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Transferring Values to the Saraiki Farmers through Folk tales
Zahoor Hussain
Lecture in English, B.Z.U Layyah Campus.
Dr. Saiqa Imtiaz Asif
Chairperson, Department of English, B.Z.U Multan.
Rana Abaid ur Rehman,
Lecturer in Psychology, B.Z.U,Layyah Campus.
Muhammad Hanif,
Visiting Faculty, Department of English, B.Z.U Layyah Campus.
Abstract:
This paper starts with a purpose in mind to explore the transmission of values to the Saraiki
farmers through oral traditions. For this purpose, three folk tales were selected by the researcher
to know how these values were transferred through folk tales. Modern education system along
with its new technology and teaching techniques is secular in nature and still deficient in this
regard as it has disadvantaged the fruitful activity of oral tradition. Finally, there are some
suggestions/ recommendations for the educational policy of Pakistan in the Saraiki region.
Keywords: FOLK TALES, ORAL TRADITION, VALUES, MOTIF, THE SARAIKI
LANGUAGE
Folklore is a tradition that embodies the customs, values and culture in it. Folklore is time –
honored tradition, and things which are transferred by word of mouth from generations to
generations are termed as folkloric. It provides the researchers a wide spectrum and a window
through which it is transferred by word of mouth from generations to generations and they are
termed as folkloric. It was in 1846, the term folklore was coined and since then the researchers,
folklorists and historians paid proper heed towards it. Folklore has been an important tool in the
hands of our ancestry to instruct the generations and provided recreation both to the older and
new generations. It imported didactic lessons through it.According to William P. Murphy (1976),
“the folk were seen as the repository of the old customs and manners of an earlier stage in the
nation’s history, reflecting the unique spirit and genius of the nation”
Groups among them demonstrate certain performances and ceremonial events to expound and
present their values and convictions explicitly and such types of activities are called rituals and
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the folklorists study them as a marked activity in the folkloric research. These activities are often
repeated after regular intervals with a set frame of activities and also present certain symbolic
features and actions. Shannon (1981) says that folk tales offer its readers good chances to
achieve moral, historical and other life like experiences from it. According to WaKituku (1999)
folk tales transfer history, belief, convictions, values, and customs along with natural and
supernatural worlds.
Pakistan like many other societies in the world is an oral society. According to Evans (2004),
nearly 70% of the world is oral so for as its cultural and other transmission of values are
concerned. The concept of modern tradition and transmission of knowledge started after Lord
Macaulay educational reforms were introduced in sub-continent in 1835 under English
Education Act in sub-continent. Before his reforms, all transmission of knowledge and practical
wisdom was taught through oral tradition. Oral tradition served best so far as the propagation of
social values and internalization of belief and conviction system was concerned.
Folk tales were also used as important tools in the hands of farmers to guide and motivate their
upcoming generations so as to make them work hard and continue their struggle to achieve
maximum output from the land. Farmers through this oral tradition used to express and
communicate their belief and values. In rural areas especially before harvesting and cultivation,
young farmers were inspired with the help of folk tales. Education of young children through
oral tradition is very important as the poet Schiller wrote, “Deeper meaning resides in the fairy
tales told to me in my child than in any truth that is taught in life”
Folk tales are the part and parcel of oral tradition. Folk tales are transferred from generations to
generations by word of mouth. They are the macro parts of any literature in the world as they
exhibit people’s education, entertainment and other values. They also manifest cultural values
and pride along with respect and regard to their perspective cultures and traditions. The
expressive and representative nature of communicating and sharing folktales continue to
evidence about the ways in which they are still useful and instrumental.Del Negro (1998) gives
an account of storytelling:
“Story telling creates a community of listeners out of a group divided by age, gender,
race and economies. Promoting and telling tales from many cultures raises awareness of
those cultures, and promotes pride in the cultural heritage of individual listeners. Telling
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tales from many cultures provides listeners with a common culture a unity created from
the diversity of many”.
