I Love This Guy

My favorite Pandora station, 'Ringa Ringa Radio,' began playing this really catchy Punjabi/Bhangra song a few weeks ago, which started getting stuck in my head for lengths at a time (even though I could only remember the words to one phrase). I have since looked up the singer, and am now in love with the music of who must be the happiest man on Earth- Daler Mehndi.



I can't help but laugh at some of his videos, some of the footage is hysterical. But he is so colorful, dances bhangra, and always has a huge smile on his face. And his music is RIDICULOUSLY WONDERFUL. I have tortured my poor roommate by playing it aloud....(secretly, I think she likes it ;) ) The music is so happy and energetic, and makes me want to dance!



So listen to this, 'Dil Mera Naal' by Daler Mehndi! And be sure to check out his other songs, such as 'Tunak Tunak Tun' - it has over 22 million views on Youtube...pretty impressive. Have fun dancing!

My New Little Friend

Always trapped in the convent that is all-girls' boarding school, I rarely get the chance to shop. So when my school has a Fair Trade sale, I'm there (granted I have money, of course).

Fair Trade items are wonderful not only because they have different ethnic styles, are beautiful, handmade, and unique, but also because they ensure fair wages for people in the world, which can have great impacts.

With all of these things in mind, I approached the long table full of Fair Trade goodies and found this:

The pictures don't do him justice- he's really quite the beauty. He is made of soft wood, and the flowery ornate design is all over his body. He even has little footprints underneath his feet!

He was a bit expensive for a wooden elephant. But he is Fair Trade. And a graduation present to myself. And, he makes me very happy sitting atop my bookshelf and looking pretty.

I do love my new little friend.

Picture of the Day

Meet Henry. He is my cat.

It could be quite nice

to be a purring feline

and sleep in windows

Salaam Bombay!

I just finished Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay!, which I had heard much praise about. It did not dissapoint! It was definitely a change from the newer, glitzier Indian movies I have been watching lately. The film was dedicated to the street children of Bombay, and told the very sad and haunting story of a young street child named Krishna. Definitely a heart-tugging, thought provoking movie. I have recently thought a little bit about possibly working with non-profits and street children in India for a while at some point in my life, so it was interesting to watch.
I kept a notebook by my side while I watched to try to catch some Hindi-which was somewhat difficult, because the actors all speak so fast! But here is some of what I picked up:
हिंदी बात नहीं आता? Don't speak Hindi?
मैं कुछ करेगा- I'll do something
ठीक है जायेगा- It will be alright

I also thought I picked up the word for sexy- जिक्नी (jikni) ? But I looked it up on google translate and it came up as a non-existent word...hmmm.

Picture of the Day

For today, a picture I took of a lonely little grave...

Isn't it sad? There were a bunch more like it, probably from the 1800s. It makes me want to come up with a whole story- how did the baby die? Why didn't the family have the money to put its name on the tombstone? What was the baby's name? At the time I took the photo I was also doing some research on illegal immigration and learned about the cemeteries where unknown illegal immigrants are buried when they die attempting to cross the border...you can read more about them here.

Maybe not the happiest picture... but I will post a brighter one tomorrow :)

Haiku

maybe I have it

this thing called senioritis

alas, no known cure

Picture of the Day

So far I have actually posted a picture every day....for the past three days.... which perhaps isn't the most impressive track record, but nevertheless I'm glad I've been able to keep up :) Who knows how I long I will continue...



For today I have a photograph I took at a Santeria store in my neighborhood.



I've learned from my Caribbean Lit class and by doing a little bit of research that Santeria is an African/Caribbean religion, which blends Christianity with more traditional tribal religion and things like voodoo. I'm no expert though.... you can learn all about it at http://santeriareligion101.com/! It's pretty fascinating.

Anyway, I took this photograph at this Santeria store, which was crammed full of religious statues, candles, mysterious love potion sorts of things, creepy statues of heads with eyes made out of cowrie shells, and much much more...it was quite the place. A few months ago they had a big fire at the store that was pretty serious and devastating...but apparently the large religious statues in the window did not burn to a crisp, which was quite puzzling and mysterious! I'd love to go back and take more photographs if they re-open.

I'm thinking of putting this photograph in my end-of-year photography portfolio, too....thoughts?

Thoughts On Graduation...

Graduation is getting closer. And closer. As a matter of fact, there are exactly three weeks until I graduate from high school. I have mixed feelings...I am definitely ready for a change, and am looking forward to moving on to the next stage of my life. I am excited to be in a new school and city next fall, with new people, new things, new experiences, and new places to explore. New dining hall food sounds appealing right about now, too, and more independence will also be quite nice. I also am looking forward to a break over the summer from all of the stress and work of school. But at the same time, I know I am really going to miss the people at my school, all of my lovely friends and classmates and teachers. I've been so busy lately, it hasn't really even sunken in yet that I am leaving, and I haven't had time to process how I feel about it. I just hope that, when graduation day comes, it does not hit me in the face and make me too sad! This place has been my home for the past three years and I am really going to miss it... but still, I am happy to be leaving :)
It has been a pretty stressful and emotional past few weeks, what with college decisions (I am still waiting to hear from a college about my place on their waitlist...ahh the suspense!) and the million things to finish for school, and lately this song sung by Frehel from one of my favorite movies and soundtracks, Amelie, has been keeping me calm and in good spirits :)

http://youtu.be/equvoqUT1VM

Picture of the Day

I took this photograph last summer at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. Portraits are my favorite- I was happy to get a shot of some people, and I like the relationship between them, how the boy is turned, the visible part of a Hindi sign and the pattern of the tiles. I spent several hours today in a darkroom working on some black and white photographs, and decided to print this out to add to my end of the year portfolio for my photography class.

Your Kohl Rimmed Eyes...

I think I am addicted to blogger.
I am also addicted to this song, from the Bollywood film Bunty Aur Babli.
It's quite catchy....best listened to at high volume by yourself in a room where you can dance and sing along to the chorus... :)

Picture of the Day

I took this photograph last spring, using a Holga. Holgas are fun little plastic cameras that often create distorted photographs, and it is easy to take double exposures, like I did in this picture. This photo makes me think of spring, and I like that there is a person (my friend!) holding a camera in it. You can also spot my school campus in the background.

Khushi

What does 'khushi' mean, you ask?
'Khushi' is a Hindi word, written in the Devanagari script.
ख़ुशी (Khushi): Happy!

I hope to write about all that makes me 'khushi'- travel, people, food, photography, India, language, dancing, singing, poetry, social activism.....and hope that in doing so, I can make some people out there who are reading what I write 'khushi,' too!