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Inti si Haldi, sareh ghar meh maldi

Haldi Masale Wali, Arifa siddiqui

As a young bride, I was encouraged to stay indoors around 8 days before my wedding for beautification rituals to begin. Given a plain yellow suit, yellow khuseh to wear on my feet and flower jewellery for my hair and wrists, uptan was applied daily until the wedding day arrived, with most evenings filled with women singing and dancing into the night to a dhol drum in our living room. Traditional folk or Bollywood songs would be sung as the uptan was applied and left to dry, to be washed off later. 

Haldi masaleh vali keseh pisi geeh
Haldi masaleh vali keseh pisi geeh 

Turmeric girl how will you crush it? 

Meri jaan eseh eseh eseh eseh, eseh pisunghee 

My dear, like this and this and this and this and this, I’ll crush it! 

Terah susra bulay, toh keseh jayeeh geeh 
Terah susra bulay, toh keseh jayeeh geeh 

 If your father in law calls you, how will you go?

Tereh susra bulay toh keseh jayeeh geeh 
Meri jaan, eseh eseh eseh eseh eseh joangheeh

If your father in law calls, how will you go? 
My dear, like this and this and this and this and this, I will go! 

Haldi masaleh vali keseh pisi geeh 
Meri jaan, eseh eseh eseh eseh, eseh pisunghi

Turmeric girl how will you crush it? 
My dear, like this and this and this and this and this, I’ll crush it! 

Vivacious aunties whose singing left a lot to be desired would playfully slap each other on the shoulders, head pulled back with laughter, hands clapping and rowdily shout, ‘Chal hat, nimak chiraknay walay, bohat mil jai gay haldi lagane walay’ – get away you who spread salt, there’s plenty of people to put haldi on others!

In the printed edition of Feast Spice Hafsah explores the resonance of haldi in South Asian culture - from its healing and medicinal properties, to its role in weddings across Muslim, Sikh and Hindi religions. 


Hafsah Aneela Bashir

Hafsah is a Manchester-based poet, playwright and performer originally from East London. Founder and co-director of Outside The Frame Arts, she is passionate about championing voices outside the mainstream. Winner of the Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship 2019, she is an Associate Artist with The Poetry Exchange, Associate Artist with Oldham Coliseum Theatre and Supported Artist at The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Her play Cuts Of The Cloth was commissioned for PUSH Festival 2019. Her debut poetry collection The Celox And The Clot is published by Burning Eye Books. She has worked creatively with Manchester International Festival, Ballet Black London, HOME Theatre Manchester, Manchester Literature Festival, ANU Productions Ireland and the Imperial War Museum. She is currently writing the libretto for The Bridge Between Breaths, a FormidAbility and Tete a Tete festival commission exploring Britain’s involvement in the Transatlantic slave trade and is founder of the recently launched Poetry Health Service – a free service providing poetry panaceas for the people as a tool for healing.