Simran's Sangeet....a delight.....

The only Chinese in the crowd.....

Last night, my family and I attended a Sikh pre-wedding celebration. What an enriching experience indeed! It was our very first Sikh pre-wedding celebrations and I was totally floored by the rich cultural and historical ways of the Sikh community. Yeah! The very story of Datuk Amar Singh retiring is kinda big to the Sikh community these days but to me, last night’s music, dance, speeches and the atmosphere were simply far bigger, nostalgic and magical in many many ways. Last night’s celebration kinda outstripped some of the cultural events I had ever attended in my life. The evening was such a pleasant change in our daily mundane life and brought out an explosion of colours and immense upspringing of joy in the heart. 

Opening acts...all the relatives and family.....ladies only...

The vibrant colors of lehengas, kurta lehenga, saree gowns. Peplum kurtas, cape gowns and Punjabi suits are just an explosion of colours and together with the adornment of blings makes it all such an exquisite and explosive affair. The music and lights were blindingly tasteful and delightful indeed. What else - Bangra music lar, man! The curves, the bare flesh and the gratifying but graceful moves were there as the music were played but it was done tastefully and in much tradition and culture of the Sikh community with a little modern twist. It is all good and very hip indeed if I must say so. I know that we are such a multi-racial society and if ever, we lest forget who we are as Malaysians, we should take a good hard look into our neighbours’ culture and ways of life and embrace them for our differences and yet made us all so diversely beautiful and in unity. You bet, I had a very good lesson of culture last night and I am so blessed by it, truly.

Opening act of songs and dances....

Never mind, if my family were the only Chinese family at that function filled with the Sikh community but never for  minute  have I ever felt left out or sidelined by the people. A smile, a hello, a hand shake, a hug is never far away. I felt so blessed and truly enriched by the occasion. The occasion was simply  “Simran’s Sangeet.” Among the many pre-wedding events that occur prior to the Punjabi wedding ceremonies, the Sangeet is where the party begins. The word Sangeet translates to 'sung together' from Sanskrit. The word “Sangeet “ also means  music, but when it is used as a term to describe a celebratory event during a Punjabi wedding, it translates to Music Night or Musical party.

 

SLing, me, Ragu, Ragu's wife and two daughters...

Sangeet Ceremony is an occasion when the bride is blessed by her elders which is then followed by merrymaking, songs and dance. The Sangeet is an important event to celebrate Sikh and Punjabi culture. This is almost like the eastern version of a bridal shower. It is hosted by the bride’s family and can take place over one day, or over multiple days. Proceedings take place in a banquet hall, women sing traditional songs and only a few close members of the family are invited. Punjabi folk songs and traditions were methods of storytelling, passed down through generations. I found out that originally, the Sangeet was only for ladies, as they sang and played music together. However, men now enjoy the modernized event of dancing, singing, and DJ music. So now, ladies & gentleman, we all can enjoy that time of celebration and get together with our Sikh community.

The whole family in a dance.....

Peeling back the events, my best buddy from my teaching college days, Santokh Singh called me up one day to inform me that his second daughter, Simran was getting married and I am not to miss her wedding events. We also met up in one of those Sikh prayers in Melaka and we managed to talk a bit and enjoyed some coconut shakes! It was at that time that my buddy, Santokh Singh gave me a growl and mean dirty face look to threaten me! Hahahahahahahaaaaaa…..! This Punjabi fella really looked sinister enough! Hahahahahahahaaa! I had promised myself that I would not miss Simran’s wedding celebrations as I had missed her elder sister’s wedding earlier in the year due to CNY celebrations. So, when Santokh a.k.a Toki ( I called him that when we were in college as that was his childhood name ) told me of Simran’s wedding, I told him I would not miss it if I could help it.

Me, Ragu, Gopi & Raj

Honestly, initially SLing and I wanted to spend the full three days to celebrate Simran’s wedding but I only had a days’ leave as I had to get back to work as there were some unavoidable matters in the office. So, I was determined to attend Simran’s Sangeet and enjoy the night thoroughly and I DID and so did SLing and SYuen last night.

