Ritual songs and folksongs of the Hindus of Surinam

39 Sindūra-Dāna² [Paramaribo, 1967]
(Gālī)

bābā bābā pukāräi bābā na jānäį
delai chinārī pūta sędura jagata saba jānäi

She calls ‘father’ ‘father’;³ father does not know -
A son of an adulteress has given the vermilion; the whole world knows.

2 This one seems to be the parody, as a gālī, of the first two lines of a serious song for the occasion found in Indian collections but not recorded in Surinam. Cp. R. Tripāṭhī ('29: 162-163); Archer and Prasād ('43: 64-65); D. Siṁha ('44: 393); D. Satyārthī (Belā Phūle Ādhī Rāta: 22). They all record lines somewhat in this vein: a good man (or, a man of refinement) is giving the vermilion and I become another's.

3 The lines may be repeated, replacing ‘father’ by other male relatives.