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| Sindhi New Year celebrations at Calcutta Punjab Club. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha |
Crossing cultural boundaries come easy to Calcutta Punjab Club. On Sunday night, the Sindhi New Year was welcomed in truly Sindhi style at the Ballygunge Circular Road address.
Chetti Chand, the first day of the Sindhi New Year and the birthday of Jhulelal, the water god and patron saint of Sindhis, was celebrated with much pomp.
“This is one day in the year when everyone I bump into is someone I know,” smiled Varsha Manglani, housewife and club member.
Flowing with the theme was a traditional Chej dance on the club lawn by performers brought in from Ajmer. Chej is a dance of joy and requires vigour, enthusiasm and rhythm in abundance. There were also stunts with fire, walking on nails and other extraordinary feats.
A man carrying a steel matka filled with water on his head while shaking his body to the pulsating beats of the dhol left the children most amused. Exuberant club members generously threw notes into his pot or stuck them on his moist torso.
Traditional Gehar (large Jalebi) and some soothing Thandai to wash it down did the rounds. Complimentary chaats, puchkas and Pav Bhaji counters were a hit with members and guests.
But no Indian feast is complete now without a medley of cuisines. “There is also an Indian and Chinese buffet on demand,” said Calcutta Punjab Club vice-president Manish Arora, adding: “Next up on the social calendar is Baisakhi in April.”
Another growing trend in city clubs is the inclusion of something modern along with a traditional function.
“For the last five years, we have been celebrating the festival in a traditional manner. To keep the youngsters happy, we have set up a discotheque in the main hall,” said Arora.
So, a main-hall-turned-discotheque got the younger revellers rocking to special Sindhi tracks churned out by DJs Akash and Harish — Son jo rupiyo, Duma dum mast qalandar and Charyo aa.
Interesting prizes were handed out to the foot tapping, largely family crowd. A very happy 40-something uncle walked away with the Saif lookalike prize, a bottle of chilled beer that he guzzled immediately.
It was comforting to know one consolidated theme could be celebrated by way of two different dance forms and yet be appreciated. Even as the beats of upbeat Bhangra tracks got the revellers to change their dancing style (inside the disco), the music of the traditional dhol rung in your ears long after.
Not all walls need mending.
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March 25: Basante Phool Ganthlo, a tribute to Rabindranath Tagore’s favourite season, spring, with solo guitar recitals of his songs at Phoenix Hall of Saturday Club, 7.30 pm.
March 30 & 31: Rangoli Rajasthan at Bengal Rowing Club, organised in collaboration with Rajasthan Foundation to celebrate the art and culture of the desert state, 4 pm to 10 pm.
March 31: A performance by band Blue Mist at Members Musical Evening at Tollygunge Club, 7 pm. Tawa festival will follow at the outdoor swimming pool area of the club.