Bom Shankar
July 12th, 2007 | Published in dispatch | 5 Comments
I spent the morning with some folks who were making a Shivalingam by the beach in Puri. The Shivaite connection means there’s plenty of ganja around (note to mum and dad: don’t worry! I’m just documenting!) — and here the former bodyguard to the king of Puri demonstrates “Bom Shankar”: the Shivaite ganja anthem. The language spoken is Oriya.
For those who don’t already know: I’m also working on a no-budget handheld, as-it-happens travel documentary project using a Nokia N95. More on that later. I’ve had to convert to .avi and resize to 320 pixels width to make it as small a file as I possibly could because of slow upload connections from India. Original footage from the phone is of course, of far higher quality.
It’s also on YouTube, if you prefer.
P.S. My name is Rani Thoitak. At least until the 27th of August. That’s what they call me around here. (And on the 27th, it becomes Narak, in Bangkok, which means ‘cute’ in Thai, but ‘hell’ in Hindi.) Names given to me, so I have no choice in the matter!
P.P.S. I’m reenacting the war of Kalinga on these bloody mosquitoes. Last night’s death toll: 20 mosquitoes, all expertly killed in a swift and lean war. Nothing but violence for these bastards.
P.P.P.S. Err, if you have access to NDTV, you might see footage of me shooting the rath (chariot) in Puri. I was minding my own business conducting interviews when this guy from NDTV tells me to stand in this corner, to pretend to be taking a picture of Jagannath, so that they can show a foreigner being interested in the event?? At least I got one good thing out of it — they told me where to get a press pass.
July 14th, 2007 at 7:14 am (#)
Bahini: That video brought a smile to my face. I’ve heard many colorful Shiva chants, but not for many years. My favorite was in Kulu/Manali at the festival back in October 1977. I was in a morning circle with some incredible looking Sadhu’s — already covered in ashes. As the older one lit the chillum, he chanted (excuse the spelling) BOM SHANKAR SHIVA HARIOM, while the baba lighting the match is chanting BOM, BOM, BOM BOLAY and then Pashnupati, Aghatbati BOM BOM BOM, and then back into the main refrain. Great way to start the day. I spent the next 10 days traveling with 2 of the babas from Kulu to Kathmandu. We rode on potato trucks and trains. They taught me many names for Shiva. The babas lived well in India but Nepal was tough — no baksheesh in Nepal for an Indian baba. So the next few weeks were quite interesting. You’re great! Sabu
July 16th, 2007 at 2:22 pm (#)
erm, are u sure that he’s not just plain high and trash-talking?? it sounds more like a tirade than an anthem to me.
July 17th, 2007 at 12:22 am (#)
err, yes, i have another version in just oriya and it sounds perfect… my friends know it too. it’s quite famous — google it!
July 17th, 2007 at 2:42 pm (#)
ok lah, i believe you lah. hmm, could the word bong have originated from this bom shankar then? lol
so did they smoke up from a bong or from a joint?
June 26th, 2008 at 1:07 am (#)
virgin undergrad dont be stupid they use a chilum or are u smashed that you forgot what the author just wrote above.