taxpayer chutney widout rum
De lady at de door of de cultural centre look lil anxious. I mek sure ah ask she if ah dress arite. Ah had on a shirt, a pants and a mocassin. It tek me great pains to dress like dis.
De lady say yeh.. de shirt arite, it doan have to go in meh pants. And dat tonite she letting up no de jeans.
Chutney Final. National Cultural Centre. Dress Code sort of in effect.
Admission Free. But I want to sit at the back. I friken to sit in front where people might recognise me an' well, I can't sit emotionless throughout 16 chutney song.
I sit down and a man next to me seh.. wait, you was at de sex and gender show dis year? I aint know what to say. I say.. oh yes yes.. de film festival, he say yes dat was it. Sex and Gender show.. sound like a nice chutney ting.
And I see two other friends. Dey decide to sit down at de back wid me too.
8pm or so. National Anthem. Not from Shakti Strings. And the 'War on Bad Manners' message c Shoots, ah mean.. ..
And then MC Nazim talk.. he got dis gray hair and nice shirt and sober appearance. He apologise fuh de NCN mistake.. some people came at 18h00 instead of the 8pm. Nobody aint pelt he. Nobody vex.
Shakti Strings look nice. All de band members in dress code dat de cultural Centre staff would be proud of. One man had on a tie. Lights flashing. And man, de bass.. de bass pounding yuh ribs. Shakti Strings mussee tink it was outdoors.
Dey had warm up entertainment. Young Andy come fuh start up.. red shirt, jeans (lady at de door let he in) and dog chain pun he waist. He ask de ppl to mek noise. After de man talk about war on bad manners. It lil ruff. Andy dance round de stage. Bass loud. Not much noise needed after dat.
Dey had another chutney, and a lady come out in chutney clothes to win' at de back while de man singing. Den dey had another warm up. Den Celia Samaroo ..
So tings nice and warm now. De heart pounding wid de bass.
Nazim seh right, show to start. Minister say a few words. De man from Trinidad dere too. Minister confirm, dis is Government sponsored chutney.
Judges
16 singers. 15 judges. Not bad. And de judges all volunteering. Nice range of judges. Businessman, doctor, nurse, parang singer, doctor who is pandit and singer, de Miss India Worldwide lady , karaoke singer.. dem tings. No chutney competition winners here. But some ah de judges dem got lil lil chutney goin' on. So ah guess is arite..rendition, presence and melody.
Meh memory hazy.. dis is what ah remembah uh de nite, in no ordah.
Sonia
MC Nazim in nice sober tones announce young Sonia from Enmore, is she first time. She come out wid two man, and she in hot purple ting wid bridal veil. She want to marrid, but a good man is hard to fin'. She brave. Cant go wrong wid wanting to be on de big stage. De bass mek I aint ketch de rest uh de words. It hard to dance an; sing at de same time. Sonia try. And de two men stand up waving cloth. People clap politely when she finish. MC say nice nice tings. Quickly.
Dennis
Dennis from Essequibo, dress in nice shirt and tie. Girls dancing wid he. Dennis singing about Mashramani Time and love and unity and dem nice tings. People kind of clap when he done. MC move on to announce de next Dennis from Essequibo. Lady in row in front of me dozing off. The children dozing off.
Ban Carailla Rumal, Sawaria
MC tek time fuh announce speedboat captain Dennis.. sing about Ban Carailla Rumal, sawaria. He is over 50. Dis show is good, it have people of all ages. Dis is chutney like we expect. Meh fren explain to me dat chutney, chutney-soca is different ting. We aint hear de rest of de lyrics. But Dennis in he turban and kurta dance roun and it was nostalgic.. de chorus. ban carailla rumal, sawaria. People clap he good, he had some shout outs from the audience. Things warming up. I feel fuh get up.. but.. He had dancing girls too.
Harvey Gobin
MC announce anodda man who sing in plenty years show (and also he age and he marrid and have chirren) He bring out a girl who he say is Dularie. Ahhh.. now we get to Dularie. Can't have chutney widout Dularie. Harvey want to eat Dularie Dhal. I want to know what Harvey wife tink, but de bass again deep. De dancing girl is probably de best for de night.
Fiona Jam
De 2010 wukk up man winner come on stage. Plenty presence. Plenty girls dancing. Lyrics not too clear but she active on the stage. Girls active too. Everybody dancing up.. and dey take off de skirt so show off dey tights.. ah mean.. winin' and so on. Fiona got nice stage presence.
Joyce Harris
MC give Joyce CV, it impressive. Her story is in Chronicle. She got a song name Taxi Driver. None ah we evah here it before. but tanks to de internet .. here it is. Joyce is 66 and she come out and sing. Song sound good.
