THE 1999 CROYDON ASIAN MELA	Sunday 18/7/99
Oh! Here's Trouble. "And if you're going out, make sure you put on plenty of that sun cream and don't be stupid" shouts the wife as she starts the engine and leaves half the tyres stuck to the road. I can't believe it, I'm in an empty house. Now, I'll give myself an hour to do the washing up and hang the clothes out on the line for her, an extra half hour if I have to undo the knots and seperate their tights from the sleeves of my shirts. I hate this. Yes indeed! It's a beautiful day. Not a cloud in sight. I've fed the cat and the rabbit, the guinea pig is happy and I'm hangover-free. That's right. I'm on my way to The Mela. The Mela (meaning Festival), organised by the Borough of Croydon and the Asian Community, is a celebration of Asian culture; food, crafts, music, song and dance and much more. I arrived at around 12.30 pm, cycled across the empty field and locked my bike to the drain pipe at the back of the gents toilet. The Indian and Pakastani children from the local community were already doing their thing on stage, and I was delighted to see one of the acts dancing to a piece from Ravi Shankars most recent album "Chants of India", which I have in my CD collection. I joined the other early arrivals and had a good gander at the numerous stalls, offering everything from a neck message to a chick pea curry. In fact it was a good hot, mixed vegetable curry and a luke-warm 7up that helped me survive the Lord Mayors speech and the curry wasn't the only thing that was hot either. My legs were now feeling the effects of the spices as well. What a man wouldn't do for a few drops of the old monsoons now! By 3pm the field was full of happy, mainly Asian families, and the excellent Kawser Habib, and her band, featuring three beautiful dancers and a brilliant tabla player, soon had them on their feet. Next up was Stree Shakti, an all female percussion group from India, led by Anuradha Pal, a young tabla virtuoso, and the music she knocked out of these small drums was incredible. The Dhol Foundation, stole the show for me. The Dhol is a traditional North Indian drum made from a large wooden shell. The Dhol Foundation drummers ( 5 of them ) delivered brilliant pounding rhythms over a coctail of great sounds provided by the DJ, and the crowd at the front of the stage were now going at it hell for leather. The final act Saqi, a seven piece with a rake of albums under their belts, and a more mainstream rock'n'roll group, were good but a complete anti-climax after the half hour with the Dohl Foundation. But what a day out, and it was free. I'm already looking forward to next years Mela, but before that, there's music to be faced ............................... "Oh Dad! Where were you? Will you turn your cap around the right way, you nanny goat! You're 48 for heavens sake! And look at the state of your legs, you twonk, you didn't put on any cream, and don't wash any of my clothes again, look at the colour of my new white blouse" Mum !!!!

THE 1999 CROYDON ASIAN MELA

Sunday 18/7/99

Oh! Here's Trouble.
"And if you're going out, make sure you put on plenty of that sun cream and don't be stupid" shouts the wife as she starts the engine and leaves half the tyres stuck to the road. I can't believe it, I'm in an empty house. Now, I'll give myself an hour to do the washing up and hang the clothes out on the line for her, an extra half hour if I have to undo the knots and seperate their tights from the sleeves of my shirts. I hate this.

Yes indeed! It's a beautiful day. Not a cloud in sight. I've fed the cat and the rabbit, the guinea pig is happy and I'm hangover-free. That's right. I'm on my way to The Mela.

The Mela (meaning Festival), organised by the Borough of Croydon and the Asian Community, is a celebration of Asian culture; food, crafts, music, song and dance and much more. I arrived at around 12.30 pm, cycled across the empty field and locked my bike to the drain pipe at the back of the gents toilet.
The Indian and Pakastani children from the local community were already doing their thing on stage, and I was delighted to see one of the acts dancing to a piece from Ravi Shankars most recent album "Chants of India", which I have in my CD collection. I joined the other early arrivals and had a good gander at the numerous stalls, offering everything from a neck message to a chick pea curry.
In fact it was a good hot, mixed vegetable curry and a luke-warm 7up that helped me survive the Lord Mayors speech and the curry wasn't the only thing that was hot either. My legs were now feeling the effects of the spices as well. What a man wouldn't do for a few drops of the old monsoons now!

By 3pm the field was full of happy, mainly Asian families, and the excellent Kawser Habib, and her band, featuring three beautiful dancers and a brilliant tabla player, soon had them on their feet.

Next up was Stree Shakti, an all female percussion group from India, led by Anuradha Pal, a young tabla virtuoso, and the music she knocked out of these small drums was incredible.

The Dhol Foundation, stole the show for me. The Dhol is a traditional North Indian drum made from a large wooden shell. The Dhol Foundation drummers ( 5 of them ) delivered brilliant pounding rhythms over a coctail of great sounds provided by the DJ, and the crowd at the front of the stage were now going at it hell for leather. The final act Saqi, a seven piece with a rake of albums under their belts, and a more mainstream rock'n'roll group, were good but a complete anti-climax after the half hour with the Dohl Foundation. But what a day out, and it was free. I'm already looking forward to next years Mela, but before that, there's music to be faced ...............................

"Oh Dad! Where were you? Will you turn your cap around the right way, you nanny goat! You're 48 for heavens sake! And look at the state of your legs, you twonk, you didn't put on any cream, and don't wash any of my clothes again, look at the colour of my new white blouse"
Mum !!!!

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