Came across this very insightful and incisive comment in, where else, The Hindu.
The author, Mr. T.M.Krishna begins by suggesting that we need to change the name of India to Bollywood and bemoaned the sad truth that the only icon that represents us, Indians, the only example of our cultural and social diversity to the wide world outside has become Bollywood.
This thought has often intrigued me when I am out with Australians. There was this one occasion when I was in a Ball, dressed in Traditional Kurta-Pyjama and an Australian guy walked to me and asked me if I was from India. As soon as I said I was, he started talking about how colourful the costumes, sets and dances in Indian films were (and how incredibly gorgeous Aishwarya Rai was). Another close friend of mine insisted that I should invite her to my wedding so she could see for herself the (perfectly choreographed) dances that are an integral part of Indian weddings. She refused to believe that I didn't know to dance and that most Indian weddings did not have people dancing, perfectly or otherwise. Bah!
It is true. Taj Mahal, cow-worship, Kamasutra and Gandhi and now an addition to their list of Indian-things, Bollywood. On a tangent, April was Bollywood month in SBS, Australia. We had an Indian movie screened on every Sunday night. Five movies. Can you guess the list? Easy. Devdas will have to be there. And Lagaan. What were the other movies - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, starring Aishwarya Rai, Kuch Naa Kaho, starring Aishwarya Rai and Satish Kaushik (no mention of Jr.B) and ofcourse the Baadshah of Bollywood's Main Hoon Naa. Point to note - India=Bollywood and Bollywood=Ash and Shah Rukh. The other film industries, i.e. Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, etc. do not even exist.
Back to the topic - the point that TMK articulates in his commentary is that we have confused modernisation with westernisation and as a result we are in the danger of becoming culturally and socially shallow. Homogeneity of culture, alas! does not reflect the greatness of being 'Indian'. Our greatness, necessarily lies in our diversity.
The solution is thankfully doable. He asks us to educate ourselves and our children about the cultural diversity of our country and to be aesthetically awakened. I think its a fair thing to ask.
The author, Mr. T.M.Krishna begins by suggesting that we need to change the name of India to Bollywood and bemoaned the sad truth that the only icon that represents us, Indians, the only example of our cultural and social diversity to the wide world outside has become Bollywood.
This thought has often intrigued me when I am out with Australians. There was this one occasion when I was in a Ball, dressed in Traditional Kurta-Pyjama and an Australian guy walked to me and asked me if I was from India. As soon as I said I was, he started talking about how colourful the costumes, sets and dances in Indian films were (and how incredibly gorgeous Aishwarya Rai was). Another close friend of mine insisted that I should invite her to my wedding so she could see for herself the (perfectly choreographed) dances that are an integral part of Indian weddings. She refused to believe that I didn't know to dance and that most Indian weddings did not have people dancing, perfectly or otherwise. Bah!
It is true. Taj Mahal, cow-worship, Kamasutra and Gandhi and now an addition to their list of Indian-things, Bollywood. On a tangent, April was Bollywood month in SBS, Australia. We had an Indian movie screened on every Sunday night. Five movies. Can you guess the list? Easy. Devdas will have to be there. And Lagaan. What were the other movies - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, starring Aishwarya Rai, Kuch Naa Kaho, starring Aishwarya Rai and Satish Kaushik (no mention of Jr.B) and ofcourse the Baadshah of Bollywood's Main Hoon Naa. Point to note - India=Bollywood and Bollywood=Ash and Shah Rukh. The other film industries, i.e. Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, etc. do not even exist.
Back to the topic - the point that TMK articulates in his commentary is that we have confused modernisation with westernisation and as a result we are in the danger of becoming culturally and socially shallow. Homogeneity of culture, alas! does not reflect the greatness of being 'Indian'. Our greatness, necessarily lies in our diversity.
The solution is thankfully doable. He asks us to educate ourselves and our children about the cultural diversity of our country and to be aesthetically awakened. I think its a fair thing to ask.
6 comments:
too true, man...I read the same artocle too...
Been to PARIS with sm frnds and on the metro ticket queue , the lady at the counter asks out of the blue "U seen DEVDAS?? can u write me some more movies of the kind." All this when we were faltering for translating requirement of a particular ticket.
It is not surprising fr strangers suddenly initiating conversations with Bollywood as immediate topic...!!
And dancing... my labmates were awestruck that I can play my feet..! Tough to explain that non-dancers exist in india..!!
Yes! L. I guess most Indians abroad have had that experience at some point. The thng is until sometime ago I was proud of it. Yipee! Bollywood has gone global - i told myself. But now I am not so sure if it is a thing to be happy abt. Ash is simply the flavour of the month for them - they will forget her soon. But tht is not the matter. do we want to be remembered as the country of Bollywood? i don't want to.
Monk!
Thanks for commenting. I am glad you read the article yourself and agree with the views expressed. Let us do something abt it. I am thinking of putting up a blogsite with guest articles from lots of people on interesting facets of Indian culture and links to more resources. Do you think it is a good idea??
priya!
Just commented on your best article in numbskulls and i am enthused by your response. lets think up of something and put it up soon - this is the project for ur summer hols. :) (rope in as many like-minded ppl as u can and i'll do the same and together we'll initiate things and see where it takes us)
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