• What does the rap’s refrain suggest about migrant melancholia and its relation to the US and to India?
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The rap’s refrain suggests that melancholia will always reside in the hearts of those who move away from home. Despite the material success and wealth Nimo has achieved in America, it is not enough to replace the longing for home. The refrain highlights the duality of living in a Western culture whilst having grown up in India. The words “soul,” “heart,” and “blood” are often used when referring to a sense of home, religion, or an inextricable bond that cannot be broken. All these concepts are essential aspects of human life. Here, this profound human connection to family and belonging can be represented by values held by many people in India. Therefore, in the refrain, Nimo expresses a sense of ache and pain at being so far away from India and his family. By calling them “maru dhil” (my heart), he compares them to the organ that keeps his body alive, which is why he cannot move on.
This affiliation with family and the importance of caring for loved ones is starkly contrasted with the portrayal of the U.S. as a land where making money consumes all of a person’s time. This is evident in the line, “Got lots of money, so tell nobody to worry about my wealth.” However, when Swap points out, “Tho lagan kyare karis? Threes varus pathigaya”(When will you get married? Three years have already passed), Nimo responds, “There’s no time for all that" despite previously expressing that he wants a child. This is particularly interesting because, although Swap may not be as wealthy as Nimo, he is happy with his family. Swap, by virtue of being in India, was able to have a family and avoid being completely consumed by the notion of the American Dream.
Despite “Akho divas bhanvanu ne cricket ramvanu pan” (spending the whole day studying and playing cricket) being portrayed as lazy or undesirable at the start of the rap, people in India are shown to be doing what they enjoy. This ability to simply play cricket and eat for the sake of it is lost on Nimo, now living in America. There is always a goal that needs to be achieved, even if that goal is to relax by having a day of playing cricket. These conflicting ways of life, combined with Nimo’s distance from his family, truly make him feel like he is “two worlds apart” from them.
Maru dhil, my heart, maru loi, my blood from the start
Mari nath, my family two worlds apart,
How do I move on bhai,
Kevirithe jais, cuz no matter where I go,
My soul is in the same place