Wedding limericks that broke the ice

The bitter-sour limericks called sithinis were once so popular at traditional weddings, but now their use has become episodic. Like the constructive role of the ‘fool’ in Shakespeare’s plays, these songs would not only taunt, but also spark the needed humour, along with the useful guidelines for families, so as to keep them amicably adjusted in the future.

As such, limericks were sung mostly by the side of the bride, wishing for a bright future of the couple. The first one would taunt, but also advice: ‘Thode aaye baraati tun ve/ Jra sadi vi mundia sun ve/ Sangat kreen sdaa chajj di’ (Your entire marriage party is dead drunk. Just listen to our advice. To lead a happy, healthy, long married life, keep the company of people with good habits).

Tradition has it that every parent of the bride is proud of the talent and qualities of their daughter. So the bride’s side would often sing: ‘Sadi kudi hai patt da ptola/Munda thoda akal da lohla/Rakho piar nal kudi thoda ghar bann du’ (Our daughter is as pretty as a well-patterned silken cloth. But your boy seems to be short of wisdom. Remember, if you just keep giving love and affection to our daughter, she would leave no stone unturned to put your house on the path of progress and prosperity).

Those were the days when the mother of the groom would not accompany the baraat. In order to find an opportunity, the women from the side of the bride would sing: ‘Kalrha kyon aaya ve toon ajj di ghadi/ Ghoodi ma kyon nheen liaya ve toon ajj di ghadi!’ (Listen dear groom, why have you turned up without your mother. Your mother would have served you as a mare at this auspicious hour!)

Even the groom’s father was not spared by women on the bride’s side, at the time of weddings. They would often sing: ‘Larha ladla bheno adhee rateen mange pichh/ Larhe da peo eyon betha jive kile bania rich!’ (The groom is so hungry that he demands rice soup at midnight. He is a favourite of his parents that his father is sitting as if a bear is trying to hide itself behind a thorny bush!)

There was no lack of pictorial limericks, too. The women of the bride’s side would once again jointly attack the parents of the groom, thus: ‘Larhe de peo di khul gyee dhoti/ Larhe di ma vekhe khdee khdoti/ Jdon larha jann chadhia!’ (The cloth tied round the waist of the groom’s father gets loosened falling on the floor and his mother kept intently watching, though it was the time of the departure of baraat from their house).