डोगरी बाल गीत: Dogri Child Songs

Language has been compared with all conceivable objects. We are often told that language is like a river, looking at the manner in which it flows incessantly, continuously and in a timeless manner. The educators tell us that language is, or rather, languages are, like a load, to be carried with abundant difficulties by learners in a school situation. Poets link language to the proverbial ‘five elements’, especially ‘air’ — permeating into all that is living. The historians have been seen drawing language trees with branches bearing fresh leaves, blooming flowers and beckoning fruits — ultimately diving themselves into absolutely newer kind of expression system. That was how, we are told, languages take birth, genealogically.

There are functionalists and utilitarians who view language like an instrument or an_, implement — important to the extent that it is to be used for a certain purpose. The common man and political animals may both use language as a tag — one that must be worn to express solidarity with one’s fellow people, or with people with similar beliefs. -Language to many beholders appears like a full-bloomed flower with its petals standing for dialects — the variations. The playwrights use language as a garb that covers hidden intentions and suppressed desires — a garb that is often adjusted according to the demand of a situation. But for a child, language is a game — a plaything. It is like a mirror where they see themselves and others. It is like a palate where they draw their colors from, while painting their private worlds. It is like a tune that mothers and grandmas hum - one that breeds familiarity and reassurance that they are in good hands. It is like the smile they would like to throw at you babbling indistinctively. For a child, language is then a looking glass through which they would like to see and understand things. The schooling is alleged to destroy some of these independent faculties of children, as the emphasis there is, on knowledge and perceptions that are global, uniform, even and all pervasive. in spite of all efforts of psycholinguists and language teaching specialists, there have not been enough successful attempts to come up with instructional materials that will allow the individuality and differential perceptions of children to grow. The materials that we string together here in the form of floral offerings so as to speak, are specially designed-to help parents and educators to handle very tender children to be handied with the help of materials that let them grow in their own way — but at the same time let them be acculturated in the way the Dogri children of yesteryears were raised. With large-scale erosion of ideas and ideals that typify a speech community and make them different from others, it is necessary that such collection of rhymes are written, compiled, and created.

We are particularly happy that we have been able to come up with this valuable source book for a language group that is immensely rich in possibilities and potentialities and a sense of history. As we ail know, Dogri makes an important contribution to our national fabric by offering herself as a valuable link that ensures a cultural bondage among various kinds of smaller groups living in the J & K. Our scholars and collaborators have put in hard days and months of labor to come up with this text, which | hope, will be accepted among the users of the community and the scholars working on materials production. Suggestions for modifications, enrichment and enlargement are all welcome from both groups. We dedicate it to the spirit of all those who have contributed a great deal to the promotion and development of Dogri as an important language of India.

In their anxiety to get their children admitted to professional courses or to enable them to enter civil services or multinational companies the urban parents rob their kids of their childhood and their rural counterparts do so in their ignorance and under terrible economic pressure. The former group under the mistaken notion that English is the sure path to success force their children right from their babbling stage to get trained in speaking English and practising English nursery rhymes while the latter group in their ignorance and under economic pressure have no time or awareness regarding the joys of childhood. Ever since independence, our country through various schemes has been trying to put into practice the idea of universalisation of primary education through the mother tongue media. The preparation of language development materials at the pre-primary stage will go a long way in enabling the children to socialise and get prepared for the formal primary school. With this in view the Central Institute of Indian Languages has planned to develop different types of pre-primary language development materials such as those for concept formation, vocabulary development and conversational practice, rhymes, games and stories. The first project covers the composition of rhymes in all the regional languages as well as the tribal languages.

Generally all the children love to listen and repeat a rhyme which is recited or sung to them. They are not worried about the meaning or message. They just repeat the rhyme if heard several times and if the words are also familiar to them repetition become easier. Added to the rhyming quality of the song if they can understand the meaning of the words used in the song it will be all the more enjoyable and language development becomes easier and automatic. With this objective we have tried to compose rhymes on themes which are near and dear to the children and with. which they are familiar. We have also tried to indirectly inculcate the ideal of universal love and have adopted a — "let us do" link with nature, with oneself, with relatives and all living beings. Accordingly care has been taken to select the theme and the vocabulary. We want the children to listen to, sing and enjoy and also expand their sense of appreciation and sharpen their linguistic skills — both listening and speaking along with ‘vocabulary development. We wish that pre-primary teachers, parents and people who love children will recite and sing these rhymes for children and let the children repeat the rhymes.

With the above criteria in mind, these nursery rhymes have been prepared. The, participating poets of the workshop enjoyed themselves listening to each and every rhyme after they wrote it, then they discussed and revised the rhymes several times in the light of their discussions before finalizing the same.

We are very grateful to all the participants of the workshop, for their sincere contribution and to Prof. Champa Sharma for language editing of all the materials in addition to her own contribution of rhymes. We also are indebted to Shri Balwant Thakur and Dr. Om Goswami of J.& K. Academy for their readiness in bringing out this collaborative publication. We welcome comments and constructive criticism.

**Contents and Sample Pages**