Melody for Monday: Kaise Bani Sundar Popo

Sundar Popo‘s hit ‘Kaise Bani‘, from his 1969 album, ‘Nani Aur Nana Don’t Cry’, may not come across as the most sophisticated of melodies. But it’s nothing short of a gem that sparkles with darkness. A cornerstone of the ‘chutney music‘ genre that blends Bhojpuri folk traditions with Caribbean rhythms, Popo’s rendition of this old Bhojpuri song is poignant and funny. And therein lies its genius.

The lyrics, a delightful mix of Bhojpuri and English – that the likes of fellow Trinidadian V S Naipaul were both drawn to and repelled by – tell the quirky tale of a wine-loving grandpa and grandma. The chorus, ‘Phulari bina chutney/ kaise bani’ – appreciating the small pleasures in life with all its travails, challenges and tragedies embodied by the magic-realistic line, ‘Me and my darling was flying in a plane/ The plane catch a fire and we fall inside the cane’ – is life-affirming, celebratory.

‘Kaise Bani’ isn’t just a celebration of fusion, embodying the cultural duality of the Indian diaspora in Trinidad, but also that of life, warts and all, made pleasurable by ‘dips in chutney’. It’s also a testament to the late Sundar Popo’s pioneering and unique ‘apocalypso’ spirit.