Deepa BHOOKHUN

?Bate to mama pa fer twa dimal, bate to papa pa fer twa dimal, bate to mari pa fer twa dimal, bate to galan kay to disan.? Those words must be familiar to many people who listen to the local radios. To those of you who don?t recognise those horrible words; don?t worry, you are the lucky ones.

Those are lyrics to a song. The singer is telling the story of a woman who died following a thrashing from her lover. He is basically reproaching the unfortunate woman who has died the fact that she feels no pain when her mother, father and husband beat her up but that when her lover gives her a beating it literally freezes her blood.

Singer further tells the poor woman, ?You thought you?d be happy when you took your friend?s husband but now you?re at the cemetery, buried six feet under.? Well, more or less. The words are so gross; I do not care for a faithful translation.

The song is called ?consequences.? Consequences indeed. If we?re not careful, it is we who will have to face up to the consequences. It is not so much the masochism of the song that upsets me so ? even though there is much to be said about it. What we gather from the song is: it?s OK for men to have a mistress but the woman who has a lover must bear the consequences of her disgraceful action. Yeah right. Keep going Mr Singer; you sure are on the right track. Not.

What beats me, what revolts me is this placid acceptance of violence in the life of a woman. As if it?s normal for a woman?s mother, father and husband to beat her up. And the lover as well. But, when she dies at the hands of the lover, well, she had it coming, didn?t she? Almost like a divine punishment. Goodness me, why don?t we stone the sinful woman while we?re at it?

I?M SORRY? Have we all gone mad? We listen to this horrible song day in and day out and we think it?s OK? Do people not listen to the words that are being sung? Am I the only one who feels aggressed by the violence inherent in those words?

It is a sad testimony to the state our society is. Most people who come on the radio and ask for this song are women. I honestly do not know why. Don?t get me wrong. I also like the beat to the song; on numerous occasions, I have caught myself humming the song and then stopped myself in horror when I realised what I was saying.

This is the danger when we don?t use our brain, when we lose our sense of discernment, when we stop thinking and automatically start repeating what is being drummed into our ears on a daily basis. We say those words. After a while, the meaning insidiously gets into our subconscious and we wake up one day? and we realise we have sold our souls. We start thinking it is normal for a woman to get beaten up and it is normal for her to die at the hands of her lover.

But it?s a free country isn?t it? Freedom, though, can be a dangerous thing.