Journal articles on the topic 'Hindi Folk songs'

There are some castes in Rajasthan who make their living by singing folk songs. These professional singers get neg in return by singing occasion-specific songs at specific host castes. Dhadhi, Dholi, Manganiyar, Langa etc. are prominent among professional singer castes. These singers mainly sing more love based songs. The beautiful combination of song and music is mesmerizing. The main feature of these songs is the poignant portrayal of love in ragas like Mand, Sorath, Maru, etc. Abstract in Hindi Language: राजस्थान में कुछ ऐसी जातियाँ हैं, जो लोकगीत गाकर अपना गुजर-बसर करती हैं। ये पेशेवर गायक विशिष्ट यजमान जातियों के यहां अवसरानुकूल गीत गाकर बदले में नेग प्राप्त करते हैं पेशेवर गायक जातियों में ढाढी, ढोली, मांगणियार, लंगा आदि प्रमुख हैं। ये गायक मुख्य रूप से प्रेमाख्यान मूलक गीत अधिक गाते हैं। गीत और संगीत का सुन्दर संयोग मनमोहक होता है। मांड, सोरठ, मारु, आदि रागों में प्रेम की विहृलता का मार्मिक चित्रण इन गीतों की प्रमुख विशेषता है। Keywords: लोकगीत, लोक देवता, बगड़ावत, देवनारायण, महागाथा, व्यावसायिक गीत।

Urdu originated in the 12th century AD from the Upabharmsha region of northwestern India, which served as a linguistic system after the Muslim conquest. His first great poet was Amir Khosrow (1253–1325), who wrote duets, folk songs, and riddles in the newly formed speech, which was then called Hindu. This mixed speech was spoken in different ways in Hindi, Hindi, Hindi, Delhi, Rekhta, Gujari, Dakshini, Urdu, Mullah, Urdu, or Urdu only. The great Urdu writers continued to call it Hindi or Hindi until the beginning of the 19th century, although there is evidence that it was called Indian in the late 17th century. This article presents a research overview of Urdu language.

The ubiquitous songs in India's commercial feature films play a dual role in Indian society: they serve as both film songs and pop songs for India's 800 million people. India is the largest film-producing country in the world and one fifth of its current annual production of approximately 750 films is made in Hindi, each film having an average of five to six songs (Dharap 1985). As the major form of mass entertainment available on a national scale, rivalled only by the government-run television network, Hindi cinema plays a prominent and influential role in Indian society. Yet its songs, which represent India's most popular music in the twentieth century, are relatively little known to non-Indians, either to scholars or to the general public. Musicologists and anthropologists have for the most part focused their attention on Indian classical and folk traditions to the neglect of film song. To counteract this imbalance I propose here to examine one important aspect of Hindi film song – its peculiarly eclectic nature – which plays a major role in the nationwide appeal of this popular music. I look at some of the ways in which these film songs are eclectic and possible reasons why they are so. Such a study provides insights into the role of this popular music in Indian society and culture and can thereby contribute to an understanding of the role of popular music generally in non-Western and developing countries.

Folk songs have been a medium for the common people to express their feelings and emotions. There is a simple introduction of folk life in folk songs. Along with the external life of a person, they are also the reflection of his mental feelings. Folk music is short, simple, clear, natural, beautiful, emotional and musical. The real introduction to the natural relationship between life and music is through folk songs. In Indian folk music, its different types have been classified as follows – folk songs, folk instruments, folk dances. Folk songs are classified as follows: - Nature related, family related, religious related, various subject related folk songs. Natural season-based songs are sung under nature related folk songs; Family-related folk songs in this, the heroine urges her hero to come to her home from another state. Under religious-related folk songs, songs are sung at the time of worshiping or praying and worshiping their favorite deity, folk songs on various topics in which animals-birds Songs based on clothes and ornaments are sung. Dholak, Harmonium, Ghungroo, Manjira Naal etc. are used as the main instruments. Simplicity is often found in folk songs. Folk songs are in folk language. Abstract in Hindi Lanaguage: लोकगीत जनसाधारण द्वारा अपने आमोद प्रमोद व अपनी भावनाओं को प्रकट करने का माध्यम रहा है। लोकगीतों में लोक जीवन का सीधा-साधा परिचय होता है। वे व्यक्ति के वाह्य जीवन के साथ-साथ उसके मानसिक भावों के परिचायक भी होती हैं । लोक संगीत संक्षिप्त, सरल, स्पष्ट स्वाभाविक, सुंदर, अनुभूतिमय और संगीतमय होता है। जीवन और संगीत के नैसर्गिक संबंध का वास्तविक परिचय हमें लोकगीतों के माध्यम से होता है।भारतीय लोकसंगीत में इन विधाओं के अन्तर्गत उसके विभिन्न प्रकारों को निम्न प्रकार से वर्गीकृत किया गया है – लोकगीत, लोकवाद्य, लोकनृत्य। लोकगीतों को निम्न प्रकार वर्गीकृत किया है:– प्रकृति सम्बन्धी,पारिवारिक सम्बन्धी,धार्मिक सम्बन्धी, विविध विषयक सम्बन्धी लोकगीत।प्रकृति सम्बन्धी लोकगीतों के अन्तर्गत प्राकृतिक ऋतु आधारित गीत गाए जाते हैं ; पारिवारिक सम्बन्धी लोकगीत इसमें नायिका अपने नायक को दूसरे प्रदेश से अपने घर आने का आग्रह करती है ।धार्मिक सम्बन्धी लोकगीतों के अन्तर्गत धर्म सम्बन्धी अपने इष्ट देव को रिझाने या प्रार्थना व पूजा करने के समय गीत गाए जाते हैं ,विविध विषयक लोकगीत जिसमें पशु – पक्षियों, वस्त्रों व आभूषणों पर आधारित गीत गाए जाते हैं। प्रमुख वाद्य के रूप में ढोलक, हारमोनियम, घुँघरू, मंजीरा नाल आदि का प्रयोग किया जाता है । लोकगीतों में प्रायः सरलता मिलती है । लोकगीत लोक भाषा में होती है। Keywords: लोक संगीत, कजरी, लोक वाद्य

