BHANGRA

This week has been tough. From late nights of bhangra practice held till 12 am followed by anthropology homework and reading about "lost semen complex"and the intricacy of kin to people ripping up my blog, I need a little detox. Tomorrow is the SASA culture show. And NOTHING calms the nerves like BHANGRA. Being on the bhangra team is the best thing because I live in this tiny south asian micro-culture for about 10 hours a week with my team. Its intense but beautiful. When I need a bring from homework, I often listen to bhangra remixes of popular songs with traditional bhangra beats like Soulja Boy Bhangra style: 

Amazing right? Well Bhangra is not just a cool dance to look at. It is steeped in history. In Punjab, before the Harvest, farmers did bhangra dances with these crazy dance steps and stunts to motivate and get the community together for the harvest. As the Indian economy grew, a lot of Punjabis left those villages to go to college in the cities, then come to the US. So now Punjabi Bhangra is now a synthesis of some really upbeat mezcla of music that has Western influences, but keeps true to that traditional entertainment in Punjabi tribes. So this is for you. This is a video of the best Bhangra team in North America. This was decided at a huge competition last year. By the way, the reason we have bhangra teams, and not bhangra groups is because it is a competitive dance form. There are competitions all over the country and all over the world. Here you go! Have a great and relaxing weekend. O BALE!