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From:
Niels P. Mayer
To:
khannan suntharam
Cc:
San FranDisco Ravers List ,
Date:
Sat, 08 Mar 97 11:58:06 -0800
Subject:
Re: (idm) Need info on "scene" in India
Msg-Id:
<199703081958.LAA28709@netcom14.netcom.com>
In-Reply-To:
<Pine.OSF.3.95q.970308093945.28571A-100000@Bayou.UH.EDU>
Mbox:
idm.9703.gz
quoted 5 lines For god's sake, if you are *actually* going to be in India, skip the goa> For god's sake, if you are *actually* going to be in India, skip the goa > and go listen to some classical indian music (tablas, sitar and all). I'll > wager it's time much better spent. Oh, yeah...if you're going to be > hitting that curry, bring yer M.O.M. (unless of course you can handle > stuff hotter than catsup mr.cheeseburger and fries ;)
Yeah, it seems to be the opinion of some that I should skip Goa, as I've had enough party experiences w/ travelling EuroTrash to fill this life time, and my next lifetime, reincarnated as a sheep-farmer's favorite lil' lamb "Fluffy" (Bahahaaaaah!). That, and I accidentally stumbled into that song "Ain't Going to Goa" playing on my car radio tuned to a "modern rock" station in SF. :-) :-) The confluence of these events, plus my general boredom with "goa trance" music played at raves, made me realize I'd just be wasting my time when I could be checking out other things... Of course I'll attempt to see some Indian classical music performances if I can (it'll probably be the company-approved form of after-work entertainment). Don't worry, I'm not as much of a gringo as you might think -- I've been a long-time listener to Ravi Shankar, Ali Akhbar Khan, Vishna Mohan Bhatt, Ashla Bhosle... as well as East/West collaborations like Ravi && Yehudi Menuhin, John Handy && Dr. L Subramanian && Ali Akhbar Khan, Monsoon, Sheila Chandra, and Najma (check out Najma's recent "Forbidden Kiss" co-produced/arranged/directed by my brother-in-law in NYC)... To say nothing about participating at my best friend's multi-day Bengalese wedding in Calcutta, much eating of Indian food (spicy==good), etc. However, I've found that classical Indian music gigs I've seen (five Ravi Shankar concerts, two Ali Akhbar Khan, numerous Zakir Hussain concerts) all tend to be rather staid -- audience interaction being respectful listening, counting tal (counting out the complex beats with your hands), and hearty applause afterwards... Granted, things can get pretty heady at these concerts when the musicianship transcends the earthly plane, but it's not like people get up out of their chairs and bust a move right in the middle of a sitar solo... I wrote my initial note in the hopes that I'd get some pointers on what Indian youth culture is into. Are they into Bhangra, indo-influenced Hip-Hop?? How does "rave" and modern dance culture translate into Indian culture? Enquiring travellers want to know. PS: as far as the uncecessary comments about "stuff hotter than catsup mr.cheeseburger and fries"... uhh, you can KEEP your WEAK SRI LANKAN hot-sauces. I regularly grind up HABANERO PEPPERS, SNORT 'EM, AND DUMP THE SEEDS INTO MY CONTACT LENSES BEFORE PUTTING 'EM ON IN THE MORNING. YEEEHAW.... THEN I BLAST HOUSE MUSIC SO LOUD, WITH WAILING DIVAS SCREECHING SO SOULFULLY, THAT ALL THE NEIGHBORHOOD STRAY KITTIES COME BY THE FRONT PORCH TO MOUNT MY LEG! So there! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= == Niels Mayer -- http://www.eit.com/~mayer -- mayer@netcom.com == =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.3 mQCNAzJKOnMAAAEEAMD9U5YD2wiMJU7vUYq1uqBB9M2sf9CuOhHRM5oYTygDMQGP Ot928KtN3/2jHlYSmGHceZZYtCUdISievlNPD5+JgrHCtU3rFfvzWJuMsODGSoo1 X3csx0aEvAfkHh+fHWs04iU7Sm5t8fp31PP5DPf9KEJIsX2Y63ZBlPtktX29AAUR tCFOaWVscyBQLiBNYXllciA8bWF5ZXJAbmV0Y29tLmNvbT6JAJUDBRAySjpzdkGU +2S1fb0BAWT1BACH1GWBrkYufLb2KN5nyqB5r2TyqeqgNirOSpuQT9a4ozFAqSiM M8k+w+uj+VAMwugKdz9kL41thUCY+FI/jv4SPQzbwkY2mJs80YLJEqWA0OKUcI2F naYvMJo2zKS9jjAEX6hT5No4ZUK9hS8sREcHI2twdrJ66zExV3s6xUlSUQ== =RUx1 -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----