Romancing ‘Classic East’ In NYC

Image used for representation only

 

“Do you want to come for Classic East?” My immediate reaction was to conjure up Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons, possibly Pandit Jasraj and maybe Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia along with Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. They truly represent Classic from the East. “No silly, Classic East in New York.” I had to do a total mental rewiring. I was being asked to come along for a six band, two-day concert extravaganza of golden oldies from the seventies and early eighties. It was a music feast offering of Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Journey and Earth, Wind and Fire. Their tour began with two days at Classic West in LA and then it was east to New York, hence the name. I put aside my classical expectations and embraced the alternative, immersing myself in memory lane in preparation for the concert.

Unfortunately, I am awful at remembering names of songs or band members. But somewhere in the deep recesses of my memory, tunes reside. I am a master of the ‘na na na na’ sing-a-long. In the run-up to D day, I re-familiarized myself with the bands and couldn’t wait for the concert. So many memories of my youth came floating back to me on the wings of those tunes. And this past weekend in New York brought them back with a bang.

What a show. What a turn-out. What camaraderie. What bonding. Along with others close to my age we bopped, sang and moved our bodies vigorously. We were back to school. We were back in college. We felt young again. A couple seated next to me had come for the weekend all the way from England wearing matching His and Her tee-shirts of Hotel California. Many people had made special tee-shirts commemorating the day. For others, there were enough extravagantly priced tees, caps and posters on sale at the venue. Over ten hours and two days we swapped stories, drank lots of wine and smelt lots of grass. There must have been 40,000 people at the venue. Interestingly, there were very few desi faces. It was a sea of Caucasians. With such a large crowd, Citifield’s infrastructure was lacking. We were in the bullpen right on the floor. There were no bathrooms on that level and we had to make do with port-a-loos and snaking lines. It was no better on higher levels.

The lines for nourishment of the ‘fried and bad for you’ or the ‘liquid’ kind was equally long. We had to pick and choose which band we didn’t mind just listening to and not watching in order to fuel ourselves. I was even asked for id when I was buying wine, which, given my generously white-streaked hair was kind of flattering. Taking the train back was an out of body experience with everyone jammed together inhaling various odors of sweat, body fluids, smoke, fried food and subway muck. In fact, on the way to the concert we had taken an uber and close to the stadium encountered potholes, mechanic shops and traffic snarls. With the crowds, roads, small business stores, crowded trains, it is no wonder at times I felt I was in India not the US!

New York is also home to many jazz concerts. having grown up listening to and learning Indian classical music, it is a form of music I have least exposure to. However, I have gone to a number of concerts thanks to jazz aficionado friends. I find it interesting how similar jazz is to classical Indian music’s free flowing style and the room for improvisation. I have now begun enjoying jazz, even though I still have a long way to go.

And after a long time, finally a pairing that brings back the chemistry of Kajol and Shahrukh. Jab Harry met Sejal brought a smile to my face because it is vintage SRK with a twist. He is older, wiser, emotes and shows sentimentality. He is no longer the brash, badmash of DDLJ. Anushka wins hearts left, right and centre. She is Kajol resurrected. The movie is a travelogue through Europe. The scripting is great and Anushka has her gujarati accent spot on down to the Rijikmuseum pronounciation. Shahrukh wins hearts despite his typical acting antics; the standard expressions where you know how he looks if he is angry, in love, showing angst or just being playful. He looks jaded in comparison to Anushka’s vivacity but I actually like this older version.

There is nothing much to the story but having said that, it urges you to dig deep and find meaning to your relationships. It’s a slice of life on a platter. Why are you getting married? Is it for yourself or for what it gives you? Why do you flit from women to women? Is it because you are searching for that one soul mate? What is family? What is the meaning of life? If you want, the movie speaks to you at many levels. And if all you want is a fun time; sit back, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride. After all, as the movie promos says; what you seek is seeking you. Go see’k’ for yourself.

Monique Patel
Latest posts by Monique Patel (see all)