The Rock and Roll King, The Medicis of Pune, and The Nightclub Attica

"Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine."

Elvis Presley

I. The Rock and Roll King

If there were any doubts about whether Elvis is dead, let it be known that Elvis indeed lives-just in a different body of an aging, semi-cheesy but semi-dashing Indian singer by the name of Gary Lawyer. Mr Lawyer may lack the unique groove that characterized the late King, but what he lacks in dancing ability he makes up in the power of his voice, energy, and ease on stage. Though King of Rock he is not, in any event last night's thrilling spectacle was one that I never expected to witness while in India. 

II. The New de Medicis of Pune

Through the grace of the trumpeter in my father's jazz band, I had the good fortune to meet up with a resident of Pune, JJ, who happens to share a passion for jazz. JJ, who is evidently quite affluent, is a member of an organization that puts together musical performances (mostly jazz) at venues around Pune. The organization is also responsible for an annual jazz festival in Pune, which though only newly created has already seen tremendous growth and interest among the city populace. His work is similar to that of my own parents, who have over the past several decades been exceptional patrons of the arts of classical and jazz performance. Because of this combination of patronage and passion, I have considered them contemporary versions of the great de Medici family which rose to inconceivable wealth during the Italian Renaissance. The de Medici family, though bankers by profession, devoted their wealth toward beautifying their city and sponsoring local artists, serving as a pillar to the great expansion in humanist appreciation and admiration that defined the era. Likewise, through their work and interests, both of my parents have devoted time, effort, and financial backing to furthering the high arts through house concerts, orchestras, jazz bands, and the organization Soli Deo Gloria, of which my father served on the board until a year or two ago. The organization, which commissions new compositions for the church, carries on in the same traditions that centuries earlier brought forth the genius of composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Brahms, Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Ludwig van Beethoven. Through JJ and his jazz-loving entourage, it appears as though Pune has an up and coming patron organization of its own. 

III. The Club Aticca (Alternatively, Why Jazz Is So Much Better)

After the performance we stopped by the afterparty at a nearby nightclub called Aticca. I had not expected to find myself in such an environment, and it was the first time that I have gotten into a club wearing sandals, khaki pants, and a navy blue blazer. My cohorts, most of whom were middle aged and conservatively dressed, looked equally out of place among the club's younger, more suggestively dressed attendees. It was a very strange phenomenon, observing the jazz club members in the same room with a discotec crowd. JJ's daughter, the only other member of our group around my age, was an avid jazz fan (and aspiring jazz singer) who hated the mainstream pop music of her own generation, and I have met few individuals of any age who even come close to her individuality in music taste and sophistication. We bypassed the main floor and I instead listened to her talk about her passion for such jazz legends as Miles Davis, Peggy Lee, and John Coltrane, musicians who I have heard my father refer to many times. I cannot convey how refreshing it is to find someone so original in taste, especially when mainstream taste has fallen so far in terms of quality and indie is really just as mainstream as the top 40. Chicago, having been the world's greatest city for jazz, in many ways still is, and its rich alternative scene further maintains its reputation as a premier concert city, not to mention Lollapalooza. When I go back I will make it a point to go to more jazz clubs. 

All in all, it was a class evening. The performance was fantastic, and I even got the chance to talk with Gary Lawyer at Aticca after the show. He did politely decline my offer to buy him a drink, as his drinks were on the house (I should have known). It was a great first foray into the club scene in Pune, and confirmed most of my basic presumptions. Yes, it was about 60% to 70% male. Yes, the girls that did go there were dressed to the nines. No, they did not play bollywood music, although yes, I still think that they should. Yes, Kingfisher beer is good. Yes, of the people who were actually dancing with a member of the opposite gender, most of them were not Indian. No, I did not get any numbers. 

Yes, it was I who killed the champagne. 

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building. 

A Late Introduction, A Rationale, The Real Village People, and The City of Virtue

Dedicated to Nancy Hagen and Andrew Tecson, for their perpetual and unconditional love, support, generosity, patronage, and steadfast commitment to one who aspires to one day prove worthy to have received such precious gifts. 

"So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked."

-Mark Twain 

I. A Late Introduction

It is a known weakness of mine that I typically never accomplish all that I intend. Whether such a phenomenon can be interpreted as a fallacy of the author's work ethic or a tribute to his ambition is a judgment I leave to anyone but myself. In this case, my most recent error was the delay of this entry, which I had initially supposed would be completed prior to my departure to Pune, India, the site at which I will be based for the next four months. Let it be clear that a series of circumstances largely beyond my control were in no small way responsible for this late introduction, which will now be presented in earnest. 

