Major Singh
Age: 69
Occupation: Retired, Ex-Military
Marital Status: Married
Major Singh is a ex-military general from the Indian Army. He retired in the late 80's and migrated to the UK from the Punjab with his wife and 6 children. Major learnt English very quickly but he still uses Punjabi as his primary language.
Major lives in Birmingham with his wife Landpreet and youngest son Randeep who is on the dole and spends his days looking after his parents. Major's other children have all graduated as doctors, lawyers and engineers. They are all married and living their own lives, but always make time to visit their parents.
Jeff is one of Major's son's who recently graduated from Birmingham University after studying Computer Science. Jeff is always keeping his Father abreast of the latest technology. He recently gave Major the newest mobile phone and a mp3 player with Major's favourite Bhangra songs. Major gets very excited by new technologies and recognises the benefits of IT.
Major appreciates the finer things in life, such as drinking whiskey and eating meat. However, this lifestyle has taken its toll on his health. Major now suffers from diabetes and high cholestoral which has forced him to change his diet. However, this diet change has proved to be a difficult task due to Major's huge appetite for his wife's Punjabi dishes which are renound for being rich with butter. There are healthy Punjabi foods available but Major's wife is yet to be introduced to such recipes.
Although Major is getting older, he is still very active which is due to his days in the army and his earlier profession as a Kabaddi player (Punjabi wrestler). Major keeps himself busy by teaching Kabaddi to youths at the local community centre and organising tournaments.
2 comments:
Just for those who don't know what Kabadi is:
In the team, or international, style of kabaddi, two teams of seven players (wearing socks and boxer shorts, sometimes briefs) occupy opposite halves of a field of 12.5m x 10m (roughly half the size of a basketball court). Each team has five additional players that are held in reserve. The game is organized into two 20-minute halves, with a five-minute half-time break during which the teams switch sides.
The teams take turns sending a "raider" across to the opposite team's half, where the goal is to tag or wrestle ("capture") members of the opposite team before returning to the home half. Tagged members are "out" and are sent off the field. The raider must not take a breath during the raid, and must prove it by constantly chanting (called 'cant' or 'dak') during the raid. The chant-word is kabaddi in India and Pakistan, হাডুডু hađuđu in Bangladesh, do-do in Nepal, guddu in Sri Lanka, chado-guddo in Malaysia, Zoo in Iran, and techib in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the defenders must form a chain, for example by linking hands; if the chain is broken, a member of the defending team is sent off. The goal of the defenders is to stop the raider from returning to the home side before taking a breath. If the raider takes a breath before returning to the home side, the raider is out and is sent off the field.
A player can also get "out" by going over a boundary line during the course of the play or if any part of the player's body touches the ground outside the boundary, except during a struggle with an opposing team member.
Each time a player is out the opposing team earns a point. A team scores a bonus of two points, called a lona, if the entire opposing team is declared out. At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins.
Matches are staged on the basis of age and weight. Seven officials supervise a match: one referee, two umpires, two linesmen, a timekeeper and a scorer.
The Punjabi style of kabaddi is also known as circle kabaddi, or ring kabaddi. In this version, played in a circular field, a single raider crosses to the opposing semi-circle where four "stoppers" await, arm in arm. The raider must tag one, and only one, of the stoppers and then run back across the dividing line of the circle, usually between two markers along that line, to receive one team point. If the tagged stopper can tackle the raider, or push the raider out of bounds, the stoppers' team receive the points. Raids occur alternately between the teams. The first raid of the match is worth 1 1/2 points, though, to prevent the possibility of a tie.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabadi
Major Singh sounds like a typical Jatt! Its a great persona, which appeals and mirrors many elders of the asian generation in the UK.
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