Tribe Desi, vol 242: Kagaz ki kishti, Dented Tubas, and ramen noodles

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vol 242| October 12, 2011| Pure.Spicy.Unfiltered Signup | View on the blog    REFLECTIONS The last few days saw the passing away of two people who impacted a whole generation of South Asians - Steve Jobs and Jagjit Singh. Much has been written about Jobs, his early Indian influence (not to mention the Syrian roots), and his speech at Stanford about connecting the dots is a classic, probably remembered for years to come. So the question from a South Asian perspective is - can a country like India, with a depth of technical talent, produce another Steve Jobs? An interesting post on the NY Times blog by Samanth Subramanium digs deeper: "The other great bugbear of entrepreneurship in India has been what Mr. Sood calls the country?s ?socialist flirtation,? which stifled the creativity of individuals and corporate houses. That flirtation ended in 1991, and Mr. Sood has sensed reasons for optimism since then. ?The fact that Steve Jobs? death made such big news in India shows that young people are seeing themselves in him,? he said. ?To be that brashly innovative, and to expect that kind of world-remaking success ? people expect that in this generation.? But innovation, in this case, can be defined too narrowly, as a particularly Jobsian focus on high-end consumer technology and sleek capitalism. True innovation must involve making the most impressive use of a common resource. For Jobs, that resource has been the high density of technologists in Silicon Valley, while in India, that resource is inexpensive labor. .." A thought provoking post indeed... The other man, who pretty much popularized ghazals and brought them to the mainstream and Bollywood was Jagjit Singh. One of the things he pointed out in his concerts was that he was a purist - he did not use any electronic instruments, but focused on live music - with a wonderful result.  Who can forget the classics like "Kagaz ki kishti" and "Yeh daulat bhi le lo "... One of the better tributes is by Rahul Pandita (thanks to Vikas Bajaj for the link) : "The city turned some of us lonelier by the day. We fell in love, suffered in love, lost our near and dear ones, made careers, or what is perceived to be a career. Our hair went grey. Emotions lost their edge. But on some balmy night, when there was no one else to go to, we would seek refuge in Jagjit Singh?s voice. Long ago, he sang these lines of Ghalib?s: ?Maut se pehle aadmi, gam se nijaat paaye kyun...? Sitting in a metro train, when I learnt about his death, I hoped that in death my friend would be rid of life?s sorrows. .." Baat niklegi to door talak jayegi... Till next time... The DFW Desi See the video of Silk Threads' Masquerade 2011, coming soon on Sony TV SOCIETY Are we making sure we neglect our young? I found Sukhraj Beasla's story by accident - I was looking to do some research on CNN's iReport public reporting experiment, and the story title caught my attention. Reading through it, and the associated comments on the blog, some things are very clear - which not be obvious to the mainstream reader. The comment from her father that "'God, you're 30 years old and I really expected you to be somewhere right now,'" is not unheard of in the Indian-American community, which has high expectations of its children.  Read the full story ARTS A Painter - and an immigrant success story  One of Dallas' own - started painting as a hobby, not influenced by Hussain and now doing gallery shows and selling from Southlake to Sweden....Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting Rahul Vyas... read on... CULTURE Who are the men behind the tubas?  We have all seen them - a fixture in the streets of North India (or in movies) - especially during wedding season, in their hand-me-down uniforms and dented tubas...who are these men, and what is the life behind the glitter of the wedding lights? An interesting video, exploring their lives by Poh Si Teng... read on... FASHION Saffron is popular?  What does this picture remind you of? Yes, the Saffon-clad sadhus...now coming to Herm?s ready to wear Spring Summer 2012... read on... Please send any recommended Non-profits, with South Asian involvement, to desi@TribeDesi.com, to be considered for inclusion in this newsletter. Thanks 19,000+ active members. To advertise here, please email desi@TribeDesi.com