Tuesday, March 15, 2005

How do you say "the Diet Pepsi costs too much" in Punjabi?

I returned to work today for the first time in four days to discover that the cost of a vending machine soda had increased from 90 cents to $1.15 while I was away. It took me some time to discover this fact... I spent about five minutes trying and failing to extract a Diet Pepsi bottle until I noticed the hand-written sign alerting soda drinkers to the price increase. I have yet to find any explanation for the increase. However, that isn't the biggest mystery of the day. The real mystery is how a group of South Asian immigrants in Glasgow, Scotland could have crafted such an infectiously catchy song as "Chargiye."
Bombay Talkie unleased that notable slice of bhangra on the world in 1993. Bhangra, for the unitiated (and you really should become initiated), is a dance music style created by South Asian immigrants to Britain. It originated as a Punjabi folk dance and now incorporates elements of house, disco, hip-hop, reggae and Bollywood film soundtracks into one crazy, thumping package.
I listened to the Rough Guide to Bhangra as I drove around town today. The sun finally came out and the hint of spring prompted me to try to sing along to "Chargiye" and a number of other great tracks.
Speaking of South Asia... I might have to start drinking chai since the workplace cost of soda has gone sky high.

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