Home   Forum   Wiki   Notes   Register   FAQ   Sitemap   About Us   Contact Us  

Why be so happy when a TFM fan is non-indian?

Topic started by raja m (@ spider-td044.proxy.aol.com) on Fri Jul 24 18:44:49 EDT 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

This thread is started, based on another thread, where DFers are so happy about non-indians listening to TFM/IFM.

Why do we give so much of importance to the fact that TFM is appreciated by people other than Indians? Is it that TFM/IFM is not known much outside the indian circle and when someone with a different skin color shows interest, all of us start dancing - Jon Higgins singing carnatic music. Is it a case of low self esteem ? Brickbats welcome..

Ravi, this relates to TFM :))

---

Responses:

• From: Udhaya (@ 205.218.142.217) on: Fri Jul 24 19:05:12 EDT 1998
  
  Raja.m,
  For me it is a case of "thaan petra inbam peruga ivvaiyagam", certainly not low-self esteem. Also, I'm very curious to see how people, whose ears are so used to three-chord rock'n roll songs appreciate something as different as TFM.
  
  
• From: Nirupama (@ van-52-2127.direct.ca) on: Sat Jul 25 02:49:54 EDT 1998
  
  raja m.,
  
  Udhaya has already described what I wanted to say about this. This is also another reason why I chose not to post in this forum. Somehow, somebody seems to reflect my exact thoughts.
  
  Another interesting fact about this whole subject is that we consciously or unconsciously take TFM for granted. When I listened to these foreigners talk about our music in an excited tone of voice, it brought back memories of my childhood when I was first discovering TFM. Nowadays, my expectations have gone up and my thoughts are more or less influenced from biased opinions surrounding us.
  
  
  
• From: Ravi (@ envy.cs.umass.edu) on: Sat Jul 25 11:56:43 EDT 1998
  
  raja.m: I second Udhaya. It is a case of yaam peRRa inbam for me too. So it is not just foriegners, I am happy if I can introduce TFM to anyone who hasn't been exposed to it before. Infact I take great pleasure in making sure my grandmother gets to listen to some fo the new hits. :).
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ socks6d.raleigh.ibm.com) on: Sat Jul 25 12:14:45 EDT 1998
  
  Paraphrasing Udhaya, perhaps it's a 'deeply ingrained desire to validate one's own taste' ;-). Sorry Udhaya, I just couldn't resist that one ! You made me spend many sleepless nights pondering over the veracity of that statement :-)))
  
  For me the skin color does not really matter. But the chasm between the cultures makes it significant. I would be just as excited if my own brothers started appreciating IR's music. It would be the same case with a neighbour or perhaps somone from another state...maybe North India or Pakistan appreciating TFM in general. When you come across an element from a specific culture making an impact on a totally different one, you usually sit up and take notice.
  
  
• From: Kanchana (@ spider-ta034.proxy.aol.com) on: Sat Jul 25 13:50:01 EDT 1998
  
  Couldn't help recalling this passage from the Booker Prize-winning "The God of Small Things" by Ms. Arundhati Roy:
  
  [Begin quote]
  "Must we behave like some d*** godforsaken tribe that's just been discovered?" Ammu asked.
  "Oh dear!" Margaret said.
  ....
  And once again, only the Small Things were said. The Big Things lurked unsaid inside.
  [End Quote]
  
  Insightful question. Interesting answers. I tend to agree with Srinath's point.
  
  We humans are such a paradox: we work hard to create and reinforce all these boundaries around language, culture, country etc., but are very happy when we can build bridges and reach out across the very same boundaries/barriers. Why else would there be a celebration among art critics, masses and sociologists alike, when the movie Roja transcended the North-South barriers in terms of the movie and the music? [Team, this is not an ARR issue, but just an example.]
  
  Is one culture more of a bridge-builder than others? Is there an objective answer to this?
  To borrow from Ms. Roy, there may be a "Bigger Explanation" lurking unsaid here, but I'm blissfully ignorant of it at this point in time.
  
  
• From: raja m (@ spider-to024.proxy.aol.com) on: Sat Jul 25 21:06:06 EDT 1998
  
  A digression -
  
  I agree about how Roja was accepted by all indians - maybe Maniratnam deserved a good part of the credit. I visited Lucknow for official work during that time, and collegues who do not generally know much about TFM and anything happening south of Bombay were asking more about ARR and raving about Maniratnam. When I saw Bombay I just loved the way MR had picturised Kannalane and Andha Arabi - in terms of watching the songs in a theater it was great.
  
  Getting back to this thread, I too agree, we tend to be happy that someone else also likes what we enjoy ( music especially).
  
  
• From: MSK (@ marimuth-nt.qualcomm.com) on: Fri Jul 31 19:30:48 EDT 1998
  
  Kanchana ,
  
  VoW! God of small things and the obsession of being submissive present in most of our people came to my mind when i opened this thread..
  
  God! I just read the book a few weeks back and it so effectively portrays the syndrome that this topic seeks to address. Stunning narration by Roy!
  
  sorry for the digression ..I'll "stopit"
  
  
  
  
  
• From: K S Venkataraman (@ ) on: Mon Aug 25 09:20:30 EDT 2003
  
  Can someone in this thread give me all the four lines of the Thevaarap Paadal that contains the line"
  
  "yaam peRRA inbam poeruga ivvaiyagam"
  
  Which one of the 4 Nayanmaars is the author for this?
  
  
  
• From: K S Venkataraman (@ ) on: Mon Aug 25 09:20:52 EDT 2003
  
  Can someone in this thread give me all the four lines of the Thevaarap Paadal that contains the line"
  
  "yaam peRRA inbam poeruga ivvaiyagam"
  
  Which one of the 4 Nayanmaars is the author for this?
  
  
  
• From: purv (@ 205.231.145.88) on: Sat Aug 30 21:39:15 EDT 2003
  
  I would like to second Udhaya. Don't people have a right to venture into the music of other cultures? I mean, I myself am only half-Indian. And yet, I love IFM, so much that I eschew American music almost all the time. Unfortunately, Americans just don't have enough variegatedness in their music IMHO.
  
  
• From: Raj (@ 206.97.63.112) on: Sat Sep 6 10:57:38 EDT 2003
  
  Venkataraman: 'Yaan petra' is not Thevaram. It is by Thirumoolar. Here is the composition:
  
  Yaan petra inbam peruga ivvaiyagam
  Vaan patri ninra maraip porul uraithidin
  Oon patri ninra unarvu manthiram
  Thaan patrap patra thalaip padumthaane.
  Sorry it took so long. I forgot the thread where the request was made!
  
  

---

List all pages of this thread

---

Back to the Forum

Post comments