i lie down on the sofa... my stupid cold makes my head feel heavy and like i am inside a washing machine.anyway, i feel it wouldn't hurt to watch tv for an extra ten minutes and then clamber upstairs groaning, to sleep over my homework! hah!! the "champion sulker" is back :D
WELL, that "ten minutes" ....makes me look down on chennaites,basically... IN A FEW WAYS.that doesn't make me hate chennai altogether.i still love this place.
ok... this post might not be well-written in the best of english. i am more indignant about certain things,than bothered about my vocabulary..
my mood now : angry and shocked.
sun tv ,7 o clock news. the newsreader voice booms (in tamil), learning to dance has become the order of the day.chennaites prefer dancing to any other form of exercise.salsa,hip-hop and some other crap (i dunno) is the IN-thing.its so cool and fashionable.i muse....." OH YEAH??"
it seems, these NON-INDIAN forms of "dance" have become very popular with people of all ages... 6-60. so all these people learn to dance....nice.
i see a few youngsters trying a jig for some music being played, on tv.i almost have a black out.
ok! look...i am not this totally traditional person who will want to wear only indian attire or whatever... there is a tinge if indo-western taste in everything associated with me.NOT THAT I EXPECT THE REST OF INDIA TO BE THAT WAY. then there wont be any me for they'll all butcher me up and feed me to some foreign cannibal..
the newsreader went on,.... these forms of dance are "USEFUL" when people go to parties and discos... since people are shy to get loose on their feet on the dance-floor, such "CLASSES" instill self-confidence in people and make them dance "without any inhibitions". yeah.. i can see that.
SURELY IT WAS NOT GRACEFUL... some of you might quip in, "c'mon u dance-illiterate,u have not seen authentic salsa or whatever, else you'd shut up". ok. i admit that. but the fact that, learning these dances for the mere reason of showing off that u can dance too and that it's COOL, makes me squirm...puke...and say.. "how UGLY"! i'd rather not dance and be termed "unsportive" than try ugly jigs, if i cant do it, i CANT do it and i WONT do it.
there is the college girl who says, "instead of going to the gym, u can learn these dances and keep yourself fit"... as if indian dances dont keep u fit if u practise them. hell, i find myself so indignant.
and by the way, all dances are all about "bhava" or expression. it is only fitness these people bother about and not the enjoyment and pleasure they derive out of dancing.
u go to parties and discos.... so u need to know to dance. :| i still don't understand why discos are such a rage. seriously. its NOT COOL to do things that are just not "OUR" type.. we love to ape the west in every way, don't we?? we "NEED" to get used to the "fashionable,luxurious" and "ELITE" way of living.... hehehe... i hysteria creeps into my gooey mind. i wanna cry.
its not my motive to decry contemporary choreography, but there is a lot to be done in terms of traditional dancing.every dance has its own grace.. ok , agreed. it definitely calls for appreciation if an Indian shows expertise in contemporary choreography... but one surely need not learn to dance for such silly reasons.i don't blame the artistes. its their true passion, no wonder they excel in it... their mastery over it is proof enough that it is only hard work and passion that's made them into what they are now.
the typical chennai ambience for an indian dance artiste makes him/her say this..
"To the Bharatanatyam dancer, Chennai remains a Mecca for pilgrimage. Approval from the Chennai critic and audience is honey even to a Delhi dancer."
Take the seasoned Shobha Naidu, who practises not Bharatanatyam but Kuchipudi, a genre rooted in her state. To her Chennai is the cultural capital of the country.
"I must perform in Chennai to get validation. An award from Madras is still the seal of approval for a Bharatanatyam dancer".
now look at what chennai wants today. it wants discos, it wants boys n girls dancing to FOREIGN tunes.yes.lets become another mumbai and produce more skimpily-clad "beauties". only that will give us "recognition".
what do these people want? ... entertainment. i shall have a last laugh.
