Traditional Nepalese Song and Dance
I actually was searching for tranditional music that I could accompany with the Madal drum when i found this. There is quite a lot of nonsense, as one might expect, when one performs a Madal search on YouTube, but some very nice performances as well.
Good collection of old folksongs from Nepal
One does become increasinly sentimental as one grows older. I do not know all of these songs, but hearing the language again and some of the simple melodies I do remember actually brings tears to my eyes. I do not think any one ever knew how deeply Nepal affected me and how the heartbreak I experienced defined my life afterwards. My heart and my trust in human beings was broken in Nepal.
Resham Firiri Song
Another good song:
Babari phool ko bot
Some popular old songs:
Well-loved old popular songs
Very different, but still a part of my childhood are the old popular songs from Nepalese films:
Old Nepalese Film Songs
It is interesting how similar these songs are to the popular Arab songs that use Western instruments and rhythms as well as their own. Often my girlfriends and I would take the coach from Banepa to Kathmandu to go to the cinema where we would see either Hindi or Nepalese films. They tended to be very dramatic, with loves lost and many copious tears. I actually liked the occasional appearance of the Gods in these films much more than the actual plots. I enjoyed the dancing, costumes and jewelry as well.
Many years later, after University, I lived in London and introduced a friend of mine from University to the Hindi films shown in Whitechapel. I would make curry for her and we would go to Whitechapel to watch a film that neither of us completely could understand, although Hindi does have words that share roots with Nepali. We both loved the spiced snacks they sold in these cinemas, a rare treat in Nepal and thus enjoyed even more when I discovered them again in London. My friends in Nepal called it 'chura' but it was not simply pounded rice with spices. It included various types of dhal and beans, very thin deep-fried noodles and other items. It can be found now even in supermarkets in the States but is rather expensive. Delicious though.
When I did an internet search, I saw that it has many different names: Sev mamra, Bombay mix, Chiwda, Chevdo, Bhusa or Chanachuro. There are so many different varieties. When I went to mosque here, it was served often as a snack, making me homesick for Nepal!
Another old favourite but one served at the bhojs (feasts) and not at the cinema is a sweet called zelabi or jalabi which is known throughout the Arab world as well as Nepal and India. It is deep-fried dough rather like a tube in a coiled or knot formation filled with sweet sugar liquid. Delicious.
Well, I have veered away from music here to the subject of food.
