Sita Locked Out A Telugu Women’s Song of Sita V. Narayana Rao She is born of Earth and raised by a belt of gold with bells on it, Rama says, Janaka. bracelets with sapphires inlaid, “If you lose sleep, what do I care! She serves her in-laws with devotion. and a necklace of precious stones. The lamp standing here keeps me Her loving husband calls her, but she She brushes kohl along her lashes company. does not come. and looks at herself in the life-size If you stand out there, what do I care! Flowers in his hair, perfume on his mirror. Flowers and bukka scents keep me body, her husband is in a joyous mood. Pleased with herself, the woman smiles. company. Looking for her, he waits and waits. She eats her dinner – If you stand out there, what do I He is impatient at the time she takes. five different courses, sweets and all – care! “Why doesn’t she come, what is taking then washes her hands. Sandal and musk keep me company. her so long?” She covers herself in a golden shawl, If you stand out there, what do I The solar hero1 is upset with her. takes water to drink in a jug of gold; care! He closes the door and bolts it. betel leaves, areca nuts, perfumes, The mattress and pillows keep me “You and your chores, Daughter of sandal paste, jasmine water, company.” Earth! fruits and snacks on a platter of gold. Upset at Rama’s words, Sita quickly You have grown too proud,” he says She wears jasmine and jaji flowers in runs to her mother-in-law’s house. shaking his head. her hair When she hears it all, Kaushalya Deluded, he lies down on his bed. and arrives in joy to meet her husband. comes to Rama’s door. Sita comes rushing. “Lord, my hero, I brought you flowers. “You are the son of king She quickly presses her mother-in-law You never bend before any rival. Dasharatha, Kaushalya’s feet, You are the one that humiliated married into the house of the great gives betel leaves to her father-in-law, the other Rama that challenged you. Janaka. Fans Kaika and Sumitra2 too, You are my lord, my Kakutsa3. Earth gives her daughter to you. and makes the bed for Kaushalya. Can I bear your anger? You closed the Have you lost your sense? Then she takes her bath with turmeric, door. What did Sita do? wears a sari with golden flowers, My feet are aching, my hands are tired. Tell me my little boy, combs her hair and ties it into a bun. Open the ivory door, my lord, if something is wrong.” She puts on her jewels – it is beginning to rain. I am getting “Mother, if you pamper your a tamarind leaf of gold in her part; wet. daughter-in-law, a drop of pearls crowning her Open that golden bolt, my handsome. will she ever care for me?” forehead; It is raining hard, my sari is soaked. says the hero of the house, a spread of gems around her bun; My emerald young man, open the door. as he opens the door with a big smile. earrings worth a thousand, It is the fourth wake, lord of my life. “Mother, my father-in-law is a gold chain worth two thousand, I will give you my necklace of precious waiting. a nose ring worth three thousand, gems. You go to him, he is all alone,” says a choker worth some four thousand, Let me lie at your feet, to get a little Sita to Kaushalya and a pendent worth ten thousand; sleep.” and Kaushalya leaves. 26 MANUSHI When Sita goes shyly to her husband, we expect from a well-written poem. lengths of the syllables are manipulated the lamp laughs with joy. On the surface, the song looks not only by one’s voice inflections. In fact, Fragrance of betel leaves all over the simple, but also defective. The meter oftentimes if the written meter exercises bed. does not run smoothly, and some of every syllabic rule, the singer feels Fragrance of betel nuts all over the the words appear to be wrongly suffocated in her ability to apply bed. placed or repeated unnecessarily. One musical style and innovation to the Fragrance of flowers all over the bed. may easily assume that this defect is poem. Editor Sripada Gopala Fragrance of musk all over the bed. due to the composer’s lack of linguistic Krishnamurti (1955) makes note of this sophistication, an all too common feature in his introduction, but Fragrance of bukka all over the bed. assumption of learned critics. But a apparently the publishers did not Who knows how angry Sita is? careful reading proves otherwise. indicate musical notations on the Rama turns to the other side. printed page. Thus, one must view the “Just how