Jaanwaron mein seedhha saada ye hai ik chaupaaya
Posted on: May 8, 2023
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When I was informed that today (8 May 2023) is World Donkey Day, then my Initial reaction was to have a hearty laugh. I thought that yesterday (7 May ) was World laughter day. How come the next day is an extension of that Laughter day. I in fact thought of writing a post of World Donkey day. I asked Avinash Scrapwala, who sent me lyrics of a song for World laughter day, for a song for World Donkey day. He promptly sent me lyrics of a song.
My original idea was to write a light hearted post on this occasion. But when I carried out some research on the subject, the mood of amusement soon turned into a sombre mood. I realised that making fun of Donkeys was unfair. They have traditionally been given a rough deal in Indian culture which they did not deserve. Even our Hindi film songs where donkeys have been covered, have used donkeys as a matter of ridicule. When I listened to the song sent on this occasion, I was relieved to know that Donkey is not made a subject of ridicule in this song that I was afraid of.
Yesterday while discussing “Laughter” day, I was wondering who are the persons behind such days. I could not get the answer for World Laughter day, but I could readily get the answer for World Donkey day. It is Dr Abdul Raziq Kakar, Low Carbon Livestock Expert, Camelogist & Ethnoecologist. He is behind not just World Donkey day (8 May) but also behind World Camel Day (4 August).
He realized that the hardworking donkey wasn’t being recognized for its efforts in building our society. Their input has improved the quality of life for people all around the world. He started by creating a Facebook group talking about the animal. In 2018, World Donkey Day was officially set up and it’s been celebrated every year since. Its purpose is to spread information about donkeys and how they impact human lives.
Dr Abdul Raziq Kakar is a Pashtun from Khaiber Pakhtunwa area of Pakistan. In his facebook page he describes himself as “a camelist, desert explorer, animal scientist, extensive livestock ecologist, nature lover, traditional knowledge seeker, and camel advocate (for food and agriculture). I love exploring the deserts and understanding the attitude of Mother Earth. I do environmental activism and planting trees on my own.” He did B Sc, M Sc and Ph D from Faislabad University of Pakistan. His PhD subject was Camel Science.
Donkeys, like Human, first originated in Africa and from there they spread world wide. According to wikipedia -“Donkeys were probably first domesticated by pastoral people in Nubia, and they supplanted the ox as the chief pack animal of that culture. The domestication of donkeys served to increase the mobility of pastoral cultures, having the advantage over ruminants of not needing time to chew their cud, and were vital in the development of long-distance trade across Egypt. In the Dynasty IV era of Egypt, between 2675 and 2565 BC, wealthy members of society were known to own over 1,000 donkeys, employed in agriculture, as dairy and meat animals and as pack animals. In 2003, the tomb of either King Narmer or King Hor-Aha (two of the first Egyptian pharaohs) was excavated and the skeletons of ten donkeys were found buried in a manner usually used with high ranking humans. These burials show the importance of donkeys to the early Egyptian state and its ruler.”
It is heartening to know that Egyptians treated Donkeys with respect for their contributions in their lives, even if people of some other countries, including India were rather ungrateful towards them.
Wikipedia further mentions that
By the end of the fourth millennium BC, the donkey had spread to Southwest Asia, and the main breeding centre had shifted to Mesopotamia by 1800 BC. The breeding of large, white riding asses made Damascus famous[citation needed], while Syrian breeders developed at least three other breeds, including one preferred by women for its easy gait. The Muscat or Yemen ass was developed in Arabia. By the second millennium BC, the donkey was brought to Europe, possibly at the same time as viticulture was introduced, as the donkey is associated with the Syrian god of wine, Dionysus. Greeks spread both of these to many of their colonies, including those in what are now Italy, France and Spain; Romans dispersed them throughout their empire.[24]
The first donkeys came to the Americas on ships of the Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus, and were landed at Hispaniola in 1495.[26] The first to reach North America may have been two animals taken to Mexico by Juan de Zumárraga, the first bishop of Mexico, who arrived there on 6 December 1528, while the first donkeys to reach what is now the United States may have crossed the Rio Grande with Juan de Oñate in April 1598.[27] From that time on they spread northward, finding use in missions and mines. Donkeys were documented as present in what today is Arizona in 1679. By the Gold Rush years of the 19th century, the burro was the beast of burden of choice of early prospectors in the western United States. With the end of the placer mining boom, many of them escaped or were abandoned, and a feral population established itself.
