“Don’t Procrastinate” Proverb (Gujarati)

Nationality: Indian
Age: 81
Occupation: Senior Citizen
Residence: Walnut, CA
Performance Date: April 4, 2015
Primary Language: Gujarathi
  1. Main Piece
    1. Original Script: કલ કાર જેથી કાર આજ . આજ કાર એએબી જેથી
    2. Phonetic Script: ““Kal karo so aaj kar. Aaj karo so abh”
    3. Transliteration: “Tomorrow do what today do. Today do what now.”
    4. Translation: “What is to be done tomorrow, do today. What is to be done today, do now”
  2. Informants Background
    1. Where did you learn it: “Jyare hoon nani hathi, thyare Vaghela na adults chokrao ne kehtha tha, tho chokrao kaam puru kare velu, ne raah no jowe kaam karwa maate.”
      • “When I was young, the adults of Vagela (her village) would say it to us kids to teach us to complete our work on time, instead of procrastinating”
    2. What does it mean you: “varso pachi khabar paidi ke Kabir Swami na shabd che. Kabir Swami, je bhudhi vaparvanu sikhwadtha. Etle mari maate a jem jivanu shabdh che.”
      • “I learned years later it is a saying of Swami Kabir (a priest) His words are meant to inspire and spread wisdom amongst the community. So this proverb in particular, having come from a swami, serves as rules to live by”
  3. Context of the performance: No real context, simply a proverb that is said to teach good habits.
  4. My thoughts: After doing some research to Swami Kabir, it came to my attention that his life spanned from the year 1440 – 1518. It is common for Indian Villagers to take the word of Priests to be very sacred, thus it is believable that his words spread the country and lasted through the generations. The phonetic flow of it also must have played a large part in preserving it through the generations and become a common household saying.