India at 60 exhibition
Indian tourism is sponsoring several fairly generic cultural events in NYC over the next four days. The most interesting: a Steve McCurry photo exhibit at the Bryant Park Hotel (40 W. 40th between 5th and 6th Aves.), and a craft show + dance performances at Bryant Park (interesting for the central venue).
On one hand, the ad campaign has a lot of chutzpah touting infrastructure as the reason to visit India. On the other, the Delhi metro shown in the ad is newer and nicer than the NYC subway, which flooded last month due to bad drainage and heavy rain. And the metro is being built at speed relative to the evanescent Second Ave. subway, originally proposed in 1929 and still not done.
(The Unix geek in me wonders whether there’s a command in Ubuntu Hindi called bang-ndia.)
on Saturday, September 22nd, 2007, 1:07 am in Ads, Events, Travel › 
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on my way to lincoln center tonight, i saw one of the ads at a phone booth near the barnes and nobles on 68th(?). the ad showed a few hip desis in their 20s looking quite fashionable in their jeans and izod shirts. one woman had blond highlights, and all were light-skinned. it was comical to look at.
Photo or it didn’t happen! ;)
India has so much to offer tourists. Nature, wild life, heritage and off course her warm natives. I just wish that the tourism ministry would spend more on providing good infrastructure like clean toilets, good roads, good transport facilities before luring the tourists to our great nation. Yes i do agree that India has everything a tourist wants to see and i mean everything. But there is a lot more to be done to make India a tourist friendly destination.
I agree with Madhuri. However, there is only as much the government can do. People need to learn not to treat public places as open trashbins/toilets.
Or maybe the next you see someone spitting/pissing on some random wall, a nice kick on the butt. That might help :)
Steve McCurry is great, but I wish there had been either photographs taken by an Indian photographer, or some other kind of art made by Indian artists.
hrrmph! Indian artists can only produce crap, and the natives arent even varm.
I jest. I jest. Ve are strange like that.
@ Amreekandesi,
i whole heartedly agree with you. The power of the people is indeed greater and i am sorry to have missed that point. Yes it is us who have dual attitude about cleaning our own houses and trashing that of our neighbors. You see on this point, USA is a democratic country but if you see the rules made by government about fining and ticketing littering on streets and police enforcements, it is a very autocratic country. India faces corruption and indiscipline on so many levels that none of the rules are enforced. Anyways i think it is easier for me to say and debate without action doesn’t solve problems.
@ Trollerboi,
Why do you jest? Do not be so bitter. Relax Yaar.
Let me give you a hug TrollerBoi >:D
um. folks - i was just nudging you to some stellar contemporary indian art being showcased in a ny art gallery. i’ve seen their exhibits at the art gallery of ontario and it’s very thought provoking. it speaks of a new vibrant indian culture. must see.
I checked out the cultural events yesterday(opening). They have some good stuff going on. Especially the folk dances. The Rajasthani troupe are highly highly recommended.
And yes..their bollywood group does a number from ChakDe also. With flags and all.
I saw some of the events at Bryant Park yesterday and they were quite disorganized. I know it’s the first day of the show and there were some flight delays for the crew/performers getting in but why must we observe IST in everything we do? 45 minute delay in starting and a reordering of the performances without any notice or statement… sigh.
I would normally prefer not to single out anyone but the host, Ms. Citygirl, was quite unprepared and despite her enthusiasm came off as unprofessional. I have seen such behaviour at Indian cultural events often. I wish MCs at such events would recognize that being the host is not a platform for them but rather their chance to educate the audience about the performances and focus the spotlight on the artists. This means being prepared with a researched and rehearsed script rather than adlibing with statements like “and this dance is also from the north-east region of india” or some b.s. about yourself “you know, my father arrived in this country with $85 in his pocket…”
At least the performers themselves were good sports and put on a high-energy act, though they were stymied by a very poorly tuned sound system and a stage that had an enormous fountain in the middle that limited the area where the dancers could go. I just don’t understand how such a seemingly professional event could have such a grade-school like organization behind it. It was embarrasing for me to be in the audience; I shudder at how the performers must have felt.
