Jeeway Pakistan, Pakistani Mela 2014 in Rotterdam

Amanat Ali at the Pakistan Mela in Rotterdam

On Sunday 8th of June 2014 was the Pakistani mela in Rotterdam, entrance was free, and families basked in the sunshine, to celebrate our culture, food, art and entertainment.

The Festival  provided a opportunity to Pakistani and other communities living in the Netherlands to come together, to have a family day-out, to promote inter-cultural understanding through a fun-full day of culture, food and music, and project the positive image of Pakistan in the Netherlands.

Pakistani chai ka dhaba

The Mela was organised very well, they had set up a nice program and to top it all, even the parking was free! You could smell the bbq wih chicken tikka and seekh kababs.

Barish, pakora aur ek garam chai ki pyali

 

Pakora

“Barish aur pakora”,That is the something we have been listening to for generations now. It has become a tradition and a culture. We desis are very different towards our food, we do not eat to satisfy our hunger and taste buds but it is our way of socialize. We want to sit with family while it’s raining outside

Just love the nineties!

 

Salman+Aamir+Raveena+Karishma

I yearn for the pre-Nineties, when the words ‘Hindi movies’ were synonymous with the words ‘high drama’. Till the late Eighties, Hindi films tended to be a mass of clichés. But the fact is, those clichés existed because we loved them. Even when the hero, heroine, villain, ma or saas said and did exactly the same things as the characters of last week’s film,

How to apply mehndi

My personal favorite tool is a cone made of rolled plastic, similar to a cake decorating tube, with a tiny hole at the end. The benefit of such an application tool is that you can achieve incredibly fine lines. Usually, one cone can be used to decorate up to ten less-elaborately designed hands; for very detailed work a cone will cover two hands.

99 things we desi people do!

1. You unwrap gifts very carefully, so you can save and reuse the wrapping and especially those bows.
2. You have a vinyl table cloth on your kitchen table.
3. Your stove is covered with aluminum foil.
4. Your kitchen has a sticky film of grease over it.
5. You use the dishwasher as a dish rack.
6. You have never used your dishwasher.
7. You eat all meals in the kitchen.
8. You save grocery bags, tin foil, and tin containers.
9. You use grocery bags to hold garbage.
10. You always leave your shoes at the door.

Garam chai

Tea is an important thing in every Desi’s life. Before an arranged marriage, the would be dulha and his family are invited for tea at the girls house. The soon to be dulhan serves them chai with savouries. After the chai things are taken to the next level. Its what kids drink to stay awake and study, and its what we are given by a loved one when we are sick. Its what we serve our guests.

Desi Blog

My growing interest in Desi culture, Desi food and Bollywood has meant that for the first time I am going to write a blog about desi stuff, under the heading ‘garam chai ki pyalii blog’. My first blogs are about Desi chai and about the movie ‘Gunday’ of Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. My next topic will be Salmaan Khan in the film ‘Jai Ho’, I will also blog about the Desi kitchen and Bollywoodshows.