s u r i n a . c o . u k

Friday, November 18, 2005

Flash Of Mind Activity

Thoughts remembered.

Oh England sometimes..such a static state of predictable affairs [unless you physically remove yourself off the Island which I do love really] compared to crazy Japan. Moments of frustration freeze me to the spot when my mind zapps back to the ironcally harmonious life-style-fused with high energy and excitment of travelling to who knows where and when...Oh I can't wait to holiday there again in the next year or so. Or live there maybe. Definitely shop there-this time with a kick-ass budget!

Angels and Demons.

Science and Religion shouldn't be at war according to the philosophy I have embraced so far -that of Sanatam Dharam aka Hinduism, they complement one another.

Sanatam Dharam. Beliefs stemmed with cells of scientific explanations. Think about it. Science was born in the minds of ancient Indian mathematicians, physicists, astronomers. Facts and names registered in studies well before the likes of Newton. Science indicates how life should be lived. Then why incestuous inbreeding in various religious communities? Recently reported on Today R4 so many poor children born with genetic deficiencies. A consequence of culture gone wrong. Science blatantly says so. Why make babies with someone you know can almost guarantee your kid to be institutionalised? There's illogical for you. But hey! It's been done for centuries so let's carry on ***ing up the human race. Everyone else is anyway. Mad blind tribalism.

Dowries. Females burnt alive because of innocent female foeti within. Female babies killed because of their gender. Culture gone wrong. Or rather illogical from scratch.

Pagaan and Hindu philosophy to name a few, maintain equality binding male and female. Yet how does it start that way and end up like this thousands of years later?

God -whoever all refer to God as, created HUman equal. God created races to tend to Mother Earth-the largest living organism. Man creates racism and doesn't give a **** about Mother Earth.

Back to Angels and Demons...

Some crazy beatboxer on Tim wigg** Westwood in the back ground. Turn off. Jack Johnson On.

What a silly fool. I turned down seeing him live in Tokyo with best chicas Mhairi and Mishki. Well it will have to be in ooh-so-cool Nottingham in February. What a great way to spend the month of commercial love?

P.S. Don't forget to eavesdrop in on http://surina.libsyn.com - A lighter way to enjoy Surina.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Roots

Hi kids....

A friend of mine recently received a 5,000 year old figurine of a bull from the ancient Indus valley...what a fantastic piece of history to investigate.

Talking about our ancestry has been a regular activity at our dinner table...it is so interesting to really find out WHO we actually are. With India being invaded so many times we could possible have Greek/Persian/Mogul/Portuguese/Aryan etc roots....

It was sparked off by this amazing presentation you may have received from me....it is fantastic....showing the effects of karma. What Mother Nature has lost through evil mankind she is gaining back. Similarly what India has suffered over the centuries she is overcoming through self-reliance and not dependence on the super-powers of yesterday and short-lived today.

And what is more special is that our intercultural friendships and experiences reflect the characteristics kicking the ass of segregation/discrimination/and all the other issues dividing people of varying backgrounds today :)

A programme exploring the African villages once inhabited by Indian origin families kicked out by the ghastly dictator Idi Amin also added to this unearthing of the past. My parents recall how in Africa all the Asians would not only live, work and play together but celebrate one another's festivals too. There were no Muslim/Hindu/Sikh laser beams warding each other away. The Muslim friends would come and dance at Navratri and everyone would do the traditional 'Hindu' Dandya Raas Navratri dancing to celebrate Eid. I remember my amazing Nana[grand father] telling us how he was taught the 'Hindu' Bhagvat Gita by his Muslim 'uncle'. Isn't that what we should be doing today? Exchanging stories and philosophy to make us all peaceful, respectful human beings?

Lord Krishna once told Arjun for whom he was a charioteer in the Mahabharat, that one day in the Nuclear Age [this era] religions would become 'brands' that people use to compete with. People will forget the very essence that is the core of their 'religion'. Tell me which religions encourage violence? Killing is good. None that I know of. Not the real ones anyway. 'Ahimsa' meaning 'non-violence' beautifully portrayed by Mahatma Gandhi, is a quality that exists in all religions with a different name or teaching attached.

Well...you can't change the world. But you can change yourself, you can influence your environment and you can learn from and teach people you associate with.

Monday, October 03, 2005

My Birthday.Leicester Grammar. Memories. Maiyango

Saturday was really, really good. Following a slump in self esteem and a week of meIancholy I wasn't overly excited about the Saturday ahead. So as I had secretly hoped and desperately needed the evening was perfect. Fantastic fun with fantastic company: Ali, Reena, Khadija and brother Summo. Friends from the past insync with my life today.

Ironically Maiyango was the last resort as EVERY possible restaurant that Ali called turned out to be fully booked! So I decided to give this new place I had read about in the local magazine a try. Thanks to destiny a table was availble for seven pm.

