Aug. 7, 2003 The Universality of Music and “Can Tradition and Modernization Co-Exist?”
It is now 6:30 AM and I am sitting here waiting for Cicily for my massage- Had a good night's sleep, peaceful-Last night Ravin decided to copy all of my music (except for the Hebrew) to his hard disc...2 MP3"s with a large variety of music on them and 1 MP3 with meditation and relaxation stuff.
After it was on his computer we started going through it to see what he could actually use and enjoy and relate to. Some days ago he showed me music he has that someone sent him and there were several Western things there, a couple by Leonard Cohen, Bryan Adams and Nick Cave. He wanted to play something for me which he thought I might like and wondered it I knew the song...so he played "Let it Be" (!) sung by Nick Cave...He didn't realize that there is probably no Westerner who does not know "Let it Be" by heart- I told him that it was a Beatles hit originally (which he did not believe to be true) and many artists have remade it since then. To prove it I decided to find the Beatles original on my cd's and play it for he...(he of course liked the Nick Cave better since he is used to it)...and that's how the whole thing of copying began. After copying, we started going through it...most of my music he would not appreciate (many people do not...I have lots of 60's and broadway musicals etc. there-but also a very large variety of music of all genres, styles, from the 1940's up to the present day) but a few things we already found that he enjoyed...He even knew "Blowin' in the Wind" by Peter Paul and Mary...He liked BB King's "Stand by Me" and when I played "Aquarius Let the Sunshine In-which is one of MY all time favorites-imagine swaying to it's rhythm with Indian body dance movements...Fascinating!
We can eventually learn to appreciate many types of music...but in the end we will always favor the music we know from childhood...and of course what he gets the most pleasure out of is Indian music...He will slowly go through my music and delete the completely useless stuff and get to know the rest...it will be an interesting experience, much like my learning to pick and choose Mizrachi (Oriental) Hebrew music over my years in Israel. In the beginning I couldn't bear any of it, and today I love much of it! Hmmmmmm...gives me an idea...maybe I will play some of it for Ravin...as he noted "Hebrew music is different!" Different than what? All music is different from other music...that's the beauty of music.....I guess he means different than Indian sound and regular western sounding music..., Music is said to be a universal language but what WE consider classical music will not necessarily "move" the hearts and souls of other cultures...Makes you think!
This country has become Westernized in many many ways-advertising, hi-tech-computers-home appliances, science etc., etc.-but at it's roots it is NOT Western. and this is probably for the best. Tradition does not have to be thrown away for modernization to take place-they can co-exist...
I wrote about this during my first trip here as well...and was quite impressed with the Indians ability to combine the two...which we seem to have completely lost in Israel. Food and music here have remained as they always were...not like Israel where the West has invaded even the strongholds of music and food...Indian music is heard and recognized and appreciated and is distinct all over the world. Much of modern day Hebrew music -when it is listened to at all...is just regular rock, rap etc. with Hebrew lyrics...Nothing distinct at all about it. Quite sad actually-
Modernization does not have to mean the complete loss of roots and ethnic identity - one of the beautiful things about India for example, is the distinct dress of the women- there are modern young women who have adopted completely western dress including tight tops and skin tight jeans...but I doubt it will ever disappear ...I imagine that 98% of all Indian women still dress in colorful saris or sharwal Kameeze and they do it with such finesse...I had thought to purchase a few for my journey here (full sharwal kameeze including scarf) but realized it is "not me" and would "point a finger at me as a foreigner" even more than the modified version I have bought-without scarf and shorter kameeze (top) called a Kurta than traditionally worn... I find the scarf quite cumbersome (Note: I have since, after my next journey, gotten quite used to it and even wear it sometimes at home and receive many compliments on my unique style of dressing.) I have no idea how the Indian women can wear it even during manual labor, house cleaning, laundry etc-with no problem whatsoever...it is something learned from childhood and becomes second nature I imagine!
I tried on a couple of full length sharwal kameeze and they really did not look right on me even though they were beautiful garments...nor did I feel comfortable. So for now I have given up the idea and just bought stuff which I could comfortably wear at home in Israel as well.
Tomorrow it will be 2 weeks that I am here, and as I anticipated and predicted-this is just about the period of time I personally need to acclimatize and for my body and spirit to adjust to the new energies here. My cold is at it's tail end and just a cold sore still there to remind me. I've become completely comfortable with the weather and find it no problem to cope with whatsoever, despite the distinct lack of AC. As a matter of fact, these ceiling fans are magnificent and would save much electricity in Israel if people would use them...(Can you imagine Israelis giving up their AC???) I'm also completely used to wearing long pants and t-shirt around the house instead of my tank tops and shorts or skimpy dresses...I still become my usual lethargic self around 3 PM or so and just feel like sleeping for awhile-but my face has lost that haggard drawn look and I'm back to my old energetic self-particularly in the morning hours-If I was already up in the mountains I'd be walking each day for a couple of hours for sure...
I think once I finish my massages this Saturday, and hopefully go away for another weekend...I will have to find something to do for the rest of the week until I leave...I really should get back to doing my Yoga which I have been very bad about since I got here...
