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| 2011/02/09 14:55:46瀏覽263｜回應0｜推薦1 | |
詩人不詩陣轉載自WSJ http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/02/07/hindi-poets-a-big-hit-overseas/# Hindi Poets a Big Hit Overseas By Sameer Mohindru As Indians become increasingly mobile globally, one offshoot is the broader use of the national language, Hindi. Hindi entertainment shows in places overseas with large Indian populations are gaining currency, but interestingly it isn’t just programs of and by Bollywood personalities that are in vogue. Over the weekend, amid the Lunar New Year celebrations, Indians in Singapore got a taste of the proverbial best medicine, laughter, through a Hindi comedy-poetry show. Four renowned Hindi poets were touring the city-state as part of a show cheekily called “Hasna Mana Hai”, (laughing is not permitted). The poets dished out a heady cocktail of funny and romantic poems, anecdotes and jokes, sending the packed audience into raptures. The organizers found the response encouraging enough to announce yet another show on humorous poetry, with a set of three Hindi poets expected to visit Singapore next month. That people are ready to pay up to S$100 for a show like this proves that interest in Hindi poetry is alive and kicking, says Brahm Sharma, co-owner of Charkula Arts Academy, which promotes Indian culture overseas and organized the show in Singapore. Sunil Jogi, one of the visiting poets, who holds a doctorate in Hindi literature, added that live comedy and poetry shows have managed to carve out a niche, despite the relentless onslaught of movies, television and the Internet. India has a strong tradition in Hindi poetry and humor; Kaka Hathrasi and Surender Sharma are household names and legendary author Kushwant Singh’s joke books sell more copies than some of his serious works. “I have been doing these shows for more than three decades now and have noticed lately that interest among overseas Indians is on the rise, probably because it helps them connect with their roots,” says Pradeep Choube, who is known as ‘bulldozer’ in his native town of Gwalior in central India. Mr. Choube does several shows outside India each year and has travelled to a dozen countries. Our unique selling point is that we relate to the audience without using any musical instruments, dance or gimmickry and can still hold their attention for over three hours, more than the average time of a Bollywood movie, said Kumar Vishwas, a poet from, India’s Hindi heartland, Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Vishwas, who also holds a doctorate in folk communication and is a professor of Hindi literature at Meerut University, was among a group of poets who recently toured the U.S. for more than a month, taking in 12 cities. He plans to tour Southeast Asia this summer. Corporations also want to be associated with these events, with the Singapore show sponsored by Sony Entertainment Television and Jet Airways, among others. Unlike Bollywood personalities, who are zealously guarded by gun-toting policeman and whisked off in limousines after shows, these poets are easily accessible and readily interact with the crowds, many of whom belong to the same Hindi-speaking north Indian mofussil towns. Their ability to laugh at themselves, their colleagues and profession is another endearing factor for the audience. The popularity of these poets isn’t restricted to nostalgic Indians living overseas. Such poetry and humor events are now considered stress busters and Mr. Vishwas, 40, is a regular at shows organized in Indian Institutes of Technology and Institutes of Management, better known by their acronyms, IITs and IIMs. Ironically, some of the poets have benefited from the exposure provided by television and movies. Albela Khatri, who attended the Singapore event, has also participated in the Great Indian Laughter Challenge, a popular television show, while others such as Mr. Jogi and Mr. Vishwas have written lyrics for Hindi film songs. |
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