Akshaya Mohanty - My Tribute

Recently the whole Odiya music bug has bitten me and also the boys at Broken Scooter gave me the honor to have a small write up ready within two weeks about Akshaya Mohanty !!
I started two weeks ago and let me tell you these two weeks turned to almost 2 months of daily listening and I am still behind. The amount of music Mr. Mohanty or Khokha Bhai as known to his loved ones is tremendously huge. Figures can be found online but I decided to write this blog about some particular songs which really touched my heart and a small story I heard about him.

But before that let me start with a quick brief about the Godfather of Odiya Music himself. He was born in Bankimundai on the 12th of October 1937. Simple man with no formal training in music and tired of working in a government job he decided to quit in 1963 to pursue his dream of making music. All I would say is God always has a plan and this would be the perfect example.

When I began the search to buy some of his music I already knew a couple of his songs and the most influential for me has been “Jajabara” and also “The Monkey”.

Now for the uniformed you should definitely listen to The Monkey as this is such a fun filled song. I had to take some help to understand some of the lyrics. I can’t believe the whole 60’s feel I got while listening to his music. Very retro.

Now let me tell you that his music is not for the uninitiated. Do not expect all of the recent digitally enhanced mumbo jumbo . This is strictly old school. You might get even ridiculed but don’t back down. This music is wonderful for that afternoon when you are alone. His music is divine and to take in the whole “pheel” of the song do it alone. Play “He Faune Tume” for a lazy afternoon or listen to “Bada Hai Rana” for just a fun filled quickie or even “Macha Hela Kata” for that Cuttacki Chick you want to patao(I will try to learn it for my wife)

I am definitely playing “Cuttacki Sandhya” for my Cuttacki friends this time in India. And also “Alo Mani” for some fun filled ribbing. “Alo Hundi” is also a good track and really fun to listen to. These songs take me back and now I feel like kicking myself for playing Frisbee with some of his records when I was a kid.

I love the way he weaves a story with his music. And his reference to food is very very Odiya. Makes you want to take the next flight to Odisha or if in Odisha just get off and get a bite. :P And dont worry my broken hearted friends ... he has some great break up songs as well like Tameta Asila Nahin and Prema Kemiti Hue.

And for the naughty boys there is definitely and a must listen called " Mora Ta Minitika Prema" . Also listen to "Sahira Piley" for an adorable song about a cute couple.The last lines are really awesome. "Mita Das" is a quirky song about a girl named the same which sounds very very familiar. "Nali Ranga Kurta" is a nice acoustic song.

One song i did not understand due to my limited knwoledge of Odiya and will probably hearing more is "Maichia Gokhei Sahu".

Well I don’t know how many of you people out there have actually have listened to him in your younger days but I did not and also have been trying to listen to more and more of him.

His lyrics are simple fun and adorable to listen to. Although I haven’t had the chance to ever meet I did meet someone who met him in the States and the gentleman told me that Mr. Mohanty was a gem who was a rockstar in his own terms and to prove that he told me about an incident when he was there and started his afternoon with beer and pakhal bhaath (A man of my heart). We as Odiyas have so much to learn from his songs. I would definitely be learning a couple of his songs to sing to my mother in law(another huge fan).

Anyways winding up I would really want to finally say that every Odiya must listen to his music and I am sure not one of us would be disappointed. Parents !! Don’t make the mistake my parents did and drag your kids , lock them in the car and drive around with Mr. Akshaya Mohanty’s music on full blast. I am sure they will definitely appreciate you much more after listening to him.

Time for me to head home with a swagger in my step and happiness in my heart and all I can hum is “ Kabat Khola Priye”…… Damn Good Stuff !!!

The Broken Scooter !! :)

In recent times I was given an opportunity by the boys at The Broken Scooter – an online magazine with their roots in Orissa to write an article.

I cant believe the amount of fan following the boys have got and some of it rubbed off on me !! :) With almost 2000 shares on Facebook and a tons of good wishes from all over the world I really feel humbled and thankful to my wife to have found such an amazing website.

I had a chance to talk to one of the Founding members, Mr. Bhanu Prakash . Bright Kid with lots of dreams and aspirations. Will definitely be meeting him over a beer when I get to India this winter !! Another guy whom I got to talk to was Mr, Shashank Shekhar a techie who I assume handles their website. Sweet guy !!

Anyways the blog was a massive hit and I am definitely going to be writing in my contributions on a regular basis hoping they publish it.

