Dadaria are Chhattisgarhi songs that were traditionally sung while harvesting. They are often sung as call and response songs. This song by Halki Bai Maravi, “Bhai Bicchoh,” is sung by a woman missing her brother, as she has been married into a village far away from her home.

I chanced upon this scene of wheat harvesting in an agricultural village in the Indus River Basin. The wheat is laid thickly over the circular yard, in the center of which is a pole. Five to six horses or dzos are tied to the pole and made to walk round and round over the wheat to crush the stalks. This is why I named this the wheat stepping song.

This is a story about the roles and responsibilities of newly married Yapese couples and their families. It was told by Alukan, Mu’ut, Flan’med, Bapilung, and Fithingmew from the Old Age Program in Yap back in the 1970s. As a part of Yapese customs and traditions, married couples settled and resided at the husbands’ homes. A wife was asked to respect her in-laws with the utmost regard and to help her mother-in-law collaboratively with daily house chores like cooking, cleaning, and other women’s roles in the family. She sought advice from her mother-in-law every morning for preparing for the day. In return, the mother-in-law would lend a part of the land for gardening taro patches. Two taro patches were considered enough for the wife. One was for herself, and the other was for her husband and her mother-in-law. She was responsible for cleaning and planting taro patches and the garden given to her as well as for harvesting from them. After giving her the taro patches and garden, no other family members, including the mother-in-law herself, were allowed to take or harvest anything from there anymore. The wife would harvest for herself as well as for her husband and her mother-in-law, but would not harvest for her father-in-law until she reached a certain age. Once a wife moved in with her husband and his family, she was not supposed to go back to her home for receiving or harvesting. It was considered offensive to her husband and his family. On the other hand, the husband had to visit his inlaws often to learn their needs and provide them with what they needed. During his visits, he would bring betel nuts and coconuts for his in-laws. Every time he came back from fishing, a string of fish would be put aside for his in-laws as well.

Wheat harvesting was also in full swing at the famous tourist destination of Nubra Valley. Men and women reaped wheat together and sang a variety of songs.