The History of Saraiki Language:
The history of Saraiki language dates back to even Sanskrit languages as the modern linguists
concluded that it was not the Sanskrit language that was spoken in sub-continent (Raman,
1988).From history; it is evident that people of this part of the world did not speak Sanskrit
during their first and second phase of development. They started speaking Sanksrit during the
third and fourth stage of Aryans settlement in this area of the world. In fact, it was the age of
Asoka when two languages Pali and Sanskrit were recognized and they were used as most
epitaphs are written in these two languages .In history, the Saraiki region was marked with little
variations differently by many linguists. In fact research on Saraiki as a language started a
century ago. In West, Saraiki area bordered by the Balouchi language, in the east, it had its
boundaries with the Hindi dialects of Rajput Ana, and in the south with the Sindhi language,
however it had been problematic for the researchers to know where from the Siraiki language
originated in the north (Brien 1903).Juke (1900) has defined the area of Jataki(Siraki) language
in the preamble of his dictionary as:
“…is spoken by the JafirPathans and Khetrans on the west of Dera Ghazi Khan
District to Bahawalpur on the east, and from Sindh in the South to the confines of
Kashmir in the north, covering an area about the size of Ireland and with a
population variously estimated from three to five millions, the latter is probably
near if not under the actual number”.
Currently, the Saraiki region is in the center of Pakistan as it is spread on both the sides of Indus
nearly 280N to 330N longitude .This regions also includes the areas of Chenab and Sutlej till the
areas of Northern Punjab. This language shares its boundaries with the Iranian, Pashto and
Balouchi languages as it is spoken in the western part of Indo Aryan language areas. To the
south, this language reaches till Marwari dialects of Rajasthan. The boundaries of this language
are however less clear with the Sindhi language and same is the case with the Northern Lahnda
dialects along the salt range. Similarly to the east, there exist no definite boundary between
Siraiki and Punjabi (Shackle, 1976).
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Methodology
The researcher himself who is the native speaker of Saraiki language has recorded three folk
tales from his father. The researcher in his childhood heard these folk tales by his elders many
times as it was tradition at the researcher’s home to hear folk tales before going to bed. These are
also folk tales present in our Saraiki region .The researcher himself has heard them from his
father many times.
The purpose of this study was to find out how the farmers employed oral tradition especially the
folk tales to motivate the young generation .The researcher has analyzed the folk tales in depth
through theme and motif analysis. According to Thomson (1977), “A motif is the smallest
element in a tale having a power to persist in tradition”. They can be characters, actions and
objects in a given tale. Following are the folk tales selected for the current study.

The Farmer, His Three sons and the treasureunder the tree
Once there lived a farmer in a village. He had three sons. The family was very poor and
they had nothing to eat. So one day their father decided to leave the village and moved
towards jungle. He said,” get prepared and we are leaving this place”. His sons said,
“Ok, we are ready to leave”. The family reached a jungle. They were travelling for many
hours. The father said to his sons,” Come and sit under this shady tree”. When they were
under that tree, the father said to one of his sons. Son, go and collect the branches of date
tree. The son said,” yes”. The son quickly moved there to collect the branches of that
tree. The father said to the other son,” Son! Go and fetch a pail of water. The son said,
“Okay”. He went there quickly to bring a pail of water. He sent the third son for the
branch of wood. The son rushed quickly to bring that one. There was a bird sitting in that
tree. The bird asked the poor farmer,” What are you doing?” The farmer replied,” We
are going to prepare bow and arrow”. “We are going to hunt you”. The bird said, “What
will you find from me –only a small quantity of meat”. “I tell you about a treasure hidden
under this tree. You dig it out and fulfill your needs of life”. The farmer become happy
and dug out the treasure from that place. He went back and led a happy life. When the
brother of the farmer knew the reason of his brother’s prosperity, he also took his sons
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and reached there. So, he asked his elder son to bring the branches of date tree to make
string for the bow. He said, “Father, I am extremely tired. You better send the other
son”. So the father said, “OWaddu, you go to bring a pail of water”. He said, “You
yourselfcannot go”. When the bird heard all this, the bird said, “You better go home.