This article is devoted to the grammatical category “the noun” in the folk songs texts of the eastern dialect of hindi – avadhi. There is given the description of the etimological classification of avadhi nouns. In the same way are described the some peculiarities of the noun’s word formation and fonetic changes are shown.

In this article footnote 70 on page 20 should include the following: ‘Quoted in Ashutosh Kumar, “Anti-Indenture Bhojpuri Folk Songs and Poems from North India”, Man in India, 93 (4), 2013, p. 512 [509–19].’On the same page, after the line ‘The victimized woman was glorified and acquired subjecthood only when she emulated the virtues and ideals of upper-caste Indian womanhood and wifely devotion, thereby overcoming the perceived stereotypes of Dalit woman’ the following footnote should have appeared: ‘Kumar, “Anti-Indenture Bhojpuri Folk Songs”, p. 513’.The author regrets the error.

The folk songs sung in the rural areas are meant for the entertainment of the people as well as for awakening the social consciousness. The artists of these songs infuse a new zeal and positive energy in the rural masses. Through these songs, singers work to remove backwardness as well as create awareness in the society. There are many such songs which, along with following various traditions, have a direct impact on the living and lifestyle of the people. Along with imparting knowledge of folk songs, stories, Vedas and Puranas, they also teach the lesson of mutual love and patriotism. Along with performing various rites, these folk songs also serve as humor. In modern times, light communicates to a person suffering from mental stress and frustration. Abstract in Hindi Lanaguge: ग्रामीण क्षेत्र में गाये जाने वाले लोकगीत-लोगों के मनोरंजन के साथ-साथ समाज चेतना जगाने वाले गीत होते है। इन गीतों के कलाकार ग्रामीण जनता में एक नई उमंग व सकारात्मक ऊर्जा का संचार करते हैं। गायक इन गीतों के माध्यम से पिछड़ेपन को दूर करने के साथ-साथ समाज में जाग्रती का काम करते हैं। कितने ही ऐेसे गीत हैं जो विभिन्न परम्पराओं को निभाने के साथ-साथ लोगों के रहन-सहन व जीवन शैली पर सीधा प्रभाव डालते हैं। ये लोकगीत-कथाओं, कहानियेां, वेद पुराणों का ज्ञान करवाने के साथ-साथ आपसी प्रेम और देश-प्रेम का पाठ भी पढाते है। विभिन्न संस्कारों को निभाने के साथ-साथ ये लोकगीत हास-परिहास का भी काम करते हैं। आधुनिक समय मे ंमानसिक तनाव व कुण्ठा से ग्रस्त व्यक्ति में प्रकाश का संचार करते हैं। Keywords: लोकगीत, संस्कृति, दंगली नाट्य, ख्याल, संस्कार, गणगौर।

North-East is a hub of many ethnic languages. This region constitutes with eight major districts; like-Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and Sikkim. Tutsa is a minor tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The Tutsa was migrated from the place ‘RangkhanSanchik’ of the South-East Asia through ‘Hakmen-Haksan’ way to Arunachal Pradesh. The Tutsa community is mainly inhabited in Tirap district and southern part of Changlang district and a few people are co-exists in Tinsukia district of Assam. The Tutsa language belongs to the Naga group of Sino-Tibetan language family. According to the Report of UNESCO, the Tutsa language is in endangered level and it included in the EGIDS Level 6B. The language has no written literature; songs, folk tales, stories are found in a colloquial form. They use Roman Script. Due to the influence of other languages it causes lack of sincerity for the use of their languages in a united form. Now-a-days the new generation is attracted for using English, Hindi and Assamese language. No study is found till now in a scientific way about the language. So, in this prospect the topic Nominal Inflection of the Tutsa Language has been selected for study. It will help to preserve the language and also help in making of dictionary, Grammar and language guide book.

