With less than one month before the finals of the one-off Chutney Competition is staged at the Anna Regina Community Centre Ground, Essequibo Coast, on February 19th, Rajesh Dubraj, the 2009 Chutney Monarch, thinks that he has a chance to retain the coveted crown, if given opportunity to audition and get the judges’ nod.
Dubraj had missed the 2010 competition because of prior commitments in New Jersey, U.S.A. He has announced that he is home this year and, if given opportunity, he would be happy to participate in the 2011 Chutney Competition to sing “Chutney, not vulgarity”.
Dubraj still believes that Chutney songs must be compositions of both Hindi and English, and must add value and meaning to life’s experiences. And he did exactly that in 2009, when he sang an up-tempo song titled “Zara Dheray Say” (Slowly, I can see you are falling in love with me), which he composed in mostly Hindi and some English to win the coveted title of 2009 Chutney Monarch.
He had this to say in an interview: “First, let me say it’s a blessing to be born a Chutney artiste. Praises to the almighty Mother Kali, who guided me in my entire career across the world!”
“Chutney singing is my thing, and (is) in my vein.” He emphasised that it is a gift that was passed down from his grandparents to him. He is hoping to sing a very “saucy” piece entitled “Bariath Aur Dulha Aye Ray”, and is very confident it can do the trick again. It is composed in both Hindi and English, but mostly English for the general audience to follow, and highlights the theme of this year’s Mash celebration: “Showcasing our culture, sustaining our pride”.
He said that being away was for him a blessing in disguise, because he had noticed that the art form was taken over by vulgarity and plenty of rum songs; and being a cultural teacher (guru), “I would never write those types of lyrics to sing”.
“I also noticed that there were more judges than finalists in the 2010 competition. I would like to see more artistes than judges and more balance of gender on the panel of judges,” he added. “In fact, I want to say ‘Bahut Acha” to Mash Coordinator Lennox Canterbury and Chutney Convener Neaz Subhan for emphatically making it part of the rules for this year’s competition that artistes would not be allowed to sing songs promoting rum drinking, violence and vulgarity,” Dubraj emphasised.
He also said that there is need for more to be done to promote the art form, which is been produced by the home-grown local artistes.
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