We hoped this guineau pig would be OK and it was fantastic! It's called MAIYANGO and is uber cool. Stuffed with cushions and draped with all sorts of beautiful silks and chiffon echoing music of ethnic/Latin/ funk genre, the service at Maiyango was overly good. The staff are very down to earth and and dressed in Nehru suit style black linen frocks and trousers. Two members especially polite were Floor Manager[perhaps] who kindly saved me one of the limited booth tables that looked like mini-huts, and the girl with the pierced lip who confessed that she was nervous, as the place was new and the night promised to be very busy.

Served dishes from the limited listings on the menu, the food was not breath taking but was fancily presented. The Vietnamese stirfry noodles tasted almost as good as my Japanese Yaki Soba. Food was accompanied by lavish smoothies and cocktails. The bar oozed in chique 'mixology' I must say. A minor mishap that the staff shared with us [they ran out of mint] just emphasised their down to earth and friendly approach. Stylish in manner leaving snobbery to London's designer eateries. I am proud Leicester is producing some classy venues.

After the meal we moved to the sofas exploding with velvet cushions that had been reserved for us after the meal so the staff could feed other 'boothers'.

The night followed with hilarious renditions of 'Surina'. Yes Reena, Ali and Summo doing impressions of me. Apparently I speak like a descendant of the Maharajah stroke Queen, act like a presenter off TV, leave answer phone messages confusingly like an XXX line and have an obsession with butter. They also re-enacted various moments from their stay in my 'hut with one sink', Japan where I like to drink 'hoto choco no cureemu'. Bow and Arrigatou.

The night continued with a drive back to ours for coffee and cake and Reena exasperating in fits of laughter calling up half her phone book.

The first place I took them was my simplified yet sufficiently furnished bedroom. Free of unnecessary items, the one thing I have adopted in my explosively pink room is my futon. Ali and Reena just looked confused. "Where do you sleep? You're no longer living in a village! You're not a student!" and "A futon is just a blanket on the floor!!!?"

As expected, I had to unfurl it to display just how cosy and appealing this system actually is. And again as I expected -they both jumped on it. Actually so did I. We had a discussion about stuffed toys and how they scare Reena whilst Summo captured it all on video.

Cake calling, we ran downstairs. I located the "1" candle [as used for my brother's 18th] and stabbed it in to the scrumptious chocolate slab that ALi was waiting to inhale. We sung "Happy Birthday" to me and I blew out the candle when I didn't even mean to and we did the whole traditional feed each other with mouthfuls of cake thing with Mum and Dad.

Finally we went to the lounge on the ever-so-comfy sofas and sipped tea to unwind. We discussed house prices, universities, medicine and Ai's new Golf.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Back to Being Indian Again!

And back at home with my family. There's nothing as nice as Mum's hugs and delicious food. She has been on about me practicing my chapati rolling. I always insist that as long as they taste nice-it doesn't matter how unround they are. But no, Mum insists that this skill along with cooking great Gujarati food is a top factor in getting a good husband.

Marketability of an Indian Girl. The comedy of marriage and the trials and tribualtions of 'finding a nice boy'. All hilarious topics when discussed in our house. Have you heard the frivolous Jordan-PeterAndre style tactics used to impress the paradoxically materialistic tycoons in the British Asian community these days? Revolving stages aimed to make the disinterested audience of over 1000 part of the impersonalised wedding activities? The pavillion stage that pops out of the ground with a 'jack-in-the-box' style launch of smug bride and groom, complete with wedding cake at hand? The helicopter once used as a symbol of one rich family to escort the bride to wed her 'man for life' only for the much talked about duo to get divorced even before the photos had been developed?

Marriage? Yes please. Mass hoards of gossipping nobodies? Ridiculous wastage of hard-earned cash for the sake of pride and arrogance? No thanks.

It seems in this day and age of luxury, people forget the real meaning of deciding to spend their whole lives with someone they love more than themselves. Someone it hurts to see unhappy. Someone who's love becomes an addiction, a neccessity, a way of life. Someone to commit to for the rest of their whole life.

Marriage is something I want to be personal. With tokens of meaningful actions and the few friends and family that I know I love and have a genuine interest in my life.

But, saying that, it's not something I have to worry about for err, a while, a long while. But who knows what could be around the corner ;)

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Okaerinasae

Excellent flight on Virgin Atlantic minus the scrutiny at check-in. Caught up with lots of Brit culture TV. Moving back-although draining- every second in the last few months in Japan was fast paced fun! No doubt I'll be reflecting and reminiscing in pages to come. This picture is from a lovely Sunday in the countryside at Foxton Locks. Something I miss more than I thought: rural habitat and nature.

Friday, July 08, 2005

Snow Flower

Sugoi Isogashkatta-Gomen! From Odaiba to Hatsushima and Nagoya, weekends have been full to the brim with fun. Last weekend was a particular highlight in terms of a direction in life I want to follow, as I took a small step to a big challenge: My first sort-of professional musical performance! It was excellent and did not result in a dissapointing outcome as nerves threatened to fear. I sung, "Yuki no Hana", by Mika Nakashima along to the beautiful sounds of Tsuru High's Wind Orchestra. With an audience of a 1000, I fulfilled my little dream and have left my friends and myself with a pleasant memory.

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Chilling With Friends

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