From Folk to Fetish: How Contemporary Punjabi Music Undermines a Woman's Identity

The legendary singer Gurdas Mann once remarked upon the profound impact of music on the spiritual connection between the almighty and human beings in the following words: "Meri aatma teri aatma vicho boli... te Mainu tan parmatma de darshan ho gaye... Sangeet hi zariya hai us nu paun da, aur kuch nahi."

- DR. NIDHI SHARMA

The translation is that music is the medium to connect with the Supreme and nothing else. These words will resonate with people who treat music as a gateway to their soul. Music tends to have a soothing effect and plays a pivotal role in the process of rejuvenation on a daily basis for most of us. But the songs that we hear or the music videos we view in the contemporary times act to the contrary and raise an important question on the quality of the content that we are consuming in the name of music.

A couple of days ago, I happened to stumble upon a trending Punjabi song which made me wince and recoil at the same time. The lyrics of the so-called "trending" song compared the woman to a hand grenade, machine gun, and a pistol. The song went on to portray the woman as a murderess who is allowed to commit 60 murders because she looks a certain way. The singer is a well-known name from the Punjabi industry who happens to carry a following of 37 million on the popular social media platform Instagram. This implies that his songs have a viewership of millions of people all across the globe, especially the youth. However, such songs raise an important question that in an era where we are celebrating women like Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh for leading the defence personnel of the country, songs like these continue to objectify women for their appearance, body, colour, and facial features.