Review of the music-album ‘Mann Ke Manjeere'
The tagline of Mann Ke Manjeere - an ‘album of women's dreams'- reads rather aptly. Each of the ten songs is like a snapshot in verse, of a dream , of a pearl in the making, each sculpted by a woman's voice, dreams that are yet in the wings, in the theatre of the mind.
Intezaar , sung by Shubha Mudgal, is a fantasy waiting for an outstretched hand that it can hold on to, an eternal waiting that is longing to end. This is unlike Beeti Raina , where Mahalakshmi Iyer tells of the woman who has become one with the eternal Light of the world, holding darkness at bay, alone but not lonely. The flame within finds reflection in the Light without and helps her to look at herself anew. This in fact, is the leitmotif of the entire album.
Refreshingly, the songs are less about the need to fight an oppressive world and more about a woman's need to rediscover herself in her being, her work and her art / expression. They are more fervent about women's need to express – each singer seems to revel in her space. Where traditional Kharwa lyrics take fishermen back to the safety of their land and their lovers in Aiva Aiva , the daughter in Babul asks her father to give her hand in marriage to an ironsmith who would help her to cast away her shackles. This metaphorical breaking of chains is the dominant mood of the songs on the album.
The title track, Mann Ke Manjeere, invokes more robust images of setting out by oneself, and captures the restlessness energy of self-discovery even in its melody.
Maati is a lilting ode to the female worker striving at home and outside, unacknowledged and underpaid (often unpaid ). Interestingly, it draws a parallel between earth ( maati ) and women as providers, a mantle conventionally donned by the male. Jheel compares the woman to a lake, as tired of being contained by norms. The only truth that she can see is that she must course ahead like water, and carve out her own path where none exists.
Perhaps the most effervescent and mellifluous track of the collection is Khwab Khwab , rendered by Antara Chowdhury. The voice of a young girl plays with words and unrealized aspirations, trying to hold on to them lest they slip away. It is a reminder of the fact that little girls often play pretend games at keeping house for a man, but are rarely taught to nurture dreams for themselves.
Rukmabai, featured twice in the album, who sings to the warrior lover to return safely from war, has a more interesting piece entitled A Conversation where she recounts the fact that she does not get recognition and appreciation for her talent from those closest to her. This comes from a woman who has broken through the barriers of gender and physical handicap to perform extensively, including for the BBC in London.
Mann Ke Manjeere was conceptualised and produced by Breakthrough – an organisation committed to increasing public dialogue and awareness about human rights and social justice. The idea behind the album was to speak from a woman's perspective, of the desire to break out of shackles, limitations, expectations and stereotypes, to articulate desire as the first step to recognizing identity. It succeeds amply, in that regard.
- Review by Suparna Bhattacharya
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