The
Gypsy Soul
The first time I realized that gypsies were not just
characters in a film but real people was as a child when my father, an
orthopaedic surgeon, told us of a gypsy patient he treated. Of Irani origin, he
was told his leg was to be amputated and he came to my father to see if it
could be saved. The reason caught our imagination: in gypsy law, if a man was
disabled, another could take his wife, as it meant he could no longer take care
of her. His wife was beautiful and his cousin, who accompanied him, was keen to
benefit from his amputation and marry his wife. My father managed to save his
leg and the gypsy gave him a blanket with a huge tiger printed on it.
The next time I met a gypsy was more recent: he was from
England and had come to understand truck art so he could paint a truck in
London. As we shared experiences, I discovered many words in Romany, the
language gypsies spoke, were similar to Urdu.
Andre: inside; angustri: ring; bal: hair; baro/barri Large; bakht: luck;
bebee aunt; kak: uncle; chor: thief; chura; knife; kon: who; mang: beg; nevo:
new ; ooprey: up; pi: to drink; poker to ask; rarti: night; sov: sleep; wuzho:
clean; zor: strength and many more.
The colourful scarf that is worn on the head or around the
waist, which some Baluchi men also wear on one shoulder, is called a diklo, from
dekh lo, - “he is seeing” . The cheent
pattern is common to Central Asia, Russia and rural South Asia.
The word gypsy is a derivative of gipcyan , as in Europe, people mistakenly felt that their origin
was in Egypt. Genome mapping has confirmed that gypsies or Romani as they
prefer to be called, originate in Northwestern India. A series of migrations, whose reasons are
still being debated, took them westwards around 7C into the Middle East, Europe
in the 12C and in the 19th C to the Americas – especially USA, and
Brazil. They rarely assimilate into the
host countries, and have faced mistrust and persecution. They were deported during the Spanish
Inquisition, 2 million rounded up and sent to gas chambers or shot by the
Nazis, banned from entering USA after the 19 C, endured forced sterilization in
Czechoslovakia, and continue to be marginalized or perhaps self-marginalized in
most countries.
There is a difference between nomadic tribes such as the
Powinda of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Gujjar Himalayan gypsies, and the Roma gypsies. In Pakistan there are
22,000 Arhagar Romany speaking gypsies.
The Dom, the other major tribe of gypsies, is a small community in Gilgit
Baltistan. The gypsies have a strong and closely guarded cultural code and set
of beliefs, which seem to exclude non-romany people, dismissively called gudjo.- perhaps refering to the Himalyan Gujjar gypsies?
In Europe they were once associated with superstitions, magic,
fortune telling, music and dance. Today they are mostly a poor community living
by their wits. Some have broken into mainstream society. Their musical heritage
has influenced jazz, bolero and flamenco music, as well as classical composers
including Franz Liszt. Actors Michael
Caine, Charlie Chaplin -born in a gypsy caravan, Yul Brynner, Rita Hayworth Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren and Tracey Ullman have gypsy
roots. The artist Pablo Picasso, was proud of his gypsy heritage. Django Reinhardt introduced a gypsy sound to
jazz. The tennis star Nastase and a
number of other sports persons, writers and musicians have gypsy origins.
They have a distinctive visual culture: Traditionally the
women wear full skirts similar to ghagras,
colourful shawls and diklo scarfs
trimmed with coins. The men wear colorful neckerchiefs and amulets similar to
the taaveez of South Asia, cover
their heads with scarfs or hats, and wear loose trousers. Gypsy jewelry is very similar to rural South Asian and
middle eastern necklaces and earrings. This
flamboyant style is also seen in the decoration of their horse driven mobile
homes or vardo, which bear resemblance to decorated transport in Pakistan. Richer gypsies live in houses with colourful, ornately
decorated interiors. Today European gypsies live in plain modern caravans.
Ironically the modern caravan ( from the Persian Karvan) designed in 1885 by Dr
W Gordon-Stables, called “the Wanderer”,
was inspired by gypsy lifestyles .
Gypsy is not just a tribe but a concept. A gypsy soul is
seen as free spirited, outside the confines of society, fiercely independent,
leading a life of unpredictable adventure.
The word Bohemian, descriptive of non-conformists, comes from the French
word for gypsies, Boheme, who were mistakenly thought to come from Bohemia.
It is easy to romanticize the gypsy life. They have
fascinated artists including Caravaggio, Frans Hals , Manet, Rousseau,, Van
Gogh and Modigliani. Shakespeare, D.H.
Lawrence, and major novelists from the 18C onwards depict to gypsy characters
or culture. The members of the famous
band, Gypsy Kings, have gypsy heritage,
but many musicians have performed songs about gypsies- Fleetwood Mac, Joan
Baez, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Van Morrison , Santana, Cher and Elton John. Bizet’s exotic and mysterious gypsy, Carmen, and Roux, Johnny Depp’s gypsy character in the
film Chocolat represent the seductive, but disruptive challenge to
the conservative order of society
.
The fashion designer, Galliano says, "the Gypsy
lifestyle is a perfect fantasy, and as we all know reality is often very
different from the fiction."
Durriya Kazi
February 3, 2018
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