Transnational Musical Flow around the Indian Ocean: Migration, Emotion, and Music of the Gulf Wives

Mappilas, the Muslim community on Kerala's southwest coast, arose as a result of pre- and post-Islamic Arab trade contacts. Since the 1970s, Gulf migrations from Malabar have popularized a distinct musical genre known as Kathu pattu or “letter songs” among the Mappilas. Kathu pattu is a Mappila song type that is rooted in Kerala's connection to the Gulf. The lyrics and melodies honor the collective memory of immigrants’ sacrifices; people who worked hard to help develop their state and make it a more prosperous place to live for future generations. In 1976 the famous poet S. A. Jameel composed the first letter song, known as the Dubai letter song or Dubai Kathu Pattu. It is a popular contemporary musical genre that highlights the emotional sufferings and psychological trauma of Mappila migrants working in the Gulf and those left behind in their home country. Gulf wives are the wives of those migrants. These Gulf wives’ letter songs are a synthesis of migration, emotion, and music. This article looks for the missing link between music and mobility within the context of the Indian Ocean. It employs a musical lens to conceptualize letter songs as the inverse of the Kerala Model of Development and to identify musical hermeneutics during the transnational migration transition period.