But lyrics again not known. she had a dancing girl who come out lil after. I aint know if de dancing girls were volunteers like de judges. Joyce voice good.
Aamir Khan
MC say he single. He is 22 and been single for four years. He come out. shirt pants, de dog chain and shades (red shirt.. ah mean, wuh iz dis dog chain ting). He got dancing girls too. He say he is a lova man. MC Nazim say dis about two times. Lyrics lost in de bass but de performance nice. He tek off he shades half way.. it mek sense, ah mean place dark, what you wearing shades for? People clap. Ah hope he and Sonia gaff lil bit.. MC Nazim aint seh nuttin bout dis tho; Two nice young people who like chutney.
Nobody aint sing bout rum. Or politics.
INTERMISSION
Nice intermission. De people come back after. Crowd arrange differently. Some gat guyana flag. De man George from Trinidad say dat he was impressed how de Guyanese flag wuz more visible last chutney final. Nuff people got flag. And like,, i aint know, sometin mussee share during de intermission. People loose up. Lady and chirren from de row in front gone home. Anodda set come. And dey talking loud. lady seh she want Ban carailla fuh win.
Norma Seeram Jumbie Chutney
MC introduce Mr Seeram from Berbice. He along pun de stage. Ol time sweet bai clothes.. long sleeve shut, wh ite pants and white shoes. MC Nazim say dat Mr Seeram is a pensioner. He was best newcomer last year. Dat is good. I like dat, you reach yuh pension and yuh tek up chutney singing. Mr Seeram foot movements get good clap. He sing bout he bhowjie and how he singing chutney to chase jumbie. Sumtin like dat. No jumbie in de cultural centre.
Vaneeta
MC Nazim say dis is anodda young girl coming for de fus time on de stage. Two old men in de row behind me seh.. she mussee coming wid plenty dancing girl.
She come out alone. It hard to sing and dance at de same time. I does barely manage dat mehself. De two ol men in de back row aint seh nuttin.
Audience nice, dey clap Vaneeta fuh encourage sheh.
Pooran and Geera and Indira
MC Nazim announce Pooran, from Mon Repos. Pooran come out. Tee shirt, jeans, dog chain, mohawk, shades. He singing bout Geera and Indira. Indira putting geera in everyting fuh he. And he hooked. We hooked too. De man dancing round de stage, he active. He keep on he shades. Dis is a nice chutney.. it local, it got local knowledge. And de mohawk and de dog chain, it go to show.. dat no matter what happen.. Indira and geera will always haunt de men dem regardless of if is dhoti and kurta or jeans and tee shirt.
Rajesh Dubraj
MC Nazim introduce him. He win plenty competition. He sound nice. Plenty dancing girls. People clap
Punjabi Fyah
Punjabi from West Coast, Demerara. He come to have fun. He do he own dancing. Dis is good, Fyah.. I hail he up. I come to have fun too.
Harish Singh
MC Nazim introduce Nazim De reigning monarch.
Lady in front of me shout sometin bout he supposed to be at Bollywood. Ah have a feeling dis is de anti-King section.
He come on.. little angels wid him. He had a deep message about love and so on. But it complex. His luv is Samantha.. from Jamaica. Samantha there dancing wid him. She have her name on her hat. I aint know if she come from Jamaica. King Harish seh how de dancers represent de culture.
Lady in front of me shout out.. Samantha not from no Jamaica. Dis is de nice ting about sitting at de back. You could shout to de artistes, but de artistes aint gun hear yuh. Is a kind of ting fuh let odder people hear yuh. De dancing was well.. de same.. dougla dancehall. Nobody really clap or so when dey finish.
Prince JP
MC announce de man.. and shoots, he fans stand up fuh wave dey flag. De man come out wid he dancing girls and boys. He fans shout up and wave and mek noise, bring de place to life. Ah mean, was nice to know dat de man have fans. But I aint know is what really he sing. No points for crowd appeal.
Stephen Wonder
Young Man in shades. Red pants and red tie. He dancing round de stage, He alone. He take off shades and dancing de rest of de song wid de shades in he hand. Ow man, is night.. what yall wearing shades for? Cant' hear lyrics. We aint know what de chutney was about.
Young Bill Rogers
Yep.. de man come on, wid he turban and kurta. De man was introduced by a man from India who mudder from Guyana. and seh de man was invited to India to sing chutney, but he eat out de chutney and he sing achar. Young bill sing.. great performance. He dance good. I shout out. I like he. He win de competition.
That was it. No rum. No politics.
Yeah.. I confess, dat de 2010 Chutney had more chutney.
