An anonymous tipster left a link to an “awww”-inducing story from Beijing, China, on our news tab.
After Bollywood films, classical Indian dance has caught the imagination of the Chinese, with a young woman actively promoting Bharatnatyam among her compatriots, especially the tiny-tots.
For 33-year-old Jin Shan Shan, a Jawaharlal Nehru University alumnus, it has always been a passion to become an exponent of Bharatnatyam. She has established a school for Bharatnatyam here. [The Hindu]
Like Amreekans, the Chinese are dabbling in many things desi, like Bollywood, yummy food and of course teh yoga. Can’t forget that yoga.
Aside: Is there a better cultural ambassador? We have millions of confused, middle-aged, New Year’s Resolution-keepers all across this land, taking Yoga at Bally fitness and the like, trying not to fall over when they’re attempting an Ardha Chandrasana. 😉 Now people can add incense and twisty poses to the pottu, when they assemble a stereotype. 😀 Don’t get your chuddies all twisted, yaar. I’m just high off the cuteness in that picture (that’s Jin Shan Shan and her adorable daughter Jessie, in Beijing).
While Bollywood films, Indian cuisine and yoga have become popular in China, learning classical Indian dance is also gaining ground here, Ms. Jin said. Around 50 Chinese children were attending classes every week to learn the intricacies of the classical dance. [The Hindu]
Wouldn’t it be amazing if the arts accomplished what the Panch Shila couldn’t? Yes, yes it would be. Then again, will hundreds of stomping little kids have any effect on China’s “take” on Arunachal Pradesh?
In November 2006, China and India had a verbal spat over claim of the north-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. India claimed that China was occupying 38,000 square kilometres of its territory in Kashmir, while China claimed the whole of Arunachal Pradesh as its own.
Recently, China denied the application for visa from an IAS officer in Arunachal Pradesh, saying that since Arunachal Pradesh is a territory of China, he/she won’t need a visa to visit his/her own country. [viki]
An irresponsibly naive idealist can hope, right? Be the change you wish to see?
I wonder how the songs would sound…
Oh my, it’s so cute! this is right up my alley…I worry about Manipur, though.
Now if Indian actors can learn to kick ass like Jet Li and Jackie Chan…. Or make historical epics with the production values of a Crouching Tiger..
More about Jin Shan Shan here and here, but without the adorable photo :-D.
You hit it with that headline, Anna!
The pic is great. Very pretty.
wonderful! There used to be quite a strong interest in BN from Japan, given the attendance in BK (Chennai) and stateside camps, but China (as the economists say) is the real emerging market for classical Indian arts.
I just hope they’re strong on the fundamentals and not the time-collapse, six-months-till-arangetram, think-of-all-156-costume-changes! style that seems to predominate in the US.
Interesting…I didn’t know that chinese were crazy abt desi stuff though I did know the japanese are gung-ho abt rajnikant. Btw as an aside mutineers check out this “indo-japanese-american” in indian outfit.
mm@#7: BN = Bharata Natyam. BK = ?
@10 bk=burger king. don’t you guys know anything about your colonies? 🙂
Bharatanatyam Kollege? 😀
Kalakshetra!!!
::
What do I win? 😀
A round of applause and approbation, of course. Wow, that was a solid gold post, Anna.
They look pukka desi.
Oh, Anna.
It’s a reference which shouldn’t be so obscure, given the incredible contributions of the founders of Bharata Kalaanjali to BN and the arts in general, but BK does not, sadly, refer to Kalakshetra (the august institution founded in part by Rukmini Devi Arundale)
You will be happy to note, that V.P. Dhananjayan, one half of the founding husband-and-wife pair, is a full-blooded Mallu and has been subtly and exqusitely tweaking the much-too-orthodox noses of the BN elite in Chennai for several decades!
Cultural cross-pollination is great, and personally I always love it when non-desis enjoy aspects of desi culture. If they become expert in something (as this lady might be) then all the better. China and India are two ancient cultures with much to offer the world and each other (in fact via Buddhism those links have been alive for ages). That being said, politically and militarily China will be a bigger and bigger threat to India as time goes on and China becomes stronger and stronger. Indian policy-makers and diplomats better be preparing themselves for the challenges ahead.
and because I am such a fan…and because this post was inspired by the picture:
here’s VP well into his 50s…proof that Kalaripayyatu keeps the limbs limber.
