Dammit. That didn’t come out right. By “role” I meant desi-style servitude, not that I’m a “bad Indian girl” playing the role of a “good Indian girl” or whatever. I’m not cool enough to be a “bad Indian girl”

Annnnyway…

Siddhartha and Yo Dad: I can definitely believe what you two are saying. I should have mentioned that my experience with Indian classical artists has usually involved me being, for all practical purposes, in a “go-for” position. It makes life a little easier for my grandfather, who runs a kathak foundation. I think it has a lot to do with the combination of my young age, gender and traditional desiness. IÂ’m always a “good Indian girl” around the fam and thatÂ’s how I get treated – you get my drift. ItÂ’s just the role I play, and IÂ’m usually around them when theyÂ’re in the middle of sorting out some nitty gritty logistical stuff, not when theyÂ’re in form for a public appearance. No one, including myself, thinks itÂ’s a big deal when they say “Go get this…” Go do that…” “Bring me this…” “Where is the chai-paani?” without even looking at me. (btw, my mom and grandmother and other women in my family were formally educated in classical dance/music/singing, and from their stories, I know there is a LOT to be said about the gender dynamics in those genres at every level of the industry – itÂ’s really interesting.)

Although gender, age and desiness have a lot to do with it, I think the bottom line is how important you make yourself to them (I guess you could say the same for anything). I know it would be different if I were a dignified uncle like Yo Dad or an informed writer for the Boston Globe (male or female, I suppose wouldnÂ’t matter). But sometimes, when I least expect it, they look up and they finally “see” me. All of the sudden, theyÂ’re the most gracious people ever, making me feel like IÂ’m some kind of princess, and I like to think thatÂ’s the “real” person in them. The first time my grandfather introduced me as a actual person, the musician received me so very warmly – looked right at me, clasped his hands over mine, called me “Beti” – and even asked me to play a number with him without even knowing or caring how (not) well I could play! Granted it was only a house party, but still the gesture almost made me cry.

As for this:

On a semi-classical note, it has been said that great singer of Bollywood bygone era K. L. Saigal could, or would not sing at his best unless he consumed fair amount of alchohol prior to public appearance. But once he was on stage it was hard to tell whether he was “under the influence” or the shear pleasure of singing in front of audience intoxicated him.

YES. Yes. This is true for many other singers and even some musicians and dancers. Every time theyÂ’re over, they CLEAR OUT my grandfatherÂ’s (rather extensive) liquor collection and sing and play and dance all night. It gets crazy! That stuff lubricates genius (and breaks down the gender barrier in some cases).

And this:

Ah, the multiple paths to bhakti…

Clever, clever, Siddhartha…

These guys are MIT and Harvard guys

???!!

I quite agree with the assessment and the caveats. I meet a lot of musicians all the time, and also do lots of telephone interviews, and those in particular can get quite tedious for an artist and tempt them to show their impatient or snappy side. (Quite understandably, when you have a whole afternoon of half-hour phone calls booked by a publicist and where 75% of the questions will be identical across interviews). Almost everyone is professional, many of those are gracious, and some of those are warm and enthusiastic.

The Indian artists I’ve interviewed have been unfailingly gracious and usually more. I think part of it is that I have enough background to make it a slightly more interesting interview. More important perhaps is that I have enough background to recognize their very desi, Ustad/Pandit-ish eccentricities and go with their flow.

On a semi-classical note, it has been said that great singer of Bollywood bygone era K. L. Saigal could, or would not sing at his best unless he consumed fair amount of alchohol prior to public appearance. But once he was on stage it was hard to tell whether he was “under the influence” or the shear pleasure of singing in front of audience intoxicated him.

Ah, the multiple paths to bhakti…

As ever, much respect to you.

Shruti: You may have a point there. I have met many Indian Classical (Hindustani) Music stalwart in my lifetime. To name a few Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, (Late)Ustad Bismillah Khan, (Late) Pandit Omkarmath Thakur, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Jasraj, Lakshmishanker, Ustad Zakir Hussain, etc. Few of them may have appeared to be (in public) “downright unpleasant” or “snobs” to you. All “GREAT” artists are, to some degree, “Eccentric”. However, deep down in their heart of hearts – especially if you meet them in private – they are very sober and modest. On a semi-classical note, it has been said that great singer of Bollywood bygone era K. L. Saigal could, or would not sing at his best unless he consumed fair amount of alchohol prior to public appearance. But once he was on stage it was hard to tell whether he was “under the influence” or the shear pleasure of singing in front of audience intoxicated him. The unpleasantness and snobiness eventually will melt away – if the artist is truly great! My nickel’s worth of opinion.

OMG I’m a girly girl and I loveeeeeeee them. They are just funny. It’s silly humor but there is no practice. These guys are MIT and Harvard guys and brilliant with cars but the penchant for drop zone comedy is fantastic. For example they had a guy call in, desi who said he was finally bringing his bride to America from India. She was his love for 8 years and she waited for him. He said he had a car that looked crappy on the outside but was fantastic on the inside and loved it and was a little embarrassed about going to the airport to pick her up. The guys were hysterical. They were giving him all these ideas about the excuses he should give her about why the car looks the way it does. I was in stitches. In the end they said “She waited for you for 8 years and she’s moving across the world for you, she doesn’t care about your car…if you love it so will she”. Underneath the funny they are just heartwarming guys who are regular guys that say shit to eachother back and forth.