From American Idol to Sa Re Ga Ma Pa!

Its the journey I was afraid I may have to take!

Let me introduce you guys to my uncle - my mom's younger brother - whom I'm seeing for the first time in 15 yrs.. so he's missed my entire teen years, the rebellion years, the formative years, the mellowing down years, the responsible years and finally the mature years (not to be confused with hair-turning-grey years).. so he's kinda missed the part of life when you form your own opinions, blossom from being influenced by your parents choice to being influenced by the latest youth icon's choice! So, he has no idea what influences have shaped my taste in music, books or tv serials!

So the thing is this, I love almost any kinda music that has a decent beat and rhythm, and doesnt sound like kitchen utensils banging against each other (so therefore we rule out hardrock)... and like any other normal person I know, I listen to both English and Hindi music, and sometimes Tamil stuff too! (courtesy having studied in a school in South India, where Roja music was preferred to be heard in Tam than Hindi).. apparently, thats not the same here, in the US! I'm not saying my cousins are desis who've never heard an English song in their lives (which btw sounds very snooty anyways!).. but they're hardly exposed to the stuff that we've been exposed to India.. I know one of my cousins doesn't know who Jim Morrison is (was).. it is a sad day this..

Anyways, getting back to the point, I was more than a little surprised when I came here to find that my kiddie cousins knew more about Saloni (forgive me Zee, but its just not the kinda stuff I'd want my 13 yr old to be watching - what with the jealousy, murder plots and wicked-looking big sisters!) than they did about me! And the family huddles around the tv every Friday (which is today, which is what prompted me to write this post) to watch Sa Re Ga Ma Pa devotedly.. and post show, an in-depth dinner-table analysis of each and every singer, judge and host is done (as if everyone's life depended on who won!)! Ok, I agree I had about the same level of devotion to watching American Idol back in Delhi.. I wouldn't miss Weds and Thurs shows if I could help it, and right till the time I came here, I was totally abreast of Antonella's bold pics, Sanjaya's mowhawk hairstyle and Simon & Ryan's little disagreements on live tv... and now when, if at all, I finally find which of the 1000 channels on tv is hosting the show, and settle down with a satisfied smile to watch the Americans fight it out, I'm faced with a barrage of opinions on how bad English music sounds coz they just seem to be shouting (which I agree they sometimes are!) and how the whole system is rotting! And after a while, I give up, turn off the show and watch safer options like 'Hannah Montana' or 'Spongebob Squarepants' (for those in India who haven't seen or heard of these shows, its ok, you haven't missed much)...

Well, its not all to say that my uncle is steeped in Indian traditions that he hasn't broken loose from in the past 20 years in Amreeka.. when it really comes right down to it, he's nothing like the traditional conservative person he jokes around to be.. but its entertaining nonetheless to have him beat down high-school proms, online chatting, rock music and kissing scenes in Hollywood movies! Not that it affects me in any way (I'm a grown up girl remember... I've already made my choices, good or bad!) - except that I'm going to be spending yet another Friday night watching Himesh Reshammiya get sentimental and shout to justify his song choices (and himself)...

So much for my journey to the "heart of the Western world"!

:))

P.S. No family members were harmed during the making of this post.