People to people contacts & cultural exchanges are great, but I hope that China morphs into a better neighbor over the next few decades. Otherwise we can expect to be a subject people once again
Amitabh on August 9, 2007 08:27 PM · Direct link That being said, politically and militarily China will be a bigger and bigger threat to India as time goes on and China becomes stronger and stronger. Indian policy-makers and diplomats better be preparing themselves for the challenges ahead
I am pretty sure that as time goes on India too will get equally stronger and the economic and military gap will reduce significantly.(The Indian Navy is already ahead) Just wait for the Indo US nuclear deal to come into effect… Indian nuclear scientists might start producing weapons grade uranium by the truck loads 😉 down in the basement. Ok not quite but enough of a minimum credible deterrent to dissuade china from any (mis)adventures.
Hehe, China gets desi arts, and India gets really bad Chinese food. Somehow I think someone’s getting the short end of the stick. 😀
I fall out of Vrksasana 🙁
Don’t feel so bad, Camille. I fell out of Savasana.
Also, Anna, I think that “Hindi Chini Behen Behen” is the name of an upcoming Bollywood version of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang“.
/tall story teller
Chinese food in india rocks. I prefer it to American Chinese food big time.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, whose limbs are the limbest of all?
😀
The question of Chinese food is yet another divide between DBDs & ABDs
Pravin, party foul.
Oh yeah. I find this one impossible to maintain…
without falling asleep. 😉
Eh, I was traveling in SL a few years back (on my way to Kandy) and stopped at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. As is usual in SL, there’s a chinese section on EVERY menu in EVERY restaraunt (that doesn’t cater to french pastry fanatics). It was incredibly hot, non-sugary, and not dumbed down for American palates. Exactly the opposite of most generic ‘chinese’ food i’ve had in the US.
While leaving, i happened to over hear some Cantonese being shouted at the rear of the building, and happened upon 3 cooks (seemingly straight out of Guangdong), smoking cigs and arguing about something.
To anyone who knows, do the mudras used in Thai & Balinese classical dance match up with those used in bharatha natayam?
And thus I learn something new everyday. But seriously, please explain – is it like general cooking method differences or like specific dishes that are found in one but not the other.
Also, what cuisine does Chop Suey Masala technically belong to? (I like it, just don’t know if it’s more Indian or more American).
It would be interesting if the Chinese bharata natyam experts choreographed a popular Chinese epic like the Monkey King/Journey West
As a (former?) Bharata Natyam dancer myself, I’d love to say that dance bridges all cultures… which in a way it does… but unfortunately I don’t think mudras will effectively further communication between India and China over Himachal Pradesh. Who knows though, maybe this will lead to less antagonistic relations…? The adorable kids certainly help =) I wonder what the Chinese call Himachal Pradesh, btw…
Agreed. But Muralimannered, I must confess, for my 12 years of BN training (albeit in the US) I was never taught anything about BK. looks ashamed
oops.. meant Arunachal Pradesh, not Himachal… sorry for the gaffe. =(
none whatsoever.
The many viniyogams (sets of mudras–been so long i can’t remember the exact number, but it’s 80+ sets at least) were developed to express nearly anything you’d care to in life–highly stylized and forming a sort of living/moving hieroglyph.
So does yoga, at almost 90!! Ah, wonderful India.
as with any art form, there are many more teachers than there are students.
Also, people like to point out that there are various schools/styles, which is true, but the basic (and only meaningful) divide is between good and bad.
If your standard is good, it is really instantly recognizeable to a seasoned dancer. Many US-based teachers (and i’m going to offend someone, surely) not related somewhat to the branches emanating from Kalakshetra, tend to underemphasize the basic Adavus and skip straight ahead to some next-level abhinaya.
Pingpong, Both.Personally, I think the Chinese food in India is far, far tastier than Chinese food in the US -which I find too bland( Except for Dim Sum which is better here !) .Desi Chinese is spicier with stronger flavors- more garlic and definitely more chilli.Also there are unique dishes like “Gobio Manchurian” which are not found anywhere else in the world:-)
err ..typo…that should read “Gobi Manchurian” .Gobi=Cauliflower
Pappu, Iwis you were correct, but The Cheiese submarine force is ahed of India’s.
Generally speaking, people in Beijing at least have mostly positive views of India and Indians. They haven’t met a lot of Indians, so they are excited whenever the meet someone from India (Of course, you get the most attention if you’re white). They think that Indian people are really pretty (But since I don’t like stereotypes, I am glad after meeting me they probably think that stereotype is not entirely true). Even in the apartment complex I live in, the salon has photos of Aishwarya Rai on the outside. It is not rare that you see photos of Indian actresses being used to advertise stuff. Some older people will break into Raj Kapoor songs when they learn you are from India. In the cities Yoga studios are pretty common, and once I heard Bollywood music being played in a mall.
I still have sour memories of when my school forced all students (dudes, too) to learn some Bharatnatyam. The hour per week, while not brutal, was pretty weird for most of the boys. I know men do Bharatnatyam also, but did it really have to be forced on ALL students, even momentarily?