I must say that last night, my buddy, Toki and Jane looked absolutely fabulous. Dressed in lovely and fabulous orange Punjabi suit/gown with the adornment of jewellery, both of them looked marvelous, royal and grand. What a lovely couple and it was such a delight meeting up with them after such a long time. 

Me, Naga, Gopi & Raj.....

When they danced together, they looked like newlyweds and ever graceful with their moves. Their four daughters were also dressed up lovingly and beautifully in their Punjabi gowns and adornment. Two of his daughters were in white Punjabi gown with beautifully splashed flower motives while the other daughter was in light pink with floral motives Punjabi gowns while the limelight was on the daughter with the light golden gown with purplish blue top and sash.  What a beautiful sight! So rich culturally and in fashion too.

I realized that it never an easy task for an honorable Sikh man in Toki and Sikh woman, Jane to bring up four daughters. It is truly an enormous task and deserved the applause and accolades. The responsibilities and burdens are heavy on their shoulders especially in the Sikh community and just like any community for that matter. I truly respect and marveled at my friend’s ( Toki & Jane ) tenacity, love, patience and kindness to their children. Their daughters are truly a gem too. Both Toki and Jane had taught them well. I am so very pleased and happy to see their humble and respectful daughters. Yunno, last night, I saw the glow of Toki & Jane’s daughters and this is the reflection of their good upbringing and love from the both of them.  What a lasting impression and reflection!    

 

Santokh & Jane ...lovely people...

As we sat there for dinner that night, we were entertained by the songs and dances by the family members, relatives and friends. The event started off with the ladies ( family members, relatives and senior ladies ) singing songs and I was later told songs that the family members and relatives giving away the bride or something to that extent lar….Hey, I ain’t no specialist for the Sikh language lar…….sikit lebih kurang like that lar………. Then there were performances of dances from relatives, friends and Toki’s family. To me, the performances by the daughters, Toki & Jane were truly so heartwarming. I guess, you can see the warmness, the playfulness, the closeness and the bond of the family. It was like watching the two elderly swans guiding the younger swans in play, in love and in family unit. The Bangra music beat made it a body moving, steady and swaying flow plus it is truly very upbeat lar. I like the entire night’s dances and celebrations.

Me, Santokh, Ragu, Raj and Gopi....

To top off the wonderful evening, I had the opportunity to meet up with my teaching college days friends namely Ragu, Gopi, Raj and Nagaiah. It was truly a wonderful night getting to meet up with these fellas. I am truly a blessed man. We spoke, laughed, catch up on our lives and I felt truly blessed seeing them again. Yeah, we may be aged over the years but good laughs are never far away when with good friends. I truly miss to have a beer with the guys and just to have a great time together. Guess, we shall meet up another time and get some Chivas or Johnny Walker moving along the way some day!

Santokh and his daughter, Simran.

I sat a little while longer to enjoy the performances before having to start our journey back home to Melaka as SYuen and I have to work this morning. It was indeed sad to go while enjoying the evening, that I must admit. That night, all along the way, as I drove back from Klang to Melaka, while cruising the highway, the pulsating beat of the Bangra music rang loudly in my ears. It was a good thing as it kept me awake throughout my drive back home this morning. ( arrived at about 1.00am ). Yeah, the Bangra music has evolved and so did the Sikh community too.   

I take away lovely memories of last night’s event. Simran looked every bit of Jane  and very apt in her lovely golden gown, purplish bluish top and golden/purplish sash. To Simran, All the best in your life journey with Peram. It would take a very special man to deserve this beautiful lady, I must say.

To my lovely buddy , Santokh & Jane, thank you so much for the invitation to be a part of this cultural celebration and we , SLing, SYuen and myself, are so blessed.

Dhanwaad Ji ! Dhannvaad ! Shukriya ! Meharbaani ! Sat Sree Akaal ! ~  

Of Cupcakes, Waffles and Kid's Camp 2018

“Uncle Ivan, would Aunty Soon Ling and you be able to provide us cupcakes and waffles for the Children Church Camp this coming Saturday?” That was the message from Daniel Teo, our illustrious and hardworking church worker sometime on Monday night who together with a team of dedicated teachers, parents and helpers planned for an awesome camp for the children. It was always an honour being able to help out in whatever way we could and it was a DEFINITE YES from our family.

