Jai Ho Rahman...

The recent Oscar to A R Rahman was a matter of pride, excitement and happiness for all of us. We know he is a great musician and we are extremely proud of him. But we also know that Jai ho was not his best creation!!! This became a matter of debate.
Before I could make my opinion, I had heard both sides of the debate one by one.
So one of my friends wrote a gtalk message, saying that why the hell do we need to give so much importance to Oscar and that there were so many Rahman songs better than Jai ho, but not produced by international production house and hence not apprecited.
I was impressed by this thought and sited his message in my gtalk. But I really started thinking about all this when Elsa responded to my gtalk message. I am going to quote what she wrote to me, "not tht jai ho is my favorite rahman song...i think he rose above just creating something for the indian audience (whose liking hes familiar with) ...and made something tht appealed to a wider range of audience at an international level..and thats commendable its not like his work was never valued in india..and suddenly hes receiving all the attention for his work only at the oscars bt its worth appreciating him for reaching out to wider audience. nd whats even amazing is its not like he used any western musical influence to create this song..its very indian..bt more appealing to firangs..who are not so mch into bollywood type songs a lot."
Well, I do agree that Oscar or for that matter any movie award function is overhyped, but it is globally very popular. And it is true that Rahman or any Indian film has never been appreciated at Oscars before (except Lagaan), but no Indian production can fall in the main category of Oscars... it will obviously be a foreign production. And there usually is a very tough competition in foreign films.
The other point is that "Art" is created and interpreted differently in every society. A best movie for Indians, can be a total lousy creation for non-Indians, becuase it is difficult for them to relate with our culture, our values that are shown in our movies. Similarly, a well appreciated H'wood movie, can be a total senseless to us.
I think slumdog put forth an Indian story, with international outlook and hence it was appreciated so much.
My opinion is that, art is boundless. A true art does not seek award or appreciation. In my opinion, true art is all about artists' happiness and satisfaction in the creation. If the artist gives 100%, the audience will appreciate the art. I see 100% in every Rahman song and people all over the world were exposed to it through slumdog. Jai Ho Rahman.. you are a genius!!!!
This is my take on this and its open to constructive criticism.

Aditi C.

Decide the B'wood movie you want to watch!!

Dear all,
Here is an opportunity to choose the movie you want to watch!! Click on the link below and participate in a poll :

http://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?key=p2o19Kz6l7-mSnPmZy477JQ

Remember the last date to let us know your choice is 28th February 2009 till midnight!!
Thanks guys. Appreciate your contribution!!

Tiranga - The name that inspires..

Tiranga - we have been familiar to this word since childhood. Its the flag of India; its that which makes you feel proud of; its a word that describes Indian culture. 

Tiranga literally means three colours (Ti- three; ranga - colours). For every Indian, these three colours are saffron, white and green (Indian National Flag). The three colours of the flag are very thoughtfully decided. Every Indian has his/her own interpretation of these colours and it may vary. I am going to interprete the colours my way. Let me know, what you think!!

Saffron - the colour of courage, devotion, hard-work, striving for greater good, sincerity and boldness. White - the colour of virtue, peace, friendship, adjustments and honesty. Green - The colour of creativity, faith and prosperity. Overall, Tiranga signifies unity - a perfect unity of different colours to make one flag. 

In short, it is a summary of Indian culture and every die-hard Indian holds it very close to his/her heart!!

Tiranga at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a group, an association of Indian Nationals at VCU. This association gets inspiration from its name and strives to keep up to what I describe above. It wants to give meaning to every colour through its activities. It is an association of students, by students and for students at VCU. 

This blog is a new initiative by "Tiranga" at VCU for all of us to express!! Express your ideas, your thoughts, express that creative side of your personality, your poetry, your opinions about Tiranga events, your experiences in Richmond, express anything that you think you want to publish. I have started this string and I am really really hoping it is carried forward by all of you. It is fun reading others' stories and commenting on them ;). Lets all seek appreciation for our creations.  

Aditi C.