Xin nian yu kuai (Happy New Year)

Q: How do you (Indian) celebrate New Year?
A: Drinking Beer! ‘wow.. Drinking beer?’.Nope, I immediately corrected myself. This must be true only with some in cities.
Q: But Jan 1st is not New Year for Indians.
A: Yes, It is not
Q: When is the New Year?
A: Sometime in March.
Q: What is it called?
A: There are several names in different parts of the country. And celebration too is different to the different regions. But this is just one of the New Year. We have many new years. Hindu calendar New Year, Accounting New Year ( Chopda Pujan), Financial and taxation new year ( March 31st) and also Jan 1st universal new year.

The conversation ceases. It is too much to absorb for any foreigner who is keen to understand and know the Indian customs of celebrating New Year.

Y’day, at the East Coast Park, two ladies approached us to know about how we were celebrating New Year. They were doing an article for ‘resident’ - a magazine for eastern suburbs residents of Singapore. We look forward to seeing our group picture in the magazine. At the East Coast, New Year was ushered without any cacophony of noise or the barrage of blast from car horns or fire crackers. Instead, amidst crowded beach with barbecue filled air had radioluminacent strips shaped in the form of rings and bangles aided by the ‘sparklers’ and ‘snow spray’ adding visual dimension to the live music band played in the front of beer guzzlers.

Previous Year ended with dosa, vada and pav bhaji and the new year began with some quick sips of red Martini (tasty kadha for me). Xin nian yu kuai

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10cc gulp and 24 hour high

I never had so much high in such a small dosage. Cough syrups do give you more punch and last more time than any alcoholic drink. I thought Benedryl topped that list till I had Dhasedyl yesterday. The sticker on the plastic bottle said ' Take 10cc three times a day, May cause drowsiness '. I had one dose of 10cc previous night and effects are still lingering. I didnt have courage to take two more doses. I didnt knock out immediately but did sleep well . When I woke up, I was groggy, listless and void of energy. The feeling continued through out the day. By evening I felt ravenous. I kept wondering what's so special about 'Dhasedyl' that uprooted my mental equilibrium. I had to know about this drug that so quickly and efficiently smothered my month old persistant cough and cold within a night but crippled and numbed my alertness and made me feel like a seasoned druggist. As I searched on ' Dhasedyl ' I read about its sideffects and the following experience o
Read more

Rabbit and Tortoise story in Marathi musical

幼いころに母が歌ってくれた童謡 ससा तो ससा की कापूस जसा त्याने कासवाशी पैज लाविली वेगेवेगे धावू नि डोंगरावर जाऊ ही शर्यत रे अपुली चुरुचुरु बोले तो तुरुतुरु चाले नि कासवाने अंग हलविले ससा जाई पुढे नि झाडामागे दडे ते कासवाने हळू पाहीयले वाटेत थांबलेना कोणाशी बोललेना चालले लुटुलुटु पाही ससा हिरवी हिरवी पाने नि पाखरांचे गाणे हे पाहुनिया ससा हरखला खाई गार चारा, घे फांदीचा निवारा तो हळूहळू तेथे पेंगुळला मिटले वेडे भोळे, गुंजेचे त्याचे डोळे झाडच्या सावलीत झोपे ससा झाली सांज वेळ तो गेला किती काळ नि शहारली गवताची पाती ससा झाला जागा तो उगा करी त्रागा नि धाव घेई डोंगराच्या माथी कासवा तेथे पाही ओशाळला मनी होई "निजला तो संपला" सांगे ससा penned by Shantaram Nandgaonkar wonder who is the music director. I love the tempo of this song
Read more

Madhav Julian and Indiver -प्रेमस्वरुप आई and Zindgi Ka Safar

When I hear this poetry of Madhav Julian sung by Lata - my eyeballs swell with a blob - as the poem reaches mid way. A fabulous rendition that seems to have bled through damaged heart of this man. Tears don’t come that easily to me. That prerogative belong to Rajesh Khanna in Hindi movies of Anand Amar Prem and Dharmendra in Satyakam . In this poem too tears don’t come because I miss my mother or think of her from a distant land. This poem resurrects a character who has raised in orphanage and became successful to get all the comforts and accolades that a man can strive for. Yet he has remained empty in his heart without the existence of his mother। He doesnt remember her face as she has left long before she made any imprint on his life. Today is my mother’s birthday and I thought it would be appropriate to write about this poem. There is another song – rather second stanza of the song – penned by Indiver in movie Safar also evokes similar anguish। Here the
Read more