They were the people who were obedient and united that was why luck favored them”.
They came back empty handed.
The researcher has read that folk tale many times in order to grasp its first impression and later
has done its thematic analysis to find out how it motivated the young generations. The theme in
this folk tale is unity and obedience to elders. The sons who were in the first part of story united
and obedient, they were also favored by luck too. Suchtypes of folk tales are also very good tools
in the hands of elders to teach those lazy sons who do nothing except complaining that all is
merely luck. Thefarmers especially the young ones can be motivated that mere luck without hard
work is not possible. In this folk tale, two types of characters are there, active and passive ones.
The active characters wererewarded and the passive were punished as they could not materialize
their desire to be rich as their cousins.
In this folk tale, we can see that tree is a sign of hope and prosperity. The tree does not only
provide them shelter in the sun but also wealth. Inalmost all such folk tales that are linked with
farming trees and green plants are signs of prosperity and wealth. An important motif in this folk
tale is trick played by the farmer that is to prepare the arrow and bow for hunting the bird.
Similarly, digging as found in many other folk tales in the Saraiki region is a sort of key motif
and through digging the farmers find their hidden treasure in the earth. This treasure can be a
good and green crop as it the story where the old man on his death bed tells his sons that he has
hidden his treasure in the earth and the sons after his death tried their luck and that was a trick
played by the sons and resultantly all the field was dug and they got a good crop. Hard work and
obedience bring good fortune to them. Similarly in the folk tale, mentioned above is not only
hard work but also obedience to elders and unity of command made them rich.
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The farmer and the box of gold
Once there lived a farmer. He was very hardworking and honest person. He had three
sons but all of them unfortunately were very lazy and dull. They kept on fighting with one
another all the time and never did any work at all. The farmer was very sad on this and
he wanted his sons work and earn. One day the farmer fell ill. He called all his sons and
said, “My sons! I am ill. I may not live long and earn for you. So I have placed a box of
gold in our fields”. Hearing of box of gold, the sons became anxious to know where it
was hidden. One of the sons asked, “Father! In which filed is it hidden?” The farmer
replied, “My son! I don’t remember the exact place where I hid it. You may dig the fields
after my death, find the box of gold and live happily together”. After a week or so, the
farmer died. His idle and lazy sons started digging the field so that they might find the
box of gold. For many days, they dug the fields but found nothing. Now all the fields were
dug and the sons of farmer were quite sad. Suddenly they thought something and put the
seeds in the dug fields. That year, they had a good rainy season. So they had a very crop
that year. They cut the crop and sold it into the market. They earned a good amount of
money out of it. Now all the brothers were quite happy. They understood the words of
their father only then and realized that the box of gold was good crop. And it was that
good crop that brought them a lot of gold. After this, all the brothers always worked and
they lived together happily.”
The characters of this folk tale have to solve the puzzle presented in the question part of the plot,
i.e. to find the hidden treasure in the fields. The characters use a craft that is a box of gold. The
characters are divided into subjects who can till the land to find out that treasure. Main theme of
this folk tale is to advise the idle sons so that they can become useful and productive members of
the society .Through this folk tale the end of the old farmer was to motivate his sons as their
behavior has been modified and they started working productively. The culture of Saraiki for
many decades has been the same as we can observe even now. The father is always the only
earner or in many cases there is only one person who has to earn for a quite big family. So the
children always wait till the death of their father, only then they start working. Moreover in this
folktale, themotif of digging earth in order to find the valuable treasure is sort of a trick
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employed by the old person to make his sons work hard. The simple piece of advice has been
given to the sons with the help of this example.
Another motif of this folk tales is dependence upon parents. As mostly observed in our culture is
that the parents are working and the sons usually enjoy till the deaths of their parents. And other
motif in this folk tale is that the sons were inexperienced and foolish. The important symbol is
box of gold which represents hard work and effort. Such gold never rusts.

