Sacred and erotic and vulgar and Phagwah 2025

Translation of Bhartal - Chalo Piya Soyi Rahi from "Chowtal Rang Bahar" done by Ramnarine Sasenarine and Peter Manuel(2010)

Sacred and erotic

The Pandit shouts at me "Do you know what kind of bollywood song they were dancing Diwali night, don't they read the translations before they decide.. the lyrics are vulgar" .   

"Nah we not singing that" one of the devout Hindu men I know says as  we read the translation to my favourite bartaal. I was like what the hell.., somebody planning a night of passion with the 'beloved " and not wanting the husband, elder brother wife to hear anything.. and while beloved means 'Hari, possibly Krishna.. I mean yeah.. we Hindus sing about adultery with God and so as part of the sacred.

And when at the end of a chowtaal/Holi programme in the mandir, and the Pandit sings Rang Baarse .. and I think of the context.. I mean is a man singing to he lover while her husband deh bout.. .. and the language is clear.. the man poking fun at the woman husband and I wonder how come nobody ever said this song is not appropriate really for a mandir or other religious setting.

And in this complex world, where violence lurks in the human interactions and fuelled by various desires and alcohol, we find ourselves denying that the sacred and the erotic co-exist in Sanatan Dharma,  with a set of values around restraint and non-violence, and  not being a slave to the passions which the poet wrote about in my favourite bartaal.

 Vulgar

"Do you know I am vegetarian.. so what if I take a drink Phagwah day.. do you know what I do for the Hindu community" the Hindu leader shouts at me on the phone. The last time I played Phagwah on Phagwah Day.. from mandir to a devout Hindu's residence where the table with alcohol was next to the jhandi flags. The leader had offered me a drink and I had said 'what nonsense are you doing' and left. I am not vegetarian and don't do much really for the Hindu community , and I listened respectfully as the man cussed me on the phone two days after. I think he might have been drunk.

'Vulgar' means originally of the 'common people' and the chowtaals and so on, the way we sing are 'folk' or 'common'.. vulgar. 

And in the chowtaal Shiva Shankar  when we sing about the use of bhang and dhatoor in the worship of Lord Shiva, invoking stories we used to hear of my ancestors in chowtaal goles used to plant and dry the leaves to smoke after HOlika was planted until the white people said nah, yall  vulgar folks drink the sugar estate rum instead and ban the bhang and the dhatoor. 

And Phagwah Day and alcohol are together for many devout Hindus. But ahimsa - non-violence and in Guyana , the call for no alcohol Phagwah (and other events) is because alcohol is driving destructive behaviours and the sacred texts do not expect us to destroy ourselves in our worship and celebrations. (and if any of the alcohol loving folks tell me that you could get heart attack from all the sweet meats and so on, I would concede yeah arite.. I will eat oats Phagwah Day if all Hindus agree to no alcohol)

And many leaders who do not want vulgarity, how about thinking about a different kind of vulgarity where the 'vulgarity' , the common is about no-alcohol, where the 'vulgar' is about being sacred and understanding issues around consent and managing sexuality and talking about how the bartaal and other prayers and lyrics (especially around Krishna) confuse how we Hindus have to seem contradictory about sex and sexuality.

Because our ancestors were all vulgar