If you follow Coke Studio Pakistan, you must have listened to the iconic Paar Chanaa De by Noori and Shilpa Rao. The song has more than 22 million views on YouTube so far. If you are reading this post, you probably searched for some more information about the song. I am writing this post to give you some history about the tale behind the song as I have understood it from various sources. I will also explain the lyrics to those who do not speak/understand Punjabi.
Sohni Mahiwaal- the love story
Legend has it that in the 18th century Mughal Empire, Sohni was born to the clan of Kumhars (potters) to a potter named Tulla in Gujrat (a city in present-day Pakistan) across the bank of river Chenab. The “Chanaa” we hear in the song is the Punjabi word for Chenab. Sohni used to decorate the pots made by her father. Some say she would draw hearts on the pots and set them up for sale. The city of Gujrat was on a popular trade route between Delhi (present-day India) and Bukhara (Uzbekistan). Dwellers of Gujrat say that the shop of Tulla Kumhar was near the Ram Pyari Mahal by the River Chenab.
Izzat Baig, a trader from Bukhara made a stopover in Gujrat and was smitten by Sohni’s beauty. Just to meet her everyday, he would visit the shop and buy pottery every day and an innocent romance began. Izzat Baig did not return to Bukhara. Soon his money ran out and he and started working at Sohni’s household. He herded buffaloes and that’s why he came to be known as the Mahiwaal (buffalo herder). Soon enough Sohni’s parents and the people around came to know about the romance and it was unacceptable for the community to marry a girl off to an outsider. Therefore, she was married to another Kumhar from the community. Heartbroken, Mahiwal renounced the world and started living as a faqir (hermit) on the bank of Chenab in a village opposite Sohni’s in-laws.
Each night, Sohni would swim to the other side while floating on an inverted baked clay pot to meet her lover. Sohni’s sister-in-law came to know about her nightly trips and told this her mother-in-law. The women replaced the hard-baked pot with an unbaked one. As Sohni started her journey that night, the pot started dissolving in water and drowned her along. Mahiwal saw this happening from the other side and jumped into the river in an attempt to save Sohni but could not do so and drowned himself.
Some historians are of the view that the setting of this love story was not by the banks of River Chenab but on River Indus instead and Sohni did not belong to the Kumhar tribe but the Jat tribe. Sohni is one of the seven queens of Sind in the great Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s compilation of works, “Shah Jo Risalo”. The Sindhi tale of Sohni Mehar by Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai is slightly different in details from the Punjabi tale of Sohni-Mahiwal. According to Shah Abdul Latif, Sohni would cross the river each night to meet her Mehar (buffalo herder) named Sahar. She was married to a person named Daam. She used to go meet Sahar on a baked earthenware pot. But one stormy night, the pot broke. Sahar saw this and jumped in to save her but they both drowned together in the Indus River. According to another legend, wedding processions passing through villages in Sind are treated with milk by the villagers. Sohni met with Sahar on such an expedition and they both fell in love. The tomb of Sohni is located has 75 km (47 mi) from Hyderabad, Shahdadpur.
No matter what the version, the tale of Sohni and Mahiwal transcends the social norms. It is also fascinating to note that although Sohni was a married woman in both the versions-yet people have celebrated her love for Mahiwal instead of being the moral police. The folk tale has survived for centuries. Sometimes I feel, those were better times.
Coming back to our Punjabi version of the folktale on which the song Paar Chanaa De is inspied from. I was not able to find the poet of the lyrics but apparently, this folk song has traveled from generation to generation by the word of mouth. In recent times though, Ustad Mattay Khan and his sons Kashif Ali and Zahid Ali have been known sing it at the Sufi Shrine of Syed Chanaha Badshah in Shadiwal, Lahore in qawali style. Noori, the Pakistani rock band definitely gave this song a new life and sang it in collaboration with Shilpa Sethi (an Indian singer). According to Noori, the song was passed on to them by their grandparents.
Now that you know the background, I will move on to the lyrics. (I have not repeated the lyrics sung two or more times in a row)
Sohni speaks to the clay pot (ghara.ghariya)
Paar chanaan de disse kulli yaar di
My beloved’s hut lies across the Chenab (chanaa/channan) river Ghaṛiya ghaṛiya aa ve ghaṛiya
Oh my clay pot, let’s get going
Raat haneri nadi ṭhaaṭhaan maardi
The night is dark and the river is turbulent
Aṛiye aṛiye haan ni aṛiye
Listen, girl (clay-pot)! don’t be stubborn
The clay pot speaks to Sohni:
Kacchi meri miṭṭi kaccha mera naam ni
I am a pot made of unbaked clay, I think I’ll dissolve in the river
Haan main na-kaam ni
I am afraid I will fail and cannot carry you across (the river)
Kacchiyaan da hunda kaccha anjaam ni
The unstable (re:untrustworthy) only meet an unfortunate end
Eh gal ‘aam ni
This is a universal truth
Kacchiyaan te rakkhiye na umeed paar di
Don’t rely on the unsound/untrustworthy to help you reach the shore
(It also means that an untrustworthy friend will never stand up for you in your time of need)
Sohni speaks to the clay pot:
Wekh chhallaan paindiyaan nah chhaḍḍeen dil ve
Look! the waves are splashing high, but don’t lose heart
Ajj maheenwaal noon main jaana mil ve
I must go to meet Mahiwal tonight at any cost
haan lai ke khillh ve
Carry me across the river
Ajj maheenwaal noon main jaana mil ve
I must go to meet Mahiwal tonight at any cost
Haan aiho dil ve
Yes, that’s what my heart insists upon
Yaar noon milegi ajj laash yaar di
Tonight, a lover will be greeted by the corpse of his beloved
Ghaṛiya ghaṛiya aa ve ghaṛiya
Come on, clay-pot, let’s get going
The end
Phaṛ pallaṛa pakke murshad da jehṛa tainoon paar lagaawe
Hold firmly to the Murshid (Sufi guide) who will safely take you ashore
(These lines come as a universal message to folks who feel lost. They should find the truth by following a spiritual master (Murshid) who will help them cross the turbulent sea of life safely across the shore to the life hereafter).
I hope this background will help you understand the song Paar Chanaa De better. If you like it, please comment. I love hearing from you. xoxo
Love and Peace.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sohni_Mahiwal
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/right-across-chenab-river-jawad-syed/
https://medium.com/subcontinental-elixir/paar-chanaa-de-29f360f509a
www.goodtimes.pk/sohni-mahiwal-aka-sohni-mehar/