Azerbaijan Oguz-Turk and North American Hindu Folk Songs: a Comparative Analysis Summary Folk songs of Oguz-Turk and Hindu people have addressed themes that are universal to most of humanity throughout history, including love, loss, treachery, and early death. They serve as a historical account of the circumstances that existed when they were written or oral traditions that were carried down orally. Folk songs are essential to music since they provide a brief overview of the musicians' lives. Important information is also frequently passed down from generation to generation through folk tunes. Folk ballads narrate tales of a life that has been forgotten or is about to vanish. Traditional Oguz-Turk and Indian civilizations use music for a variety of purposes, such as religious rituals, healing rituals, social songs and dances, work songs, game songs, courting, storytelling, and songs to bring luck in hunting, agriculture, and warfare. Key words: Folksong, Comparative features, Main directions of folksongs, In-text conceptions, Characteristics of folksongs

Zikir songs of Assam are the Assamese Islamic devotional songs composed by the Sufi figure Shah Miran, alias, Azan Peer Fakir, who came to Assam from Baghdad in 17th century. Assamese scholars categorize zikir under the folk Bhakti or Sufi genre. According to Syed Abdul Malik, a pioneer writer on the subject, the word zikir is said to have been derived from the Arabic term ziqr, which means to remember, listen to and to mention the name of Allah. Interestingly, the concept of remembrance of the Divine, like in zikir, also resonates with the Neo-Vaisnavite Bhakti philosophy of Sankardeva and Madhavdeva of 15th century Assam. There exist philosophical and lyrical resemblances not only between zikir and borgeet (Vaishnavite prayer songs), but also between zikir songs and lokageet, and dehbichar geet. Musically, there are resemblances of rhythmic patterns and melodic phrases, which reflect a fluid exchange amongst zikir and other folk genres.This essay is a musicological exploration and lyrical study of some examples showing these philosophical resonances and musical fluidities. In doing so, the article highlights the synthesis of the merging of the Hindu and Islamic philosophies, lyrical and musical aesthetics, in and through the songs of zikir by Azan Fakir.

What do you do when you come to know that you're stuck to the intractable stuff of other folks' and other times' making, stuck more deeply the more you rail against it for not answering to your hailing? What do you do when you're busted to pieces and can't pull it all together with the hum of a song? What do you do when you find yourself outside a structure that won't let you (or your loves) inside its towered walls and gated communities? What follow are prescriptions divined from fabulous tales of tar babies, terrapins, and supersized machine-horses. Southern myth-science. To borrow from others in this collection: hum/animal songs from outer space(s).

This study raises the topic of Hindu pghilosophy contained in the Wonderland Indonesia 2 video by Alffy Rev. The method is narrative analysis with secondary text data in the form of videos on the youtube channel. The results show the: the prologue narration describes the historical symbol constructs the were excavated in the garuda mythology, the Majapahit symbol and depict the under or dark culture of the dragon and the light culture of the garuda. The content narration describes the relationship between the historicity of the mythological wolrd of garuda, Majapahit and national values combined with traditionl art of folk songs and supporting costume elements between various dimensions of banality. The element of banality constructed by the text produser describes a narrative about the integration and unification of the dimensions of nature, creation manajement and idependence after destruction in the trisula philosophy wich is integrated in Hindu culture and teachings. In the final naarative, it is described how the relationship between history and the younger generation of Indonesia is as a form of reconstruction of the values struggle and multiculturalism as a reading of the history of mythology, the history of Majapahit, the history of the independence of the Indonesian nation.

Difficult war times and painful family events made people segregate. These events made folk singers create songs where they narrated how people recognized each other after a long time being far away from one another. This time period was known as a very dramatic process fulfilled with strong feelings. Different scops and bards created emotional songs with the motif of recognition between husband and wife (that will be explained with examples from Hind Horn and Aga Ymeri), between brother and sister (that will be explained with examples from Bonnie Farday and Gjon Petrika), and rarely between brother and brother. The aim of this paper is to make a comparative analysis with special emphasis on intersections and the dissimilar points of the English ballads and the Albanian ones which treat the motif of recognition. Since this papers goal is the comparative approach between ballads of two different literatures of different nations, our methods of analysis will be the narrative method and the comparative method. The narrative method will be used to point out the motif of recognition in each ballad particularly, while the comparative method will be used to make the comparison between ballads Hind Horn and Aga Ymeri where husband and wife recognize each other by a special sign as symbol of their true love, and between ballads Bonny Farday or Babylon and Gjon Petrika where with the help of a mark the identification of brother and sister occurs.

