From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI, Nov 26: Amabel Susngi, pursuing a PhD in folk music, is documenting the lullabies of Meghalaya rarely sung these days to put children to sleep or calm them down.
A music teacher by profession and singer by passion, she decided to focus on the Khasi lullabies that were more or less lost on the younger generations.
Amabel, 28, compiled the lullabies for her first book titled Ha Yupiam ka Bei, which translates into “On Mother’s Lap”. The book was released at Samvaad, an annual event by Tata Steel Foundation, where she was distinguished as a “changemaker” under the foundation’s fellowship programme.
The curated book has 25 lullabies in the Khasi language with English translations. This is followed by a page with musical notations, each piece accompanied by a QR code for the YouTube video of the lullaby.
She recollected her mother’s melodies of the setting sun and rising moon, of the gaze and splendour of nature, of the morning miracle. She realised that the lullabies sung to her were replaced by present-day songs of K-pop and other genres.
She embarked on the journey of documenting the rich lullabies of Meghalaya, a state with a rich tapestry of folk music that reflects the region’s cultural diversity.
Amabel visited many villages and interacted with a large number of people for unprecedented research on this subject. It was while researching folk music of the Pnar community that she realised one seldom comes across lullabies.
The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies, they are used to pass down cultural knowledge or tradition. Lullabies are also used to develop communication skills, show emotional intent, ensure infants’ undivided attention, modulate infants’ arousal, and regulate behaviour.
“In practice, the most important use of lullabies is as a sleep aid for infants. As a result, lullabies are often simple and repetitive, can be found in many countries, and have existed since ancient times,” she said.
Lullabies have long been a part of the cultural fabric of indigenous communities and are known for aiding bonds between mother and child. “These songs are carriers of cultural identity, passing down traditions, beliefs, and values from one generation to the next,” Amabel said.
In a bid to alter the prevailing norm, she began speaking to new-age parents through which she learned how YouTube music for kids is the parenting trend of the day. During the course of her research, she visited interior villages and spoke to older women, folk musicians, and others gathering verses of the lullabies from some and the notations from others.