long it takes for butter to Written to be Sung Let us study the meter first. The meter’s purpose in the context of a melt when it is near fire, meter is quantitative. Telugu metrical song, rather than that of a written text.6 is how long a woman’s anger lasts,” texts label this matra chandassu, in Structurally, the text itself is says Sita and moves swiftly to Rama, which a short syllable counts for one organised succinctly, without padding to make love to him. matra and a long syllable counts for or uninteresting repetitions. The Rama enjoys the games of pleasure, two. Each line has sixteen matras that language is layered exquisitely and the and lives in glory and honour. are broken into two halves of eight diction is subtle and nuanced. The first Women who sing this song on earth or matras each. However, the syllables printed line begins with the customary listen to it will live in riches. in the printed text above do not auspicious syllable “sri”, to ward off A Haunting Title conform uniformly to this number, bad luck. However, the word that The title of a song that my mother thereby appearing to represent an off- begins the song, “Srirama”, is sang intrigued me. Sita Gadiya, which meter. However, while singing, the syntactically unconnected to the rest I translate as “Sita Locked Out”, has haunted me ever since I heard the song as a young boy. Literally gadiya in Telugu is a bolt or a crossbar that locks a door from the inside. The song describes what happens when Rama bolts the door from inside their room and locks Sita out. If it is indeed Rama who bolts the gadiya, the phrase should read Ramuni gadiya, not Sita gadiya. Significantly, the composer defines the gadiya as the one that Sita caused to be opened, rather than the one that Rama bolted, and even deviates from the conventions of Telugu grammar to make the striking title, quietly foreshadowing the unusual events that the song sings of. Telugu women sing melodious songs based on the Ramayana and on other mythological themes.4 For more than 200 years, literary scholars treated these compositions as simply women’s songs not worthy of a second look.5 Once we delve further into this particular piece, we discover its nuances, ripe with the subtleties of diction and the ironies of meaning that Ebenezer No.139 27 of the lines. “Srirama” hangs When she finally goes to Rama, Sita awkwardly, without any connection or Sita indulges in a calls out and says she has brought him continuity with subsequent verses, as leisurely dinner of five flowers and, in a calculating manner, if it is uttered merely to fulfill the courses and sweets and boosts Rama’s male ego by recalling requirement of the first syllable and to also takes the time to that he never bent his head to another pay respect to Rama’s name.7 This warrior. When Parasurama, an equally admire herself in a life- feature is a common façade; many powerful warrior, challenged him, Rama women’s songs in this genre pay size mirror. Clearly she deflated his pride. Reference to Rama’s homage to Rama initially but, as the is in no rush to go to her past heroic deeds uplifts his sense of song unfolds, they are very critical of husband. She is in his manhood and evokes the Rama and give Sita and other women charge and will go to atmosphere for the lover’s role that Sita wants him to play soon. Elite in the narrative far more agency and meet him in her own initiative than the Valmiki text allows.8 Aamkarasastra texts in Sanskrit time. Sita as a Housewife instruct poets to combine vira, the heroic mood, with sringara, the erotic, Sita Locked Out is built around to enhance the latter. The composer(s) several strategically orchestrated Sita as a Lover of this song utilised the heroic moves. The first two lines In the next stanzas, one learns of suggestion not only to enhance the demonstrate Sita’s devotion to her another layer of Sita’s personality. aesthetics of the poem, but also to mother-in-law and father-in-law and She takes her time to bathe, comb assure its listeners of the success of her uncanny attentiveness to her her hair and dress herself with all the heroine in achieving her sexual elders’ needs; for a good daughter- her finery. This section of the song in-law gives priority to her parents- takes its time describing each goal. in-laws’ needs over those of her ornament in detail, even detailing Now we enter a more difficult stage husband.