Union is Strength:
Once upon a time in a faraway village, there lived a farmer. He was living very happy
with his family including three sons. He used to work in his fields and earned his livings
from there. On the other hand, his son always quarrels with each other and never did any
work together. They start fighting with each other on very small issues. On this, the
farmer was quite unhappy. He wanted to teach them a lesson. So one day, he called all
his sons and said, “Go my son and bring some wooden sticks.” Hearing this, his sons
started looking at each other. The farmer repeated again, “Go my sons and bring some
wooden sticks”.
All his sons went outside and after sometime brought back some wooden sticks with them.
Now the farmer asked the elder son, “My dear son, break one wooden stick.” At this, his
son was surprised but obeyed his father. The elder son broke the wooden stick quite
easily. Than his father said again, “Now my son broke all this sticks together.” Again the
elder son was surprised but obeyed his father. He tried his best to break the bundle of
wooden sticks at one time but he was unable to do so. At this, the farmer asked the other
two sons to repeat the processone by one but both of them were unable to break the
bundle of wooden sticks together although they manage to break sticks one by one.
Now, the farmer said, “My son! You are like this bundle of wooden sticks. If you
remained together, no one would break you. But if you remained alone, anyone can break
you.” This idea of the farmer worked and all his sons understood the importance of living
together. Since that day, they never fought with each other and no one tried to fight with
them as well.
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The characters of this folk tale are presented with some practical exemplification. The motif of
old age has lot to teach the young generation of farmers who were not united. Again in this folk
tale, the branches of tree are important .The sons if united as a tied bundle of the branches of
tree, no one may harm them and they would be successful in every walk of like. Unlike the
above mentioned two tales, in this we find the main theme is unity as the title of this folk tale is
“Union is strength”. The plot of this story has also the same sort of twist when the old farmer
asked his sons to collect woods and then untie the bundle. In farming, there is always division of
labor, from bowing to harvesting, there are many types of activities that are involved and they
are possible only in unison in that period of time when modern machines were not available to
the farmers. This folk tale confirms the following saying, “Example is better than percept”.
Conclusion:
1. Revival of Saraiki Oral Tradition
The Saraiki community had the tradition of getting to-gather in the evening round fire especially
in the winter season and in the summer season such types of gatherings are there under some old
and shady trees .In these gatherings, the senior members of the Saraiki community share their
valuable experiences and they also sometimes perform there folk legends and folk tales. Through
these gatherings, they transfer values of their ancestry and at the same time, they also motivate
the young generations with the help of oral tradition.
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Unfortunately such fruitful gatherings are disappearing due to latest system of telecommunication. Cable Television and mobile have destroyed our tradition and folk lore.
Unfortunately, the programs are least concerned with our social values and morality. Another
important thing is that in our school system, the stories and tales are of foreign origin. These folk
tales are just a source of mere entertainment. Saraiki culture and values and even this language
are in danger. Promotion of such gatherings and indigenous values are important one for the
promotion of Saraiki language and people.
2. Education of Children
This tradition of storytelling should be encouraged at homes as it is the duty of parents and elders
to tell stories to their children .Second important thing is that such folk tales should be
incorporated into our syllabuses. These stories should be told among the friends and mates.
There should be folk lore festivals where the adept story tellers should encourage the youth.
Along with folk tales across the borders, local folk tales should also be preserved.
3. Education Policy
In the Saraiki region, like in all Pakistan, there is no uniform education policy. Since
independence 1947, there are incompatible education systems. At advanced English Medium
schools, there are stories for reading young learners and these stories are foreign to our cultures
and values. That is why; our young learners are devoid of our local values and motivation. Our
local folk tales can be translated and included in syllabus for young learners
Table 1: Folktales and stories prescribed for values education lessons
Values/qualities
1. Obedience to Elders, Primary
Class
3 grade
Story
The Farmer, His Three sons and the treasure
under the tree
Work and Luck
3 grade
The farmer, his three sons and the treasure
under the tree
2. Union is strength
4 grade
Union is strength
3. Hard work
5 grade
The farmer and the box of gold
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