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“Music can change the world”
We are back in Cochin and pretty much settled in our condo/flat here. It is nice to be experiencing the warm – and, as yet, not too hot – weather of Kerala and away from the colder than normal winter we left in Virginia. More about Cochin, Kerala and India in future posts because a couple of days ago I came across something on the web about music which I knew would have to be my next blog post. “Music can change the world” – so said Beethoven. Dr. Karl Paulnack would certainly agree – but more about this later. First, by way of background, my interest in music is…
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Conspicuous consumption or distorted values?
I have been recovering from the flu and while I lay on the sofa sneezing and moaning and groaning, I was flipping channels and ended up on some wedding channel which highlighted what were deemed “platinum weddings” – and lo and behold, the wedding being featured was that of an Indian guy – Deepak Nath to Sara Hlavka. As befits the designation of “platinum wedding” you can imagine that it was an extravagant event – and it brought to mind a peeve of mine about Indian weddings. Indians are by and large a very frugal people. As Russell Peters, the Canadian Indian comedian, said in one of his skits, when…