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Showing posts from May, 2012
Baromashi: The anguish of separation Little known by city folk, Baromashi is a tradition where rural women give voice to their woes and worries through song by Jackie Kabir Baromashi. The traditional music usually sang by women in the rural areas. The songs or poems are mostly to describe the anguish of separation from the people they love. The pain usually merges with the events or the work one has to do every month throughout the year. Sometimes it unveils the physical and mental hardship women go through during different seasons. Baromashi, as the name suggests, is a song that goes on for twelve months. Each month has a specific characteristic and a landscape. The songs are composed with the collective wisdom of the village folks. These are similar to seasonal songs or religious songs common to many countries. In those countries there are about four seasonal songs. What is unique about the Baromashi in Bangladesh and its neighboring countries is that they describe their