Madhuri,
Your are absolutely correct. I was thinking the same thing on my recent visit. Wonderful places to see but no clean bathrooms anywhere! And the roads, particularly in North India are filthy. I kept thinking what must foreigners think of us. Poverty is a reason for the filth possibly, but atleast in tourist areas, major efforts should be made to have world class facilities. You should first clean house before inviting guests.
Main problem is that Indians lack civic sense. We went to visit the new Swami Narayan temple in New Delhi. The temple had only one place to buy snacks and had garbage cans every 5-10 feet in that area. However, we continually saw people open ice bar wrappers etc. and drop them on the ground without any hesitation. Civic sense has to be ingrained into people from childhood like it is here.
Ganesh,
Every ad in India has light skinned people! It doesn’t matter whether you are in the North, West, East, or South. It doesn’t matter what the ad is for or what medium is being used - all the actors/models are light skinned. It looks like brown people won’t buy products unless they are advertised by light-skinned people.
Casual littering, class stratification, abusing maids / watchmen / waiters, no DIY culture were cultural differences I was uncomfortable with in Bombay.
Fukuyama argued in Trust that Americans have a saddle-shaped trust curve (relatively low in family, high in civic society and nation, low in international) while Muslim countries have a U-shaped curve (high family/tribe, low nation, high ummah).
Here’s a discussion of colorstruck Indian ads.
Lal - If you ever go to India, you might be surprised to know how many fair skinned people live there. India has as much diversity in color as in languages.
What surprised me when i came to America was how almost all Indians here are brown. No wonder thats what we are called.
juice - your comments surprise me. The sound system i thought was quite nice. They were not on schedule, but these things happen. Despite the fountain, there was ample space for the performance. Plus, i guess they wouldnt have been able to get permission to get rid of it.
This was a roadside show after all…not something running at the lincoln center. Btw they had an amjad ali khan concert there..that should have been nice.
Tauba! Tauba! it isnt fair skinned naaspeetay - it’s corpulent, unhealthy, blotchy, saggy flesh - rippling with cheese curds, warty with cancerous brown-black moles, untouched by the sun. Give me rich brown kissworthy mocha any day. Aside - Sweet god of mine! smite me not for the sinful thoughts that cross my mind this glorious sunny day. If it’s appreciation of your creation that leads me to my folly then go there I shall with a strut to my stride.
Trollerboi,
“Naaspeetay” is the word of the day, thank you for the chuckle
I am picturing Lalita Pawar in my head..“are naaspeetay itni dhoop mein ghoomega to kala ho jayega” :)
ve aim to please, O brown-lok!
AmreekanDesi -
The right components were present but the setup was awful. The stage was not mic’ed properly and so the artists could not hear the volume of their instruments (witness the singer in the first song coming in at the wrong times and visibly shaking her head in disgust). The flutist in the tribal dance from Manipur (or perhaps it was Mizoram) was barely audible in the audience or fellow dancers and the drummer/singer didn’t know to twist the microphone at an angle so that he could see the dancers and drum/sing along (instead he had to choose between facing the mic and the crowd or facing the dancers and hence the sound went in and out). I know all this may sound pedantic but these artists have flown thousands of miles for this performance. The least the host organization can do is to give them a stage that is well tested… at least 2 hours before any performer gets on the stage.
Such delays should not be tolerated so easily. Along with the commentary for lack of civic sense above let me add to the list: Indians could well learn to be punctual if they wish to be perceived as more professional.
I too was there at Bryant Park last night. Once the concert was finally declared to start, the sitar player casually walked off stage. And the audience would often see unsure dancers walking in and out of the wings before a dance even began. But their fine performances on stage more than made up for any initial missteps. I loved both the fashion shows more so Ritu Kumar’s than Rathore’s.
