oh Kipling, my Kipling ... and the Greatest Song Ever.
He's such a little imperialist bitch, and yet, I can't stay away.
I love this:
We were dreamers, dreaming greatly, in this man-stifled town
We yearned beyond the sky-line where the strange roads go down.
Came the Whisper, came the Vision, came the Power with the Need
Till the Soul that is not man's soul was lent us to lead.
Came the Whisper, came the Vision, came the Power with the Need. I love that. I love the marching urgent rhythm of it, sweeping you along; I love the grandiose vagueries that obscure and glorify the colonial mission, the prettying up of barbarity through beautiful language. It reminds me of a train -- a key trope in Bollywood (pretty much the only good thing about Parineeta is Saif Ali ripping off the staging of "Chaiyya Chaiyya" with his train song) -- and a key tool of the British Raj in linking, subduing, and developing India.
So much in my head right now, as I struggle to write my Statement of Purpose for Ph.D. programs, to edit my writing sample, to keep my head in both a deconstructionist space and maintain this irrepressible interest I've developed in really digging into the texts of the Raj Revival. And so many people to see! I am trying to take it a day at a time and I'm still getting nothing done.
I need to go to the bookstore.
Came the Whisper, came the Vision, came the Power with the Need ...
Oooh, and because I uploaded it for someone I'm trying to turn onto Bollywood, here is my favorite song of all time (no exaggeration. It is the most listened to on my IPod at more than 100 listens, and I am nowhere close to sick of it). From Dil Se:
Chaiyya Chaiyya
And just for fun, here's the breathtakingly awesome video.
Yes, that's a real train.
I love this:
We were dreamers, dreaming greatly, in this man-stifled town
We yearned beyond the sky-line where the strange roads go down.
Came the Whisper, came the Vision, came the Power with the Need
Till the Soul that is not man's soul was lent us to lead.
Came the Whisper, came the Vision, came the Power with the Need. I love that. I love the marching urgent rhythm of it, sweeping you along; I love the grandiose vagueries that obscure and glorify the colonial mission, the prettying up of barbarity through beautiful language. It reminds me of a train -- a key trope in Bollywood (pretty much the only good thing about Parineeta is Saif Ali ripping off the staging of "Chaiyya Chaiyya" with his train song) -- and a key tool of the British Raj in linking, subduing, and developing India.
So much in my head right now, as I struggle to write my Statement of Purpose for Ph.D. programs, to edit my writing sample, to keep my head in both a deconstructionist space and maintain this irrepressible interest I've developed in really digging into the texts of the Raj Revival. And so many people to see! I am trying to take it a day at a time and I'm still getting nothing done.
I need to go to the bookstore.
Came the Whisper, came the Vision, came the Power with the Need ...
Oooh, and because I uploaded it for someone I'm trying to turn onto Bollywood, here is my favorite song of all time (no exaggeration. It is the most listened to on my IPod at more than 100 listens, and I am nowhere close to sick of it). From Dil Se:
Chaiyya Chaiyya
And just for fun, here's the breathtakingly awesome video.
Yes, that's a real train.