Published Paper Details:

Folk songs are a natural creative musical expression of the folks, composed by them to depict their lives and emotions. Thus, folk songs generally reflect the life, experiences and sentiment of the people of a society. The folk songs of the Mech society of the northern part of the state of West Bengal are no different as they too are bound to the lives, experiences and philosophy of the folks of the Mech tribe residing in this region. Among the Meches singing and dancing is an activity that accompanies many of the rituals and on special occasions guests are also welcomed with songs and dances. But of late this community is facing a gradual cultural loss due to modernization, competition and external influences. So the practices that once involved the singing and performing of 'Demshi methai' has now been lost and forgotten by the people. This paper thus, attempts to relook at this forgotten practice particularly through the study of 'Demshi methai' and tries to study the reflection of the life and humour of the Mech people and their society in these songs.