Monday, September 28, 2009

Dussehra

Dusshera: Victory of good over the evil...

Evil: Moral badness, or the deviation of a moral being from the principles of virtue imposed by conscience, or by the will of the Supreme Being, or by the principles of a lawful human authority; disposition to do wrong; moral offense; wickedness; depravity.

Good: That which possesses desirable qualities, promotes success, welfare, or happiness, is serviceable, fit, excellent, kind, benevolent, etc.; opposed to evil.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Office timepass again...

Another totally timepass video with the office junta :)


This fantastic dance move is being practiced at the Restaurant Saffron in Shapath IV; that day we managed to shock as well as entertain the staff as well as the fellow guests :)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Garba over the years - Part 2

Ghunghat ki aad mein, dilbar ka deedar adhoora rehta hai...
jab tak na mile aashiq ki nazar, yeh pyaar adhoora rehta hai...

Ek main, aur ek tu, dono mile is tarah...

mar gayi main, mit gayi main
ooori aaari...teri deewani...
deewani...deewani...deewani...

pari hoon main (again)...mujhe na choona...

naa jaane koi, ksisi hai yeh zindagani...
humari adhoori kahani...
oooooooo....haaanhaaanhaaannnnnn....

saason ka maala mein simuru main tera naam...
teri deewani (whats going on???)...teeeeeri deewani...

yeh mera dil, pyaar ka deewana...
deewana deewana, pyaar ka mastana/ parvana (?)



Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Garba over the years - Part 1

Ley gayi dil mera manchali,
khalibali khalibali, khalibali khalibali...


I have always enjoyed Navratri in Gujarat, albeit from a distance. A few times, that I actually got into the field, the disasters (one of them included punching a big fat aunty on her face in Baroda) convinced me that I was not meant for this graceful dancing style.

Pardesia, yeh sach hai piya...
Log kehte hain maine...tujhko dil de diya...


The singers here today are actually good, and music loud and jarring. But I can still enjoy the festivity in the air.

Pari hoon main, mujhe naa choona...

While in school, most garbas (Arkee, United Way, Vaccine) were places to see pretty girls. The first year I visited with my parents, but next year onwards it was only with friends. I would hook onto one girl I liked the best, and would continue looking at her. She would come in front once every round...those were the days...

Khaike paan banaras waala, khul jaaye band akal ka taala...


Garbas in NID were a different affair, I ended up avoiding most of them. I especially remember the garba in first year when I visited only once on the last day for the pooja.

Brazeeeel....
(this was actually pure fusion as the words after this were completely in Gujarati)!

I thought I was a purist as far as music is concerned. But I am quite in favour of fusion now. The fusion one hears during Navratri is both innovative as well as entertaining.

Jay Ambe maata ni jai!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Salty Dead Fish and Pizza

This time last year I was craving for salt like a mad man. Doctors had advised loads of glucose, but all I wanted was salt. It was rather odd, because I have a BIG sweet tooth. I used to actually dream about eating salty sea fish for my meals almost every day. As my skin turned yellower, the craving for the salty fish meal also grew exponentially! Watching 'Travel and Living' all day long gave some exceptional visuals to my imaginations. My substitute to salty sea fish was 'salty' tadka arhar dal!

My Salty fish fantasy finally came true at an awesome open air restaurant in Torino with cool breeze soothing my very tired body, when based on Muzayun's recommendations I decided to take a bite from the very salty 'Tuna Pizza'. Her very audible and orgasmic 'OOHs and AAHs' convinced me that it would be almost a sacrilege to leave Italy without eating this 'Tuna Pizza'. It was for the first time in the last decade and half that a salty and very very tasty dead fish had come so close to my mouth. My desperate taste buds were all up waiting for the salty fish to touch them and give them instant International Nirvana/ Moksha.

The silence that followed (not literally of course) their contact was almost like an unexpected anti-climax to an exceptional build-up of desires and expectations. The buds recoiled, my mouth closed and my hands reached out for the very tasty and fine red wine for a soothing BIG gulp. A certain Ms Muzayun Mukhtar was still making her orgasmic 'OOHs and AAHs' with every bite!

Suddenly my 'Travel & Living says all Salty Sea fish tastes yum' dream came crashing down. And it was heart breaking too but returning to my simple, authentic and very tasty 'Margarita' was rather easy. However, my disappointment continued - no matter how much I tried, my tasty 'Margarita' could just not inspire me to make even an occasional orgasmic 'OOH and AAH' that a certain Ms Muzayun Mukhtar was still making!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Sid the cook!

The first time I remember doing anything on the cooking gas was frying blood-filled over-bloated ticks (from my dog Pluto in Nanpara) with a neighbourhood friend. It was a messy affair and resulted in some good beatings from amma. However, my efforts after that have been a little less disastrous!

Recently we got a gas connection at home and I am trying to hone my cooking skills once again. My list of recipes is limited so most weekends some of my friends from NID come over and cook and I observe or help in cooking. Its a process that I am surprisingly enjoying a lot now. Most of the times I cook only for myself, but even that is not a deterrent. Lets see how this journey goes...the start looks promising!

Today's menu - Pasta (well its just a ready to mix Sunfeast one) and Suji Halwa (because I am really in mood for something sweet).

Saturday, September 5, 2009

rumi, sema, darvesh, mevlevi...

Darvesh is derived from the word Dar which means 'the door' in Persian, hence a Darvesh is the one 'who opens the door'.

Rumi has said in reference to Sema, "For them it is the Sema of this world and the other. Even more for the circle of dancers within the Sema Who turn and have in their midst, their own Ka'aba." and what he is saying is that when, like in Mecca you have come closer to God, likewise when you perform Sema you are also closer to God.

The Sema was practised in the semahane (ritual hall) according to a precisely prescribed symbolic ritual with the dervishes whirling in a circle around their sheikh, who is the only one circling around his axis. The Sema is performed by spinning on the right foot. [3] The dervishes wear a white gown (symbol of death), a wide black cloak (hirka) (symbol of the grave) and a high brown cap (kûlah), symbol of the tombstone.

Sema ceremonies are broken up into four parts which all have their own important meanings.

Naat and Taksim - Naat is the beginning of the ceremony where they sing praise for the Prophet Mohammed. The first part is finished with Taksim or the playing of the reed flute which symbolizes our separation from God.

Devr-i Veled - Devr-i Veled is when the dervishes bow to each other. The bow is said to represent the acknowledgement of the Divine breath which has been breathed into all of us. After all the dervishes have done this they kneel and recite a short dhikr before removing their black cloaks.

The Four Selams - The Four Selams are the central part of Sema. The semazen, or the whirling dirvishes, are representative of the moon and they spin on the outside of the Sheikh who is representative of the sun. They, as previously mentioned, spin on their right foot and additionally, they have their right palm facing upwards towards Heaven and their left hand pointing at the ground. The four selams themselves are representative of the spiritual journey that every believer goes through. The first one is representative of recognition of God, the second one is recognition of the existence in his unity, the third one represents the ecstacy one experiences with total surrender, and the fourth one, where the Sheikh joins in the dance, is symbolic of peace of the heart due to Divine unity. After the four selams, this part of the ceremony is concluded with another Taksim.

Concluding Prayer - The fourth part of the ceremony is a recitation from the Holy Qu'ran and a prayer by the Sheikh and then the Sema is complete.

The only live performance I've seen was last year at the Sarkhej Roza. It was beautiful, but I saw it just like a performance. Wonder if I would ever be able to actually experience the trance...



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...