“Yeh Galliyan Yeh Chaubara” from Prem Rog is such a hauntingly beautiful song that encapsulates the bittersweet experience of a bride leaving her home, the chaubara (courtyard) where she grew up, to start a new life in her marital home. In many ways, it’s a reflection of the deeply entrenched cultural narratives surrounding marriage, particularly in South Asian traditions, where a woman’s departure from her natal family was often tinged with loss, duty, and sacrifice.
This song, sung with such poignancy, isn’t just about the physical act of leaving—it symbolizes a severance, not just from childhood but also from autonomy in many cases. Historically, for so many women in our lineage, marriage was not always a joyful union but a transition into roles laden with expectations, often marked by subjugation, emotional isolation, or even abuse. The weight of patriarchal structures, dowries, and the lack of agency in choosing partners or shaping their destinies is embedded in that narrative.
The lines of the song evoke a deep sense of nostalgia for the innocence of girlhood while acknowledging the inevitability of stepping into the unknown, often with little support or assurance. For our ancestors, this was their reality—a rite of passage marked by pain, silence, and resilience.
But now, our legacy has shifted. We are no longer bound by the same social constructs to bear the same pain. The struggles of the women before us have paved the way for choices that they never had. Many of us can now marry out of love and mutual respect, delay or forgo marriage altogether, and prioritize personal growth and independence. The spaces where we exist—our galliyan and chaubaras—are no longer spaces we must leave behind to appease cultural norms. We can claim them, redefine them, or build entirely new ones.
In revisiting this song, we are reminded of how far we’ve come but also how important it is to honor the sacrifices and silent endurance of those who came before us. Their stories of survival, even in constrained circumstances, laid the foundation for us to imagine new possibilities. Songs like this one hold the echoes of their struggles and remind us to continue challenging the structures that caused them pain.
What strikes me most is how art, like this song, can be a bridge between past and present, weaving together threads of sorrow, triumph, and progress. It’s a call to reflect not only on where we’ve been but on where we want to go as part of this ongoing legacy.
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