a music review, a music video and some musical pishaab

What is it about a bearded, turbaned singer that makes him look exotic when he occupies screen space with his guitar? Why is it that when the same singer croons about the truths of life in Punjabi, he sounds exotic too? Rabbi Shergill is back after 3 years with his new album Avengi Ja Nahin. I am sure most of you reading this know who Rabbi Shergill is and also know what Bulla ki jaana was and some of you might even have wondered not so long ago, when that bespectacled turbaned guy is going to come out with a new album and some of you would even remember the brilliant video of Bulla ki jaana main kaun. The spectacles are still there and so is the turban and he’s still singing about the truths of life. Why is it then that to sell his latest offering, Mr. Shergill had to employ the services of a leggy model in hot pants and bikinis?
Well let me finish the review of the album and then we can go back to the leggy model. She’s pretty good actually. Have a look at the video.[Watch video]
You can also check out the official website of the album and listen to all the songs without downloading them.

The one fact that needs to be stressed is that to enjoy the true meaning of the beautiful lyrics you need to know punjabi or should have the english translations of the songs which are available on the official website and are there in the retail copy of the album too.

The bulla ki jaana feeling is there in almost most of the songs yet the tracks on the album belong to different genres and styles and languages though I still think the english number Return to Unity ends up being a sad attempt at whatever was attempted.

The guitars are good and mostly played by Rabbi himself. The wailing electric guitar has been used to good effect to bring out certain aspects of the songs.

Must hear tracks from the album:

Avengi ja nahin ( this one is a must watch too )

Karachi Valie ( pure rock in Punjabi )

Ballo ( about female foeticide)

Tu Avin Bandra ( Yo Mumbaikars , bandra rocks ! )

Challa ( classic Rabbi )

Lets say, three cheers and three stars for the album????

And as for some good soulful music I suggest that my readers should check out the tracks Ha Raham and Ek Lau from the movie AAMIR and should also watch out for more from the music director of AAMIR : Amit Trivedi.

Ya and now lets go back to the leggy model. Well no, I actually decided to make it the next post. Something about the supposedly sex starved Indian male and some not so recent happenings. Damn that's not true, I mean the sex starved part. We are not the second largest population in the world for nothing.

some pishaab to start things off !!!!

Please note that the followin post does not necessarily point to any particular issue of India.


Well, this is India. We pee on the walls which say ‘yahaan pishaab karna mana hai’ and feel guilty about it after a while, so we get our own paint and paint over the ‘writing on the wall’. And then, we continue to pee. The ‘authorities’ come up with a bright idea over a few bright sunny summers and decide to paste pictures of deities and holy scriptures on the wall to deter people from, well, peeing. Over the next few bright sunny summers the ‘authorities’ decide to implement the above mentioned decision and collect a few common men to do the job for them. The common man grumbles for a while over the steadily declining areas to pee in his surroundings and later reluctantly switches over to peeing on the ‘other side of the wall’. Over the next few bright sunny and stinky peeing sessions on the ‘other side of the wall’, our common man realizes that it is not ‘correct’ to put up pictures of holy figures on walls meant for people to pee. He decides that his religious sentiments which were born overnight have been hurt and plans to take the matter up with the ‘authorities’. Fortunately for him he is ambushed on the way to the ‘authority’ office by a group of men in a car with the word ‘PRESS’ emblazoned in bold letters on its windscreen. The media runs a highly spiced/sexed up version of our common man’s story much to the amusement of our common men. Meanwhile a social worker residing close to the common man brings up an issue of how her sex life has been adversely affected due to the constant smell emanating from the concerned wall. This works like fuel for the ‘PRESS’ car and the sex-starved media suddenly realize that they too have sex lives and that they too are social workers and that the sex life of a social worker should not be affected by common men and their peeing. The media runs the ‘pee-man story with the sex life angle to it’ story for a while till one Mr. Yuvraj Singh decides to hit six sixers in an over and later in the month is spotted with one Ms. Padukone in a strip club in Colaba or a restaurant in Canberra and even later in the month has been dumped by the same Ms. Padukone. By the time Ms. Padukone decides to 'clear the air', the press uncovers that the sex partner of our social worker is impotent and that her failed sex life has nothing whatsoever to do with the pee smell. In the bright sunny summer that follows our common man supposedly dies of a disease supposedly called cholera. The media is quick to point out that the death was caused due to the unhygienic living conditions created due to open defecation and urination by the common man, as he had been forced to do so after the ‘authorities’ had snatched away, and at the same time hurt his religious sentiments by pasting pictures of holy figures on, his peeing wall and further still the ‘authorities’ had failed to provide lavatories to the common man for answering nature’s call. So nature had given its final call. The ‘family’ of our common man denied frantically the claims that the man had died of cholera – alleging that the ‘authorities’ had forced a cover up on the entire incident and that the real reason for the death of their man was the mental trauma caused to him by the insensitive act of the ‘authorities’ in taking away his place of peeing and trying to convert it into a place of worship. The ‘family’ threatened legal action against the ‘authorities’, but in the next bright sunny summer was actually wiped out by a severe epidemic of cholera.

This is India or is it?????

Think.

Well, I thought and I am still thinking and a few others are thinking too.
THIS is India.