The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India and the Deccan c9.212

c9.212

The ordinary folk-songs of the country are called Lavanis, and will be familiar to everyone who has heard the coolies sing as they do their work; the women nursing their children; the bullock drivers; dhooly bearers; or sepoys on the march. The airs are usually very monotonous. The words, if not impromptu, are a sort of history or ballad in praise of some warrior or “burra Sahib.” Some have a kind of chorus, each man in turn singing an improvised verse. There is no employment of râga.