Sumintra [Song]

Uploaded by mdemon69
SUMINTRA
Performed by Rikki Jai (1989)
Composed by Gregory Ballantyne

Bindiya chamkegi [Give me soca, aha aha]
Bindiya chamkegi [Boy give me soca, aha aha]
[Give me soca, aha-aha]
[Boy, give me soca, aha aha.]

Sumintra born in a shack in Debe and she parents from Indian Walk
This pretty girl have me tracking whole day filling me with she fancy talk
Is for years I sooting she, and she blushing back at me
But when I send my letter, she don't send no answer
So I hit the record shops, Indian records I buy up
When I reach by the girl she say, “Stop, Rikki, stop!”

Chorus:
She say, “Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Tickle me with a lavway, soca me till I sesay
But hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha.”

Sumintra charge me for being racist and tell me don't take them chance with she
Don't let me catch you in that foolishness, trying to reach the Indian in me
Like you into politics, boy, you coming on that tricks
Boy, I'm Trinbagonian, I like soca action
Take your Mohammed Rafi and bring Scrunter or Bally
Only then you’d be talking to me. Yes, Rikki.

Chorus:
She say, “Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Tickle me with a lavway, soca me till I sesay
But hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Tickle me with a lavway, soca me till I sesay
And hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha.

[Give me soca, aha aha]
Bindiya chamkegi, [Boy give me soca, aha-aha]
Bindiya chamkegi, [Give me soca, aha-aha]
[Boy, give me soca, aha aha.]

Aha-aha, aha-aha

Sumintra back me into a corner, she really catch me offside that night
For so much years was the village joker
I don't know since when she get so bright
Must be University or them trips to Miami
That make she draw a border between roots and culture
She's a liberated soul, Trinbago in she passport..
I feel small like a quart
She say, “ Sport, you come short”

Chorus:
Just hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Please tickle me with a lavway, soca me till I sesay
But hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha.

I still believe the best gift is music ’cause music is the food of love
But now I had to come up with new tricks for Sumintra to get involve
Was November 28th, I say “Kaiso ent release yet”
Boy, like I get she more hot, is kaiso in she thoughts
Man you really out a line, treating calypso like wine
Oh lord, you bring dem tune, all is wine. Leh we wine.

Chorus:
She say, Hold de Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Tickle me with a lavway, man, soca me till I sesay
But hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Please tickle me with a lavway, man, soca me till I sesay
But hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha aha
Tickle me with a lavway, man, soca me till I sesay
But hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha
[Hold the Lata Mangeskkar, give me soca, aha-aha]
[Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha]

Is soca yuh want eh?
I go give you what you want.
Lavway! Sesay!
[Hold the Lata Mangeskkar, give me soca, aha-aha]
[Hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha]...

.............................................................................................





A Note From The Gull

Eighteen years after its composition and execution, I am taking the opportunity to applaud Gregory Ballantyne and Rikki Jai for this amazing work, “Sumintra.” I came across it while trawling for Trinbagonian music on the Internet and in addition to taking a very pleasant trip down memory lane, I found myself being amazed by the treasures it contains.

At the time when the song was first released, having only just discovered Lata Mangeshkar myself, I remember being puzzled by Sumintra’s dismissal of the glory that for me is Lata. At that time, I would have said, “Hold de soca, give me Lata, aha-aha.” I think I must have dismissed Sumintra (the song) because I cannot recall noticing at that time just how clever it is. Reading and re-reading the lyrics now, I find myself again and again silently congratulating Mr. Ballantyne on his insights.

Sumintra, the composition, is an earlier example of Trinbagonian songs which reflect the meeting and merging of ethnic groups, specifically the African and East Indian groups. These songs have been produced by African, dougla and East Indian performers and more recently co-performed by members of the two groups.

Sumintra, the young woman, represents natural evolution that wants to be allowed the space and the freedom to select the best from the new environment which ever-present change constantly guarantees us. In this ever-new environment, whether pre or post arrival, pre or post independence, pre or post emancipation, pre or post industrialization, pre or post boom, the one constant is that we inhabitants continually seek to find ways to survive and prosper.

Sumintra’s protest draws attention to the ties that attempt to bind and shape us, and not necessarily in ways that encourage our arriving at the most fruitful syntheses.

Having been born in a shack in Debe and with parents from Indian Walk, the scene is set for us to expect an East Indian female who will, according to the stereotype, partake only of things associated with her ethnic group. But Sumintra is “Trinbagonian” and “a liberated soul.” Did the composer associate the two conditions? Was he saying that to be able to claim to be a real Trinbagonian, one must be liberated…from ethnic roots? Whatever the reason, Sumintra has “drawn a border between roots and culture.” How did this amazing thing happen? The composer concludes that it must have been the mind-broadening influences of her university education or the trips to Miami.

Hmm. Many of us didn’t have to wait that long. Having had to see our faces in the mirror every day was at least one of the catalysts towards enlightenment for sure. Growing up, I saw a chimera, a thing that could not be defined and the product of amalgamation of immigrants from at least five ethnic groups from three contintents and the Amerindians that they met here, each fading in and out. People didn’t know what I was and I found myself revelling in the freedom to choose anything which that past and my present location offered me. Most Trinabgonians, even if not ethnically mixed, but simply by virtue of the wealth of our cultural influences, find themselves in the same situation of “transcendence” and often without the influences of tertiary education and travel.

But Sumintra makes some powerful statements. She accuses her admirer of the following:
Being racist: She could have said also that he was seeing her as a stereotype, or locking her into the past of her ethnic origin. The same type of categorization that encourages cultural ghettoization, where, for example, East Indians should only want to play East Indian instruments and people of African descent must naturally be drawn to the steel pan.

Being into politics: “Like you into politics, boy, you comin' on that tricks…/Don't let me catch you in that foolishness/Trying to reach the Indian in me.”

Right on Mister Ballantyne!!! But that tactic of trying to reach or pander to some particular aspect of an individual or a particular segment of the population is not the preserve of politicians. It is resorted to universally when there is a need to quickly (often unscrupulously) harness a person or persons to a particular cause. Rikki wants to quickly capture Sumintra’s affection and he attempts to awaken a resonance in this East Indian woman by plying her with East Indian music. This is the bait and the hook. Sumintra, however, is having none of it. While she may personally be familiar with and enjoy Lata Mangeshkar’s music, she resents the stereotyping which reduces her to a one dimensional entity. She also loves soca music and this is what she would prefer to share with Rikki.

“Boy, I'm Trinbagonian, I like soca action
Take your Mohammed Rafi and bring Scrunter or Bally
Only then you’d be talking to me, yes, Rikki”

“Please tickle me with a lavway, man, soca me till I sesay
But hold the Lata Mangeshkar, give me soca, aha-aha.”

While this speaking to difference may be excused, or even essential in less open societies, here in Trinbago, it is often quickly seen for what it is – a ploy, and often a divisive one that pits one “group” against another, whether these be distinguished by religion, ethnicity, gender, class, political affiliation. We identify the trickery by recognizing that we are being flattened, simplified, categorized, reduced to one dimensionality. We defend our multi-dimensionality by asking ourselves the questions, “Why am I not being addressed as an individual and a human being and a man or woman or child and a Trinbagonian? What aspect or aspects of my being and my life in this country am I expected to neglect, to betray? Why are these artificial distinctions being solidified?” Whether the object(s) of these strategies choose, like Sumintra, to protest, or to play along, depends on if there is the perception of benefits to be received. We are entitled always it would seem, to sell ourselves to the highest bidder.

Thank you Gregory Ballantyne and Rikki Jai.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare