Bella Ciao MehndiRemix2020

 I was going to write this meditation on motherhood, but it was making me feel so melancholy and then I saw the Bella Ciao mehndi dance on Facebook which instantly fixed everything. For those of you who haven't seen it, here it is https://www.facebook.com/OfficialBellaCiao/videos/2803727963043830/UzpfSTExNzA2NTQwNjM2Mzc0NzoyNDAyMTQ3NDczODIxNDU/  From what I understand, this song has become popular because of Money Heist. It took me a few minutes to figure out why there were so many Pakistanis commenting under the video and being very indignant about the whole thing but then I realised that the whole country has binge watched Money Heist in these past few weeks and that's how they know the song. If you are like me and haven't seen the show, the song is a folk song that became an anthem of resistance during WWII. Seeing the song being played during a mehndi and having affluent looking people dancing to it has clearly irked a lot of people. 

To be honest, I don't see what all the fuss is really about. People are so precious about authenticity and to me it seems like such a waste of time. Remember a few years ago when Coke Studio Pakistan released a version of Faiz's Hum Dekhenge, produced in typical Coke Studio-esque style, and Twitter almost imploded with anger because they had left out what everyone called the 'most' revolutionary lines of the poem: jab taaj uchaalay jaayein gaye, sab takht giraaye jaayein gaye (all crowns with be thrown away, all thrones will fall to the ground) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unOqa2tnzSM

I mean really, what more could we have expected from Coke Studio? Coke Studio is obviously not where the revolution is going to take place and the decision to leave the lines out is merely telling of the severe limits of what is often touted as one of Pakistan's most progressive, culturally diverse music shows.

But I think that when people start crying out, "this is not the real Faiz! this is not how Faiz's poetry is supposed to be experienced!" then we do have a problem. Because once something is out in the world, people will engage with it in innumerable ways and that is inherently a beautiful thing. This Coke Studio song is just one rendition, that tells us more about Coke Studio itself and less about anything else. And besides maybe someone saw it on tv, hummed it the whole day, then remembered how they used to read Faiz when they were younger and went looking for their copy of his poems. Or maybe a university student watched it at one am on Youtube, realised that they had never read Faiz before and looked up the whole poem online. And then another. I like to believe that these are possibilities that even this Coke Studio rendition can invite simply because nobody can ever predict or control how people will engage with art and literature and that is why these things are so wonderful. 

Besides how do we know what Faiz would have wanted anyway? He might have shrugged, agreed to let the two lines go and taken that Coke Studio cheque. I mean, who is to say really? And would this somehow make him a lesser poet?  

Sorry, I went off on a whole Faiz tangent there without meaning to. And of course we still need to talk about capitalism. I realise I am digging a hole for myself over here and it seems like I am making excuses for capitalism, but just hear me out. Many complain that when capitalism co-opts something that is meant to be revolutionary in its sentiment then something that is authentic somehow becomes inauthentic and people are then going to buy into this inauthenticity. Yes, it is the nature of capitalism to co-opt art, music, poetry, revolutionary sentiment and expression, empty it of its context and then use it to sell us things. We are all painfully aware of this. I want to be clear, I do think capitalism is still the enemy, but I think capitalism cannot predict how people respond to what it produces. That doesn't mean people won't listen, watch or buy what it is selling, just that it cannot control how they truly engage with it. And maybe that is the truly radical thing about people, that they are unpredictable.

I think when capitalism co-opts revolutionary expression, it is laying bare its own emptiness. Capitalism cannot really produce anything, it can only co-opt and that is its essential weakness. We need to understand this as a weakness so we can appreciate the potential in people (all people: 'the masses', the elite and everyone in between) to subvert this but the fight for authenticity is simply not subversive enough. Authenticity doesn't exist, if you ask me. What does exist is hundreds of renditions of Hum Dekhenge. On television and as part of big budget festivals. But also on Youtube, classrooms, people's kitchens, in notebooks, street corners and endless other places that neither you nor I can imagine. 

Okay so what does any of this have to do with the Bella Ciao mehndi dance? Possibly because the comments underneath the video are all proclaiming this is an inauthentic and therefore incorrect interpretation and usage of the song. If people are worried that this is going to catch on and now every rich-person mehndi will have a mandatory Bella Ciao remix as part of the dance playlist then all I can say is that is probably not going to happen. But even IF it did, a mehndi remix does not dampen the power of this anthem. Maybe people should also pause to consider that they all first heard this on a Netflix produced show and so yes capitalism is how they heard the song at all, just like the people dancing to it in the video, so what is with all the moral grandstanding anyway? I think a lot of people assume that the mehndi dancers just don't get it, like this about revolution and death guys, come on howcanyoubesoilliterate and dance to this at a wedding? Well, to that I would like to say is that we will probably never know why they chose to dance to this, but I am glad they did. Firstly, mehndis are the only spaces in which a lot of people can dance at all in Pakistan, it is a socially sanctioned space to express yourself. For some reason, our 'Pakistani values' become suspended during a mehndi and so it is perfectly acceptable to dance and sing about love, lust, desire, sexytimes toh chalo, may as well dance and sing about the revolution as well. Secondly, it is fun to imagine that they are dancing to this because they feel marriage is fascistic but cannot say this explicitly because of all the aunties and uncles also present at the wedding. Thirdly, the English translation of the lyrics indicate that the anthem is about death and rebirth and one can argue that these are the underlying values of all weddings everywhere because marriage is all about life and death if you really think about it. More often than not, the intention is to marry for life, till death do we part, and sometimes even beyond if people are so inclined. To marry is to say that we are mortal, but perhaps our union will be immortal. And for many people, marriage means children and children mean rebirth; a fresh start, a new chance, a legacy. All themes that are also present in Bella Ciao. I'm beginning to feel like I am now going too far, so I will not think of a fourth reason. 

Also I would give anything to meet whoever remixed this because, everything else aside, they are probably a lot of fun.

PS: I would also like to say that a lot of these thoughts on literature, art, music are not authentic (LOL) thoughts produced by my brain alone, but the result of numerous very fruitful conversations I have had with my partner Haider who is the real revolutionary in the relationship, has read far more Faiz than I probably ever will and, most importantly, loves a good remix.