A brief talk by Sandeep Narayan about his relocation

[kvchellappa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNQTi5JQbrY

[RKrishnamurthy]

An excellent interview that should be read by all NRIs. Here are some points that I want to address to Sandeep and if he wants to get in touch with me he can write to [email protected]

(1) Sandeep. when I was at Caltech I attended a number of concerts arranged by your father and also met with him. Unless I am mistaken he and I are from the Palghat lineage! He is also a good friend of Guruvayur Doari, Rohan's main teacher. When I moved to Michigan and Rohan began performing with well known artists, I contacted him to arrange some concert in LA. He never responded and I later realized that one of his own sons (Nirmal) was a mridangist and why would he promote another one? So no ill feelings at all.
(2) Your interview has 30% of the American confidence and 70% of the Indian meekness. Don't do that' Go about your American confidence. I see in the interview that your "accent" is 30% US and 70% Americat. Go 100% American. These things matter a lot in India.
(3) Give the tributes that are due to Indian accompanists, but don't go over overboard. Next year if a tour of US is arranged with violin and mridangam from the US, will you not accept it just because they are from the US, forgetting your own back ground.
(4) I am happy to learn about your marriage and I am sure you two can do lot of stuff together as long you are not"hung up" on the typical Chennai CM format!
(5) Finally I hope you are able to pay the bills and lead a comfortable life in Chennai pursuing CM. If you are able to do that, you will be an example to many CM aspirants in the US who at this point can not think beyond Cleveland.

Professor Krishnamurthy

[vasanthakokilam]

It is a talk 30 minutes long and given the story telling style of the talk, it did not feel like it was that long. I just wanted check out the first few minutes but Sandeep kept me engaged which made me stay for another couple of minutes but ended up watching it in one sitting. There is a little bit of that in his own journey that he narrates, you will know what I mean once you listen to him . Bonus, he sings a song with just the sruthi background. Nicely done .

Prof. Krishnamurthy, I would not worry about Sandeep. He comes across as quite Mylapore street smart and is doing very well by all accounts including his own. And he is very open in his talk about working so very hard to remove the 'NRI musician' label. That label comes with some baggage that he talks about. You refer to his 'background' but I do not think he necessarily wants to put that back on having successfully taken it off after a lot of hard work (Just joking.) Of course it will be great to have him paired with high quality U.S. based musicians including Rohan.

[sureshvv]

Sandeep's "success story" is the culmination of a long lineage of service to the Art. As usual the good Prof. has no clue of what he speaks.

[ramamantra]

(1) Sandeep.When I moved to Michigan and Rohan began performing with well known artists, I contacted him to arrange some concert in LA. He never responded and I later realized that one of his own sons (Nirmal) was a mridangist and why would he promote another one? So no ill feelings at all.

Idu tevaiya... (Vazhapazhattula oosi )

(2) Your interview has 30% of the American confidence and 70% of the Indian meekness. Don't do that' Go about your American confidence. I see in the interview that your "accent" is 30% US and 70% Americat. Go 100% American. These things matter a lot in India.

Really? This advice will only contribute to his downfall. Professori, be true to your profession at least

(5) Finally I hope you are able to pay the bills and lead a comfortable life in Chennai pursuing CM. If you are able to do that, you will be an example to many CM aspirants in the US who at this point can not think beyond Cleveland.

Another Vazhapazhattula oosi Is it common to ppl from Palakkad lineage

[harimau]

(5) Finally I hope you are able to pay the bills and lead a comfortable life in Chennai pursuing CM. If you are able to do that, you will be an example to many CM aspirants in the US who at this point can not think beyond Cleveland.

Professor Krishnamurthy

He is not the only example.

Ramakrishnan Murthy relocated to Chennai several years ago determined to make a mark in the Carnatic music field. He has succeeded brilliantly so far. If he had stayed in the US, he probably would have gotten himself a worthless PhD in Ethnomusicology and be spending his time pursuing "fusion music opportunities with world-famous musicians".

You seem to be the one who cannot think beyond Cleveland. I can understand that; instead of being the Rohan Festival of Percussion, it has been the Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan Festival of High-Decibel Drumming for the last several years.

Even in self-promotion, Indians raised in India beat the "American confidence" NRIs hands down!

As to paying his bills and leading a comfortable life in Chennai, about 7 million people do that in Chennai to varying degrees. Leading a comfortable life is not unique to the USA though I have met several persons with the warped views you have. I expect that your mind will deteriorate with age -- if it already has not -- and you will be soon asking if Sandeep travels around on an elephant. With that, your Americanization would be complete!

[arasi]

I don't need to add my response to Dr.K's post after VK, Suresh, Ramamantra and Harimau's. That will only add to the professor's job of pointing a finger at yet another forumite. I will just take a line (the last line from VK's post) and hope that a top US based mridangam player like Rohan gets to accompany Sandeep in a concert. Wishing both the US-born artistes a bright future.

Harimau,
You do know I admire your sense of humor, no matter.The image you conjured up of Sandeep traveling on an elephant's back made me laugh. Still, another use for the elephant came to mind. Of the angry kings making elephants drag those who fell out of their favor in the streets for public display--top draw the royal taste perhaps, but in doing so, mocking the majority of the townspeople as well (low life?).

Royal whims matching academic antics

[MaheshS]

I wonder if Rohan is still learning or in contact with Dorai Mama ...

[harimau]

Harimau,
You do know I admire your sense of humor, no matter.The image you conjured up of Sandeep traveling on an elephant's back made me laugh.

Elephants roaming around on the streets happen at the most opportune moments. Here I was, driving with an Englishman on the streets of Pune, and we see an elephant walking along on the road, guided by its handler. There was no way I could tell him that it was a chance occurrence that was not likely to be repeated in a high-tech city like Pune within another year.

With another group of Europeans in Karaikkal we encountered an elephant. I encouraged them to buy bananas from a nearby vendor and feed them to the elephant while they video'ed and photographed each other doing so. It was the highlight of their trip!

And of course I encountered a camel in New Delhi.... Not in Old Delhi but actually in the newer part of New Delhi!

So, these things happen!

PS. Did you know that it is illegal for a private person to own an elephant in India without a license from the government? And you need a permit to bring an elephant into the city of Chennai (for use in a movie, etc.)

[arasi]

Harimau,
Good stories, but the rules I have no use for. I don't intend buying an elephant (as if I possibly can!), and I don't need to bring one into the city either. If I ever did, a man about town like you may even teach me a thing or two about bypassing those rules...