Thanks again to Broken Scooter and also my wife who always serves to be an inspiration.

To check out their website
http://thebrokenscooter.com/

Rains and me !!:)

Firstly yesterday was my bday!! I had a dream on the night of my birthday!!
It was so beautiful!! Took me back to my college days when I used to be the only idiot who used to go out in the rains. Beautiful rains!!
Oh how I love rains!! Big big drops of pure wetness pouring over you cleansing you of all worries. Nothing gives me more pleasure than jumping about in the rain. The first smell and the lingering of that wetness. Everything turns green and beautiful. Going on a bike feeling the rain clinging to your body. Saree clad aunties running towards the closest safety spot. Big puddles and walking into them. Boring people running to their cars. The thunder which makes you jump!! Coffee tea and pakodas!! 

Last year THE RAIN GODS were I am assuming happy with me and let the skies open up when I reached Bangalore and me and Mitesh got our share of the rains on the roof !! Was divine. Skimply clad with arms open and feeling the rain wet my whole body. I felt like that dude from Shawshank Redemption minus being covered in shit. Was such a liberating feel.

And luckily when returning again in Bangalore me and Partha were caught up in a freak rainstorm. Fucking brilliant !! Singing songs on his bike with books inside my shirt … Was so much fun.

Well the dream made me miss India so much … I really miss each and every part of India I have visited, but the rains near my college and me making it Rabi Bhais dookan …. Fucking awesome memories!! :)

P.S- Just walked out after writing this and it started raining!! Amazing stuff happening!! :) Someone’s reading my blog !! (Photographic Evidence attached):P

View from my New Balcony !! :)

With a new Balcony comes great responsibility ;) !!!!!! :P

Two Rides - Same Road

 

In January 2011 I got married to the love of my life, Suchismita Bhagat. 2 days before that my second love of my life was delivered to me i.e. Nandi, my motorcycle.

And the same day the motorcycle was delivered I took it for a long ride. That blog is available on the following link.

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/motorcycle-ownership-experiences/16782-rajputana-customs-nandi.html

This blog is when I and Soni both decided to make the same ride all over again.

Early morning we both started on her brother’s Royal Enfield and we had a cramster saddle bag promptly loaded with the bare essentials for the next two days.

Soni had always complained that when we were dating I never took her for long rides so this was when I was contemplating how to accomplish the same.

As soon as we hit the highway I realized that Soni is the perfect pillion turning at the right moments and not shifting her weight too much or moving around. She also enjoys the ride as much as I do and I can feel the grin on her face behind my head.

She loves travelling but she’s more of a car person and this ride was a long one for her. We had a bunch of stops enroute to Jajpur Road and even stopped at the Satsang near Chandikhol.
By noon we were pulling into Panikhoili and then the 11 km ride to Jajpur Road. We stopped at Janah Dhaba and after spending such a long time on the road we were eating to your hearts content . Food was perfect with everything being desi and second helpings were welcome by both me and Soni !!

Reached home and crashed and after 2 days of living there we started again early in the morning back to Cuttack. Half way through the road me and Soni decided to take a detour and check out new places. So at Chandikhol we decided to head to Ratnagiri,Udaygiri and the whole Buddhist Circuit.

It was just perfect with the sun playing hide and seek behind clouds giving a completely lazy feel to the ride. Getting there was half the fun. Since the whole of Kuwait is pretty much flat it was fun to travel through the meandering roads of small hills meeting villagers and kids in schools.

We both had a gala time and it showed on each others faces when we reached home completely tanned and dark and yet with a huge smile on our faces.

I am now looking forward to our long ride to Berhampur this coming vacation.



Married to an Oriya

Well the title says it all but I am going to explain this more in detail.

I was born in Orissa but bought up in the Middle East. So Orissa (Odisha now!! Not then) was something very alien to me. Even though living in the Middle East with Oriya parents my Oriya was not great to begin with. I was eventually shipped to Orissa after my 10th Grade (as my parents said) to learn the ways of my ancestors and find myself (i.e. I was horrible at studies and my parents wanted to add a cool spin to it). It took me a year to adapt and after completing +2 … that’s right I had changed to the regular run of the mill “Toka”.

Arriving at KIIT in Bhubaneshwar after 2 years in Keonjhar, I was ragged like crazy even though “technically” ragging was not allowed.

Cut to the chase I eventually cleared my engineering. And was promptly shipped by Accenture to Bangalore.

