The Dawn of Indian Music in the West

The release of "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" in 1965 by the Beatles formed a connection between to cultures, and "opened the floodgates for Indian instrumentation in rock music, triggering what Ravi Shankar would call the "The Great Sitar Explosion" of 1966-67" (Peter Lavezzoli 171). Many remember George Harrison for his work in the Beatles, for which he will be immortalized. However, I would argue that George's greatest accomplishment was not his ingenious work with the Beatles, but rather his initiating of Indian culture in the West. George Harrison should be remembered as "the most famous Western musician to recognize the importance of a non-Western musical tradition and give it a voice" (173). As a result of George Harrison's "discovery", Indian culture became "like a fashion" (Harrison 1968). Unfortunately, fashions go in and out of style, and thus the Indian revolution in the West was short lived. However it is possible that Indian music is making a comeback in the West. After all, Lavezzoli speculates: "perhaps electronically enhanced raga is the next step forward in the evolution of Indian music" (437).

Murder In Amsterdam

In Ian Buruma's book, Murder In Amsterdam, an important question of identity is raised. As the Netherlands becomes a home to more and more immigrants, many of whom practice Islam, the government has a difficult dilemma to face: what is their priority. Do they embrace the change that a growing population of immigrants brings to the table, or do they strive to uphold the traditions and culture that have made Holland what it is today? However, as these two factions expand, they are bound to clash, and Theo van Gogh's assassination is an example of it. Theo van Gogh had constantly expressed concerns over Muslims immigrating to the Netherlands, as he felt they were destroying the Dutch way of life. Mohammed Bouyeri, on the other hand, is a Muslim that had recently changed his beliefs to jihadism, and felt his religious beliefs being threatened by free speakers like van Gogh, who spoke constantly of the evils of Islam. As a result of their differing opinions violence ensued, with van Gogh ultimately losing his life. Buruma's final line summarizes this growing phenomenon perfectly: "What happened in this small corner of northwestern Europe could happen anywhere, as long as young men and women feel that death is their only way home" (262). If further acts of violence are to be prevented, we must establish basic human rights, such as the freedom of speech, that cannot be violated. When you live in a country, you accept its laws, and you must understand that these laws supersede the laws of your religion, so long as you are choosing to remain in that country. Once this understanding is reached in Holland, the identity gap can be bridged, and the country can once again be united.

Bollywood in the Indian-American Diaspora: Part 2

The second half of the essay is concerned with the images these movies portray of India and Indian life. Critics of Bollywood are constantly asking "is this really India?" after watching a film. Do most of these movies paint a realistic picture of India? The answer to this question, for the most part, is no. "India and Hinduism" are "made into glossy laughable commoditities to be purchased for a high price." These films generally follow the lives of middle or upperclass Indians that do not accurately reflect the majority of the population of India. However, is this picturesque image of India in any way detremental? Viewers in the diaspora would argue that "these encodings function not so much as systematic erasures of class differences, but as referents of 'tradition' whose consumption is critical to sustaining and performing ethnicity, particularly in community events." In short, it is not the subjects of these movies that keep viewers coming back, but rather the tradition in watching them.

Bollywood in the Indian-American Diaspora: Part 1

The essay begins by describing the importance of Indian cinema to the Indians that have migrated to other countries. Punathambekar argues that these movies serve as a major "cultural unifier" and "keeper of the flame." However, in recent years, Indian cinema has begun to decline in many countries due to technological advancements. "Hindi cinema reduced drastically with the arrival of the video cassette recorder in the early 1980s." Instead of going to the theatre and paying to watch a movie, people could "get a tape for $2 and watch it at home with your family and friends." Unfortunately, this cuts out the majority of the social aspect of viewing a Bollywood movie because there are no longer the large crowds of people socializing at the theatre. Will this trend continue as technology improves?

Indian Music and the West: Part 1

After reading the introduction to Indian Music and the West, I realized that even though Indian music has spread through Western culture, we still do not fully understand it. "Royal Musicians of Hindustan were
astonished that Western audiences enthusiastically applauded them after they
had tuned their instruments, mistaking this for a performance of Indian
music." That quote pretty much sums up the Western interpretation of Indian music in the early twentieth century, and not much has changed since then. Western music that we consider to have Eastern themes are in reality greatly estranged from their Indian roots. "It has been distanced from its source
by the strait-jacket of staff notation, twisted out of shape by the imposition of
harmony, reduced to a few musical 'tags' in opera and parlour song, and form-
ally altered in the recording studio." In order for us to fully comprehend the intricacies of Indian music, we must move away from our confining Western mindset.

It's tough to argue with that logic...

The essays of Elliot, Mahbubani, Judt, and Zakaria present a rather alarming point of view on the Western world's situation, to say the least. Although most of the authors have complaints with the way the West has managed their power thus far, it is obvious that Mahbubani had the most aggressive attack on the West, particularly the United States. Like many Americans, it upsets me when someone critiques my country's policies and lifestyle. What is more upsetting, however, is when those critiques are not fallacies, and actually have credibility. My initial reaction to such criticism is to try and defend my country's honor, which becomes more and more difficult when you find yourself agreeing with the accusations being made. Mahbubani raises a number of good, yet troubling, points that I do not want to believe to be true, however I cannot argue that they are false. It's just one critique after another, and I can do nothing but agree with his arguments while I am overwhelmed with embarrassment for my country's actions, and lack of action. As much as I hate to admit it, we have only made the situation in the Middle East worse with our invasion of Iraq and our undying favoritism of Israel, even when they are clearly in the wrong. Our stance on nuclear arms is built upon hypocrisy as we police others that attempt to produce nuclear arms while we ourselves sit on top of the largest nuclear arms arsenal in the world. Our invasion of Iraq was not approved by the United Nations, yet we ignored their ruling and went on ahead anyways. Now, as painful as it is for me to admit all of these failures (and more), however, the first step in turning around our current global image (which is not particularly good) is acceptance of these failures. We can no longer live in denial of our mistakes, but instead, we must face them and move ahead towards a brighter and more global future.