While my blog is named after a restaurant in Havana I hope to someday visit, here you will find musings, rants, political incorrectness, thoughts on Indian Nationalism, and some straight-forward opinions.
With the arrival of summer, Spain sees the return of BLOOD FESTIVALS. Summer is here and as much as most of us look forward to this time of year to enjoy the sun, the sand, beaches and the outdoors, lets try not to forget the less fortunate ones for whom this period is very very far from celebration.
Many Spanish villages each summer begin their "festivities" by torture, humiliation and finally slow death of bulls, goats and other non-humans victims. The idea of "fun" for many in this country, including people with secondary "education," includes un-speakable barbarities and enjoyment from the pain and suffering of others. Sadistic? Do these people have massive Sadistic Personality Disorders? Are they mentally deranged? Let alone allow these barbaric traditions, how do they enjoy them?
What is Sadistic Personality Disorder?
Wikipidea Definition: a pervasive pattern of cruel, demeaning, and aggressive behavior, beginning by early adulthood, as indicated by the repeated occurrence of at least four of the following:
Has used physical cruelty or violence for the purpose of establishing dominance in a relationship (not merely to achieve some noninterpersonal goal, such as striking someone in order to rob him/her).
Humiliates or demeans people in the presence of others.
Has treated or disciplined someone under his/her control unusually harshly.
Is amused by, or takes pleasure in, the psychological or physical suffering of others (including animals).
Has lied for the purpose of harming or inflicting pain on others (not merely to achieve some other goal). Gets other people to do what he/she wants by frightening them (through intimidation or even terror).
Restricts the autonomy of people with whom he or she has a close relationship, e.g., will not let spouse leave the house unaccompanied or permit teenage daughter to attend social functions.
Is fascinated by violence, weapons, injury, or torture.
I have come across people that enjoy and defend bullfights. Although I didnt get to know them personally (completely intentional), I can comfortably state that these people would display some of the above characteristics. Moreover, these are the same characteristics that serial killers, rapists, child molesters demonstrate. Shouldn't somebody conduct a scientific study of the link between abusing 3rd parties and crime?
I recently discovered a journalist called César Javier Palacios whose article Crónica Verde appears in the free daily "20 minutos" in Spain. I'd like to link to his recent work here, for those who are interested.
On my behalf, all I can say is, I'm delighted that summer is here; however, seeing things from where I am, its sometimes hard to believe that I'm living in 21st century Europe.
Dad sent me a joke today by email. Its called "Appraisals and Increments;" here it is.
I'm wondering, if any of my ISM buddies are around- could you read this text without getting frustrated? How about in less then 5 minutes? I can't, and unfortunately didn't decipher the joke. PS. U might have to click on the text to make it a readable size if too small.
The Asian diaspora in Barcelona is now not only seen in the Raval, but all around town. Next to my office, in what could be classified as the business area of the city (Diagonal), there is a Bangladeshi store that sells yummy aloo samosas for 1€, although the price seems criminal for what in Oman used to cost me - mind you, an aloo samosa double the size and double the taste - only 50bz, which amounts to a grand .10 €, only ten times less. However I try not to think of that when I enter that Bangladeshi's store and buy samosas for breakfast on days I feel like treating myself. Back to Asians in Bcn, its commonplace to see Pakistani and possibly Indian, Punjabi guys walking around town, on the buses, in the metro. Many a times they look at me, some recognizing that I'm one of theirs, while others don't. I wear my hair local style with long bangs, and can easily pass for a Brazilian or even Moroccan, Arab, Tunisian, eh you get the point.
However, I do get the biggest kick when I walk into Desi/Paki/Bangadeshi stores and upon greeting me with an "hola" they get a "namaste" in return, and thats me jumping over to Hindi. They get a pleasant shock, continue the conversation, while trying not to let their smiles be too obvious. I love keeping a straight face and pretending that the most normal thing in the world when one enters a shop in Barcelona, is to speak Hindi. Then, just before they can ask where I'm from and whether I live here, etc., I say thanks and walk out of there, leaving them slightly puzzled.
When I have a lot of time on my hands though, or when feeling homesick with a desire to speak my language, I will walk these streets, engaging in conversations about my entire life and how I've ended up in Spain. Usually turns out that many of the Pakistanis have lived in the Gulf (either UAE, Qatar or Saudi Arabia) before moving here. What this brief exchange gives them, I guess, is a temporary escape from monotony, and what it gives me is a temporary feeling of home.
Beautiful choreography between Kathak, the classical dance of Northern India, and Flamenco, folk dance from Andalusia, Spain. I can't wait to watch a fusion performance here in Barcelona.
The other day after flamenco class, a classmate asked me if I was from India. I said yes. She said she had recently seen an Indian dance performance that highly resembled Flamenco. She was referring to Kathak, the centuries old classical North Indian dance. She is convinced that Flamenco came from India.
