Chutney Love
Dem call meh Chutney Love
And if yuh see meh belly roll
Man cyan stop meh on a stage
When de chutney take control
I eh nobody bowjie
No promised doolahin
But when de tassa start to roll up
Beta, dem lyrics yuh have
I done write myself in
Ah could speak a lil Hindi
From meh nani and Indian movie
Dem does lick up meh curry and roti
An, well, meh house does see
Both Eid and Diwali
But dis chutney I does feel it
Curving in all meh wrist an ankle bone
Ah hundred and fifty years we woman singing it
An not in matikor alone
I never yet did leave Trinidad
Since India was left on de boats
So I know dis chutney is real Trini make
National culture like calypso
We did sing it [. . .]
Now some ah dem doh like dis chutney
Say how we does get on too wild
But is de freedom in we spirit that give chutney
Its pride and style
And look how now we everywhere
Soca show, radio, parang and carnival
Sitar, tabla, Hindi and Indian history
Claiming a place in Trinidad bacchanal
[. . .]
Gabrielle Jamela Hosein
Last year, the School of Advanced Study at the University of London published an anthology in the Commonwealth Writers series titled We Mark Your Memory: Writings from the Descendants of Indenture. It was edited by David Dabydeen, Maria del Pilar Kaladeen and Tina K Ramnarine.
Explaining the purpose behind the anthology, the editors said: “The majority of the work . . . was inspired by the period of indenture” and “In addition to contributions from established writers, this anthology features work by new writers, who are committed to developing the literary legacy established by the mid twentieth century”. The publication is “the first international anthology to focus on indentureship and its legacies”.
The volume was intended to mark the century of the end of indentureship in the British Empire. This was observed in 2017, and there have been several different events to mark it, including acknowledgements stretching over a period of one year.
The poem “Chutney Love” by Gabrielle Hosein of Trinidad and Tobago is a celebration of chutney, a traditional folk musical form of such entrenched popularity that it has grown from village status to be a part of the explosion of popular music in the country. As the poem proclaims, chutney has risen to the point where it takes its place beside soca, it is now a part of carnival and claims “a place in Trini bacchanal”.
The poem itself is not among the more profound of the works found in this anthology. It celebrates chutney as an enjoyable form of revelry, describes its popularity and how it has grown, but does not achieve a great deal more than that. In addition, its historical and cultural information is not all accurate.
It is not entirely clear what is meant by the lines;
“I never yet did leave Trinidad
Since India was left on the boats
So I know dis chutney is real Trini make
National culture like calypso
We did sing it.”
They seem to be asserting chutney as a true national product of Trinidad, originating in the island and comparable to the calypso as an indigenous national cultural force.
The history of chutney, however, establishes it as being of Indian origin – from the Uttar Pradesh region of North India, territory of the Bhojpuri language and culture. Bhojpuri is a regional form derived from the Hindu language. This was transported by the indentured workers who migrated to Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname, taking the culture with them. This included songs from the Bhojpuri tradition which were first sung in that language among the East Indian descendants especially in Trinidad and Guyana.
This musical tradition evolved into what became known as chutney in both countries. What happened quite separately in the two nations is remarkably similar. As the decades developed and the Indian language waned, chutney songs were performed in English, or more accurately, Creole. The instrumentation accompanying the music also developed and diversified and came to include a bit of hybridity. For a long time, however, chutney was largely rural and folk.
This was to see some cultural change as the society modernised and the recording industry took an interest in chutney. This development was more pronounced in Trinidad where quite a significant industry has developed. This took place along with the increasing popularity of the music and the recordings included a mix of soca to further increase the market. This helped to move it out of the folk setting and to make it a more national popular entertainment factor.
The poem is thereafter, correct. Chutney took its place alongside soca and eventually became included as a part of carnival. There is now a soca-chutney or chutney-soca competition at carnival time. What is more, songs from this have been known to seriously challenge soca hits and power their way into contention for the Road March.
The poem celebrates this aspect of the rise of chutney. Note, however, the references to the musical instrumentation. “Sitar, tabla, Hindi and Indian history” are mentioned as not only do some singers record chutney songs in Hindi today, but feature the Indian instruments like the tabla and sitar in the recordings. Tassa is the popular drum prevalent in chutney, but the other instruments are often emphasized to give the music its particular traditional flavour.
Commensurate with these factors in the rise of chutney is that it has found disfavour with many branches of the Indian community. Many Hindus, in particular, do not acknowledge it as a desired part of their culture. Other Indians, likewise, disapprove of it. Often for the very reasons that this poem celebrates it.
There is mention of belly dancing, and wining on a stage, as well as some sort of disclaimer – departing from practiced cultural traditions. The persona says, “I eh nobody bowjie /No promised doolahin”, further putting it at odds with Hinduism and even with Muslims who would disapprove of the cultural lifestyle that accompanies those thoughts and practices celebrated by the persona in the poem.
Hosein’s “Chutney Love” is not a particularly accomplished poem, but it does manage to address a few important factors concerning chutney in the Trinidad and Tobago community.