Indo-Guyanese Lullaby
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Indo-Guyanese Lullaby Lyrics. An original lullaby inspired by Indo-Guyanese descendants of Indian indentured laborers who worked Guyana’s rice and sugar plantations. Indian indenture to Guyana operated from 1838 to 1917, part of a much larger system of contract labor migration that reshaped plantation economies across the British Empire after slavery’s abolition, and today Indo-Guyanese form the largest single ethnic group in the country, having preserved a rich mix of Hindu and Muslim traditions alongside a distinct Guyanese Bhojpuri-influenced way of speaking. Here you will find the lyrics, meaning, and chords.
Lyrics & chords
An original arrangement, with guitar & piano chords above each line.
Verse
What the words mean
Chords — guitar & piano
What “Indo-Guyanese Lullaby” Means
“Mai” is a Bhojpuri word for mother. Indo-Guyanese descend from Indian indentured laborers who worked Guyana’s rice and sugar plantations, and today celebrate Diwali as one of the country’s largest festivals. This original lullaby draws on those rice-field and festival-light images of Indo-Guyanese life, with “mai” used as a warm address rather than a literal translation.
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- An original lullaby by Relax In No Time, inspired by the musical traditions of its region. The words, melody, arrangement and recording are ours.
- Recording and arrangement: real instruments played by hand, no AI music, by Relax In No Time.
- Chords: written by us for guitar and piano.
- Translation: our own meaning-for-meaning translation, written for understanding. The sung words stay in the original language.
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