I aint know bout de art form.
De lady say yeh.. de shirt arite, it doan have to go in meh pants. And dat tonite she letting up no de jeans.
Chutney Final. National Cultural Centre. Dress Code sort of in effect.
Admission Free. But I want to sit at the back. I friken to sit in front where people might recognise me an' well, I can't sit emotionless throughout 16 chutney song.
I sit down and a man next to me seh.. wait, you was at de sex and gender show dis year? I aint know what to say. I say.. oh yes yes.. de film festival, he say yes dat was it. Sex and Gender show.. sound like a nice chutney ting.
And I see two other friends. Dey decide to sit down at de back wid me too.
8pm or so. National Anthem. Not from Shakti Strings. And the 'War on Bad Manners' message c Shoots, ah mean.. ..
And then MC Nazim talk.. he got dis gray hair and nice shirt and sober appearance. He apologise fuh de NCN mistake.. some people came at 18h00 instead of the 8pm. Nobody aint pelt he. Nobody vex.
Shakti Strings look nice. All de band members in dress code dat de cultural Centre staff would be proud of. One man had on a tie. Lights flashing. And man, de bass.. de bass pounding yuh ribs. Shakti Strings mussee tink it was outdoors.
Dey had warm up entertainment. Young Andy come fuh start up.. red shirt, jeans (lady at de door let he in) and dog chain pun he waist. He ask de ppl to mek noise. After de man talk about war on bad manners. It lil ruff. Andy dance round de stage. Bass loud. Not much noise needed after dat.
Dey had another chutney, and a lady come out in chutney clothes to win' at de back while de man singing. Den dey had another warm up. Den Celia Samaroo ..
So tings nice and warm now. De heart pounding wid de bass.
Nazim seh right, show to start. Minister say a few words. De man from Trinidad dere too. Minister confirm, dis is Government sponsored chutney.
Judges
16 singers. 15 judges. Not bad. And de judges all volunteering. Nice range of judges. Businessman, doctor, nurse, parang singer, doctor who is pandit and singer, de Miss India Worldwide lady , karaoke singer.. dem tings. No chutney competition winners here. But some ah de judges dem got lil lil chutney goin' on. So ah guess is arite..rendition, presence and melody.
Meh memory hazy.. dis is what ah remembah uh de nite, in no ordah.
Sonia
MC Nazim in nice sober tones announce young Sonia from Enmore, is she first time. She come out wid two man, and she in hot purple ting wid bridal veil. She want to marrid, but a good man is hard to fin'. She brave. Cant go wrong wid wanting to be on de big stage. De bass mek I aint ketch de rest uh de words. It hard to dance an; sing at de same time. Sonia try. And de two men stand up waving cloth. People clap politely when she finish. MC say nice nice tings. Quickly.
Dennis
Dennis from Essequibo, dress in nice shirt and tie. Girls dancing wid he. Dennis singing about Mashramani Time and love and unity and dem nice tings. People kind of clap when he done. MC move on to announce de next Dennis from Essequibo. Lady in row in front of me dozing off. The children dozing off.
Ban Carailla Rumal, Sawaria
MC tek time fuh announce speedboat captain Dennis.. sing about Ban Carailla Rumal, sawaria. He is over 50. Dis show is good, it have people of all ages. Dis is chutney like we expect. Meh fren explain to me dat chutney, chutney-soca is different ting. We aint hear de rest of de lyrics. But Dennis in he turban and kurta dance roun and it was nostalgic.. de chorus. ban carailla rumal, sawaria. People clap he good, he had some shout outs from the audience. Things warming up. I feel fuh get up.. but.. He had dancing girls too.
Harvey Gobin
MC announce anodda man who sing in plenty years show (and also he age and he marrid and have chirren) He bring out a girl who he say is Dularie. Ahhh.. now we get to Dularie. Can't have chutney widout Dularie. Harvey want to eat Dularie Dhal. I want to know what Harvey wife tink, but de bass again deep. De dancing girl is probably de best for de night.
Fiona Jam
De 2010 wukk up man winner come on stage. Plenty presence. Plenty girls dancing. Lyrics not too clear but she active on the stage. Girls active too. Everybody dancing up.. and dey take off de skirt so show off dey tights.. ah mean.. winin' and so on. Fiona got nice stage presence.
Joyce Harris
MC give Joyce CV, it impressive. Her story is in Chronicle. She got a song name Taxi Driver. None ah we evah here it before. but tanks to de internet .. here it is. Joyce is 66 and she come out and sing. Song sound good.
But lyrics again not known. she had a dancing girl who come out lil after. I aint know if de dancing girls were volunteers like de judges. Joyce voice good.
