Belafonte - Paalkir Gaan

I was listening to the so-called ‘banana song’ of Harry Belafonte. It is an adapted version of the traditional Jamaican song sung by the night-shift dock workers who load bananas on ships. They sing it at dawn when their work is almost done and they are eager to go home. The song is well sung no doubt. However, the reason I make this post is different. That song reminded me of ‘paalkir gaan’; the slower ending part of it, where the palanquin bearers are exhausted at the end of the day. The ‘heiyan-hei-re-hei-aha’ from the Bengali song resonates with ‘daylight come and me wan' go home’ of the Day-O lyrics.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com///p/x/64brI7OHQt.As1NMvHdW/ (Link to the Bengali song)

Indiana Dunes

Good trips are always decided impromptu. Too much planning just leads to procrastination and never culminates. This was proved once again today as we had a very enjoyable trip to the Indian Dunes. Albeit a bit cold, it was a bright sunny day. Arnab and I were positive that we must go somewhere. 11am we started planning (that is when we woke up) and by 1 o’ clock four of us (including Bhujo and Swarnava) were off to Indiana. It was a drive of about an hour through I-90E/US-20. The place was amazing. Being just the beginning of the season, the crowd was thin. We had the beach to ourselves. It was refreshing to watch the waves break on the shore with the Chicago skyline evident on the horizon. The blend of colors of the water, the sky and the sand-dunes was fabulous. We braved the freezing water to take a quick bath. Though it lasted barely a few minutes as the skin was getting numb (the temperature was in forties), the fun was worth it. Besides, it was impossible to ignore the tempting waves. A walk down the 1.2 mile trail, climbing some sand dunes, cracking a lot of jokes (lame ones too), a fine 14’’ stuffed pizza in Michigan city and it was a perfect one-day-outing.

Proof that it was a perfect day for outing

Chicago skyline at the horizon

The trail through the green

The Blend of colors - the camera (or the owner) wasn't good enough to capture the real beauty though

The wooden trail through sand

We go off-route and up on a sand hill

The Nature again