Difficult war times and painful family events made people segregate. These events made folk singers create songs where they narrated how people recognized each other after a long time being far away from one another. This time period was known as a very dramatic process fulfilled with strong feelings. Different scops and bards created emotional songs with the motif of recognition between husband and wife (that will be explained with examples from Hind Horn and Aga Ymeri), between brother and sister (that will be explained with examples from Bonnie Farday and Gjon Petrika), and rarely between brother and brother. The aim of this paper is to make a comparative analysis with special emphasis on intersections and the dissimilar points of the English ballads and the Albanian ones which treat the motif of recognition. Since this papers goal is the comparative approach between ballads of two different literatures of different nations, our methods of analysis will be the narrative method and the comparative method. The narrative method will be used to point out the motif of recognition in each ballad particularly, while the comparative method will be used to make the comparison between ballads Hind Horn and Aga Ymeri where husband and wife recognize each other by a special sign as symbol of their true love, and between ballads Bonny Farday or Babylon and Gjon Petrika where with the help of a mark the identification of brother and sister occurs.

Introduction. Slavic neo-paganism has been of particular interest to Russian researchers in recent decades. It is still unknown whether there are many representatives of neo-pagan movements in Russia, and the boundaries of this phenomenon are very blurred. As a result, in the scientific community, an ambiguous direction is gaining popularity as folk history, the authors of which advocate the concept of «alternative history». There is an extensive number of «scientific» works and communities based on falsifications and distortion of historical data. One of such trends, in quasi-history, is the early re-creation of Slavic culture, which is increasingly viewed through the prism of Slavic neo-pagan concepts, thereby having a significant impact on Russians' perceptions of traditional Slavic culture. Some Slavic neo-pagan traditions, in addition to the traditional foundations of early Slavic culture, use religious and mythological constructs of other world and national religions. Special importance is attached to the Indian myth-forming component, which unwittingly becomes not only a kind of historical support for the development of pseudo-historical ideas of neo-paganism, but also is the richest source for the development of «Slavic» mythology. Based on this, the analysis of Slavic neo-pagan beliefs through the borrowing of religious and mythological images of Indian culture becomes relevant.Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the work was the general scientific principles of historicism, consistency, unity and scientific objectivity. Historical and logical methods of scientific research in the study of cultural and religious traditions of Slavic neo-paganism have determined the objectivity and scientific character in the study of this phenomenon.Results. Currently, the problem of modern Slavic neo-paganism lies in the fact that the reconstruction of the true appearance of the bygone culture and mythology of Ancient Russia is an extremely difficult task and requires an objective and comprehensive study of this issue. However, representatives of modern Slavic paganism claim that it is the Slavs who are the original Aryan people, with an ancient and developed culture of many thousands of years. The key sources, among neo-pagan supporters, of the origin of the Slavs and the description of their cultural and religious life are the texts of the «Slavic-Aryan Vedas» and the «Veles Book». «Veles's Book», according to representatives of Slavic neo-paganism, is the scripture of the ancient Aryans and contains particles of Slavic-Aryan wisdom preserved by the Novgorod Magi of the IX century. The «Veles Book» repeatedly contains images and plots borrowed from Eastern religious traditions, in particular from Hinduism. The content of the «Slavic-Aryan Vedas» is quite diverse. They include the Old Norse «Saga of the Inglings» interpreted by A. Khinevich, a recording of Perun's conversation with people in which he tells about the commandments, about past and future events on Earth, about the origin of the Russian people. Other pseudo–historical ideas of the origin of Slavic culture and the borrowing of mythological images of other ethnic groups by it are noted in the collection of epic songs by the Serbian historian Stefan Ilyich Verkovich – «Veda Slovena» (translated into Russian «Veda Slavs»). Attention to the collection «The Veda of the Slavs» was attracted by the enthusiastic historian A.I. Asov, having made several translations from the 1st and 2nd volumes of the book «The Veda of the Slavs». In addition, the trend of folk history is observed in attempts to prove the paramount importance of the «Slavic-Aryan» civilization over other peoples through the semantic similarity of the hydronomic objects. According to ideologists and representatives of Slavic neo-paganism, we can also observe the «Vedic» origins in Ancient Russia in the names of rivers and lakes on the territory of modern Russia.Discussion and Conclusions. The analysis of Slavic neo-pagan traditions revealed a weak reasonableness of the judgments of ideologists and representatives of Slavic neo-paganism about antiquity and the influence of the «Slavic-Aryan» civilization on Ancient India. Proceeding from this, it is also incorrect to assume that Indian deities are prototypes of Slavic gods or included in the Slavic mythology of Ancient Russia, since the described images and attributes of Hindu gods, in the context of traditional historical chronology, appeared much later than the Slavic neo-pagan tradition ascribes to him. At the same time, we cannot exclude the fact that the «Slavic-Aryan Vedas» and the «Veles Book» became not only the basis of a distorted perception of Slavic culture for followers of neo- Pagan traditions, but also brought the «Slavic-Aryan myth», as part of folk history, into the scientific and academic world.