Aamir Khan
MC say he single. He is 22 and been single for four years. He come out. shirt pants, de dog chain and shades (red shirt.. ah mean, wuh iz dis dog chain ting). He got dancing girls too. He say he is a lova man. MC Nazim say dis about two times. Lyrics lost in de bass but de performance nice. He tek off he shades half way.. it mek sense, ah mean place dark, what you wearing shades for? People clap. Ah hope he and Sonia gaff lil bit.. MC Nazim aint seh nuttin bout dis tho; Two nice young people who like chutney.
Nobody aint sing bout rum. Or politics.
INTERMISSION
Nice intermission. De people come back after. Crowd arrange differently. Some gat guyana flag. De man George from Trinidad say dat he was impressed how de Guyanese flag wuz more visible last chutney final. Nuff people got flag. And like,, i aint know, sometin mussee share during de intermission. People loose up. Lady and chirren from de row in front gone home. Anodda set come. And dey talking loud. lady seh she want Ban carailla fuh win.
Norma Seeram Jumbie Chutney
MC introduce Mr Seeram from Berbice. He along pun de stage. Ol time sweet bai clothes.. long sleeve shut, wh ite pants and white shoes. MC Nazim say dat Mr Seeram is a pensioner. He was best newcomer last year. Dat is good. I like dat, you reach yuh pension and yuh tek up chutney singing. Mr Seeram foot movements get good clap. He sing bout he bhowjie and how he singing chutney to chase jumbie. Sumtin like dat. No jumbie in de cultural centre.
Vaneeta
MC Nazim say dis is anodda young girl coming for de fus time on de stage. Two old men in de row behind me seh.. she mussee coming wid plenty dancing girl.
She come out alone. It hard to sing and dance at de same time. I does barely manage dat mehself. De two ol men in de back row aint seh nuttin.
Audience nice, dey clap Vaneeta fuh encourage sheh.
Pooran and Geera and Indira
MC Nazim announce Pooran, from Mon Repos. Pooran come out. Tee shirt, jeans, dog chain, mohawk, shades. He singing bout Geera and Indira. Indira putting geera in everyting fuh he. And he hooked. We hooked too. De man dancing round de stage, he active. He keep on he shades. Dis is a nice chutney.. it local, it got local knowledge. And de mohawk and de dog chain, it go to show.. dat no matter what happen.. Indira and geera will always haunt de men dem regardless of if is dhoti and kurta or jeans and tee shirt.
Rajesh Dubraj
MC Nazim introduce him. He win plenty competition. He sound nice. Plenty dancing girls. People clap
Punjabi Fyah
Punjabi from West Coast, Demerara. He come to have fun. He do he own dancing. Dis is good, Fyah.. I hail he up. I come to have fun too.
Harish Singh
MC Nazim introduce Nazim De reigning monarch.
Lady in front of me shout sometin bout he supposed to be at Bollywood. Ah have a feeling dis is de anti-King section.
He come on.. little angels wid him. He had a deep message about love and so on. But it complex. His luv is Samantha.. from Jamaica. Samantha there dancing wid him. She have her name on her hat. I aint know if she come from Jamaica. King Harish seh how de dancers represent de culture.
Lady in front of me shout out.. Samantha not from no Jamaica. Dis is de nice ting about sitting at de back. You could shout to de artistes, but de artistes aint gun hear yuh. Is a kind of ting fuh let odder people hear yuh. De dancing was well.. de same.. dougla dancehall. Nobody really clap or so when dey finish.
Prince JP
MC announce de man.. and shoots, he fans stand up fuh wave dey flag. De man come out wid he dancing girls and boys. He fans shout up and wave and mek noise, bring de place to life. Ah mean, was nice to know dat de man have fans. But I aint know is what really he sing. No points for crowd appeal.
Stephen Wonder
Young Man in shades. Red pants and red tie. He dancing round de stage, He alone. He take off shades and dancing de rest of de song wid de shades in he hand. Ow man, is night.. what yall wearing shades for? Cant' hear lyrics. We aint know what de chutney was about.
Young Bill Rogers
Yep.. de man come on, wid he turban and kurta. De man was introduced by a man from India who mudder from Guyana. and seh de man was invited to India to sing chutney, but he eat out de chutney and he sing achar. Young bill sing.. great performance. He dance good. I shout out. I like he. He win de competition.
That was it. No rum. No politics.
Yeah.. I confess, dat de 2010 Chutney had more chutney.
I aint know bout de art form.
dougla dancehall and young bill rogers in a kurta. Love it!
ReplyDeleteLove this Vidya, great commentary
ReplyDelete