“I’m going to wear my new red phumman- wali paraandi with my pink gota patti salwar kameez for Baisakhi!”, cried out excitedly, Choti, the young daughter of the house.
Her older brother teasingly pulled her braid , singing, “Kaali teri gutt te paraanda tera laal ni!”, the first line of a popular Punjabi folk song.
They both laughed joyfully. Choti asked her brother, “Virji, what are you going to wear?”
“I am going to dance with the bhangra troupe so i will wear my bright yellow kurta with a reshmi rumaal and a lungi! My pagdi will be red and my juttis brand new!”, and so saying he broke into a dance step with his arms raised, shrugging his shoulders and mimicking alternately the sounds of the chimta and the dholak.
“Wah, Virji, balle balle! You are an expert Bhangra dancer!”, responded his younger sister admiringly.
“Let me also show you the Gidda steps i have been practising with my friends.”
She showed her dance moves, tunefully singing a few lines of the accompanying song.
Her brother clapped his hands appreciatively to the tempo of the song.
“Puttar!”, called out their Bauji, “Remember we have to be up and ready early tomorrow. We will go first to Gurdwara Sahib where we will offer our prayers in gratitude for this year’s bountiful harvest, do sewa and partake of the langar before proceeding to the Baisakhi Mela.”
“Choti, on this auspicious occasion, you will wear the colorful Phulkari chaadar your Beeji wore when i first met her and which she keeps so carefully in her sandook for you.”
“Baisakhi diyan lakh lakh badhaaiyan!”
Happy Baisakhi!
