Saturday, August 04, 2007

phir bhi dil hai hindustani...

so i found this clipping on youtube of Indian Idol 3. I didnt even see the first and second Indian Idols, so it really was very random. The clipping is of Meiyang Chang, a third generation chinese, who is now indian. His audition was on "Gunji See hai" from Kyun Ho Gaya Na. After the clipping, I was shocked. Not, coz I dont know that there are people of chinese origin living in India. I do know that. But, I was shocked by the way he sang it. and how fluent he was in hindi. (far far more fluent than me). not to mention that he has a great voice. and i really like the way Javed Akhtar ( a judge on the show) describes Chang's voice, its the voice of "a good person".
i think so too.
I started thinking about this time where I was interning, there was a guy who could only speak his native tongue fluently and only broken english despite having lived in the States for 10 years and having gone to an Ivy League school. At that time, I was shocked too. Coz, I couldnt understand how that would be possible. how can you not speak english after living here for 10 years and having gone to school here. But as someone explained, if one sticks to their own community and never ventures out of their "comfort zone", the zone that one grew up with- that one is habituated too. it then becomes possible to live in your own world.
im not passing judgement on them, coz I feel that I have done it too/do it too. After having lived in the Gulf so many years, I feel almost ashamed when someone asks me " so do you know how to speak arabic?" and the most I can answer is only words and I can string a few sentences together. and sometimes to defend myself i will add that i know how to read and write. sometimes I have to explain how everyone speaks english there and how you dont really need to know arabic and how there is a huge expat community there..blah blah blah.
but it really is a shame, that i dont know. i blame it on my high school and there clear separation of arabs and nonarabs. they really should make arabic a mandatory language to learn in school in the Gulf. its just part of being assimilated, in the true sense.
im also tempted to say when in rome, do like the romans. but honestly i dont feel that. i think we all are different, and its stupid to be all homogenous in every single thing. coz friendship transcends all that. however, key to friendship is having an understanding of each other. and when you can speak the language, you are now able to make yourself be understood.
back to the topic at hand, heres a dekko of meiyang chang's rendering (who is super cute as well) . hes also a dentist . (my dentist so does not look like this)
(courtesy youtubers)

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