Mustafa Khatun; [Performer]

Ola songs

Music

Music (MUS)

Music

Mithing gorer Bela Hosson bhairey (Brother Bela Hosson is holding a meeting) is a Ola song, performed in the Rohingya camps for the RCMC by Rohingya musician Mustafa Khatun.

Ola songs are pre-wedding songs that are sung by female relatives of the bride from one month before the actual ceremony. In Rohingya culture, it is socially agreeable that maternal and paternal grandmothers, and sisters-in-law can tease the bride. Ola songs primarily tease up the bride while preparing her for the new stage of life. The lyrics of Ola songs are similar to Hoñla songs but primarily centered around the bride’s feelings. For instance, if the groom is seen to be visiting the bride’s hometown, the women sing, ‘Do you love your groom more than us? Why else would he be roaming around here? Have you shown him your beauty?’. These amusing exchanges take place between the relatives and the bride way before the wedding, while Hoñla songs are sung two or three days from the wedding. Performed by women in groups sitting in yards, Ola songs add to the communal and ceremonious element of Rohingya weddings.