The Cutlass Magazine

06/09/2026

Good day! Trying to study and collect the patterns of godna (tattoos) on Indian women in the Caribbean. Do you have pictures to share of your Nani, Aji, Moi, Mausi, Bhauji? You can send them privately through direct message if preferred.

05/09/2026

🎶 Experience the rich tradition of Biraha Nagara! 🎶

The National Council of Indian Culture invites you to a special Biraha Nagara Workshop, featuring discussions and live performances by Kries Ramkhelawan.

Join us for an engaging day celebrating the music, rhythm, storytelling and cultural traditions associated with Biraha Nagara.

📅 Saturday 12th September 2026
⏰ 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
📍 Bisram Gopie Sangeet Bhavan (NCIC Auditorium)

Come learn, listen and experience this vibrant aspect of our cultural heritage.

📞 For more information, call 789-9101 or 475-2085.

05/09/2026

The Mastānā Bahār Cultural Pageant was launched in 1975 by producer Shām Mohammed in Trinidad and Tobago. This competition consisted of four categories: local songs, tāssā drumming, dance, and beauty pageant. Compositions that were penned for the original song contest were facilitated by one of Shām’s brothers, popular music producer and radio host Moean Mohammed. For several years Mastānā Bahār Cultural Pageant, not to be confused with the televised program Mastānā Bahār also founded by Uncle Shām that premiered earlier in 1970 and aired annually; provided a platform for singers, musicians, dancers, tāssā groups, and young professional women to showcase their talents in hopes of winning grand prizes. One of the most well-known recurring performers in the song category was Sūndar Popo. The “Nānā Nānī” chutney and calypso legend hailing from Barrackpore won numerous titles over his illustrious genre-defining career. One of his competition entries was the classic “Phoolabasiya” officially released on his 1986 album record Sūndar Socā. The music was co-arranged by lauded Trinidadian keyboardist Karamchand Maharāj, alongside Popo, and published by M.S. Productions. Mohan Jaikaran in New York served as the manufacturer and distributor.

To learn the English translation of the song “Phoolabasiya,” please subscribe to The Cutlass Magazine online. You find the link in our profile bio as well as in the comments.

CUTLASSMAGAZINE DOT COM

04/09/2026

Can you translate this?

“Yuh hear dūlahin had de chile? Today is chathī self. She mudda-in-law gone to pūjāway de saurī and take chamine fuh bush bath. Bhaujī make halwā and dostī rotī. Come sing two three sohar nā.”

03/09/2026

03/09/2026

Jhule Jhule Palana is a joyful and tender Krishna Janam bhajan cele...

03/09/2026

Today marks the sacred occasion of Krishnā Janmasthamī or Krisen Janam, observed by most Indo-Caribbean Hindus in honour of Lord Krishnā. ‘Janmā’ means birth and ‘asthamī’ is the eighth day of the lunar calendar. This holiday, therefore, signifies his birth in the city of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh at midnight on the eighth day of the month Bhadrapada. One component of local festivities for Lord Krishnā is the singing of sohar songs while performing pūjā for Krishnā Bhagwān and rocking him in his jhūlana or cradle. Sohar is a genre of music brought by Indian indentured labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to the West Indies. It is a variety of janam gīt or birth songs sung for the chathī (six days) or barahī (twelve days) in Trinidad as well as the nine days in Guyana and other celebrations for children in the region. Given Lord Krishnā’s childlike avatar and story of adoption by loving parents Yashodā (Jasodrā) and Chief Nandā, he is frequently the subject and muse of birth-related compositions. One popular example of this is the classic track “Nandā Bābā,” which celebrates the blessing of a son, in this case Baby Krishnā (Kanhaiya) given to Nandā. While this composition is viewed as synonymous with the voice of late Trinidadian singer Anand Yankarran, who covered it on his 1990 album Zindabād, another local classical musician named Solonā ‘Solo’ Girdharie was the first to perform this number in Trinidad some decades prior. By adapting “Nandā Bābā” to the chutney genre and delivering it on public stages, Yankarran allowed the lyrics to enter the mainstream. It is no longer a staple song in the mandirs or Hindū temples, chathī and barahī, but commonly played at clubs, parties, limes, and fetes. This happens among generations of the Indo-Caribbean community who no longer have fluency in the Hindūstānī language to fully understand the original context “Nandā Bābā” would have been sung in. To truly appreciate the message of the song, the lyrics are transcribed and translated on our website; it is available for both free and premium subscribers. Please check out the full article!

https://www.cutlassmagazine.com/p/from-lord-krishna-bhajan-to-chutney

Sūbh Krisen Janam 🕉️🦚💙

03/09/2026

Who else enjoys sādā rotī, butter, and mango kuchela with piping hot Red Rose or Lipton (two three clove thrown in)?