Birds on a Branch: Girlfriends and Wedding Songs in Kangra

Abstract

Friendship is a recurrent theme in women's wedding songs of Kangra, a valley at the base of the Himalayas in northwest India. Unmarried girlfriends are bonded through the performance of these songs and are celebrated in the texts. This essay addresses the intersection of friendship, a folklore genre, and a life cycle transition for women in Kangra. Centering my discussion around images of friends in suhāg wedding songs, I will focus on the following questions: Why is friendship culturally acknowledged only when women are unmarried? Why is this genre associated with unmarried girlfriends both in song and lived experience, although women of all ages sing suhāg? Finally, when individuals pass through disorienting life cycle transitions, how might friends and folklore genres surrounding such passages serve to ease it?