Well, it's just morning and this entry is quite long so I will end it now...nothing of interest expected to happen for the rest of the day (but in India you never know)..
After it was on his computer we started going through it to see what he could actually use and enjoy and relate to. Some days ago he showed me music he has that someone sent him and there were several Western things there, a couple by Leonard Cohen, Bryan Adams and Nick Cave. He wanted to play something for me which he thought I might like and wondered it I knew the song...so he played "Let it Be" (!) sung by Nick Cave...He didn't realize that there is probably no Westerner who does not know "Let it Be" by heart- I told him that it was a Beatles hit originally (which he did not believe to be true) and many artists have remade it since then. To prove it I decided to find the Beatles original on my cd's and play it for he...(he of course liked the Nick Cave better since he is used to it)...and that's how the whole thing of copying began. After copying, we started going through it...most of my music he would not appreciate (many people do not...I have lots of 60's and broadway musicals etc. there-but also a very large variety of music of all genres, styles, from the 1940's up to the present day) but a few things we already found that he enjoyed...He even knew "Blowin' in the Wind" by Peter Paul and Mary...He liked BB King's "Stand by Me" and when I played "Aquarius Let the Sunshine In-which is one of MY all time favorites-imagine swaying to it's rhythm with Indian body dance movements...Fascinating!
We can eventually learn to appreciate many types of music...but in the end we will always favor the music we know from childhood...and of course what he gets the most pleasure out of is Indian music...He will slowly go through my music and delete the completely useless stuff and get to know the rest...it will be an interesting experience, much like my learning to pick and choose Mizrachi (Oriental) Hebrew music over my years in Israel. In the beginning I couldn't bear any of it, and today I love much of it! Hmmmmmm...gives me an idea...maybe I will play some of it for Ravin...as he noted "Hebrew music is different!" Different than what? All music is different from other music...that's the beauty of music.....I guess he means different than Indian sound and regular western sounding music..., Music is said to be a universal language but what WE consider classical music will not necessarily "move" the hearts and souls of other cultures...Makes you think!
This country has become Westernized in many many ways-advertising, hi-tech-computers-home appliances, science etc., etc.-but at it's roots it is NOT Western. and this is probably for the best. Tradition does not have to be thrown away for modernization to take place-they can co-exist...
I wrote about this during my first trip here as well...and was quite impressed with the Indians ability to combine the two...which we seem to have completely lost in Israel. Food and music here have remained as they always were...not like Israel where the West has invaded even the strongholds of music and food...Indian music is heard and recognized and appreciated and is distinct all over the world. Much of modern day Hebrew music -when it is listened to at all...is just regular rock, rap etc. with Hebrew lyrics...Nothing distinct at all about it. Quite sad actually-
Modernization does not have to mean the complete loss of roots and ethnic identity - one of the beautiful things about India for example, is the distinct dress of the women- there are modern young women who have adopted completely western dress including tight tops and skin tight jeans...but I doubt it will ever disappear ...I imagine that 98% of all Indian women still dress in colorful saris or sharwal Kameeze and they do it with such finesse...I had thought to purchase a few for my journey here (full sharwal kameeze including scarf) but realized it is "not me" and would "point a finger at me as a foreigner" even more than the modified version I have bought-without scarf and shorter kameeze (top) called a Kurta than traditionally worn... I find the scarf quite cumbersome (Note: I have since, after my next journey, gotten quite used to it and even wear it sometimes at home and receive many compliments on my unique style of dressing.) I have no idea how the Indian women can wear it even during manual labor, house cleaning, laundry etc-with no problem whatsoever...it is something learned from childhood and becomes second nature I imagine!
I tried on a couple of full length sharwal kameeze and they really did not look right on me even though they were beautiful garments...nor did I feel comfortable. So for now I have given up the idea and just bought stuff which I could comfortably wear at home in Israel as well.
Tomorrow it will be 2 weeks that I am here, and as I anticipated and predicted-this is just about the period of time I personally need to acclimatize and for my body and spirit to adjust to the new energies here. My cold is at it's tail end and just a cold sore still there to remind me. I've become completely comfortable with the weather and find it no problem to cope with whatsoever, despite the distinct lack of AC. As a matter of fact, these ceiling fans are magnificent and would save much electricity in Israel if people would use them...(Can you imagine Israelis giving up their AC???) I'm also completely used to wearing long pants and t-shirt around the house instead of my tank tops and shorts or skimpy dresses...I still become my usual lethargic self around 3 PM or so and just feel like sleeping for awhile-but my face has lost that haggard drawn look and I'm back to my old energetic self-particularly in the morning hours-If I was already up in the mountains I'd be walking each day for a couple of hours for sure...
I think once I finish my massages this Saturday, and hopefully go away for another weekend...I will have to find something to do for the rest of the week until I leave...I really should get back to doing my Yoga which I have been very bad about since I got here...
Well, it's just morning and this entry is quite long so I will end it now...nothing of interest expected to happen for the rest of the day (but in India you never know)..
posted by Jane @ 8:17 PM
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