For this endeavor, Soon Ling and SYuen seemed exasperated if they could remember the right recipe for the cupcake and it was hilarious seeing mother and daughter racking their head looking for the right recipe for the cupcakes. Yeah, though it looked as though I got the waffles batter in the bag, I was also cracking my head if I could remember the recipe as well. Yeah, no need to have 3 persons in calamity and panic mode in a house, right? 

So, I acted cool as though I have the recipe in my head while the two women finally got their acts together and went into baking mode. Well, they came up with chocolate cupcake and it was a surprisingly good one. Trial cupcake baking days before the actual baking made sure that I had some mighty fine cupcake to eat. It was moist, choc-filled and nice. There were big smiles all the way at the ladies faces for a great trial baking done before the actual crunch of baking approximately 70 pieces of cupcakes for the children.

On Friday afternoon, SLing and SYuen started the ingredients preparation works and actual baking. Each batch of cupcake batter produced 12 pieces of chocolate chip cupcakes. SLing merticulously scooped in the batter and arranged the Hershey teardrop chocolates on the cupcakes while SYuen prepares the cupcake batter. I must admit that I was away at work while these two ladies hammered it out at the kitchen. 

When I got home that evening, I had bought dinner for the two ladies and the entire household permeates sweet smelling butter and freshly bakes cupcakes. What a delight indeed! I knew that SLing and SYuen would do their best for the children and I have told them many times that when the hearts are at ease, happy and giving, the end result of the cupcakes will be good too.

When the last cupcakes rolled out from the oven, I had the distinction of tasting the moist, succulent and fluffy little chocolate chip cupcake! Nice, really nice.

As SLing and SYuen headed out to the camp site with the cupcakes on Saturday morning, I was up early to search on the family’s trusty recipe book for the waffles recipe which I had kept for some time. I found it after some time and it was preparation time. Got the ingredients ready and by afternoon, I started my waffles ingredients process. I guess, I had over-estimated the portions and did 9 portions which I later came to know to be quite a lot. 

But never mind, the most important thing is to keep the children, teachers and helpers to be happy and well fed. Slowly but steadily I managed to churn out the batter and soon, I‘ve got to have SLing’s help to pour the batter into the container. After getting it all done, I slumped on the sofa and watched a Korean movie on TV before getting ready to leave for the campsite.

Soon, it was time to set up my battle station to churn out the waffles. With help from Jarren, SYuen and SLing, it wasn’t long before we started making the waffles laced with PB&J (peanut butter & jam ) It was fun and felt good feeding the children and adult alike. 

But as the children and adult had dinner earlier, it wasn’t easy to feed the children with more food such as popcorn, cupcakes and waffles for supper before they go off to bed! They would be hyper-active with sugary overload, man!

Anyway, SLing and I just rolled out the waffles as fast as we could while it seemed incredibly suspicious that the waffles pile did not seemed to be piled up even though we have got them out at a rather okay speed! Ahahahahahahaaa……Never mind, the adults and helpers deserve their share as they have worked very hard and very dedicatedly, I must say. 

There were a lot of laughter, teasing and fun going around as we prepare the waffles. That’s what good fellowship meant. After seeing the children and adult eating the waffles and so on, it was a perfect way to end the day. We started out of the day with a smile and we ended it with a greater smile. Even though, we can’t do much to help in the camp but we gave our best in our cupcakes and waffles. I guess, that is what makes our hearts feel lighter and happier.

I guess, we were just too tired after reaching home that night but happy that we can serve in whatever capacity to make the camp a more meaningful one. Yeah, I do miss the Royal Rangers days…..a lot.  It just goes to show – once a Ranger; always a Ranger! PEACE, all.

Simple Basic Waffles Recipe

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 cups of full cream milk

2 cups of cooking oil

3 eggs ( beat the eggs )

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoon of baking powder

2 teaspoon of vanilla essence

How to get the batter done:-

Mix the ingredients into a big bowl, mix them well together with love and a big smile on your face. Keep your fingers crossed and pray that the waffles will come out just as beautiful!~