Kudos to these Chinese women for their desire to learn and market Bharatanatyam. Cool.
Reminded me of this PJ from Megha: http://www.meghalomania.com/2006/08/30/coffee-time-wisdom/
Do check out her blog…the best !
Yo, why’s Chinese food bad? Just ‘coz the majority of chinese outlets over here are cheap greasy kind? Desis are cabbies/gas station owners.
btw, is every single newsstand owner in NYC desi?
Gujudude,
I’m assuming you’re mature enough to not buy into the “guy dancing = guy must be gay” meme that has floated around several cultures.
In India, it was for a very long time considered quite out of the norm for men to make their living as BN artists–however now, most ‘celebrity’ BN teachers are men.
I used to identify with your ‘aw cripes, i’m learning dance under duress’ feeling (having a BN teacher for a mother)but once i started to learn the theory, history and grasp the impact of BN in pre and post-colonial Desi societies (once-emigrated, twice-emigrated, totally cut off for generations), I wisened up and actually started enjoying it.
Anecdotally, BN doesn’t seem to have as great a proportion of gay men as I’ve observed in Modern and Ballet. When my mom joined a collaboration between BK and a ballet company in middle america, several of the male ballet dancers (i would estimate around 40%) were gay (and not afraid to practice in fishnet unitards). The mostly Chennai-sourced male BN dancers were of course taken aback at first, as were their dancing wives, but it did not hinder the production in any way.
In fact the widely divergent approaches produced some of the most magnificent dance theatre I’ve ever seen.
Again dude, if you feel so torn up over it–go talk to your old school administrators. From what I’ve heard, Indian teachers (in both public and private schools)could be less than gentle in enforcement of their own policies.
It all depends on perspective and I’ve seen thousands of people in the US (mostly female but a steady contigent of men who refuse to buy in the odious notion that dancing BN makes you less of a man)literally screaming, clawing and kicking their way into a spot at my mother’s dance camp or regular classes.
but i’m guessing you were just too ‘macho’ to see it as anything else than an imposition on your precious time–during which you were developing a cure for AIDS and solving world hunger, no?
This is amazing. China has historically been cultural isolationists, they got pissed at Bruce Lee for teaching traditional wing chun to the ‘Guilo’, and I know many that Wing Chun instructors (in the US) that selectively instruct their Chinese and non-Chinese students, in particular those versed in the modified Wing Chun style (a la Hawkins Cheung, who in turn learned from Yip Man)
I wonder if the same thing exists in esoteric arts acadamies within India, my guess is not?
Oh my goodness what an incredibly cute and heartwarming story for a dreary Friday morning.
Chinese food is neither authentic in the US nor in India. Each country’s culture and palate dictates the taste. Hell Chinese food in China from two different regions isn’t the same. After living 3 years in Hong Kong and mainland China I have no qualms with declaring I can’t stand most of it. The kind US especially is gagworthy. I’ll take some spice in it if I have to and I like veg manchurian curry but that’s about it 🙂
You lived in mainland china? Where abouts? Shanghai? The Guangzhou district?
I actually preferred and enjoyed the food in Hong Kong but there are so many influences there and the food tastes different. I lived in Tsim Sha Tsui and got spoiled. I actually enjoyed the Indonesian and Malay influenced Chinese food more. On mainland I lived in Dong Guan in Guangdong province and wasn’t always happy with the food. My palate just never caught up.
By the time I made it to Shanghai I was just mostly homesick for “regular” food whatever that is and sick of Chinese food in general. Guangzhou was good, I had a few bad experiences and I always chose to come back home for a meal at the end of the day so I didn’t eat a lot of meals in Guangzhou but I was just generally sick of the food after all that time. I really just never got used to it and the “oh it’s adventerous” and the spirit of eating “anything” wore of fairly quickly.
Exactly, and it varies regionally within the U.S., also. I am not a fan of the sugary/sticky dishes either, but if you give me good ol’ fashioned Szechuan or Cantonese Oakland-Chinatown dim sum, I will be a happy camper. Comparatively, my dad loves Hunan. I do NOT enjoy the Chinese food I’ve had in Punjab — there was a lot of uncooked curry paste and mirch in it. My cousins love it. Like JOAT said, none of these are “authentic,” and the food is diverse anyway. It’s just a matter of taste 🙂
I am aware none of it is authentic. ALl I know is I didn’t care to eat Chinese food when I was a kid. When I went to India, it tasted better for me. I got back, and it still tastes like a diabetic nightmare. I prefer Thai food in the U.S. to Chinese American food by a big margin.
As far as Punjab, I can’t vouch for the Chinese food there. My experience comes from eating Chinese food in Hyderabad and Madras. I heard the Chinese food in Bengal is good.