Punjabi Kisse

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Punjabi Kisse are highly popular tales of love, valour, honour or moral integrity belonging to Punjabi folklore.

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[edit] Etymology

The word 'Kisse' is a plural form of Kissa (pronunciation: kIs-sa) that means 'a legend' or 'a folk tale'. The word, most probably, came from Persian; but presently it is well established in almost all languages of the Indian subcontinent, especially in North-West Indian languages like Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu. Informally the word kissa means an interesting story.

[edit] Relation with Punjabi culture

Punjabi language is famous for its rich literature of kisse. Most of the kisse are about, love, passion, betrayal, sacrifice, social values and common man’s revolt against the system. In Punjabi kisse friendship, loyalty, love and 'qaul' (verbal agreement or promise) are given utmost importance and most of the stories hinge on these critical elements.

Punjabi Kisse have not only inspired Punjabi culture and folk music for centuries, but they have actually transformed it to beyond recognition from its neighbors. The kisse are recited, told as bedtime stories to children, performed musically as folk songs.

In music, most of the kisse have their own unique requirements from the performer. A person may be capable of singing Heer but that may not necessarily enable him to sing Mirza as well, and vice versa. The range of voice on the musical scale and the demands on breath required for singing kisse is immense. Most of the beats used in modern Punjabi music (misleadingly labeled Bhangra), originated from kisse recitations in old times. Kisse also boast to be among the best poetry every written in Punjabi.

[edit] Poetry based on Kisse

Waris Shah's (1722-1798) kissa of Heer & Ranjha (formall known as Kissa Heer) is among the most famous kisse of all times. The effect of kisse on Punjabi culture is so strong that even religious leaders and revolutionaries like Guru Gobind Singh, Baba Farid etc. used references to kisse in their messages. It will not be wrong to say that popularity and nearly divine status of kisse in Punjabi actually inspired many generations of spiritual leaders and social activists to combine the message of God with teenage love tales. This gave rise to what is known as sufi movement in Punjab.

The most popular writer/poet to write on this genre is Bulleh Shah (1680-1758). So popular are his kalams (poems) that he is frequently quoted by young and old alike with same respect and on matters of both love and God. Only last year two new singer’s introduced themselves with Punjabi music albums with Sufi contents in their ssongs; "Rabbi" by (Rabbi Shergill) contained "Bulla Ki Jaana Main Kaun" written by Bulleh Shah & another song by Waris Shah and "Bulla" (Sukhwinder Wadali). Both the albums were smash hits in their own targeted audience (Bulla by Rabbi Shergill saw the advent of Punjabi rock and was very popular throughout Indian, especially in metropolitans).

Also a few Years back (Harbhajan Mann) , Canada Bases Punjabi singer rejuvenated the story of Sahiba Mirza, the work of waris shah & introduced a whole new generation to this amazing love story.

[edit] Well-known Kisse

Most of the Punjabi Kisse were written by Muslim Poets and wandered. The oldest ones were scripted in Urdu. Some of the most popular kisse are listed below:

  1. Mirza Sahiba (Peelu)
  2. Heer Ranjha (Waris Shah)
  3. Sohni Mahiwal(Hashim Shah)
  4. Sassi Punnun (Shah Hussain, 1539-1599)
  5. Sucha Singh Soorma
  6. Jeona Maur
  7. Shirin Farhad
  8. Pooran Bhagat
  9. Loona (Shiv Kumar Batalvi, 1936-1973)
  10. Kehar Singh Ram Kaur
  11. Sham Kaur/Sham Singh/Sham Lal
  12. Dhol Sammi
  13. Yusuf Zulekha
  14. Kaulan
  15. Dulla Bhatti
  16. Manu Guggu
  17. Ustaad Harman
  18. Jatt Parmz

[edit] References

  • Mir, Farina (May 2006). "Genre and Devotion in Punjabi Popular Narratives: Rethinking Cultural and Religious Syncretism". Comparative Studies in Society and History 48 (3): 727–758. Cambridge University Press. 

[edit] External links