Oct 18, 2007

Monkey Chanting

Did you ever wonder what is this monkey chant business that's so much in news these days?
Here is a brief definition of "monkey chanting" from Internet:
Indeed it's a racist "chant". It began in Spain, where the Spanish hooligans began to "chant" like monkeys(hoo hoo hoo...) every time a coloured player of the other team had possession of the ball.
It reached international status when in a friendly, England's Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole were subjected to monkey chants in Madrid, prompting a furious reaction from the Football Association.
Since last year I haven't heard any monkey chants, so I hope you shouldn't hear any more about this ugly business.
Here is what wikipedia explains as monkey chanting:
Kecak (pronounced: "KEH-chahk", alternate spellings: Ketjak, Ketjack, and Ketiak), a form of Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where monkeys help Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.
And here is a link to video of monkey chanting.

ps: By any chance if you thought that crowd in Indian Stadiums was calling Symonds monkey then you can just forget this mistake as a side effect of going by the face value of Andrew Symonds.


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