I can excuse the clumsiness and unpunctuality of artists just arrived from India but boy was that Indian-American lady MC ( Citygirl? ) beyond ridiculous! I mean what’s her excuse? She is American, lives in NYC and I am now told is a prominent South Asian stage actor and performer. Forget entertaining the crowd during the awkward delay to the concert, she couldn’t even make a basic conversation with the audience. For the most part she stood there like a statue with the mic in one hand. She seemed more interested in getting her picture taken on stage while making sure that the monster diamond on her finger wasn’t in anyway eclipsed by her larger than life peronality. And I am not making this up but she once said this on stage - ” In 1965 my father landed at JFK with eight dollars in his pocket and a scholarship to Columbia, now look where India has come not just here but all over the world…….” I guess the arranged marriage and 9/11 pilot jokes were prevented by the flashy entry of the sitarist who had now changed into his lucky black kurta. I have also heard that she is an arbiter of South Asian talent in NY. Maybe this explains the I-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine mediocrity in the South Asian performing arts community in the city.
Hey juice eight not eighty five. Alright?
I actually disagree with your take. My thought was that Citygirl was wonderful. Her voice was clear and from what I saw, she was the only element that kept the event flowing on a schedule. Also at the Anil Kapoor movie screening, it was announced that Citygirl was hired two nights ago when the emcee from India had a problem arriving here in NY. Considering they seemed to throw her into the mix, we all thought she was really excellent. The folk dancers and musicians are doing their best. Sure there are technical problems but overall the event makes us indians proud.
I am sure you are a dear friend of hers or have had a favor done to you by her:) It’s alright. I didn’t want to say this but she was truly awful. People should go and see the video of the event if they can. I am all for encouragement and representation but she has been around for quite some time now to hold a simple event together. But that’s not what my beef is. My problem is the unabashed self-promotion by these half-talented so called artists that leads a Minsitry of Tourism of Inida to think of them. What a shameful presentation to non desis. Something tells me there’s much better talent around.
I dont get this part about been around for quite some time now to hold a simple event together So does living in the US make you a good MC ?
And i agree with Toor. She did a decent job. Also, given the revelation that she got this assignment just 2 days back, you cant blame a little lack of preparedness. Though frankly i didnt notice anything. But then, y’all have better taste than i do, i guess.
Also, what did they say about it being easy to sit on your ass and criticise others? You most probably go to such events with a cynical eye to watch out for things to criticize. Thats always a good attitude.
‘ Been around ‘ means she has been a stage person for a long time now to pull such an easy on-stage task off. You are defending her as if she was asked to host the show two hours before it started and not two whole days. The ‘ American ‘ part was to distinguish her from the artists arrived freshly from India some of whom looked like deers caught in headlights.
It’s this low threshold of pleasure and non-discrimination among many desis that fails to dislodge entrenched mediocrity.
Cynicism thy name is NewYorker (I swear i mean that to imply the typical newyork city inhabitant).
Indians are a happy lot, and have been able to endure everything that they have only because of their contentedness. We dont mess around with people unnecessarily, and try to find happiness in things.
If the entrenched mediocrity keeps us healthier and happier, then thats a reasonable sacrifice.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/061121/211/69l37.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Young_Indians_happiest_in_the_world_Survey/articleshow/2387143.cms
For more on indians and their mediocre way of life, please attend the weekly pravachan at my ashram. DVDs and blu-ray coming soon.
Peace Out, Newyork!
You all brown naaspeetey (ha ha love that word) bache log can go together to the celebration na? why are you going one at a time and writing your experiences. saab ek saath wahan jaake apas me mil lo.
If there’s a video, definitely check it out. CityGirl was there all 3 days so have a look for yourselves.
Do you all think that Indians will ever care enough not to throw garbage on the streets. I hope the future generations will learn not make public places in their own country look like crap. i don’t understand why they don’t realize that the smell that they try to avoid by cover their noses with a hanky is their own fault as a result of throwing garbage on the streets and in the gutters and waterways.
When will they care enough not to make their country a complete garbage dump.