We Shall Overcome

Amidst the post Obama inauguration, there has been so much talk about hope for the future, change, international relationships, foreign policy, and, well, African Americans... in general. Even here in Chennai it is impossible to turn on the television and avoid news about the Obama presidency. I can't imagine what it must be like at home right now. The spotlight is finally on this marginalized group, and for once, not in a negative way. The post George W. political climate, coupled with February being black history month, has prompted the American Consulates in India to join together and host events across the country to celebrate and pay "tribute to the contributions that African Americans have made in American history." This year’s theme is “The Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas,” and it explores the issue of race and citizenship in the United States. This month also marks the centennial of the NAACP which was founded on February 12, 1909. The NAACP had a significant role in the transition of Blacks from slavery to freedom, the desegregation of primary schools in the 1950s, and equal employment.

February also marks the 5oth anniversary of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s journey to India, where he said he saw for himself the results of Gandhi's nonviolent campaign to end British colonial rule. After his month-long trip, he was quoted as saying “I left India more convinced than ever before that nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.” The 50th anniversary of that historic journey is being commemorated with a visit to India by King’s son, Martin Luther King III; members of the U.S. Congress, including Representative John Lewis, the last surviving speaker from the 1963 March on Washington; Clayborne Carson, editor of several volumes of King’s papers; and jazz musician Herbie Hancock. Rumors have also been circling about the possibility of Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys making an appearance. This State Department–sponsored tour will include two musical performances by Hancock plus a special tribute by Indian musicians.

Um. The final casual remark about "tribute by Indian Musicians" involves a concert here in Chennai featuring L. Subramanian, ARR, and the faculty and students of KM Conservatory. WHAT?!!! Yeah you know, Alicia, Stevie, Herbie and I - we go way back. Um.... HUH?! Selva called me into his office last week when he was meeting with members from the American Consulate and they were discussing budgets and logistics of the upcoming events. Selva then turns to me and says "so, in honor of Martin Luther King, in this concert, we want you to transcribe the popular and uplifting song "We Shall Overcome" for four-part chorus, harp, violin, viola, cello and solo voice. The concert is in 20 days. Have fun and good luck." I think they were expecting me to say thanks, get up and leave at this point. But my jaw dropped to the floor and my eyes must have been glazed over because Selva actually had to say "ok, we need to discuss other issues, so, you may leave." All I could say was "I'm uh, I'm uh... I'm..." And one of the women said "still digesting?" I coughed out a "yes" and stumbled out of the room.

I mean, forget about the possibility of being in the same concert as these well known professionals, but to come up with a transcription in less than a week and have the students and faculty perform in 20 days??? I was speechless. It may not sound like much, but this is a HUGE undertaking, which Selva is probably unaware of because he has minimal knowledge on the subject. Wikipedia says that "We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became the key anthem of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. In 1963 folksinger Joan Baez memorably led a crowd of 300,000 in singing "We Shall Overcome" at the Lincoln Memorial during Martin Luther King's March on Washington. Joan Baez! 300,000! And now I, me, Kavita, I, get to do a transcription of it that will commemorate the 50th anniversary of MLK's journey to India?? With Herbie Hancock??????????? Jigga whaaa?? What an incredible opportunity!

Let me just say first off that this could very well be a disaster. I have zero knowledge of the harp, or even string instruments for that matter in terms of technique, resonance, and even range. I've already finished two verses and they may not be playable. I just have to present myself to the other faculty as an amateur and say "so uh, if some of what I wrote is impossible, I give you permission to change it." I'm going to sing the first verse with the harp, cello and choir as my backup. Then i'll step back into the choir and we will all sing the second verse. Then hopefully I can add a Hindi verse, and Indianify it somehow. Who knows. I'll take what I've written to school tomorrow and have the choir go over it and then maybe they'll have some good ideas about Indianification. And then I'm going to come back at the end and we'll all sing the last line in unison.

So that's what I'm working on right now. It could be really good or really bad. The concert is supposed to be somewhere between the 22nd and the 26th. Not quite sure when, but I'll keep you updated. This is going to be a crazy month. I've posted two versions below: The first by Joan Baez and second by Bruce Springsteen.

Mr. A.R. Rahman

There has been so much buzz surrounding Rahman regarding his Golden Globe win. Hundreds of letters, cards and bouquets have been sent to Panchathan saying how proud they are to have him be a representative of India. Rahman must be absolutely overwhelmed by the response.

Everyone in the faculty woke up early at 6 am to watch the Golden Globes live in LA. Faiz hooked up a cable box to the tv in Sasi and we enjoyed coffee, biscuits, and bananas while we watched in anticipation. Faiz, and the French girls Claire and Vivienne joined us for the big moment. Of course we didn't really care about anything or anyone else, especially because these movies haven't come out in India and we have no idea what's going on in the American film world right now. I was definitely surprised to find that Kate Winslet and Leonardo diCaprio have made a new movie together. I'm curious to see how their chemistry is as adults. And I didn't even realize that the movie Milk was made. Everyone seems to be raving about it. Hopefully one of these days I can find it online.

Finally when the category came up for best film score, we just sat and watched on the edge of our seats. Some of us thought it definitely wouldn't win because of the other people nominated in the same category. I mean, Rahman was in the same category as Hans Zimmer. And some of us just knew he would. When they finally read out "A.R. Rahman" Faiz jumped out of his seat and yelled Woooooooooo!!!! while we all stayed in our seats and just stared at each other in dumbfounded silence. I just kept saying...... "What?!" every five minutes or so while Liz was hysterically laughing and saying "Oh my god." After the results were announced, the rest of the faculty dispersed and went to work/gym/practice, etc. Liz and I remained at Sasi and continued to stare at each other in astonishment. What a fantastic time to be working for Rahman! Could we be any more lucky? We're working for a Golden Globe winner!

