India for Indiaphiles -- Literature, Cinema, Music, Travel
Jun 18th, 2011, 08:51 PM
#21
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I'm bringing this thread back to the top.
Somewhere here on Fodors someone recommended the Bollywood film, 3 Idiots. I put it on my Netflix list, but it said unavailable. I left it there, and last week, suddenly it was available. We watched it tonight and loved it. Highly recommended!
Somewhere here on Fodors someone recommended the Bollywood film, 3 Idiots. I put it on my Netflix list, but it said unavailable. I left it there, and last week, suddenly it was available. We watched it tonight and loved it. Highly recommended!
May 31st, 2015, 10:03 AM
#27
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Read in the NYT recently that "The Apu Trilogy" is now available in an improved format. Saw "Panchar Patali" years ago, but couldn't get the other two. Has anyone seen the new releases?
May 31st, 2015, 11:11 PM
#28
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There are a whole lot of books for an indiaphile. A few that come to my mind immediately of course are: AL Basham's The Wonder That was India; Annals & Antiquities of Rajasthan by James Tod; RC Temples Folk Songs of the Punjab; History of the Sikhs by Cunningham; Highlands of Central India by Forsyth; Philip Masons Men who ruled India...the list is so long...but these are serious reading. On the lighter note are Dalrympl'e several books, the best being City of Jinns, others not so commendable.
As for light classical music (vocal) it has to be Begum Akhtar; Mehdi Hassan; Jagjit Singh; lyrics of Ahmad Faraz, Shakeel Bidayuni and the inimitable Mirza Ghalib; Zauq and whole of the rest . But here you will run into difficulty of language, one needs to cultivate refined Urdu to understand...my better-half goes into a trance, such transcendental works of art, when I translate these into English for her!!
A few days back I happened to be invited to the local theatre and Akhtar Warsi of Pakistan Punjab rendered the 'Heer,' (a love song), it was absolutely fascinating account by him! The best 'Heer'is written by Waris Shah and one of the most difficult to Sing...the best ever I heard was sung by him.
Very best!
As for light classical music (vocal) it has to be Begum Akhtar; Mehdi Hassan; Jagjit Singh; lyrics of Ahmad Faraz, Shakeel Bidayuni and the inimitable Mirza Ghalib; Zauq and whole of the rest . But here you will run into difficulty of language, one needs to cultivate refined Urdu to understand...my better-half goes into a trance, such transcendental works of art, when I translate these into English for her!!
A few days back I happened to be invited to the local theatre and Akhtar Warsi of Pakistan Punjab rendered the 'Heer,' (a love song), it was absolutely fascinating account by him! The best 'Heer'is written by Waris Shah and one of the most difficult to Sing...the best ever I heard was sung by him.
Very best!
Jun 1st, 2015, 07:16 AM
#30
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For books: If you can find translations of Sa'adat Hasan Ali Munto, Premchand, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Mahashweta Devi etc. Find books by Amitava Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, VS Naipaul.
For travel: Too much here. From the Himalayan mountains to the beaches, from central Indian jungles to ancient temple towns.
Movies: Explore the works of Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Gurudutt, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mani Kaul, Aravindan, Rituparna Sengupta... In contemporary space, Gurvinder Singh, Ritesh Batra, Anurag Kashyap etc.
Music: Again a wide area. The Sufi music of Punjab and the North West, the Baul and Rabindra Sangeet of Bengal, the Qawwalis of the north... there is so much more.
Dance: So many ancient classical dance forms: Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathak, Kathakali, Thayyam etc. So many semi classical and folk dance forms.
Fabrics and craftsmanship: Chanderi Silks, Chikankari, Paithani, Phulkari, Zardozi...
Food: Most food that you will find is bastardised crap. But ifyou are lucky to be able to discover the originals, they are worth their weight in gold. Unfortunately, even being an India, I find it difficult to dig out truly authentic joints that dont serve 'restauranty' food.
For travel: Too much here. From the Himalayan mountains to the beaches, from central Indian jungles to ancient temple towns.
Movies: Explore the works of Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Gurudutt, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mani Kaul, Aravindan, Rituparna Sengupta... In contemporary space, Gurvinder Singh, Ritesh Batra, Anurag Kashyap etc.
Music: Again a wide area. The Sufi music of Punjab and the North West, the Baul and Rabindra Sangeet of Bengal, the Qawwalis of the north... there is so much more.
Dance: So many ancient classical dance forms: Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathak, Kathakali, Thayyam etc. So many semi classical and folk dance forms.
Fabrics and craftsmanship: Chanderi Silks, Chikankari, Paithani, Phulkari, Zardozi...
Food: Most food that you will find is bastardised crap. But ifyou are lucky to be able to discover the originals, they are worth their weight in gold. Unfortunately, even being an India, I find it difficult to dig out truly authentic joints that dont serve 'restauranty' food.
Jun 1st, 2015, 10:53 AM
#31
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I learned to cook Indian vegetarian food from a Jain friend who was originally from Lahore. Restaurants in the US usually fail the test, so I do my own cooking.
Saw a spectacular Indian classical dance performance here in Austin by the Nrityagram company a couple of months ago - exquisite.
So far I only find fairly pricy DVDs of the new Apu Trilogy.
Saw a spectacular Indian classical dance performance here in Austin by the Nrityagram company a couple of months ago - exquisite.
So far I only find fairly pricy DVDs of the new Apu Trilogy.
Jun 1st, 2015, 10:56 AM
#32
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Also read Fanny Parke's journals edited by Dalrymple . . . an incomplete picture. Wish the original was in print. She fell in love with India straight away while her Raj compatriots thought she was crazy.
Jun 4th, 2015, 02:36 PM
#33
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Kathie our driver, Ram, took us to see 3 Idiots when we were in Jaipur. He had already seen it three or four times and still laughed like crazy at it.
Another movie we just watched, a Disney movie actually, was Million Dollar Arm. I have downloaded some the the music from that movie I loved it so much. I really enjoyed the movie, based upon a true story. A good family movie.
Another movie we just watched, a Disney movie actually, was Million Dollar Arm. I have downloaded some the the music from that movie I loved it so much. I really enjoyed the movie, based upon a true story. A good family movie.
Jun 18th, 2015, 08:40 AM
#39
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Spent three days in Jaipur seeing the usual sites, including the Monkey Temple. Also visited a hidden step well in the village of Amer at the base of the Amber Fort.
We're in Amritsar now - did the Golden Temple this morning in the heat. My son attended the Wagah border ceremony and said it was packed even in the heat.
Off to Dharamsala tomorrow.
We're in Amritsar now - did the Golden Temple this morning in the heat. My son attended the Wagah border ceremony and said it was packed even in the heat.
Off to Dharamsala tomorrow.
