ચાંદલિયો Chandaliyo (O Little Moon - a Bride's Folk Song)

શરદ પૂનમની રાતે નાયિકા ચાંદાને જુએ ને કહે - ચાંદો મારા ચોકમાં ઊગ્યો.

On the bright full-moon night of the month of Aaso, the young woman of the song looks up at the moon risen in the sky. Though that same moon shines on every home, she feels it has risen especially 'in my courtyard'. This joyful greeting opens the song.

દૂર પિયરથી છૂટી પડેલી કન્યા ચાંદાને પોતાનો સંદેશવાહક બનાવે છે.

The bride turns the moon into her messenger. Living far from her parents at her in-laws' home, she begs the moon to carry her love and her message to her kinfolk. In the old society a daughter often could not visit her parents for years after marriage, so the moon becomes her go-between.

બાપ, મા, જેઠ, દિયર, નણંદ, વીર - સૌને કન્યા ચાંદા દ્વારા યાદ કરે છે.

Through the moon the bride remembers each member of her parental home in turn - father, mother, elder brother-in-law, younger brother-in-law, sister-in-law and her own brother. For each she sends loving words and good wishes. Thus the whole web of family bonds is woven into the song.

દીકરી પિયરને ઝૂરે છે અને સાસરિયાંમાં પણ એવો જ સ્નેહ ઝંખે છે.

At its heart the song carries a daughter's ache for her parents' home. At the same time she yearns to find at her in-laws' the same warmth and affection she knew at home. A girl who lived freely at her father's house for years now hopes to treat everyone at her new home as her own and to be treated likewise - that ideal the song expresses in a gentle tune.