Merantau and Muglan: Understanding Mobility through Music
Migration, Merantau, Muglan, Malu, and Music
The Anxieties of Mobility by Lindquist changed my perceptions toward the process of migration. I knew that certain factors play a role in every story of migration. The push factors may be political instability or lack of opportunities. The pull factors may be lucrative job offers or better living conditions. There can be many more factors as such. However, I did not know until I read Lindquist that migration can be related to embarrassment, humiliation, and shame. I feel like these English translated versions do not catch the exact sentiments of the original terms merantau and malu. Of course, the push and pull factors have affected the migrants to Batam. They come there from their kampung so that they can have better lives, earn better, and provide for their family. However, when they come face-to-face with the harsh realities of a Batam life, the migrants lose their very identity. People come to Batam to seek the permanency of their dreams and the stability in their finances or family lives. Instead, Batam turns these people into temporary wanderers whose lives, unfortunately, end revolving and rotating around stuff in Batam itself. They can neither reach the sky-high towers of Singapore nor can they go back to their Kampung. If people go back home, they would be ridiculed for not having survived or thrived in a city. If people decide to stay in Batam, men hardly get any jobs or if they do, they get a job of that of a pimp or a drug dealer; and women either have to become low-wage factory workers or prostitutes. There are no other alternatives. It is no wonder people’s merantau is deeply integrated into the malu they face and the malu they feel. Some women take the refuge of a jilbab and some other of an Ecstasy to be brave enough to fight this malu every single day.
The Indonesian concept of Merantau resembles the Nepali concept of Muglan to a great extent. Both these terms can be loosely translated to migration but the word migration does not encompass the true essence behind either of these concepts. In The Anxieties of Mobility, Lindquist touches upon various causes and the consequences of Merantau. Here, I want to reflect more on the emotional experiences of such migrants. Looking at Merantau through the lens of literature or music would do more justice to understand such inner sentiments. However, since I do not understand Bahasa Indonesia, I decided to explore Nepali music and the concept of Muglan Pasne (loose translation: to go abroad) for this assessment.
The migration of Nepali people to other countries for work goes way back in history (I am not sure of the date when it started). In the past, India was referred to as Muglan in terms of migration. During the British Raj in India, Nepali men were drafted as British Army, the migration that was referred to as Lahur (Migrants were called Lahuré).
It is important to note here this fact that even though there is not such a severe connotation of Malu for the Nepali migrants if they return home without earning enough, (by enough, it usually means building a new home at least, getting enough jewelry for women in the household, buying lands), there still is a concept of Izzat (Respect or Social Prestige rather than Honor in this context) and BeIzzat (implies Uselessness more so than Dishonor or Huminilation in this context). Therefore, not an absolute statement but a generic one: a Nepali migrant is motivated to keep the Izzat intact in the society, thus, he would choose to rather struggle in harsher working/living conditions in India like we studied or in the Middle-Eastern or Gulf countries such as Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, etc.
I have embedded the songs that express the sentiments of Lahuré or people in Muglan here in this post. I wish I had more time to write a detailed analysis. But here is a quick summary:
This first song is sung by one of the most well-known and talented singers of the genre of Adhunik Geet - Hemant Rana, who is expressing his sorrow to his Saili (a form of endearment, as in "My Dear" or something like that) that since he has to stay in Lahur or Muglan for his work, he tries to convince his Saili that they will spend "a happily ever after together" after he or both turns 40 years of age because he believes that by that time at least he will have enough money earned to return home forever, without having any further need to go to Muglan which is a lonely place.
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R7BxxuGmmE&ab_channel=GHEntertainmentNepal
"Listen to me Saili, I will return, listen to me Saili, We will live happily ever after we reach the age of forty..." (I just realized it's so fun to translate the songs! I might do more works of actual translation in the future!)
Singer - Sugam Pokharel
Lyrics - Ravi Shrestha
Music - Sugam Pokhrel
