Family Cooking Song
Onte gammum ontay samial kari odia
Tenna onta moorgnokai kali cut karia
Tech chadu howkam kali tarya
Koli kouli techam keri
Ovadu chadu tellate seidi
Aski ya chockate foiyai tora mora karya
In a city there was a cook
The cook took an onion and cut it
She put the onions into the pot
And she mixed it really well
She waited for a while and see if it was done
After that she took it and served for all to eat.
My informant is one of 6 children in her family and as she was growing up she had many chores to do around the house. One of them included helping her older sisters cook on weekends. She told me that her oldest sister told her this song when she was 10 years old. She said that most probably she made it up on the spot but she remembers it really well. She said sometimes when she cooks she unconsciously sings it because it stuck onto her that well.
I feel that when my informant was growing up in India, she did not have many things to do while cooking. For example these days one could watch TV or listen to radio and things like that. Even though my informant had those facilities they didnt have them in their kitchen, which was separate from their family room. So they instead resorted to singing songs about cooking and enjoying themselves together.
Today while my informant cooks she rarely sings songs. She jut usually just watches TV or doesnt do anything at all. As for my other relatives that live in India, they still sometimes sing songs. When I went to India last summer, my cousin still sang songs when she cooked. She learnt most of them from her mom (my aunt).