NOT at the cost of OUR so-called wonderful culture waning and losing importance in our own country.
when people around me listen to "English" music, i sit in a corner, bored and sulking about it.
i listen some "english" music too. but when i DO NOT find a song so beautiful as they hype about it, i am belittled.
when i speak so enthusiastically about carnatic music, no one is bothered. :| if its bollywood, or tamil...they at least LOOK at me.. else they don't turn even a hair.
i go to a coffee shop in a salwar, matching earrings and a visible bindi. some girls dressed in trendy western outfits stare at me like i am an alien and shoot a u-look-disgustingly rustic-for-this-posh- place look at me... i am like..errrr... ahem-its-ok-i-am-better-dressed-than-u-yucky-clad-females.
there were times, when i felt small,ignorant and too gawky for a posh place... but i sure have felt comfortable carrying myself well.. hmmm... i DO know my etiquette.. what's their problem?
why do some people think its so cool to listen to "English" music and uncool to be desi?
when in a conversation, "hey have u listened to this new song by this band("english")?", i reply,"ummm... nope" ,wondering if such a band even exists. a "what? nee laam waste..poi saavu" is shot back at me. i would mutter in my mind, " have YOU listened to pibare ramarasam??"... gosh, its so bugging when people look down on you JUST because u dont listen to "english" music, u dont watch "english" movies, u don't think Hollywood actors are cute and handsome and worth drooling at, u don't wear jeans and a funky top to a coffee shop or a mall.
i always thought such people were only from one class... but the number seems to be aggrandizing by the day.
do things for YOUR liking, YOUR comfort and at YOUR will.NOT for the sake of being stylish,cool, fashionable or to look hep or to be noticed (hehe). u can still look great and make a statement by being YOURSELF.
next time, if these people say, "JAI HIND!! I AM PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN", i ll.... i ll... i ll.... hey this reminds me.... now why do ppl think its cool to use swear words?????????
WHY DOES MY LIFE HAVE TO BE FULL OF QUESTIONS?
WELL, that "ten minutes" ....makes me look down on chennaites,basically... IN A FEW WAYS.that doesn't make me hate chennai altogether.i still love this place.
ok... this post might not be well-written in the best of english. i am more indignant about certain things,than bothered about my vocabulary..
my mood now : angry and shocked.
sun tv ,7 o clock news. the newsreader voice booms (in tamil), learning to dance has become the order of the day.chennaites prefer dancing to any other form of exercise.salsa,hip-hop and some other crap (i dunno) is the IN-thing.its so cool and fashionable.i muse....." OH YEAH??"
it seems, these NON-INDIAN forms of "dance" have become very popular with people of all ages... 6-60. so all these people learn to dance....nice.
i see a few youngsters trying a jig for some music being played, on tv.i almost have a black out.
ok! look...i am not this totally traditional person who will want to wear only indian attire or whatever... there is a tinge if indo-western taste in everything associated with me.NOT THAT I EXPECT THE REST OF INDIA TO BE THAT WAY. then there wont be any me for they'll all butcher me up and feed me to some foreign cannibal..
the newsreader went on,.... these forms of dance are "USEFUL" when people go to parties and discos... since people are shy to get loose on their feet on the dance-floor, such "CLASSES" instill self-confidence in people and make them dance "without any inhibitions". yeah.. i can see that.
SURELY IT WAS NOT GRACEFUL... some of you might quip in, "c'mon u dance-illiterate,u have not seen authentic salsa or whatever, else you'd shut up". ok. i admit that. but the fact that, learning these dances for the mere reason of showing off that u can dance too and that it's COOL, makes me squirm...puke...and say.. "how UGLY"! i'd rather not dance and be termed "unsportive" than try ugly jigs, if i cant do it, i CANT do it and i WONT do it.
there is the college girl who says, "instead of going to the gym, u can learn these dances and keep yourself fit"... as if indian dances dont keep u fit if u practise them. hell, i find myself so indignant.
and by the way, all dances are all about "bhava" or expression. it is only fitness these people bother about and not the enjoyment and pleasure they derive out of dancing.
u go to parties and discos.... so u need to know to dance. :| i still don't understand why discos are such a rage. seriously. its NOT COOL to do things that are just not "OUR" type.. we love to ape the west in every way, don't we?? we "NEED" to get used to the "fashionable,luxurious" and "ELITE" way of living.... hehehe... i hysteria creeps into my gooey mind. i wanna cry.
its not my motive to decry contemporary choreography, but there is a lot to be done in terms of traditional dancing.every dance has its own grace.. ok , agreed. it definitely calls for appreciation if an Indian shows expertise in contemporary choreography... but one surely need not learn to dance for such silly reasons.i don't blame the artistes. its their true passion, no wonder they excel in it... their mastery over it is proof enough that it is only hard work and passion that's made them into what they are now.
the typical chennai ambience for an indian dance artiste makes him/her say this..