Oh wait – Before this I met Suchsmita Bhagat – Long story short we were the perfect example of love over the internet (We would like to thank Hi5 , Orkut , Gtalk , Facebook and Skype) !!

So Soni(Suchismita Bhagat ) is the ultimate Oriya chick with the “Khatti’s” and “Cuttacki attitude” promptly embedded into her. She loves everything Orissa and not one day passes by when she doesn’t pine away for the dusty roads of Dolmundai Chakka on her trusty Scooty.

Well one thing led to another and here we are happily married almost a year and a half with my improved Oriya vocabulary and the craze for returning to Orissa keeping me awake at nights.

Even though none of my friends believed my marrying an Oriya girl, I would just like to say that marry an Oriya girl because here are a couple of things which you get:

1) Crash Course to the joys of Oriya Food
· Unlimited portions of Mutton Kasa
· Pakhal Bhaath made the right way
· Guided tour of Cuttack eventually leading to PPMC(Professor Pada Mutton Chop) and Royal Biriyani
· The joy of sitting behind your wife when she weaves in and out of traffic just to make sure you taste the perfect chuski.
· DAHI BAARA – ALOODAM – breakfast , lunch or dinner.
· GupChup a.k.a Panipuri for guys who don’t get it
· Love Fish my friend …. You will get a ton of it to eat!! And sea food will be delivered fresh. None of that frozen shit.
· Egg Roll – Egg Chicken Roll- Double Egg Chciken Roll ---- the list goes on.
· Eating is now a secondary hobby and my ever increasing waistline is proof of the same. Please for one second though don’t think that I have married my wife for the food (Subtle wink) That is just an added bonus.
2) Mother-In-Law who is crazy about you and treats you better than her daughter going to extent of forgetting her birthday but remembering yours instead.
3) Undying support of all the “bhai’s” your wife has accumulated over the years. These might be the rakhi brothers or even her brother who till the wedding looked at you with all the hate he could manage. (I am still scared of him )
4) The procedure of calling anyone Bhaina at the drop of a hat to diffuse a particularly tense situation. May it be the policeman, the politician or even the local waiter. And it does work outside Orissa. I have tried it at Burger King. They always respond.
5) Shopping – The best of ethnic wear found at a throw away price. Utkal textiles and few other places. And the Pipli hangings have been a craze with all my work colleagues and friends. Also while wearing a saree your wife will be exotic especially when you say Orissa.
6) YOU will be introduced to Akshaya Mohanty’s music. AND YOU BETTER LIKE IT ….
7) Orissa has a flag !! … YES IT DOES
8) Cursing in Oriya is an art and I have now mastered a certain aspect of it. This however you will pick up from the minute you get down at the airport and the driver is cut off by a bicycle driver.
9) There is a Buddhist Circuit in Orissa which is truly awesome !! Ratnagiri and Udaygiri and all that …. Wonderful …. And on a bike even better.
10) The art of bribing the havaldars when required. And the liberal use of “bhaina” does always help. And if someone younger you can always apply for te student discount !!
11) The beautiful Ring road at Cuttack. It has a certain riverside charm …. Cant be explained till experienced.
12) Bargaining for everything. You will learn it from your wife predominantly and it doesn’t help when you wife has an MBA in finance.

This list is ever endless but let me wind up by saying that even though I dated on and off with various girls I don’t know what dragged me back to finding the love of my life in an Oriya Girl. Maybe it’s the extra dose of love which an Oriya girl can shower over you without expecting much in return. Or maybe it’s just that Orissa holds a deeper meaning in every Oriya’s life. Whatever it might be it happened.

So my friends who do read this …. Marry an Oriya girl …. You cant imagine the new life you will be introduced to !!

:)

In recent times I have been having a huge bucketful of bad luck. But eventually having a wife who has decided to stand by you no matter what happens really helps. Soni has stuck through everything and so has her credit card !!!:P

So being Jobless especially a kick ass vacation was so much fun in the beginning but it eventually caught up with me and I thought of various options including returning to India. In theory it sounded amazing but my savings were dwindling and going to India meant starting from scratch.

But now i have a job and last 2 months seem like a bad dream. No problems !!! :) But yes I am now in a job something completely different from what i have been doing for the last 5 years.It is different and i enjoy it BUT i would always love to go back to what i did.

Anyways this post can go on forever so let me cut it short and let me write about happier times in my blogs coming next. India was amazing and pics and blogs coming soon !!!