Bhag Milkha Bhag

Last weekend I got the opportunity to watch The Flying Sikh's s biography, Bhag Milkha Bhag (literal translation-Run Milkha Run). Even though I was hearing good things about the movie from people around me and most of the media, I wasn't too enthusiastic about watching it, basically because I don't like biographies. But to my surprise it turned out to be a pretty good movie!! The visual effects and the attention to detail in scene set-up, characterizations, make-up, clothes, etc was so amazing that it felt as if I had traveled back in time to another era. Farhan is a natural, his portrayal of Milkha Singh is very believable, even though how realistic it is is something that can only judged by the real Milkha Singh:). The supporting cast, especially Divya Dutta, also do justice to their roles. Divya's acting skills have reached new heights and the way she executes her roles is absolutely convincing and delightful.
The way the story is narrated is very dynamic with 2 parallel storylines- one is about Milkha Singh, the athlete and the other about Milkha Singh, the person. Initially, circumstances beyond his control push him into running and for a while it seems like he is an accidental athlete- naturally gifted but not ready or not wanting to go beyond that. But once he embraces his potential, that's when the two personas come together and Milkha Singh achieves glory.
I think the song sequences could have been avoided-that would have made the movie a bit shorter and I don't think they added much value to the overall storyline. But I have to admit that the song, Slow Motion Angreza, is quite catchy, here is a link to a You Tube video of the same..enjoy!!

Phulkari..

..means the craft of embroidering flowers on a cloth.Traditionally these would be made on khaddar but other fabrics can also be used. In my grand-ma's time phulkaris were made at home mainly as gifts to be given to girls at the time of their wedding and even today almost every Punjabi girl/woman will have at least one phulkari. It a beautiful reminiscent  of the by-gone days and thankfully one that is still gaining in popularity.

Happy Baisakhi!!!

         HAPPY  BAISAKHI!!!          

         HAPPY  BAISAKHI!!!!         

          HAPPY  BAISAKHI!!!!        

           HAPPY  BAISAKHI!!!!        

Punjabi Muhavarey

Muhavarey are quotations in Punjabi. In school we had to remember a ton of them -the saying, its meaning and also make a sentence with it. It seemed like a chore at that time but over the years I have developed much more  appreciation for the wit and aptness of these zingy one liners. Generally they are very short and tend to be sarcastic but can surely help get the point across .This post will be a dynamic one to which I will keep adding muhavreys and their meanings (as I understand them) that I remember or come across . Please let me know if my interpretation is wrong or if someone has any more to add to it.So, to start, here are a few:

1. Koi marrey , koi jeevey suthra ghol patasey peevey- used to describe a person who doesn't care much about what's happening around him/her and is lost in his/her own world.

2. Saadi billi, saanu meow- when someone you consider to be yours or under your control  tries to outsmart you

3. Loha hi lohe nu katda hai- iron can be cut by iron only i.e a person can be defeated by someone with the same qualities/mettle

4. Sapp nu sapp larey taan veyo kihnu charey- similar to the above one but is mostly used in a negative sense mostly for 2 people who are equally bad/evil 

5.Saddi na bulai, main larey di tai- used for someone who pokes their nose (uninvited) in other peoples' business

6.Kuchhar kuri, shehar dhindora- when someone is trying to find something that they are literally carrying around

7.Murr ghir khoti bohar thalley- back to square one

8. Thoda keha sir-mathey, parnala uthey da uthey- learnt this one recently, refers to someone who never says no/argues against any advice given to them but never follows up on it either and will do exactly they have been doing before.


           

Art.Com Indian State Railways: See India Framed Art Print (Google Affiliate Ad)

Punjabi Boliyaan

Recently we had a wedding in the family.  The mehendi or "ladies' sangeet" was a small, family affair which meant that there were just a few of us who had to do all the singing and dancing. It was a lot of fun  except that there was a bit of a problem when it came to gidhha. Now, the secret to having a good round of gidhha is either having a well-trained group of gidhha girls who have practiced  their boliyaan numerous times or having a big enough gathering that there is no lack of boliyaan and the ladies are actually competing with each other to get theirs' out first. But such was not the case at our party.Here we had just one person who knew quite a few but the majority of the junta was no good. Its not that we don't know it, its just that most of the time we end up listening and dancing to recorded bolis or Punjabi songs and so when we had to really sing the boliyaan, they didn't come immediately to mind. That's when I thought of doing a post on this to chronicle the ones that I remember..

 Boli payiey taan boli payiey lalkaar ke

Aashkaan da dil tor jayiey addi maar ke.

Nee main haarey di mitti, ni main chulle di mitti,

Kaale reethrey nu viahi nee main saaban di tikki.