Rahman was met at the airport by hundreds of people carrying signs saying Congratulations and people singing and dancing. He was followed home by a huge caravan of media and was welcomed at two in the morning at Panchathan by friends, family, and some of the students who, in two days, put together a choral version of "Jay ho". The next three days were filled to the brim with one interview after another; television, radio, international, emails etc. etc. He was doing about 30+ interviews a day. Liz was laughing and saying "can't these people think of more interesting questions???" Apparently they just kept asking the same boring questions such as "How does it feel to be the first Indian Golden Globe Winner?" I'm sure Rahman wanted to kill someone after answering that question for the 97th time.

And the frenzy continues. The Oscar nominations were formally announced yesterday afternoon and Chennai is going crazy. Slumdog Millionaire has accumulated a whopping 10 nominations.

Achievement in Cinematography
Achievement in Directing
Achievement in Film Editing
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) - A.R. Rahman
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) - Jay Ho
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) - O...Saya
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Achievement in Sound Editing
Achievement in Sound Mixing
Adapted Screenplay

I have to say, with all the talk that has been going on for months now, actually seeing the film was kind of a lukewarm experience. I've been so close to the project and hearing about it since August - it was difficult to detach myself from what all I've heard. To me it just seemed like a slightly more sophisticated Bollywood melodrama but with serious social commentary. I'm going to watch it again. It'll probably be better the second time. Sadly this experience has become somewhat bittersweet for Rahman and poor Anil Kapoor. A slums organization in Bombay has decided that the usage of the word "slum" by Indians was obscene, offensive, and inappropriate. This org is now suing both Rahman and Mr. Kapoor for I don't know how much. What a waste of money that could actually be helping the slums! What are they thinking?!

A man, who claims to fight for the rights of slum dwellers, has taken the Indian artistes of the acclaimed film "Slumdog Millionaire" to court, contending that their sensibilities have been offended by the movie title that he found abusive of people who live in slums. "Vishwakarma made it clear that he hardly expected anything positive from a British filmmaker as their ancestors described us as dogs. But what hurt him was that even Indians associated with the film hardly bothered to object to calling us a slumdog," Shruti Singh said.

I think Mr. Vishwakarma missed the point. Maybe Success is always bittersweet. People always seem to want a piece of the pie no matter what it takes to get it.

Christmas Holiday

I’ve had such an intensely satisfying Christmas holiday – probably one of the best ever and it’s been an entire month of excitement. My mom and Veena auntie came to Chennai to check out my digs on Dec 6 and stayed for a week. We did the usual – visited my favorite haunts, went to all the shopping hotspots, met up with Vivek and had a delightful dinner at my favorite café, had dinner with a few relatives and ended the week with an adventurous overnight train ride to Bangalore where Veena auntie and we split ways. This was all during finals week and we booked the train for the evening of the last day of finals. I have to say, I had mixed emotions about the train. My immediate thought was, “Yay! Let’s go!”. Then the doubt began to settle in and my thoughts began circling with vivid images of derailing, dirty toilets, and terrorists.

Everything was obviously fine and even the toilets weren’t too bad, although if you looked down, you could see the moving track underneath. Ick. So we got to Bangalore, and stayed at Laxman uncle and Meena auntie’s house and I got to see Leena after her move back to the motherland. She seems well and Bangalore is where I discovered that I do indeed enjoy Pupushphul. It was a revelation actually, since I used to absolutely hate it as a child. Maybe it’s just one of those things that has to grow on you. We did the usual things, shopped, ate, slept. I ended up getting sick from the train and had to take antibiotics, but other than that, we had a great time. Then we met up with Veena auntie at the train station again and took the overnight train to Mangalore. This time I slept much better and it was nice and sunny by the time we reached.

I always have mixed emotions about going to Mangalore. It’s always such a bizarre experience. 1. Because I have to reach into the depths of my brain to pull out my fluent Konkani which starts out pretty bad and then by the time I leave it’s the language I’m thinking in. 2. It’s always weird seeing people you haven’t seen in a really long time. This time it wasn’t so bad because I saw everyone two years ago, but it’s like, you’re supposed to be closely related and then you go there and you’re like “So, what are you doing right now? How old are you?? What happened to who? How did I not know that??” 3. No for the last time. I’m not here to get married. No. No. No. No. NO. End of conversation. 4. I’ve discovered that there is a deep rooted anxiety that comes from pressure to ‘perform’ in a certain way with family. I don’t know what the boundaries are; what is good to say and what isn’t? What are topics that are inappropriate? Can I wear that or is it too revealing? Why do they always make me eat so much and then tell me I’m fat? Why are they so fascinated with my hair color?, is it ugly? Why is it that they always ask what I’m taking if I take my medication in front of them? Am I not allowed personal space or does that not exist here?

I was so happy that I got to see my dad’s sister Meerakka this time though because last time she was in Dubai. She is as perky as ever. And my cousin Vishwas is turning out to be quite the medic. I had to have my blood taken and he did it at the house professionally and painlessly.

All in all, it was a nice trip despite the fear of death on the train, antibiotics, my bad Konkani, and social anxiety. It was nice seeing my mom and Veena auntie. I have to say, I’ve only not been home for Thanksgiving once when I was living in Italy. And both times I was so homesick. So it was nice to have my family here shortly after.

Yay for the fam.

Oh! And I forgot the best part! Ma got to meet A.R. Rahman! We showed up at Panchathon promptly at 8 the night my mom was leaving and he sat down with us and chatted about the school and his goals, etc. It was really nice.