Gisteren las ik een hilarisch stukje in de Times of India. Blijkbaar dacht een Indiaase Bhojpuri zanger dat Nederland een officiele postzegel voor hem had uitgegeven. Gisteren stond er een vervolg op dit bericht in de krant (helaas nog niet online beschikbaar). Zie het oorspronkelijke artikel van 13 april:
VARANASI: Acknowledging his iconic status among Netherlands’ Bhojpuri-speakers, the Dutch government has issued a postal stamp on singer-actor Manoj Tiwari.
"It is a great honour for me and the Bhojpuri cinema. It would inspire me to give my best to the Bhojpuri cinema," an ecstatic Manoj Tiwari said. He said this is the first-of-its-kind honour for a Bhojpuri actor.
Tiwari’s spokesperson Shashikant Singh said, looking at the Bhojpuri superstar’s popularity, Netherlands’s postal department conferred the honour on him last month.
"Holland has a sizable population of people from eastern UP and Bihar, whose forefathers migrated during the British rule," he said.
He said the postal stamp, priced at 44 Euro-cent, is perhaps the first such honour bestowed on a living Indian abroad. "A Dutch magazine ‘DEN HAAG’ has also put the postal ticket on its cover page," he said.
"I owe it to my mother’s blessings; she inspired me to take to Bhojpuri folk singing," said Tiwari, busy shooting his latest film in Mumbai, told TOI over the phone.
He said the elation would sink in when he would see the stamp — released 23 days ago. "I received it, four days back, on e-mail," Tiwari said.
Born in a nondescript Atarwalia village in Bihar’s Kaimur district, Tiwari opted for Bhojpuri folk singing after graduating from the Banaras Hindu University in 1992. He has worked in 42 Bhojpuri films, many of which have been super hits.
Gisteren stond er een vervolg op dit artikel in de krant. Er stond in uitgelegd dat iedereen in Nederland via de KPN een eigen postzegel kan laten maken voor 33 euro. Volgens het artikel is zanger Tiwari 'erg teleurgesteld'.
