Een cultuur vol liederen, liedkunst vol cultuur

When Indian people in de nineteenth century left British India and moved to Surinam they didn’t prepare themselves to build up a Hindu society in Surinam or in The Netherlands. Most of them worked as indentured labours for at least five years on the Dutch plantations in Surinam. Maybe women didn’t have the most important religious books or traditional clothes with them, but they carried their songs in their mind and contributed in their own way to build up a new Hindu community in Surinam and later in the Netherlands. As their foremothers, they kept singing specific songs at rituals of birth, marriages and death. These songs illustrate the power of women in the Hindu community. This study is based on memories of 21 female singers and the way their mothers and grandmothers practised this oral tradition. Over the past century, female singers have shown their capability that they can respond to the ever-changing society. Their creativity to bring in changes again and again is the key to preserve this oral tradition. For generations these women are deciding what is important enough to save and pass on to further generations and what can be changed or totally forgotten. Despite the advent of modern forms of entertainment, families still invite singing groups to provide song performances. These female singers understand how they can keep the balance between innovation and preservation so they still can make others laughs or be silent.