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Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Entertainment on the field of play
But not from Virender Sehwag, as we'd expected. Instead, Hans Raj Hans, the Punjabi folk singer, walks onto the covers, and takes a run-up. But he doesn't bowl; instead, he starts singing.
He's dressed in flowing white, and has a flowing beard. And the sound system isn't all that good, so it almost seems like he's chanting, a prophet whipping up religious frenzy among the people. He begins to walk around, and wave at the crowd.
So what is his spiritual message? Well, at one point he sings, "Totay, totay ho gaya, oh, totay totay ho gaya." That could be roughly translated as: "Parrot parrot, I have become, oh, parrot parrot, I have become." So if you are good to your parents, you will become a parrot in heaven. What's that? Virgins? Sorry, no, only parrots.
The Indian players jog out to the field as Hans sings, and Harbhajan Singh has a spring in his step, as his shoulders move to the rhythm. He wants to dance, it seems, but he has to jog. The Indians start practising hard, and Sehwag prepares to steal Hans's thunder, if not his parrot.
Update: A helpful reader enlightens me that "totay" is Punjabi for "broken", and that the songs is about the singer being heartbroken. Well, it's an upbeat celebratory kind of song. So why would be he be so happy at a heartbreak? Hmmm.
He's dressed in flowing white, and has a flowing beard. And the sound system isn't all that good, so it almost seems like he's chanting, a prophet whipping up religious frenzy among the people. He begins to walk around, and wave at the crowd.
So what is his spiritual message? Well, at one point he sings, "Totay, totay ho gaya, oh, totay totay ho gaya." That could be roughly translated as: "Parrot parrot, I have become, oh, parrot parrot, I have become." So if you are good to your parents, you will become a parrot in heaven. What's that? Virgins? Sorry, no, only parrots.
The Indian players jog out to the field as Hans sings, and Harbhajan Singh has a spring in his step, as his shoulders move to the rhythm. He wants to dance, it seems, but he has to jog. The Indians start practising hard, and Sehwag prepares to steal Hans's thunder, if not his parrot.
Update: A helpful reader enlightens me that "totay" is Punjabi for "broken", and that the songs is about the singer being heartbroken. Well, it's an upbeat celebratory kind of song. So why would be he be so happy at a heartbreak? Hmmm.
