The year of BHOJPURI disruptors
On International Mother Language Day, Shilpi looks at how the world’s most rapidly developing language — Bhojpuri — made waves with its astonishing ascendency in the music, politics, literature and media circuits in the pandemic-struck world
In a free-wheeling chat aired during the peak of COVID lockdown, UK-based author, speaker, filmmaker and entrepreneur Raga Olga D’Silva interviewed actor Manoj Bajpayee to find out ‘Who is the real Manoj Bajpayee?’ As she delved deep into exploring the real person, who grew up in a small village in Bihar before making it big in Mumbai, she requested him to speak in his mother tongue. Bajpayee responded in chaste Bhojpuri, and with this impromptu act, the true son of the soil knocked the socks off for all. “Bhojpuri is my mother tongue. The language I grew up speaking at home,” and with a child-like innocence added, “I learned Hindi and a little bit of English at school, and worked hard to improve my English in Delhi and that too by hanging out with Tanzanian and Kenyan college friends.” His honest admission pulled at the heartstrings of one and all.
Singing star
Barely two months later, the actor let the cat out of the bag by crooning a Bhojpuri rap — Bambai Main Ka Ba. The video featuring him in a funky avatar as a rapper was a long-due collaboration between two old friends — Bajpayee and director Anubhav Sinha, and the ensuing migrant crises in the wake of the lockdown only fuelled their desire to come together. “Bhojpuri is my identity, nature, culture, and I am proud of it. I have never been away from my roots. Bhojpuri is my bridge to cover the geographical distance between Belwa and Mumbai, and brought me closer to my roots,” he says.
The heart-wrenching lyrics highlighting the plight of migrants were penned by Dr Sagar, with music by Anurag Saikia. Recounting the musical journey, Sagar says, “Several Bhojpuri songs abusing actor Rhea Chakraborty had gone viral on social media during those days. The vulgarity was appalling, and it had ired so many of us, including filmmaker Anubhav Sinha. A pained Sinha tweeted, saying, “If there’s any a good lyricist who can write in Bhojpuri, he wouldn’t mind taking a plunge into the world of Bhojpuri films.”
Someone recommended Sagar’s name to him, and the rest, as they say, is history. Sinha sent him a beat, and one sleepless night later, he got cracking on finding words to convey the migrants’ misery that was unfolding all around then. “I had been itching to write in my mother tongue for long, and this song seemed to happen at the most opportune time. It is a collective ode to all the migrants from all over, for all that they leave behind in their native villages, their trouble and turmoils in the big cities, and the dreams that they nurture in their weary hearts,” he says.
Another Bhojpuri song that put the devastating impact of the lockdown on the lives and struggles of migrant workers from UP and Bihar in sharp focus was released by actor-singer Amrendra Sharma, who calls himself a ‘migrant creative labourer’. The song — Chal Re Batohi Chal Re Apan Gaon — showed how a migrant had to pedal along to reach home during the lockdown.
Across the shore
During the lockdown, the Netherlands-based Sarnámi-Bhojpuri singer and songwriter Raj Mohan collaborated with various artistes worldwide to record Batohiya song written by renowned Bhojpuri poet Babu Raghuveer Narayan. “I discussed the idea with my manager and business partner in India, Devendra Singh, who came aboard and coordinated with various artists in India and overseas, managed audio and video recordings and did online marketing. My student and artist Ragga Menno also came along,” says Mohan.
With direction, music and vocals by Mohan, the song features 11 singers from seven different countries. Mohan’s song gave a kaleidoscopic view of the depth and reach of the language spoken not just in India, but across Fiji, Maldives, Mauritius, Suriname, South Africa, The Netherlands, and Caribbean countries as a result of the ‘ girmitiya’ or indentured migration during the colonial period. There are various versions of the same song, but Mohan says, “Mine is my favourite. We are batohiyas (travellers) in the truest sense. The song conveys our pride, longing, belonging and even sadness.”
Politically correct
The breakout star of 2020 was a young folk singer Neha Singh Rathore whose songs in Bhojpuri critiqued and questioned the governments and made her a social media sensation in no time. “The lewd and innuendo-laden Bhojpuri songs perturbed me, and my endeavours are aimed at restoring the lost glory of Bhojpuri music,” says Rathore. Of the many songs, the ones dealing with migrant workers, lockdown woes, unemployment, social issues, politics and politicians of the state and country hit the right chords with the people. A song battle ensued when she highlighted the sad state of affairs in Bihar Me Ka Ba? A quick rebuttal by BJP in the pollbound Bihar saw the release — Bihar Me Ee Baa — in Bhojpuri, highlighting the developments that had taken place in the state during the NDA rule.
Hooked and booked
The language has close to 200 million speakers spread across India and abroad. “But the rich Bhojpuri literary tradition of writers like Bhikhari Thakur and Gorakh Pandey has a fairly negligible presence in the literary circuit because the speakers of this language aren’t necessarily also the readers,” says Dr Braj Bhushan Mishra, a doyen of Bhojpuri literature. That perhaps explains why the long and diverse Bhojpuri liter
ary tradition remains mostly unnoticed and even neglected. “It is because Bhojpuri is largely perceived to be a folk language spoken by illiterate villagers. The other reason could be the near absence of its interactions with the other literary cultures, through translations or otherwise,” notes academician and writer Gautam Choubey, who has translated Pandey Kapil’s Bhojpuri novel — Phoolsunghi — into English that hit the stands in November 2020.
Media nama
In the news circuit, Earshot launched in October 2020 amid the pandemic as India’s first digital audio venture for news and entertainment in five languages, including Bhojpuri. “Bhojpuri has a special place in our hearts. It is a language that millions speak but is still to get its due. We will remember 2020 as the year in which we rolled out our signature Bhojpuri shows like Baahubali, Gangs of Purvanchal and Derahia Maat. You can now listen to shows like Jiya Raja Benaras on Dolby Atmos,” says Abhijit Majumder, co-founder and editor-in-chief, Earshot.