is consumed.

First known use of the word ‘coffee’ is in 1598. Coffee derives its name from Arabic qahwa and Turkish kahve (Merriam-Webster).

Cappuccino got its name from the colour of the robes of Capuchin monks of Italy; Mocha from Port Mocha of Yemen which was for long the monopoly exporter of coffee; Espresso, Venti, and Trenta are words of Italian origin; Kaapi is distinctly South Indian. Latte or Caffe Latte - an espresso mixed with hot or steamed milk - comes from the Italian caffelatte, which is short for caffè e latte (“coffee and milk”).

Iconic ‘Coffee’ Songs

Of the many iconic coffee songs, my favourites are:

“Coffee Houser Sei Adda Ta” * sung by Manna Dey (You may like to read my previous blog on it. **)

“One More Cup of Coffee” *** by Bob Dylan, a folk song from 1976 about a couple who are breaking up and share one last cup of coffee before they part ways.

“You're the cream in my coffee” **** by Nat King Cole.

Lovelier than a thousand kisses!

Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the greatest composers of western classical music, wrote 'Coffee Cantata', a whole opera on coffee about 300 years ago. In this humorous song an exasperated father hectors his daughter to 'get rid of coffee'. 

Her reply:"Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses!"

She insists on having her three cups of coffee a day!

Moby Dick and Starbucks

What has Moby Dick to do with Starbucks, you may wonder? If you are not keen on fiction, you may not have read Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, acknowledged as one of the greatest American novels; but you would of course be familiar with Starbucks even though you may not be a coffee person.

Starbucks is now the largest coffee chain in the world – with more than 30000 outlets, but it began in 1971 as a modest coffee shop near Pike Place market, Seattle. Three academicians who set it up named the coffee house after Starbuck, a character in Moby Dick, to recall the voyages associated with coffee trade. Incidentally, they just wished to deliver the clients a good cup of coffee or tea, and buy quality spices. They had no ambition to create a global coffee house chain.

But why did they pick up the name of Starbuck, who was only a foil to Captain Ahab, the protagonist in the novel? Since the founders have not elaborated on this issue, we are free to speculate.

What has whaling to do with coffee? The crew on Pequod, the whaling ship in Moby Dick, took swigs of a potent brew from a large communal tin jug to work up a frenzy and rally behind the monomaniacal Captain Ahab in his fatal personal vengeance against the white whale which had chewed up his left leg.

Coffee provides a shot of caffein and instantly makes the drinker more alert; it is claimed. Starbuck is the voice of reason pitted against Captain Ahab who is driven by obsession. Hopefully, a cup of Starbucks would make the drinker more sober, sensible, and pragmatic.

Coffee Connoisseurs, BEWARE!

Hi. With your safety and welfare in mind, I am forwarding the following advisory received by WhatsApp. Please read till the end and take care of yourself, especially if you are a resident of Bhopal. Best wishes.

‘Beware! If you have recently received an invitation to sample a FREE cup of coffee handcrafted by the Best Barista of Bhopal (BBB) at his Bagh Mugaliya home, think well before accepting the offer. It may be a bait to ensnare you by the host, alleged to be a savvy and smooth operator - a refined version of the Jamtara fraudsters.

Consider the many tell-tale signs of a scam. Why is the coffee FREE? As you know very well, nothing comes for FREE, and what is peddled as free has a hidden agenda with T&C written in several pages, single space, in font-size 8!

If the host is indeed the BBB he claims to be, why hasn’t he opened a café at DB Mall, or any other prime location? Is he afraid that clients would soon compare his serving with that of other leading coffee houses in town, and call his bluff?

Where is Bagh Mugaliya for heaven’s sake? Open the Google Map given in the invite and you would find that he does not even live in Bagh Mugaliya , but in Bagh Mugaliya  Extension – a decrepit colony of retirees and similar poor folks. Whoever drinks coffee in that forlorn place?

And how do you reach his home? Has he mentioned that you need to negotiate a roller-coaster bumpy, bone-rattling ride on the road which has either potholes or savage speed breakers with spikes? Has he advised those with back pain to refrain from undertaking the perilous journey? No, he is silent on that.

There are other perils, too. Once you are seated in his drawing room, you would note that he pays little attention to you, peremptorily dismisses your well-thought-out, weighty observations on serious matters pertaining to your city, state, country, and the world; but laughs first and loudest at the silliest sound bites of your beautiful spouse. Get it now? He has a hidden agenda, and coffee is just a ruse.

Lastly, you would note, sooner rather than later, that several books authored by him are strategically placed at corner racks and side-tables (and where do you put your coffee cup?!)  of the drawing room. He may not directly ask you to buy his books, but he expects you - an intelligent guest, and a voracious reader of non-Best-seller English fiction by non-descript Indian authors- to take the hint, especially after you have sipped his coffee, said to be rather good, and are in a generous mood. It is rumoured that he has a large stock of unsold ‘Author copies’ which his spouse has threatened to sell to the raddiwallah if not disposed of in the next few weeks.

A lot can happen over coffee. Beware!’

***

* Link for the song: https://youtu.be/yYKHuW_FS_U

**  http://pkdash-author.blogspot.com/2023/07/coffee-houser-sei-adda-ta.html

***  Link for the song: https://youtu.be/95cufW4h-gA?si=2ey4IP-pvkBwQdEU

**** Link for the song: https://youtu.be/cL1Sr7wxqag?si=NSis_Uu4fVb9RCVK

Note:

1. Coffee Cantata by J.S. Bach is available with English sub-titles at 

https://youtu.be/nifUBDgPhl4?si=hHQSb4dl21CXr6p8

I am thankful to Sanatan, a friend's son and a connossieur of coffee, for giving me a link to this wonderful composition.

 

2. G. Subbu, a friend who is an inveterate limerick-maker shared these gems:

Kopi Luwak

A well brewed filter coffee,

Prepared by a die -hard Southie  ,

The golden decoction,

Arouses his senses and passion ,

But please don't tell him that the beans came from a civet kitty !

Filter Kaapi

The Mami prefers the top down filter ,

The man of the house likes a bottom up percolator ,

The former drips overnight ,

The latter is brewed in the morning, fresh and bright ,

Ah , the joys of debating with a coffee connoisseur!

Preferred Blend

Decoction of Arabica or Peaberry ,

With a dash of fresh milk from the dairy ,

Morning , afternoon or night ,

Ensures that life is fine and bright ,

Just ensure that you don't blend it with too much chicory !

His preferred blend: Coffee:Chicory - 90:10

Thanks, Subbu.

3. 

Oldest Coffee Houses