‘The Waste Land’, of course by T. S. Eliot has been treated as the magnum opus of T. S. Eliot on account of its big canvas, wide range of themes, saga of suffering, with epic grandeur. It concludes with an optimistic note- “ Shantih, Shantih, Shantih'' as well as “Da, Datta, Dayadhvam'' The mental journey from ‘The Burial of the Dead’ to ‘What the Thunder Said’ via ‘A Game of Chess’, ‘The Fire Sermon’ and Death by Water’ undertaken by Tiresias symbolizes the journey of the Christiana in John Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress. In Spite of this, the complexity of theme prompted a sensitive Hindi poet Nirala to remark- “ Kahan ka ianta kahan ka roda, T. S. Eliot ne kunwa joda'' The elegiac note of the opening part visualizes ‘a ray of hope’ when the poet refers to ‘the Holy river’ Ganga and the Himavant i.e. the snowbound mountains in Himalayan Ranges. Suddenly, the attention is shifted towards the famous fable of the ‘Brihadaranyaka Upanishad’ The three-fold offspring of the Creator, Prajapati, Gods, men and demons; these three approached Prajapati for instruction after completing their formal education. To each group, He uttered the single syllable ‘Da’. The message was sent to all three in the form of encoding but they interpreted or decoded in their own ways. The Gods decode it as ‘Damyata’ (Control Yourselves). The Gods decoded it as ‘Datta’ (give). The demons interpreted it as ‘Dayadhvam’ ( be compassionate). When these three meet Prajapati, aware of their interpretations, He responds with ‘OM’ signifying that they have fully understood. This concludes with the thrice repetition of thunder - Da. Da. Da. viz, control yourselves, give, be compassionate.This episode reminds us of T.S. Eliot’s focus on Charles Lanman, his Sanskrit teacher at Harvard University who gave Eliot a copy of ‘Vasudev Lakshman Shastri Phansikar’s Sanskrit edition of ‘The Twenty Eight Upanishads'. While interpreting ‘Dayadhvam”, Eliot refers to Dante’s Ínferno’Book 33, line 46 - “And below I heard the outlet of / The horrible tower locked up”. These words are uttered by Ugonio della Gherardesca, a 13th century Italian novelist as he recalls his imprisonment in a Tower with his two sons and two grandsons where they starved to death. This allusion communicates a sense of finality and suggests the terrifying consequences of imprisoning oneself within one’s own ego or consciousness. Eliot feels that only by confining to one’s own faith one is ought to transcend the boundaries of tradition. According to the European tradition or Christianity ‘Shantih ‘has been interpreted as ‘Peace Which passeth understanding ' . Indeed, It is a feeble translation of the inherent meaning of the world. Eliot anticipates something absolute and sublime as has been suggested by the Upanishadic Connotation. To conclude it can be said that this poem begins with pessimistic suffering but concludes with robust optimism.

Asad Muhammad Khan is a fiction writer, but along with, he has also made a distinct identity by writing poems and songs in literary world. His song’s collection "Rokey Hovay Sawan", firstly released in 1977 but the included songs written in 70s. His literary life started with these songs and poems that published from time to time in various literary magazines and digests. He has described these songs as his ‘first love’. These songs have the charm of Hindi language. He has done many experiments in ‘form’. In his songs, both chanting and music combines to create a strange atmosphere. Like traditional folk songs, in these songs he has expressed immense love for his lover on the part of a love-struck woman. He has immortalized the 14 rag-ragas of music in the form of his songs.His love for the soil of his homeland becomes a song. Therefore, he posses a distinct and unique recognition amongst Urdu lyricists.

Asad Muhammad Khan is a fiction writer, but along with, he has also made a distinct identity by writing poems and songs in literary world. His song’s collection "Rokey Hovay Sawan", firstly released in 1977 but the included songs written in 70s. His literary life started with these songs and poems that published from time to time in various literary magazines and digests. He has described these songs as his ‘first love’. These songs have the charm of Hindi language. He has done many experiments in ‘form’. In his songs, both chanting and music combines to create a strange atmosphere. Like traditional folk songs, in these songs he has expressed immense love for his lover on the part of a love-struck woman. He has immortalized the 14 rag-ragas of music in the form of his songs.His love for the soil of his homeland becomes a song. Therefore, he posses a distinct and unique recognition amongst Urdu lyricists.

Tembang Dolanan Anak is a creation (fruit of thought) or the composition of the language with the rules of the standard (gumathok) which way of reading it must be dilagukan by using the beauty of sound owned. Tembang (sekar) Java is divided into two categories, namely classic and folk type. The classical tembang is a tembang whose source is from the Javanese royal court from the time of Kediri to Mataram Islam (Yogyakarta and Surakarta), therefore the rules are very strict. The song that developed in the people's circle (in the Hindu era belongs to the caste of waisya and sudra) the mention is "song, lagon, or lelagon" there is no binding rule (free) only certain songs. Types of Dolanan Tembang Anak many developed in society that tell about behavior pattern and character owned by children. Therefore Tembang Dolanan Anak has a noble value education on the meaning contained in it. It inspires children's dance making. The method used in applying in the form of child dance that is with the approach of phenomenology with emphasis on the strength of creative ideas creation by Edmund Huserr. Phenomenology in his view does not make the object a fact but rather abstracts the objects.The results obtained by looking at the source of inspiration from Tembang Dolanan Anak make the child dance more meaningful in the forms of movement that was created. The choreography created can be tailored to the child's character and behavioral patterns.

