Heer ni Dori
There is a modern Garbo, written and composed by Avinash Vyas for a film sometime in the 1970's, it went "lejo rasiya re rumaal maro rang daar chhe" which translates, "here handsome (not exactly!!) take my colourful handkerchief". This Garbo was very easily carried into the folk culture of Baroda garba, where the tune was slightly simplified and the tempo hightened. (The lyrics sounded a lot more titilating that way). Avinash Vyas had a flair for writing Garba. The lyrics drew from folk songs and had a local context. The music and tune could walk the fine line of keeping the essence of a Garba and and at the same time making it sound very contemporary. The song is still heard on Garba grounds, where it goes with a lot of hooting and clapping. Whether a film song can be called a folk song is a different discussion and I will talk about it some other time, till then ..back to that Garbo.
There was one particular line in that song that piqued my interest "Kambi ne karla, doke heer no doro". These line were used to describe what the girl is wearing. Kambi and kadla referred to ornaments of the arm and wrist and "heer no doro "(heer thread) was adorning the neck. What was this thread? As a kid, I mistakenly assumed that heer meant diamonds. However, I was not convinced as I had never seen diamonds as part of the traditional clothes of Gujarat!! It was much later that I got to know more. Heer ni dori is the local name for the Silk floss thread that is used for embroidery in Saurashtra. The embroidery itself is called Heer Bharat. It draws influences from afghani embroidery and Phulkari work from Punjab. Krishna's grandson, Aniruddhs wife was from Gandhar (now Kandahar) and it is believed that she brought the dance form of Garba to Gujarat. It is quite probable that she even brought the embroidery!! I often think of Gujarat as a kind of land's end. People came walking from different corners of the world passed by this area and some who wandered off to the coast line thought this was the end of the road and settled there for good. (My conjecture not the truth!) They brought their influences and the state got it's rich colourful culture. Heer ni dori was very sought after and was sourced from Kashmir, Afghanistan or later China. There are many songs that mention it. I still don't know why it is called heer ni dori though, in the story of heer ranjha there is a mention of phulkari work...could it be that connection? don't know. Had I not heard those words i would have never given thought to the thread used in the embroidery. Folk songs are important as they tell us something about the life around us. It allows you to build your own narrative around your roots. Also, going back to the first line in the song about exchanging handkerchiefs....when i visited the Tarnetar mela in the 1990s I got to know that during the course of the night the young tribal girls and boys exchanged handkerchiefs as a way of telling each other that they liked each other. Many dots connected!! Folk songs matter.
There was one particular line in that song that piqued my interest "Kambi ne karla, doke heer no doro". These line were used to describe what the girl is wearing. Kambi and kadla referred to ornaments of the arm and wrist and "heer no doro "(heer thread) was adorning the neck. What was this thread? As a kid, I mistakenly assumed that heer meant diamonds. However, I was not convinced as I had never seen diamonds as part of the traditional clothes of Gujarat!! It was much later that I got to know more. Heer ni dori is the local name for the Silk floss thread that is used for embroidery in Saurashtra. The embroidery itself is called Heer Bharat. It draws influences from afghani embroidery and Phulkari work from Punjab. Krishna's grandson, Aniruddhs wife was from Gandhar (now Kandahar) and it is believed that she brought the dance form of Garba to Gujarat. It is quite probable that she even brought the embroidery!! I often think of Gujarat as a kind of land's end. People came walking from different corners of the world passed by this area and some who wandered off to the coast line thought this was the end of the road and settled there for good. (My conjecture not the truth!) They brought their influences and the state got it's rich colourful culture. Heer ni dori was very sought after and was sourced from Kashmir, Afghanistan or later China. There are many songs that mention it. I still don't know why it is called heer ni dori though, in the story of heer ranjha there is a mention of phulkari work...could it be that connection? don't know. Had I not heard those words i would have never given thought to the thread used in the embroidery. Folk songs are important as they tell us something about the life around us. It allows you to build your own narrative around your roots. Also, going back to the first line in the song about exchanging handkerchiefs....when i visited the Tarnetar mela in the 1990s I got to know that during the course of the night the young tribal girls and boys exchanged handkerchiefs as a way of telling each other that they liked each other. Many dots connected!! Folk songs matter.
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| A wall hanging (chaaklo) made using heer bharat |
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| A cushion cover from Balochistan or Afghanistan that is made using the silk floss thread. The pattern is very similar to Phulkarr. |
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