| Connecting
over 25 millions NRIs worldwide |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||
 |
Teams sang, played passionate dhol, and put on amazing bhangra dance performances. And that was just a little of what the crowd experienced during the 6th Annual SoCal Bhangra competition on the evening of March 1, 2008. In case you are wondering what is bhangra? - it is the popular and lively 'folk dance' of the people of Punjab, India. Others would describe it as being THE music and dance that gets a crowd going at Indian weddings/functions. There were boy/girl teams, all boy teams, and even all girl teams. The event got off to a late start which is to be expected with Indian functions. Hard at work, was the association creator Raman Chadha. You could tell that it was not an easy show to put on, but I think everyone there that evening would agree that he did a great job. Kudos to him for creating yet another successful night!
Once the lights dimmed, an awesome host by the name of Hollywood Harv welcomed the crowd. He hails from Vancouver and is probably what I would consider a great MC. He spoke with the most perfect blend of Punjabi and English and said some great one liners along with TJ Singh, the event coordinator. There were 12 teams performing that night. Bhangra teams hailed from California, New York, and British Columbia. There were also four special performance teams from various areas of Southern California. Each and every team put on quite the bhangra performances. There were girls and guys standing on shoulders, energy that got the crowd going, and dhols that was played with a feverish pace. I tried to ask a few team members from various teams "What would set them apart from the competition in winning that evening?", and the answer that I heard most often was - "We are all winners tonight!". It made me realize that the group of university students that were there that night, after putting in hours and hours of hard work and energy - were there to ultimately put on a great performance because of their love of bhangra. Oh, and to be with friends and have a good time! I really think that prizes of First Place: $2500 & trophy, Second Place: $1500 & trophy, Third Place: $750 & trophy, Most Valuable Performer (MVP Award): $250 & trophy and Best Costume Award were not as important as it was for them to work as teams and put on a great show. Pretty impressive! A surprise guest of the evening was, Harry Sidhu, running for State Senator of California. He delivered an impassioned speech to get our youth to get involved in politics. Of course, one of the highlights of the evening was the international recording and touring artist Malkit Singh. I had the privilege of meeting him 15 years ago, and let me tell you that he hasn't changed a bit. Still handsome as ever and still has the most beautiful voice. He sang most of his major hits, my personal favorite being “Tootak, tootak, Thootian” and told me that he was just happy that the tradition of Bhangra was still being carried on by our Indian youth. He really got the crowd singing and even dancing. The night ended with the announcement of the winning teams. First place went to:
|
|
|
| |
| First Place: Bhangra Empire
|
