Ritual songs and folksongs of the Hindus of Surinam

28 Lāvā [Livorno, 1962]
Roasting the Lāvā

kāhina kī torī culiyā kāhina lagalëu caukone
kavane saharavā ke bhujäinī lāvā jo bhų̄jäi
sonana ke torī culiyā rūpe lagalëu caukone
diliyā saharavā ke bhujäinī lāvā je bhų̄jäi
⁵ kajarī bana lakaṛī komharā ghara ke khappaṛā
diliyā saharvā ke bhujäinī lāvā jo bhų̄jäi

5 After line IV, there may be two question lines analogous to the lines I and II, to which V and VI should be the anwer.

[p. 78]

[Nieuw Nickerie, 1967]
Mixing the lāvā¹

mora lāvā tora lāvā ekai mę milāy deyo
e bhujäiniyā, e bhujäiniyā
tora bahinī mora bhaiyā ekai mę sutāy deyo
tore khete boyo maį borā
e bhujäiniyā, e bhujäiniyā

Of what is your fire-pit (made) and of what are the four corner supports (which have been) fixed?²
Of which city is the bhujäinī³ who is roasting the lāvā?⁴
Your fire-pit is (made) of gold (and) the four corner supports are (made) of silver.
The bhujäinī who is roasting the lāvā is of the city (of) Delhi.
The wood is from the kajarī⁵ forest (and) the tiles⁶ (are) from a potter's house.
The bhujäinī who is roasting the lāvā is of the city of Delhi.

Your lāvā and my lāvā - mix (them) in one, oh bhujäinī, oh bhujäinī!
Your sister and my brother - make them sleep in one bed.
I have sown the (seeds of) stringbeans in your field, oh bhujäinī, oh bhujäinī.

1 The ladies take the roasted paddy to a friend's house; two heaps of lāvā are mixed together several times by two ladies who have a marital family relationship with each other, for example a nanad and a bhaujā̈ī. This represents the union of two families and, as the grain being mixed also represents fertility, it is an occasion for lascivious gālīs.

2 Four corner pieces of iron placed under the roasting pot on the fire-pit.

3 The wife of a man of bhaṛbhų̄jā caste or profession who usually roasts the grains.

4 The paddy is soaked and then roasted; the roasted form, like popcorn, is called lāvā or lāvą̄ (S. lājā).

5 Any thick forest where elephants roam.

6 Khappaṛ, clay tiles used to cover the coals to adjust the heat.