A man’s voice behind the camera prods her: “Aur, aur suna (sing more, more)”. In another video, a girl about 10, looks directly at the camera, smiles sheepishly and parrots this couplet like she has just memorized the lines: Chadar odh kay sona, takiya modd kay sona, meri yaad aye, toh jagah chhod kay sona. There’s another video of the same girl, in the same setting and clothes, dancing with a boy, about the same age, this time thrusting their bodies at each other to another such song. It’s a 15-second clip on a short video app called Kwai popular in India.
She is standing in the middle of a field and swaying her body, shaking her hips, her chest heaving as she dances to a popular Hariyanvi number that goes Meri jalti jawani maange paani paani. A young girl, not more than 12 years old is dressed in a bright pink lehenga and a royal blue velvet blouse.
