VT’s blog

The other day someone asked me, "Which is your favorite song?" Wow! That question made me feel real nostalgic and all. I mean, it is the kind of stuff teenyboppers ask to each other. I said, "my favorite song is ' Baapchik baapchik bumbo, chiki chiki chiki chiki baa…'" and thought my reply sounded cool as hell.

Actually I think this thing about favorite song, favorite this-n-that keeps changing all the time. It depends on the state of mind, age, time and stuff like that. For instance, when I used to be a love crazed teenager, my favorite song was 'Tu meri zindagi hai ' from the Bollywood blockbuster Aashiqui. *Blush*. Heck, I even tried to dig Mozart and stuff at college. I guess these artistic/musical preferences are quite fluid.

Anyways, the 'favorite song' question made me wonder how we misunderstand lyrics and make a complete khichdi of some wonderful poetry. Take, for instance, this song:

Tu jahaan jahaan chalega

Mera Saaya saath hoga

[A purely functional translation is, 'Where ever you go, my dear. My shadow follows.']

Now, the Hindi key word here has two meanings. Saaya means a shadow. Saaya also means a petticoat.

[It was later, much later that I understood the real meaning of the song.]

Initially, the song made me wonder why the hell this woman wants her petticoat to follow her beloved! It sure sounded spooky, to say the least.

Similarly, another song:

Do diwaane shahar me,

Raat mein yaa dopahar mein

Aab-o-daanaa dhoondhate hai

Aab-o-daanaa means 'water-and-food'. Basically, 'a life' in poetic terms. And this song tries to capture, the travails of young lovers in the big city, looking for food, shelter and generally trying to go get a life.

For some weird reason I always heard aab-o-daanaa as sabu dana (Pearl sago).

Again the same question! Sabu dana is a that starchy grain that people feast upon- especially during the fasting days. It looks like homeopathic granules and tastes no great shakes.

I kept wondering what was so cool about it that made these two young lovers roam around the city looking for saabu dana of all things! How very intelligent.

Many people call Arundhati Roy a 'one book wonder'. People who call her so also represent a particular school of political thought. But this post is not about politics.

It is about a fact that most artists are actually 'one (or two) great work' wonders. Look at most of the rock and pop legends, most of the bands have come up with one (or two) great albums. And the remaining works have been quite mediocre. So, I guess it is quite natural to be a one 'book/album/film' wonder. It does not demean an artist in any ways.

Here I wish to share one of my all time favorites. Losing my religion, I feel this was as good as the alternative rock band REM ever got.

Losing My Religion

Oh, life is bigger

It’s bigger than you

And you are not me

The lengths that I will go to

The distance in your eyes

Oh no, I’ve said too much

I set it up

That’s me in the corner

That’s me in the spotlight, I’m

Losing my religion

Trying to keep up with you

And I don’t know if I can do it

Oh no, I’ve said too much

I haven’t said enough

I thought that I heard you laughing

I thought that I heard you sing

I think I thought I saw you try

Every whisper

Of every waking hour I’m

Choosing my confessions

Trying to keep an eye on you

Like a hurt lost and blinded fool, fool

Oh no, I’ve said too much

I set it up

Consider this

Consider this

The hint of the century

Consider this

The slip that brought me

To my knees failed

What if all these fantasies

Come flailing around

Now I’ve said too much

I thought that I heard you laughing

I thought that I heard you sing

I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream

That was just a dream

That’s me in the corner

That’s me in the spotlight, I’m

Losing my religion

But that was just a dream

Try, cry, why try?

That was just a dream

Just a dream, just a dream

Dream

Desi Disco Dancer today! I am sure even the great Mithun da, the greatest actor ever, would approve.

Video dekho, have fun karo!

CHUTNEYMUSIC

 THE BEGINNINGS

Long before the current breed of Indian globetrotters, there were another set of Indians who went abroad looking for work. There is a crucial difference though- most of those oldies did not even know where they were headed.

Between the mid 19th and very early 20th Century, thousands and thousands of Indians were picked up by our erstwhile European colonizers, taken to far off lands and made to work as contract laborers.

Shiploads of Indians were taken to distant countries like Fiji, Trinidad, British Guiana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Surinam etc- mainly to work in sugarcane plantations. This was the Indenture System which involved an agreement between the (mainly) British colonizers and Indian workers. It was a mellowed down version of the Slave Trade, actually.

Many of the poor, mostly illiterate, Indians who went to those lands in the hope of making some money and returing to their soil did not even know what an 'agreement' meant! There lies the origin of the word 'girmit'. Girmit was the Desi way of pronouncing 'agreement'.  Anyone who went on a 'girmit' was called a 'girmitiya'.

Time passed and they adapted to the new land and the new life- and their generations followed. They still hold some of their Indianness alive, through folk culture, music, language and food.

Perhaps the most famous girmitiya is VS Naipaul, who traces his roots to somewhere near Gorakhpur in UP, not to forget a series of presidents and prime ministers from countries like Mauritius. Of course, some great cricketers from the West Indies are girmitiyas too.

THE CURRENT SCENE

Since the girmitiyas adapted liberally to the local culture, they came up with their own brand of music too- these days it is aptly named Chutney Music! Here I post a music video called Mor Tor, which is a liberal mix of Bhojpuri, English and Hindi; of course, the Bollywood influence exists everywhere. The lyrics have references to sindoor and all. The song sounds like it is based on some wedding folk song.