This article proposes that the growing popularity of reality television in the southernmost state of India, Kerala – disseminated locally and throughout the Indian diaspora – is not the product of an innocuous nostalgia for a fast-disappearing regional identity but rather a spectacular example of an emergent ideology that displaces cultural memory, collective identity, and secular nationalism with new, globalised forms of public sentiment. Further, it is arguable that this g/local media culture also displaces hard-won secular feminist constructions of gender and the contemporary modern “Indian woman.” Shows like Idea Star Singer (hereafter ISS) (Malayalam [the language spoken in Kerala] television’s most popular reality television series), based closely on American Idol, is broadcast worldwide to dozens of nations including the US, the UK, China, Russia, Sri Lanka, and several nations in the Middle East and the discussion that follows attempts both to account for this g/local phenomenon and to problematise it. ISS concentrates on staging the diversity and talent of Malayalee youth and, in particular, their ability to sing ‘pitch-perfect’, by inviting them to perform the vast catalogue of traditional Malayalam songs. However, inasmuch as it is aimed at both a regional and diasporic audience, ISS also allows for a diversity of singing styles displayed through the inclusion of a variety of other songs: some sung in Tamil, some Hindi, and some even English. This leads us to ask a number of questions: in what ways are performers who subscribe to regional or global models of televisual style rewarded or punished? In what ways are performers who exemplify differences in terms of gender, sexuality, religion, class, or ability punished? Further, it is arguable that this show—packaged as the “must-see” spectacle for the Indian diaspora—re-imagines a traditional past and translates it (under the rubric of “reality” television) into a vulgar commodification of both “classical” and “folk” India: an India excised of radical reform, feminists, activists, and any voices of multiplicity clamouring for change. Indeed, it is my contention that, although such shows claim to promote women’s liberation by encouraging women to realise their talents and ambitions, the commodification of the “stars” as televisual celebrities points rather to an anti-feminist imperial agenda of control and domination. Normalising Art: Presenting the Juridical as Natural Following Foucault, we can, indeed, read ISS as an apparatus of “normalisation.” While ISS purports to be “about” music, celebration, and art—an encouragement of art for art’s sake—it nevertheless advocates the practice of teaching as critiqued by Foucault: “the acquisition and knowledge by the very practice of the pedagogical activity and a reciprocal, hierarchised observation” (176), so that self-surveillance is built into the process. What appears on the screen is, in effect, the presentation of a juridically governed body as natural: the capitalist production of art through intense practice, performance, and corrective measures that valorise discipline and, at the end, produce ‘good’ and ‘bad’ subjects. The Foucauldian isomorphism of punishment with obligation, exercise with repetition, and enactment of the law is magnified in the traditional practice of music, especially Carnatic, or the occasional Hindustani refrain that separates those who come out of years of training in the Gury–Shishya mode (teacher–student mode, primarily Hindu and privileged) from those who do not (Muslims, working-class, and perhaps disabled students). In the context of a reality television show sponsored by Idea Cellular Ltd (a phone company with global outposts), the systems of discipline are strictly in line with the capitalist economy. Since this show depends upon the vast back-catalogue of film songs sung by playback singers from the era of big studio film-making, it may be seen to advocate a mimetic rigidity that ossifies artistic production, rather than offering encouragement to a new generation of artists who might wish to take the songs and make them their own. ISS, indeed, compares and differentiates the participants’ talents through an “opaque” system of evaluations which the show presents as transparent, merit-based and “fair”: as Foucault observes, “the perpetual penalty that traverses all points and supervises every instant in the disciplinary institutions compares, differentiates, hierarchizes, homogenizes, excludes. In short, it normalizes” (183). On ISS, this evaluation process (a panel of judges who are renowned singers and composers, along with a rotating guest star, such as an actor) may be seen as a scopophilic institution where training and knowledge are brought together, transforming “the economy of visibility into the exercise of power” (187). The contestants, largely insignificant as individuals but seen together, at times, upon the stage, dancing and singing and performing practised routines, represent a socius constituting the body politic. The judges, enthroned on prominent and lush seats above the young contestants, the studio audience and, in effect, the show’s televised transnational audience, deliver judgements that “normalise” these artists into submissive subjectivity. In fact, despite the incoherence of the average judgement, audiences are so engrossed in the narrative of “marks” (a clear vestige of the education and civilising mission of the colonial subject under British rule) that, even in the glamorous setting of vibrating music, artificial lights, and corporate capital, Indians can still be found disciplining themselves according to the values of the West. Enacting Keraleeyatham for Malayalee Diaspora Ritty Lukose’s study on youth and gender in Kerala frames identity formations