"To the Bharatanatyam dancer, Chennai remains a Mecca for pilgrimage. Approval from the Chennai critic and audience is honey even to a Delhi dancer."
Take the seasoned Shobha Naidu, who practises not Bharatanatyam but Kuchipudi, a genre rooted in her state. To her Chennai is the cultural capital of the country.
"I must perform in Chennai to get validation. An award from Madras is still the seal of approval for a Bharatanatyam dancer".
now look at what chennai wants today. it wants discos, it wants boys n girls dancing to FOREIGN tunes.yes.lets become another mumbai and produce more skimpily-clad "beauties". only that will give us "recognition".
what do these people want? ... entertainment. i shall have a last laugh.
NOT at the cost of OUR so-called wonderful culture waning and losing importance in our own country.
when people around me listen to "English" music, i sit in a corner, bored and sulking about it.
i listen some "english" music too. but when i DO NOT find a song so beautiful as they hype about it, i am belittled.
when i speak so enthusiastically about carnatic music, no one is bothered. :| if its bollywood, or tamil...they at least LOOK at me.. else they don't turn even a hair.
i go to a coffee shop in a salwar, matching earrings and a visible bindi. some girls dressed in trendy western outfits stare at me like i am an alien and shoot a u-look-disgustingly rustic-for-this-posh- place look at me... i am like..errrr... ahem-its-ok-i-am-better-dressed-than-u-yucky-clad-females.
there were times, when i felt small,ignorant and too gawky for a posh place... but i sure have felt comfortable carrying myself well.. hmmm... i DO know my etiquette.. what's their problem?
why do some people think its so cool to listen to "English" music and uncool to be desi?
when in a conversation, "hey have u listened to this new song by this band("english")?", i reply,"ummm... nope" ,wondering if such a band even exists. a "what? nee laam waste..poi saavu" is shot back at me. i would mutter in my mind, " have YOU listened to pibare ramarasam??"... gosh, its so bugging when people look down on you JUST because u dont listen to "english" music, u dont watch "english" movies, u don't think Hollywood actors are cute and handsome and worth drooling at, u don't wear jeans and a funky top to a coffee shop or a mall.
i always thought such people were only from one class... but the number seems to be aggrandizing by the day.
do things for YOUR liking, YOUR comfort and at YOUR will.NOT for the sake of being stylish,cool, fashionable or to look hep or to be noticed (hehe). u can still look great and make a statement by being YOURSELF.
next time, if these people say, "JAI HIND!! I AM PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN", i ll.... i ll... i ll.... hey this reminds me.... now why do ppl think its cool to use swear words?????????
WHY DOES MY LIFE HAVE TO BE FULL OF QUESTIONS?
5 comments:
Free a vidu yakkow...kavalaye padatha avanga enna pannaalum nee than chennai pigaru!!
Serious part of this comment :P...i totally agree with the swearing part, english music part(I mean the ONLY english part), skimpy dressing part(I dont object to modern dresses btw :D jus the skimpy ones..Pssst skirts arent skimpy are they??)..and the dance disco party blah blah stuff totally sucks...What is happening is these ppl spoil themselves by looking at the west when they are slowly learning from us..
blah...English music does rock!! But itsnt the only thing..I do know pibare ramarasam too..:D
champion sulker :D
@sharan: :) thanks :).... i do not include ppl like u in the list ... i am not "NO ENGLISH MUSIC" either :) i also like certain songs.. but they are few. there are some indian dodos who think indian music sucks becoz its "uncool." i cant stand those ppl. :) hmmm there soooo many genres of indian music itself..dont they find even ONE appealing? now thats a mental block... thats wats DUMB.
yeah champion sulker... :D hehe...
Quite a Welcome Renaissance, must say. Doing things for the sake of it (even doing/being good for goodness' sake) is never right, which seems to be the case with westernisation. We Indians aping the West seems all the more dumb now that I see life here in the West itself. Nevertheless, someone from today's generation thinking such stuff, more so, translating thoughts to words and not being afraid to put them for public read deserves appreciation. Kudos!
PS: Ditto comment could be considered for the V-Day post as well.
:)
@ kaushik: thanks :)
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