Buda Baba reels: How Bihar workers turned Punjab fields into social media gold

Every June and July, Punjab’s paddy fields fill with migrant workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh who arrive for the punishing, fast-paced work of transplanting rice. They come to earn in a few weeks what would otherwise take months back home. This year, alongside the mud, the relentless pace, and the backbreaking labour, something unexpected has taken root: a wave of viral Instagram reels that has turned the sowing season into an unlikely stage for cross-state cultural and musical collaboration.

At the centre of the trend is the decades-old Bhojpuri folk song E Buda Baba Palak Palak Dari, originally sung in Bihar during wedding ceremonies, where the groom and his family are playfully teased by the bride’s side. Sung by veteran Bhojpuri and Maithili singer Sharda Sinha, the song has long been part of Bihar’s folk tradition. Though recorded decades ago, it has found an entirely new audience this paddy season, spawning more than 84,000 Instagram reels, most of them filmed in Bihar.

The song describes an elderly man with a long, flowing white beard—an image that closely resembles many elderly Sikh farmers in Punjab, whose uncut hair and beards are articles of faith. Migrant labourers, quick to spot the resemblance, began filming themselves singing and acting out the song alongside real-life “Buda Babas” they met in the fields. The format quickly caught on, creating an unlikely cultural bridge between Punjab and Bihar.

The new faces behind the trend

Among those driving the trend is Anjali Devi, a paddy-sowing labourer and content creator with just over 4,000 Instagram followers. After arriving in Punjab for the sowing season, she filmed a reel in the paddy fields with two elderly Punjabi men sporting flowing white beards, performing the song with comic flair. The video has crossed 800,000 views.

Devi followed it with another reel set to the Punjabi song Ayi Kadi Tenu Punjab Dikhavange, filmed during an afternoon tea break in the fields. That video has attracted more than 60,000 views.

She is not alone. Manu Madhu Kaur, who began vlogging in Bihar before settling in Punjab after marriage and adopting “Kaur” to reflect her connection with the state, now documents everyday life, including that of paddy-sowing labourers. Although she has only about 1,200 followers, her videos, built around the meeting of Bihari and Punjabi cultures, have found an audience far beyond her follower count.

It is not only women taking part. Male labourers have also begun filming the Buda Babas, some of whom happily join in, playing to the camera in loosely choreographed videos in the hope of having a viral moment. Another creator, Sada Anil, has made his own version of the song, which has approached one million views.

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The videos are doing more than just entertaining viewers. They are introducing millions of social media users to a world rarely seen beyond the harvest statistics and migration debates—one of humour, camaraderie, and cultural exchange amid physically demanding work.

A friendly contest between migrant labourers

Beyond the Buda Baba trend, another reel that has gone viral captures a friendly contest between migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. One widely shared video shows the two groups competing to see who can transplant an acre of paddy first, while around 200 Punjabi spectators cheer them on from the sidelines.

The competitive spirit is not just for the camera. Speed determines earnings. Paddy-sowing crews are typically paid around Rs 4,500 per acre, which is shared among the group. Individual workers can earn up to Rs 2,000 a day, depending on the size of the team and the pace of their work.

Their days begin at 4 am to avoid the afternoon heat, while evenings are spent preparing saplings for the next day’s transplanting. The demanding routine leaves little time for anything else, perhaps explaining why these brief moments of humour and performance have resonated so strongly.

An annual opportunity to earn a lump sum

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The reels have also highlighted a distinction often overlooked in discussions about migrant labour in Punjab. One group settles in the state permanently, working year-round in cities or on farmhouses. The other—the paddy-sowing crews behind this viral trend—arrives only for the one- to two-month transplanting season before returning home.

For workers like Ram Prakash, who travels from Bihar every year, the calculation is straightforward. Back home, he works as a daily wage labourer to meet household expenses. The Punjab season offers a chance to earn between Rs 50,000 and Rs 75,000 in a concentrated spell of hard work, money he uses for larger goals such as building a room at his family home. It is less a regular job than an annual opportunity to earn a lump sum before returning to his village.

Rishab Yadav, a labourer, said, “I also make reels, but I’m not popular yet. Things have changed. Now almost every labourer has a smartphone, and after a long day of paddy sowing, we watch videos before going to sleep. Young labourers know how to use technology, and they make these reels. Because of them, the outside world is getting a glimpse into our lives. They show that we are not only hardworking but that we also enjoy our work. We are proud of what we do.”

For a few fleeting weeks every monsoon, Punjab’s paddy fields become more than workplaces. They become film sets, stages, and meeting grounds where a Bhojpuri folk classic, elderly Sikh farmers, and migrant labourers come together in an unexpected celebration of humour, hard work, and shared humanity. In the process, a seasonal migration story that has unfolded for decades is finding a new audience—one reel at a time.