under colonialism, nationalism, and capitalism as she teases out ideas of resistance and agency by addressing the complex mediations of consumption or consumptive practices. Lukose reads “consumer culture as a complex site of female participation and constraint, enjoyment and objectification” (917), and finds the young, westernised female as a particular site of consumer agency. According to this theory, the performers on ISS and the show’s MC, Renjini Haridas, embody this body politic. The young performers all dress in the garb of “authentic identity”, sporting saris, pawaadu-blouse, mundum-neertha, salwaar-kameez, lehenga-choli, skirts, pants, and so on. This sartorial diversity is deeply gendered and discursively rich; the men have one of two options: kurta-mundu or some such variation and the pant–shirt combination. The women, especially Renjini (educated at St Theresa’s College in Kochi and former winner of Ms Kerala beauty contest) evoke the MTV DJs of the mid-1990s and affect a pidgin-Malayalam spliced with English: Renjini’s cool “touching” of the contestants and airy gestures remove her from the regional masses; and yet, for Onam (festival of Kerala), she dresses in the traditional cream and gold sari; for Id (high holy day for Muslims), she dresses in some glittery salwaar-kameez with a wrap on her head; and for Christmas, she wears a long dress. This is clearly meant to show her ability to embody different socio-religious spheres simultaneously. Yet, both she and all the young female contestants speak proudly about their authentic Kerala identity. Ritty Lukose spells this out as “Keraleeyatham.” In the vein of beauty pageants, and the first-world practice of indoctrinating all bodies into one model of beauty, the youngsters engage in exuberant performances yet, once their act is over, revert back to the coy, submissive docility that is the face of the student in the traditional educational apparatus. Both left-wing feminists and BJP activists write their ballads on the surface of women’s bodies; however, in enacting the chethu or, to be more accurate, “ash-push” (colloquialism akin to “hip”) lifestyle advocated by the show (interrupted at least half a dozen times by lengthy sequences of commercials for jewellery, clothing, toilet cleaners, nutritious chocolate bars, hair oil, and home products), the participants in this show become the unwitting sites of a large number of competing ideologies. Lukose observes the remarkable development from the peasant labor-centered Kerala of the 1970s to today’s simulacrum: “Keraleeyatham.” When discussing the beauty contests staged in Kerala in the 1990s, she discovers (through analysis of the dress and Sanskrit-centred questions) that: “Miss Kerala must be a naden pennu [a girl of the native/rural land] in her dress, comportment, and knowledge. Written onto the female bodies of a proliferation of Miss Keralas, the nadu, locality itself, becomes transportable and transposable” (929). Lukose observes that these women have room to enact their passions and artistry only within the metadiegetic space of the “song and dance” spectacle; once they leave it, they return to a modest, Kerala-gendered space in which the young female performers are quiet to the point of inarticulate, stuttering silence (930). However, while Lukose’s term, Keraleeyatham, is useful as a sociological compass, I contend that it has even more complex connotations. Its ethos of “Nair-ism” (Nayar was the dominant caste identity in Kerala), which could have been a site of resistance and identity formation, instead becomes a site of nationalist, regional linguistic supremacy arising out of Hindu imaginary. Second, this ideology could not have been developed in the era of pre-globalised state-run television but now, in the wake of globalisation and satellite television, we see this spectacle of “discipline and punish” enacted on the world stage. Thus, although I do see a possibility for a more positive Keraleeyatham that is organic, inclusive, and radical, for the moment we have a hegemonic, exclusive, and hierarchical statist approach to regional identity that needs to be re-evaluated. Articulating the Authentic via the Simulacrum Welcome to the Malayalee matrix. Jean Baudrillard’s simulacrum is our entry point into visualising the code of reality television. In a state noted for its distinctly left-leaning politics and Communist Party history which underwent radical reversal in the 1990s, the political front in Kerala is still dominated by the LDF (Left Democratic Front), and resistance to the state is an institutionalised and satirised daily event, as marked by the marchers who gather and stop traffic at Palayam in the capital city daily at noon. Issues of poverty and corporate disenfranchisement plague the farming and fishing communities while people suffer transportation tragedies, failures of road development and ferry upkeep on a daily basis. Writers and activists rail against imminent aerial bombing of Maoists insurgent groups, reading in such statist violence repression of the Adivasi (indigenous) peoples scattered across many states of eastern and southern India. Alongside energy and ration supply issues, politics light up the average Keralaite, and yet the most popular “reality” television show reflects none of it. Other than paying faux multicultural tribute to all the festivals that come and go (such as Id, Diwaali, Christmas, and Kerala Piravi [Kerala Day on 1 November]), mainly through Renjini’s dress and chatter, ISS does all it can to remove itself from the turmoil of the everyday. Much in the same way that Bollywood cinema has allowed the masses to escape the oppressions of “the everyday,” reality television promises speculative pleasure produced on the backs of young performers who do