Ofcourse something like that got me thinking. Many years ago, when I first heard flamenco and became obsessed with it, and moved to Spain with the aim of becoming a flamenco dancer (hahaha), parellel to that, I also became obsessed with the whole gypsy trail and the part they play in this art-form. As a child I learned Kathak dance for a few years. As an adult, I've chosen to dance flamenco. Anyway, in case anyone's interested in this subject, please visit "Indialucia". Here is an extract that explains nicely the relationship between the two art forms.
INDIAN MUSIC AND FLAMENCO
Indian music does not exhibit harmony, counterpoint or chords, but it is very distinctively based upon melody and rhythm. The musical tradition of India, which in spite of its long existence has never developed those elements, typical of European music, generated extremely complicated rhythms and hundreds of scales unknown to the musicians from Europe. Rhythmic schemas of this music are probably as difficult to learn for a European as baroque polyphony or jazz harmony for an Indian. However, a characteristic feature of both jazz and classical Indian music is improvisation, which constitutes 90 % of an artist's concert. An ever-returning theme and its improvised variations are present in creating music of both those styles. In terms of rhythm and expression, Indian music resembles flamenco a great deal. The rhythm, which next to the melody constitutes a basis of a composition, is also a theme for improvisation. Unevenly distributed stresses in cycles in the Indian music as well as in flamenco, require a great sense of rhythm from an artist. Extremely dynamic rhythmic parts in dialogues between the melodic and the percussion instruments resemble dialogues between the guitar and tapping of a dancer or cajón player. In this case the artist makes use of ready-made patterns or points in which they both interrupt the phrase in an ideally synchronised way. Such rhythmic mastery makes a great impression upon listeners who express their admiration with shouts like "kya baat hai", "waah" or "allah" (direct equivalents of the flamenco "ole"), cheering the performing artists. An extremely dynamic form of flamenco, bulerías contains elements such as expression, instrumental virtuosity and a sense of rhythm, which in Indian music are present in the faster parts of ragas. Free forms of flamenco, deprived of rhythm, such as martinete, tarantas, granainas or saeta resemble aalap, which is the first part of a raga, performed ad libitum, with a very mystic character.
One of the oldest rhythms established in Indian music was ektal - with a structure of 12 beats. In flamenco, the basic compás, a basis of the majority of forms, exhibits the same structure. The only things that make it different from the Indian rhythm are stresses and a way of phrasing. An Indian musician usually begins and finishes his improvisation together with the first beat of a cycle, stressing it and thus giving a listener a point where he can catch up with the rhythm. In flamenco, and especially more modern performance, the syncopated phrase or stresses lie between the beats in a bar and it is an artist's intention to surprise the listener who enjoys it very much.
Flamenco singing, being of an Oriental origin, is based mostly upon three scales, which are popular also in Indian music. For example, seguiryias, bulerías, tarantas, soleares or tangos are based upon the ragas bhairavi, bhairav or basant mukhari. The melismata and portamento used in Indian music are very close to flamenco but are much more complicated. The melodic range in flamenco seldom crosses the limits of a sixth, whereas in Indian singing the range depends on how much the singer can span and sometimes covers even three octaves. Similarities with flamenco song could be noticed also in qawwali singing from Pakistan, where an artist almost shouts out verses of a song in a husky voice.
In the present form of flamenco dance we can trace certain similarities to the kathak style from the north of India. The elements that resemble the dance of Andalusian Gypsies are the movements of arms, palms and fingers as well as tapping, typical for this kind of dance. In both styles the dance is usually performed by one person and it is closely connected to the music and rhythm. In flamenco a dancer is accompanied by a guitar, singing, clapping and a cajón, whereas in kathak apart from singing it can be tabla, pakhawaj, sitar or sarangi. In this case kathak is barefoot, and the tapping rhythm is dictated by bells hung at the dancer's ankles and by a loud "clapping" with his foot against the floor. Flamenco, however, is much more dynamic, sometimes even aggressive, or with an erotic character. In flamenco a dancer does not tell any story and his gestures do not bear any meaning: his movements and gestures express emotions or they emphasise the meaning of lyrics and character of the melody accompanying them.
We cannot say for sure that flamenco has its roots in India. However we know, that the Gypsies left India ages ago. One could wonder: had they arrived from China, would flamenco develop in the form we know today? Even if both those extremely interesting genres of music are not directly related, one can state that what is common to Indian and flamenco music is their emotionality, expression, rhythm, depth and sensitivity.
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This is where the article ends. I can't talk much about the technical aspects of music. Although, like many many others, I can't help but notice similarities between Kathak and Flamenco, something tells me they share a centuries old bond.
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