Akus Bakus Ad


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Imagine walking into a bank about your existing account and the guy behind the counter asking you questions like: Tell me who that guy in the corner is? Do you know who I am? Now, tell me who are you?

A kashmiri would probably run out of the bank saying, ‘ye bank hasa gov dheg’he dyun layak.’

Akus Bakus/Okus Bakus is a non-sensical childrens’ ditty that most Kashmiri Pandit children of a certain era grew up on, and probably still do, playing a certain little game in group with their fingers. Most words don’t mean anything. But these words evolved from hukus bukus telli wann che kus (Who’s he? Who am I? Now, tell me who are you?) by Lal Ded, the great poet-saint of 14th century Kashmir, who can rightly be credited for giving birth to modern Kashmiri language.

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I don’t know the number in the state but I think the big shots waking up to the emerging tier-2 market at the borders. Kashmir is suddenly the in thing. Some ads from recent years certainly point to this.

I think the first one was the Tata Nano Ad from 2010 that had definitive Kashmiri music with Rabaab and all. video link

Then there was Visa Ad from earlier this year with the definitive Kashmiri talking in Hindi Ad. The accent was made mainstream (or maybe parallel stream) decades ago by M.K. Raina and K.K. Raina.

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And now some native ads

3 Replies to “Akus Bakus Ad”

  1. Vinayak, are you sure the Tata Nano Ad has a Kashmiri influence? I somehow had the idea that the lyrics and the music were Farsi. I know a bit of the latter and the lyrics "dar har nazar,dar har nagar….har pech hamin ra hamsafar" make perfect sense in Farsi.

  2. No I am not sure. The song is in fact in Persian (sung by Kavita Seth, music by Rajat Dholakia). But if you put Persian and Rabaab together in India, you get Kashmir. It's just a deduction. Anyway, more about the ad here.

    Also, I got a couple of feedback saying Hakus Bakus of Lal Ded isn't nonsensical. I would like to point out, I make no such claim. What I claim is the the song that Kashmiri children sing, Okus Bakus/Ukus Bacus is nonsensical much like Jabberwocky of Lewis Carroll.

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