Friday, August 16, 2013

Going Mainstream in USA

I came to this country in the late 80s. Except in the major metros, being Indian implied that one stuck out like a sore thumb. It meant answering the same question again and again; Are you a Hindi? Do you speak Hindu? Are there really 300 dialects? How come you eat meat? Is it not a taboo? What part of your name refers to your village?

Then came Y2K and with that a sudden influx of varieties of Indians. The tide slowly turned. The number of questions dwindled and the few inquiries you received were intelligent. Around the middle of last decade, I felt that being Indian was no longer unusual when I saw the Inside Man, starring some main stream Hollywood stars. As the opening credits rolled, I was surprised to hear this super hit song Chaiyya Chaiyya by the peerless AR Rahman.

Fast forward to today and I was completely shocked. I had some time to kill and I was watching Eternal Sunshine of the spotless Mind starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Fast forward to around 11 minute mark.

Here is the challenge. Identify the three Hindi songs you hear in the back ground and tell me the name of the songs and singers.

Do not look in the Wikipedia.

I still have not yet seen the movie. I was just so thrilled to hear those songs that I dropped everything to write this post.


No comments: