Version 1:
वत्त येत्ता पाव्सु येत्ता
कुँकडा माँक्डाक् व्हार्डिक् जत्ता
दोणीर बैसुनु होरण येत्ता
काट्टेरी बैसून जेवण जत्ता कुँकडाले घराक तोरण माँक्डालें आयले होरण कोंबडी जाल्या होकल तोंड धरल्यां सकल कोंबडयान धरले सात्तें व्हल्ले होरेताले मात्तें
vatta yettā pāvsu yettā
kum̐kaḍā mām̐kḍāk vhārḍik jattā
doṇīra baisunu horaṇa yettā
kāṭṭerī baisūna jevaṇa jattā kum̐kaḍāle barāka toraṇa mām̐kḍāleṁ āyale horaṇa koṁbaḍī jālyā hokala toṁḍa dharalyāṁ sakala koṁbaḍayāna dharale sātteṁ vhalle horetāle mātteṁ
Version 2:
वत्त येत्ता पाव्सु येत्ता
कुँकडा माँक्डाक् व्हार्डिक् जत्ता
दोणीर बैसुनु होरण येत्ता
काट्टेरी बैसून जेवण जत्ता
उश्टे पान होळणु वत्ता
ताक जायकी दूध ??
vatta yettā pāvsu yettā
kum̐kaḍā mām̐kḍāk vhārḍik jattā
doṇīra baisunu horaṇa yettā
kāṭṭerī baisūna jevaṇa jattā
uśṭe pāna hoḻaṇu vattā
tāka jāyakī dūdha ??
Doni, katte, ushte paan…word that bring up vivid scenes in my head.
The ‘doni’ (small wooden boat) brings to my mind my Ajji’s life incident.My Ajji was quite a bold lady. ‘Makshi ek mukaar ek na’ which means she wasn’t the one to bitch behind someone’s back. She never hesitated to speak what was on her mind even if it hurt the the other person. And yet people did not mind probably because they knew she was clean at heart and also probably in those days respect for elders was quite high.
I guess it was typical in her era – big families, responsibility of younger siblings on the elder siblings as the parents grew old. And sometimes the older brother’s wives would be too keen to get off their intrusive sister in laws off their back. And so this happened with my Ajji too – she was one of the younger three sisters ready for marriage.
Her family didn’t have much to offer as dowry. Ajji had turned 24 which was quite a late age for marriage in those times. Her family was desperate. Finally, a prospective groom was found. Ajji was informed about this boy and his family coming to see her. The boy was a bus conductor she was told. The night before the meeting, she overheard that the boy had some physical ailment. She decided to escape just before the meeting. On her way, she stopped by the river and saw the prospective groom being helped get off the boat (Doni) by his family. He clearly seemed ill. Determined, she escaped to Udupi to her cousin brother’s family whom she greatly respected. They welcomed her and took responsibility of her future too. She often said ‘ Narpetalu so ashilo…sah mahinen mello’ (The boy was too weak and he died in 6 months).
The groom’s family (Horan) did not come in a car – they came on a boat from across the river- doniir baisun horan yetta….