Image of a nyoli in the forest. Image Courtesy: Pushkar Arya

Nyoli

One popular version of a story is linked to nyoli or Great Barbet (Psilopogon virens marshallorum). It is believed that in ancient times, a brother missed his sister dearly in the month of Chait (April-May). So, one morning, he set off to meet his sister at her in-laws’ house (सौरास or sauras) with a basket of gifts.

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The brother went to give “Bhitauli” (the gift given as part of the tradition) to his elder sister. After crossing rivers, valleys, hills, and forests, when he reached his sister’s in-laws’ house, he saw that his dear sister was asleep. He thought that she must be exhausted from the day’s work and therefore decided not to disturb her.

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One version of the story says that he quietly placed the “Bhitauli” basket near his sister and returned silently because their old mother was alone at home. Another version has it that it was a Friday night and he could not have presented the gifts the next day i.e. on Saturday (In the Kumaoni tradition, while Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays are reserved for celebratory occasions, and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are for solemn occasions). So, he quietly placed the basket of gifts near her and left it. The sister woke up the next day and saw the basket in the morning. She sang in pain: भै भुकी, मैं सिती, भै भुकी, मैं सिती!’ (“While my brother remained hungry, I kept sleeping”). The excruciating pain led to her death and she was transformed into a nyoli. It is believed that to date, the bird sings भै भुकी, मैं सिती in the month of Chait.

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Note: A few other versions of the same folk story relate it to a ghughuti.

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It is interesting to observe that one of the traditional modes of folk singing in Uttarakhand is also called nyoli, which conveys “a complete range of emotions in just two lines” (Chauhan and Panwar 109). These songs are usually sung by women working in the fields or the top of the trees in the forest. In a paper titled “Kumaoni Language and Literature”, Trepan Singh Chauhan and Purabi Panwar explain the significance of the word “nyoli” as it “has come to connote the feelings of the women of the region — love as well as grief at being separated from one’s beloved, to a great extent” (109). The prominent mood of this form is pensive and the pervasive theme is of longing either for the मैत or mait (maternal place) or a distant lover.

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The list of nyoli songs is as follows:

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1. Nyoli by Naithnath Rawal

2. Nyoli by Mamta Arya and Rakesh Paneru

3. Nyoli by Mamta Arya

4. Nyoli by Pappu Karki

5. Nyoli by Chandra Prakash

6. Nyoli by Nainnath Rawal

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Note: The copyright for the videos rests with the content creators on the hosting platform, YouTube.

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Glossary:

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भिटौला or Bhitaula: Refers to the gift offered by brothers to their sisters living far off from their maternal place in the month of chait (April-May). The brother, as per the tradition, visits the sister with the gifts. She prepares special delicacies on that day.

चैत or Chait: Refers to the month of April-May, which is eagerly awaited by the sister as bhitaula ("gift") is offered to her by her brother.

मैत or mait : The maternal place, usually of a woman.

सौरास or sauras: The place of the in-laws.

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Works Cited:

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Chauhan, Trepan Singh, and Purabi Panwar. “Kumaoni Language and Literature.” Indian Literature, vol. 46, no. 2 (208), 2002, pp. 108–13. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23345725. Accessed 7 Apr. 2024.