JAI HO !
Call it a Jai ho effect or admiration for Indian culture two French women were clad in sari in one of my flatmates’ birthday celebration. Not trying to be modest, but you must rule out the remotest possibility that they might have worn sari to impress me. Plus, the songs like O Saya were very much part of the evening. Of course girls do wear sari on occasions of saraswati puja or college festivals back home, that's quite normal. But in Europe and rest of the world it is quite surprising. Is India inspiring the world through music and culture then? But let us leave that topic for people literally squabbling (in newspapers and magazines) over whether slumdog deserved Oscar or not.
Anyway, opinion is like a nose everybody has one. On the brighter side, three of the Oscars have come to India. The world is simply bold over by A R Rahman. Inspired by his music, I have tried hard to figure out what makes him stand out, but it was never easy to find that secret ingredient.
His songs kindle sufi melodies, ragas, Indian classical, western classical, Panjabi bhangras, other traditional melodies and very recently hip hop influences. The beauty is, of course, in his peerless style and presentation. The song like o saya roughly falls in the realm of HIP HOP genre. But wait, "it is beyond that". The song opens up with O saya.... hum that sustains in one chord like a typical classical instrument flute, table etc. tuned to one chord. This is accompanied by a beat that has a cry of fast moving train with a touch of Bhangra and a dash of rock. And the main part of the song is a typical RAP piece.
They can't touch me, we break off Run so fast
they can't even touch me Been that gypsy.
Touch me I'll show you tricks with my zig-zag quickly
Pick up that pack on my journey Dogs run,
they start to follow me Have my luck,
some days they suck
When you live for the buck
We get for the family
But even as things are more of hiphoppish, which some might view as Americanised, the background voice echoes in dhum tak dhum tak and ek do tin char panch se sat aath etc. and Dhols (?) keep beating to keep his indigenousness and seminality intact. But this is just a tip of iceberg. Given my limitations, there is a point where my knowledge in music goes haywire and I desperately need to rely on literature to evaluate his song's musical depth. I need a phrase or something like this one: it’s awesome!
JAI HO ABROAD !
JAI HO in ENGLAND !