As for their use, Wikipedia has great details:
The donkey has been used as a working animal for at least 5000 years. Of the more than 40 million donkeys in the world, about 96% are in underdeveloped countries, where they are used principally as pack animals or for draught work in transport or agriculture. After human labour, the donkey is the cheapest form of agricultural power.[53] They may also be ridden, or used for threshing, raising water, milling and other work.[54] Some cultures that prohibit women from working with oxen in agriculture do not extend this taboo to donkeys.[55]
In developed countries where their use as beasts of burden has disappeared, donkeys are used to sire mules, to guard sheep, for donkey rides for children or tourists, and as pets. Donkeys may be pastured or stabled with horses and ponies, and are thought to have a calming effect on nervous horses. If a donkey is introduced to a mare and foal, the foal may turn to the donkey for support after it has been weaned from its mother.[57]
A few donkeys are milked or raised for meat. Approximately 3.5 million donkeys and mules are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide.[58] In Italy, which has the highest consumption of equine meat in Europe and where donkey meat is the main ingredient of several regional dishes, about 1,000 donkeys were slaughtered in 2010, yielding approximately 100 tonnes (98 long tons; 110 short tons) of meat.[59] Asses’ milk may command good prices: the average price in Italy in 2009 was €15 per litre, and a price of €6 per 100 ml was reported from Croatia in 2008; it is used for soaps and cosmetics as well as dietary purposes. The niche markets for both milk and meat are expanding.[28] In the past, donkey skin was used in the production of parchment.[28] In 2017, the UK based charity The Donkey Sanctuary estimated that 1.8 million skins were traded every year, but the demand could be as high as 10 million.[36]
In China, donkey meat is considered a delicacy with some restaurants specializing in such dishes, and Guo Li Zhuang restaurants offer the genitals of donkeys in dishes. Donkey-hide gelatin is produced by soaking and stewing the hide to make a traditional Chinese medicine product. Ejiao, the gelatine produced by boiling donkey skins, can sell for up to $388 per kilo, at October 2017 prices.
Bulk of donkeys are found is underdeveloped parts of the world where their treatment leaves much to be desired. They are kept under nourised and over worked by humans who themselves are from the lowest strata of society. In developed parts though, they are treated with more dignity.
In developed countries, the welfare of donkeys both at home and abroad has become a concern, and a number of sanctuaries for retired and rescued donkeys have been set up. The largest is The Donkey Sanctuary near Sidmouth, England, which also supports donkey welfare projects in Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, and Mexico.[35]
In 2017, a drop in the number of Chinese donkeys, combined with the fact that they are slow to reproduce, meant that Chinese suppliers began to look to Africa. As a result of the increase in demand, and the price that could be charged, Kenya opened three donkey abattoirs. Concerns for donkeys’ well-being, however, have resulted in a number of African countries (including Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal) banning China from buying their donkey products.
In 2019, The Donkey Sanctuary warned that the global donkey population could be reduced by half over the next half decade as the demand for ejiao increases in China.
Though Pakistan has someone like Dr Abdul Raziq Kakar who was instrumental in establishing World Donkey Day, Pakistan (unlike African countries) hs shown no hesitation in selling its donkeys to China on a big scale as has been reported in media.
We all have noticed that we do not care about our stray animals once they lose their usefulness. I hope India too joins the ranks of developed world and creates sanctuaries for these stray animals. In India, we have seen stray cows leading miserable lives on streets struggling to get nourishment. Under this circumstances, an animal like Donkey faces far more hardships, which it hardly deserves.
As for its nature, wikipedia rightfully mentions that :
Donkeys have a notorious reputation for stubbornness, but this has been attributed to a much stronger sense of self-preservation than exhibited by horses. Likely based on a stronger prey instinct and a weaker connection with humans, it is considerably more difficult to force or frighten a donkey into doing something it perceives to be dangerous for whatever reason. Once a person has earned their confidence they can be willing and companionable partners and very dependable in work.
Although formal studies of their behaviour and cognition are rather limited, donkeys appear to be quite intelligent, cautious, friendly, playful, and eager to learn.
I am quite sure that donkeys are intelligent animals. If we treat them with dignity and respect, I am sure we can get them to respond better to human commands, provided they are reasonable commands. We Indians consider Donkey as well as Owl as synonyms of fool, which is not correct. Donkes are intelligent, so are Owls.
When I checked up, I found that several other animals too have their international days. But most of these days have been pioneered by Americans and perhaps Europeans. In India, we supposedly consider cow a very important animal, but Indians have not pioneered anything like World Cow Day. There is one Cow Appreciation day in USA. India has the largest population of water buffalo. Together, these two creatures have made India world’s largest milk producer. But we do not even have a World Buffalo day pioneered by India. There is one national Buffalo day of USA, that is all. All this speaks very poorly for us Indians who cannot get World Cow Day or World Buffalo day and here I had planned to use World Donkey Day to ridicule the poor creatute. Not any longer. I have begun to look at donkeys with respect. They have played an important role in the advancement of human civilisation. They deserve to be treated with dignity. It is high time we shed our biased and outdated outlook towards animals like Donkeys, Owl, Buffalo etc, which gets reflected in the phrases that our language possess, viz “Gadha kahin ka”, “Ulloo ka pattha”, “bhains ke aage been bajaaye” etc.
