The recipe of folk music

Deepmala Mohan highlights women’s role in promoting folk songs and talks about her love for Kayastha cuisine

Deepmala Mohan.

A master of folk songs in dialects like Bundelkhandi, Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Brij, Deepmala Mohan recently paid tribute to the strength, power, love and forgiving aspect of the female divinity through a performance at the India Habitat Centre. Interestingly, Mohan is equally adept at ‘Kayastha Cuisine’ and it working towards promoting it.

Edited excerpts from an interview:

By dedicating an evening to womanhood, what message did you want to send across to connoisseurs?

Music has the power to touch hearts universally, across ages, across religious and cultural differences. Just the same way, music also has the power to tell a story. Folk music has unique charm, apart from having a distinct beat and tenor, to also be an oral documentation of the traditions and social norms of a particular region.

Interestingly, most folk songs are sung by women and taught by oral tradition to the women in the household.

That is the story I wanted to tell. I wanted to take the songs sung decades ago in the homes of the villages in Awadh and Bundelhkhand to the masses, because each song is a story, an emotion an expression.  

What is the unique quality of folk songs that set them apart from the rest of singing genres?

The beat, the rich lyrics, the story they tell, the unique words (for complex emotions) that are used in the folk music bring forth our rich heritage. Folk music also has distinct use of musical instruments that make it so unique.

From every region, you will have a distinct voice, a distinct musical instrument and its professional players. Of course, the younger generation is not carrying on these traditions for lack of monetary value. This is a disturbing issue. They need to be made to feel proud of it.

In a world of Bollywood where do you find the future of folk and Sufi songs?

Sufi music is hugely popular in Bollywood. Every other movie has one Sufi qawwali or a song sung by a Sufi singer. A lot of the item songs and a lot of the songs that have clicked of late have witnessed clear influence from regional folk. “Sasural Genda Phool” is a great example – a song that did so well. Sufi has instant appeal and the mysticism around the music makes it easy for people to relate to it. The beats of folk music are catchy and original so you will always find lyricists going back, time and again, to reach out to our rich folk heritage.  

You are now an expert on Khairabadi Kayastha recipes. Tell us about it?

I love cooking and I love feeding! I learnt all my cooking from my mother and then from my mother-in-law. So over time, I researched, travelled, and added to my knowledge of the food I ate and cooked at home.

My next project is a cookbook of the little known Kayastha recipes. Until then, every occasion is a reason in our home, to cook regional food and relish them.