My knowledge of Bhojpuri and Awadhi dialects tells me that the song has quite a corny meaning. It is entirely possible that it is derived from a traditional 'gaari' from the Cow Belt. 'Gaari' literally means an abuse; and it is kind of folk song just like Kajri and Fagua.

From what I could make out (considering the not-so-great sound quality), the lyrics go somewhat like this:

Mor Tor Mor Tor

Lawa Milaai, Sakhi Lawa Milaai

I don't think I can translate that fully, but the words mean this. [Mor=Mine, Tor=Your, Sakhi=a female friend, Lawa= bring and Milai=meet/join].

"Bring it close, sweetheart, yours and mine. Let's join 'em!!"  Yikes! Sach much, kaafi corny hai!

It sounds like one of those suggestive/horny folk-songs that are sung at the Ladies Sangeet sessions during the wedding days (although, wifey says that these days the 'cultured' urban ladies have done away with those horny folk songs and they mainly sing boring Bollywood remixes at the Ladies Sangeet. I am not too sure about that, but I hope what she says is wrong, else we are losing one great tradition worth keeping.)

Whatever it means, go ahead and enjoy this music video- straight from the Caribbean Islands.

Being 'creative' and 'different' are the cool things to do these days.

At our place, we have an extra room at the first floor which we rent out to college students and young professionals. In the last few years, all the boys and girls who have landed at our place had one common thing to say about themselves, "I want to do something 'different'. I want to do something 'creative'." I admire that thought.

That's right, the thought, can't say much about the 'action' part. Looking different is more important than being different.

Even I have been mulling over an option to be different and creative as hell.

First thing that I need to do to be creative is to wear a pony tail or something, which I have been growing. Then I will get some cool tattoos and indulge in some kind of body piercing. And bingo! I am almost there!

Next step is the ultra cool thing to do- 'cut a music video album'. I know it takes some creative genius  to really arrive at the rocking scene!

Here is my creative idea for the music video:

Opening sequence: Absolutely dark screen, some sitar/santoor playing in the background ' for five seconds. Gradually a small white dot appears at a distance and keeps growing larger ' as the car moves (on which the video camera is) towards the end of the tunnel. Tunnel journey ends. Lovely mountain view!

Next Shot: Loud bangs of a lot of percussion instruments. The video screen shows series of people, in quick succession. All standing erect, stiff, poker faced.

A fisherman, followed by a tribal, followed by a Hippie, followed by a Stock Broker, followed by a Sadhu, followed by a Rajasthani folk singer, followed by street child. All stand erect, stiff, poker faced.

This gives an ethnic Indian feel to the video.

Next shot: A sexy looking babe is taking a lot of angarais in her bed. (For non-Hindi-knowing folks, sorry, I don't know what an angarai is called in English. It's the bending-twisting movement we do, along with yawning, as soon as you wake up.)

The background song starts. It is 'inspired' by an old Mohammad Rafi number.

Reshma Jawaan ho gayee, hoye.

Teer Kamaan ho gayee..

The sexy babe takes a few more angarais.

Repeat:

Reshma Jawaan ho gayee, hoye.

Teer Kamaan ho gayee..

She takes some more angarais.

Cut. Next shot: A few dudes and babes appear and start doing some kind of a jig. Looks like a mix of Bhangra Rap and Reggae movements. All the guys and gals wears bandanas, the background is some kind of a dockyard ' with large cargo containers all around.

They sing:

I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna,

I gonna, I gonna, I gonna, I gonna

Cut. The camera is back to the bed room. She gets up from the bed and walks towards the window. Pulls the curtain, takes a few more angarais. Background song goes on.

Reshma Jawaan ho gayee, hoye.

Teer Kamaan ho gayee..

Cut. Back to the guys and gals jiggling in front of the cargo yard; they sing:

I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna,

I gonna, I gonna, I gonna, I gonna

A guy brings his face near the camera, almost into it, and sings:

U're damn wickid, wickid, wickid, wickid

Yeah yeah yeah

Cut. Back to the bed room, the background song goes.

Reshma Jawaan ho gayee, hoye.

Teer Kamaan ho gayee..

A handsome hunk opens the door and enters the bedroom. The damsel, who just woke up and took a hell lot of angarais, looks at the hunk and smiles.

Gradual music fade out, some melancholic shahanai tune.

Over and out!

Don't you dare call that a remix or something. It is 'different' and 'creative'.

Someone cares financing this music video project?

“The Outdoors Man” finds it immensely difficult to stay home continuously for too long. He secretly envies other men who can happily stay home for more than 24 hours at a stretch. He had a horrible time this weekend staying home (don't ask why) and doing what many others call "relaxation".

Only thing that comes to mind is Bruce Springsteen's "57 Channels"

57 Channels (And Nothin’ On)

Bought a bourgeois house in the Hollywood hills
With a truckload of hundred thousand dollar bills

Man came by to hook up my cable TV
We settled in for the night my baby and me
We switched ’round and ’round ’til half-past dawn
There were fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on

Well now home entertainment was my baby’s wish
So I hopped into town for a satellite dish
I tied it to the top of my Japanese car
I came home and I pointed it out into the stars
A message came back from the great beyond
There’s fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on

Well we might’a made some friends with some billionaires
We might’a got all nice and friendly
If we’d made it upstairs
All I got was a note that said “Bye-bye John
Our love is fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on”

So I bought a .44 magnum it was solid steel cast
And in the blessed name of Elvis well I just let it blast
‘Til my TV lay in pieces there at my feet
And they busted me for disturbin’ the almighty peace
Judge said “What you got in your defence son?”
“Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on”
I can see by your eyes friend you’re just about gone
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on…
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’