Song Description
In Mithila, when a baby is born and the house and courtyard fill with joy, the lively Khilona songs are sure to be heard. These songs are full of mischief and laughter, and their beauty is in the playful teasing between a sister-in-law (bhabhi) and her husband’s sister (nanad). The song begins with the wife asking her husband to invite his sister (Nanad) home. With the Nanad’s arrival the house feels bright and festive—the two sister-in laws spend time together, eat together. The sound of Nanad's anklets, her cheerful talk, everything delights the bhabhi. But when the Nanad asks for badhai (the customary gift for the aunt after the birth of a child), that once-sweet voice starts to feel sharp, and the wife implores her husband to send his sister back. The song beautifully captures the joy and playfulness that fill a home with a babies arrival.



