The idea behind these days is to create awareness among people. I think I have certainly become more aware about Donkeys thanks to this “World Donkey Day”.
Let us come to the song.
The song under discussion is from an obscure movie called “Koraa Aanchal”(1973)
“Koraa Aanchal”(1973) was directed by Somesh Joshi & V. Mhatre for ‘Mexico Films, Bombay’. The movie had had Dheeraj, Narendra Nath, Snehlata, Laxmi Chhaya, Joginder, Junior Mehmood, Kamini Devi, Indumati, Birbal, Rajaji, Preeti, Vilas, Jerry, Junior Jerry, Nath Sayam and others in it. Actress Veena made guest appearance in this movie.
This movie was passed by Censor Board on 02.08.1973.
“Koraa Aanchal”(1973) has six songs composed by Roshanlal Khatri.
The six songs were shared by four lyricist viz. Somesh Joshi, Shadab, Gauhar Kanpuri, and Paras Budhwani (one each). (Credit for two songs has been jointly shared by Shadab+Gauhar Kanpuri and Shadab+Paras Budhwani as mentioned in the foot-note for this movie page in HFGK Vol-V (1971-1980).
It is a movie of 1973 that was so far missing from the blog. It is Avinash Scrapwala who was bringing these missing movies of 1973 to the blog, but in this case, he has graciously allowed me to introduce this movie on the blog, for the reason that this song does contain a “Donkey” related song.
This song is sung by Usha Mangeshkar and an unknown child voice. Lyrics are by Somesh Joshi. Music is composed by Roshanlal Khatri.
Only audio of this rare song are available. I request our knowledgeable readers to throw light on the picturisation of this song.
Lyrics of the song and other details were sent to me by Avinash Scrapwala.
With this song, the movie “Koraa Aanchal”(1973) makes its debut in the blog.
Song-Jaanwaron mein seedhha saada ye hai ik chaupaaya (Koraa Aanchal)(1973) Singer-Usha Mangeshkar, Unidentified voice , Lyrics-Somesh Joshi, MD-Roshanlal Khatri
Lyrics(Provided by Avinash Scrapwala)
jaanwaron mein
seedhaa saadhaa
ye hai ik chaupaayaa
jaanwaron mein
seedhaa saadhaa
ye hai ik chaupaayaa
mehnat kartaa rehtaa
jo bhi laado wahi ladaayaa
samajh mein aayaa aa
bolo ji ?
nahin aayaa !!
koodaa karkat
ghaas paat jo bhi paaya
so khaayaa
koodaa karkat
ghaas paat jo bhi paaya
so khaayaa
dil ka sachchaa
akal ka kachchaa
ye prabhu ki maaya
samajh mein aaya
haan aayaa
to bolo kya hai
bolo kya hai
to bolo kya hai
bolo kya hai
gadhaa aa !!!
phaagun mein
khush hotaa hai wo
par saawan mein
rotaa hai wo
(donkey crying)
aley baap le
ye to bahot rotaa hai
guluji
ye kyun lotaa hai
phaagun mein sookhaa hariyaalaa
uski nazar na aaye ae
sab kuchh usne khaaya samajhke
ye phoolaa na samaaye ae
saawan paaye haraa jidhar wo
apni nazar ghumaaye ae
kuchh bhi charaa nahin hai usne
aisaa munh banaaye
aur motey motey ashq bahaaye
to bolo kya hai
bolo kya hai
to bolo kya hai
bolo kya hai
gadhaa aa !!!
insaanon mein bhi hote hain
gadhey tumhen batlaayen
jo apni aukaat ko bhooley
bolo to wo kya hai
insaanon mein bhi hote hain
gadhey tumhe batlaayen
jo apni aukaat ko bhooley
bolo to wo kya hai
aise gadhe ko kya samjhen
jo chaand se aankh milaaye
chaand chakor kaa pyaar jo ho to
apni samajh mein aaye
gadhaa baawraa aa
chaand se aankh milaaye ae
chaand se aankh milaaye ae
gadhaa baawraa aa
baawraa aa
baawraa aa
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
May 9, 2023 at 10:13 am
Excellent post Sir ji. I think it was first time I was reading so much detailed information about Donkeys. And yes, it very rightly emphasize the role of Donkeys in human civilization since centuries now.
Enjoyed reading this post and like it very much.
From my side I have already shared it to my contacts so that this information and awareness about Donkeys reaches to as many as possible.
Thanks a lot for doing this post.
Regards,
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