Chaulaan da paani asaan boohey aggey doleya

Aaunda, jaanda fisal gaya nee

Mera rondi da hassa nikal gaya nee

Baari barsi khattan gaya si

Khatt ke leyaandi kikkar

Vey kad paavenga, kurtey naal di nikkar

Main nachaan, nachaan, nachaan,

Nee main agg vangu machaan

Main charh-charh peengaan pavaan

Maar hularey sikhar charavaan

Meri nachdi di jhanjar khnakey nee

Main nachlaan patola bann ke  nee                

Harey harey ghaa uttey sapp foonka       

Bhajo veero vey baapu kalla majhaan charda

Horna de mahiye taan lam-sallamey

Mera mahiya gith muthiya

Jivein sarak uthey rurhda fitfitiya

Je mundeya mainu nachdi vekhna

Suit sava de fit mundeya

Meri nachdi di photo khich mundeya

Laung paa ke aayi aa

Nathh paa ke aayi aa

Vekh lambra Nihaal kure aayi aa

Saarey gehney taan mere mapeyaan ne paaye

Ikko taveet uhdey ghar da nee

Jadon larda tann behja behja karda nee

Aap taan khaanda makki di roti

Mainu dinda kanak di

Main talli vangu chhanakdi

Madhaniaa, madhaaniaa, madhaniaa
Pekey dovein bhainaan nachiye
Sahurey nachiye daraniaan jethaniaan

100% Punjabi license plate frame (Google Affiliate Ad)

Chhalla

Songs come and go-some I really like, will listen to them repeatedly and will, eventually, get bored with them but  Chhalla by Gurdas Mann is a song that I can never get tired of listening to. Its perfect in every  way..

Punjabi Bumper Sticker (Google Affiliate Ad)

In honor of NIRBHAYA

This past weekend Punjabis all over the world celebrated Lohri, the quintessential Punjabi festival with bonfires, food, drinks, music and dancing. This is an occasion that celebrates new beginnings. I like to call it the Punjabi New Year and it is marked by the end of the month of "Poh" & beginning of "Magh".  It is considered to be the end of winter season and beginning of spring. People hope that Lohri will bring an end to laziness  and make them more active/productive. This sentiment is echoed in the saying that goes along with throwing "til"(sesame seeds) in the bonfire : "Issar aaye dalidar jaaye,  Dalidar di jarh chulhey paaye". 

This is also a festival that is special for newborns and newly-weds. Couples celebrate the beginning of their journey together and families celebrate the beginning of a new life in their midst. Even though,here I am saying newborns are celebrated, ask any Punjabi and you will realize that most people will celebrate a new birth  only if it is a boy. They say, if you celebrate the birth of a girl, you are basically inviting more girls to be born in your family. Clearly, this is unacceptable to the people who would not think twice about murdering their unborn girl child; in a sense they are just trying to avoid unnecessary killing  by not celebrating Lohri for girls.

This mentality is at the heart of the problems that women face in India, especially Northern India. When her birth is something that is a cause of grief for her family, her upbringing is an expense that they have to endure without any hope of gaining from it, her wedding is a problem so big that they start worrying about it from the moment she is born and the only time she actually gives her family any joy is when she has gone away to her husband's house, how can a woman expect anything better from the rest of the world?
The immediate step that needs to be taken to empower women and to make them feel more secure is to bring about a drastic change in laws that helps deliver justice quickly and efficiently, while being sensitive to the victims and ensuring harsh punishments to the perpetrators. But to bring about real change, girls need to be cherished and loved unconditionally by their parents and family, they need to be respected inside their homes to make them capable of demanding, expecting and  commanding respect from the outside world.Even the popular Lohri song- "Sundar mudariye, tera kaun vichara? Dulla Bhatii waala........." tells the story of a guy who was a savior of girls, someone who treated others' daughters as his own and tried to do good for them.

This desperate need to have boys is making beasts out of us.I hope this Lohri marks the beginning of the end of this sickening mentality that we have developed as a people and the start of a new age where the birth of a girl is also an occasion for celebration and where these girls can hope to live their lives with dignity.
__________________________________________________________________________________
 Here's the full Lohri song (copied from Wikipedia).They also have it translation there :    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohri.

Sunder mundriye hoye!
Tera kaun vicharaa hoye!
Dullah Bhatti walla hoye!
Dullhe di dhee vyayae hoye!
Ser shakkar payee hoye!
Kudi da laal pathaka hoye!
Kudi da saalu paata hoye!
Salu kaun samete!
Chacha gali dese!
Chache choori kutti! zamidara lutti!
Zamindaar sudhaye!
Bum Bum bhole aaye!
Ek bhola reh gaya!
Sipahee far ke lai gaya!
Sipahee ne mari itt!
Bhaanvey ro te bhaanvey pitt!
Sanoo de de Lohri, te teri jeeve jodi!