Songs, bolis at weddings new mode of protest

Manav Mander

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Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 12

Be it any occasion, songs and bolis are an integral part of Punjabi culture. Singers are now venting out their feelings and anger against the three farm laws through them. Weddings and stage shows have become the new venues of protest these days while songs are depicting the dark times that people of Punjab are going through.

Pained at the plight of the farmers protesting in Delhi, Ravinder Ranguwal, Ludhiana-based media director and president of Punjab Cultural Society, who is also a singer and a lyricist, has written a song. “The farmers themselves are singing boliyaan and tappe against the PM. I also went to the Singhu border and shared my song with the protesting farmers. It was liked by everyone present there,” said Ranguwal.

Farmers creative

Farmers themselves are singing boliyaan and tappe against the Prime Minister. I shared my song with the protesting farmers at Singhu. It was liked by everyone present there. —Ravinder Ranguwal, Singer

“Farmers are serving the community at large by providing food and my heart bleeds at seeing their plight,” he added. Not only this, even marriages and stage shows in Punjab are incomplete without a boli or two on Modi and Amit Shah these days.

Recently, during a wedding ceremony at a village near Machhiwara, a group of professional artistes was invited, who sang bolis on the protest. A member of a local orchestra group said: “Songs are a representation of our lives. If we are passing through difficult times, it is also depicted in the songs. We have prepared few boliyaan and tappe on the struggle of the farmers and sang them during a sangeet night recently.”