not even have to be paid for their labour. Unlike Malayalam cinema’s penchant for hard-hitting politics and narratives of unaccounted for, everyday lives in neo-realist style, today’s reality television—with its excessive sound and light effects, glittering stages and bejewelled participants, repeat zooms, frontal shots, and artificial enhancements—exploits the paradox of hyper-authenticity (Rose and Wood 295). In her useful account of America’s top reality show, American Idol, Katherine Meizel investigates the fascination with the show’s winners and the losers, and the drama of an American “ideal” of diligence and ambition that is seen to be at the heart of the show. She writes, “It is about selling the Dream—regardless of whether it results in success or failure—and about the enactment of ideology that hovers at the edges of any discourse about American morality. It is the potential of great ambition, rather than of great talent, that drives these hopefuls and inspires their fans” (486). In enacting the global via the site of the local (Malayalam and Tamil songs primarily), ISS assumes the mantle of Americanism through the plain-spoken, direct commentaries of the singers who, like their US counterparts, routinely tell us how all of it has changed their lives. In other words, this retrospective meta-narrative becomes more important than the show itself. True to Baudrillard’s theory, ISS blurs the line between actual need and the “need” fabricated by the media and multinational corporations like Idea Cellular and Confident Group (which builds luxury homes, primarily for the new bourgeoisie and nostalgic “returnees” from the diaspora). The “New Kerala” is marked, for the locals, by extravagant (mostly unoccupied) constructions of photogenic homes in garish colours, located in the middle of chaos: the traditional nattumparathu (countryside) wooden homes, and traffic congestion. The homes, promised at the end of these shows, have a “value” based on the hyper-real economy of the show rather than an actual utility value. Yet those who move from the “old” world to the “new” do not always fare well. In local papers, the young artists are often criticised for their new-found haughtiness and disinclination to visit ill relatives in hospital: a veritable sin in a culture that places the nadu and kin above all narratives of progress. In other words, nothing quite adds up: the language and ideologies of the show, espoused most succinctly by its inarticulate host, is a language that obscures its distance from reality. ISS maps onto its audience the emblematic difference between “citizen” and “population”. Through the chaotic, state-sanctioned paralegal devices that allow the slum-dwellers and other property-less people to dwell in the cities, the voices of the labourers (such as the unions) have been silenced. It is a nation ever more geographically divided between the middle-classes which retreat into their gated neighbourhoods, and the shanty-town denizens who are represented by the rising class of religio-fundamentalist leaders. While the poor vote in the Hindu hegemony, the middle classes text in their votes to reality shows like ISS. Partha Chatterjee speaks of the “new segregated and exclusive spaces for the managerial and technocratic elite” (143) which is obsessed by media images, international travel, suburbanisation, and high technology. I wish to add to this list the artificially created community of ISS performers and stars; these are, indeed, the virtual and global extension of Chatterjee’s exclusive, elite communities, decrying the new bourgeois order of Indian urbanity, repackaged as Malayalee, moneyed, and Nayar. Meanwhile, the Hindu Right flexes its muscle under the show’s glittery surface: neither menacing nor fundamentalist, it is now “hip” to be Hindu. Thus while, on the surface, ISS operates according to the cliché, musicinu mathamilla (“music has no religion”), I would contend that it perpetuates a colonising space of Hindu-nationalist hegemony which standardises music appreciation, flattens music performance into an “art” developed solely to serve commercial cinema, and produces a dialectic of Keraleeyatham that erases the multiplicities of its “real.” This ideology, meanwhile, colonises from within. The public performance plays out in the private sphere where the show is consumed; at the same time, the private is inserted into the public with SMS calls that ultimately help seal the juridicality of the show and give the impression of “democracy.” Like the many networks that bring the sentiments of melody and melancholy to our dinner table, I would like to offer you this alternative account of ISS as part of a bid for a more vociferous, and critical, engagement with reality television and its modes of production. Somehow we need to find a way to savour, once again, the non-mimetic aspects of art and to salvage our darkness from the glitter of the “normalising” popular media. References Baudrillard, Jean. The Mirror of Production. Trans. Mark Poster. New York: Telos, 1975. ———. Selected Writings. Ed. Mark Poster. California: Stanford UP, 1988. Chatterjee, Partha. The Politics of the Governed: Reflections on Popular Politics in Most of the World. Delhi: Permanent Black, 2004. Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Trans. Alan Sheridan. New York: Vintage, 1995. Lukose, Ritty. “Consuming Globalization: Youth and Gender in Kerala, India.” Journal of Social History 38.4 (Summer 2005): 915-35. Meizel, Katherine. “Making the Dream a Reality (Show): The Celebration of Failure in American Idol.” Popular Music and Society 32.4 (Oct. 2009): 475-88. Rose, Randall L., and Stacy L. Wood. “Paradox and the Consumption of Authenticity through Reality Television.” Journal of Consumer Research 32 (Sep. 2005): 284-96.