For the spring semester of 2011, the Kothari family residence on Tushar Road in Anand Colony will be my home. I will be attending lecture at Fergusson College, an institution that is highly regarded in Pune (pronounced pooh-Nay, or alternatively pooh-nah), the city in which it is located. This semester marks the validation of my prior semesters spent at my home institution of American University in Washington DC, where I had at last declared a specialization of economic and social development in South Asia. 

Pune is a well known city in India, despite its lack of global recognition, due primarily to its rich legacy of being a center of both culture and academic study. Pune was the capital of the Marathra Empire, and old temples and forts around the city serve as a reminder of its legendary historical roots. Several noteworthy institutions are based here, including the Gokhale Institute of Economics and the University of Pune. Pune itself has been described as "The Oxford of the East," while the University of Pune itself has been similarly labeled "The Caimbridge of the East." The Gokhale Institute is viewed by Indians as being on par with the London School of Economics. I have heard it said that when such entities assume such pretentious titles it only serves to mask the fact of their mediocrity, but having little interest in prestige myself I am not particularly interested in defending or attacking this practice. In any event, Pune has thus far proven to be a comfortable city of some 3.7 million inhabitants (average by Indian standards), and settling into life in India has been a remarkably easy process. 

This semester marks the third and final consecutive semester in which I have studied abroad of my home institution. The past summer I concentrated on improving my language skills in Spain (first in Madrid and then in Marbella), and last fall I ventured around Europe from my base in Brussels, Belgium. While both of these experiences were enlightening and exceptional, this final program is undoubtedly the most relevant to my intended academic focus, as it will complete my core requirements and give form to my undergraduate career. 

II. A Rationale

Before proceeding ahead, I will briefly provide the rationale for the decisions regarding my aforementioned specialization. During the course of my studies at American University, and indeed even before that, the development of a global perspective became increasingly interesting to me. Though I had  lived in a middle sized suburban area west of Chicago for the entirety of my pre-university life, frequent family travels and experiences in hosting children from different parts of the world planted a strong interest in the transcendence of my own experiences as well as some degree of exposure to distinct cultures. At American University, my inquisition would become manifest in more pragmatic opportunities to pursue such interests, and during my sophomore year I made the decision to consider India as a potential study abroad destination. Now writing from the long awaited destination one year later, I can only reaffirm the unequivocal soundness of that decision.


III. The Real Village People

And so we begin. On the 9th of January I bade goodbye to the United States. Sixteen hours or so later I walked through customs in Mumbai, and after one sleepless night it was off to Durshet, a rural adventure retreat center halfway between Mumbai and Pune. Orientation was a three day affair, though it likely could have been done in a matter of hours. The highlight was our visit to a tribal village in the Maharashtrian hills, where we observed life in rural India firsthand. Apart from that visit, the three day period was meant to provide time to become acquainted with our peers and to overcome the jet lag. My peers, of which there are twenty four, come from a respectable spread of cities and universities across the United States, and it is especially relieving to me that this program is not dominated by students from American University.

With our short term objectives complete, it was off to Pune, the capital of the great Marathra Empire of Chhatrapatti Shivaji.


The Real Village People

IV. The City of Virtue

My first thoughts on entering Pune, deemed the City of Virtue, were of the climate. Being from the Great Midwestern region of the US, I generally associate palm trees with beaches. While Pune has an abundance of the former, it sadly does not have the latter, but it makes up for it with its pleasantly balmy climate. Our first stop was Fergusson College, where we met with program staff. During the afternoon, Indian students who had volunteered their time to act as hosts took us around the city. In the early evening we departed individually for our homestay residences.

Many Indian residences are difficult for those unfamiliar to conceptualize. I hesitate to label them as apartments, and the word that the Indians use to describe such abodes, bungalows, carries a different meaning in the United States. The best I can do to describe it is a hybrid structure between an apartment and a townhouse. While families reside on different floors in the same manner as some apartments, the entrance to each floor, at least in this specific case, is not always the same.

My host family consists of my host mother Anji, my host father Raju, my host brother Karan, and a German student named Alex who is interning in Pune for two months. Raju was formerly in the Indian army, leaving it at the rank of a Captain. Karan works out almost daily, and by comparison I must appear pathetically weak.

It is a mere five minute rickshaw ride to Fergusson, which costs about 20 rupees (50 cents). For the past few days I have had breakfast at home, which has enabled me to bypass the breakfasts provided at the program center and proceed straight to the classroom, where I generally have some time to prepare for the day. At this point my courses are as follows: Contemporary India, Beginner Hindi, Issues in Political and Economic Development, and Environmental Perspectives.

I have now been in India for 12 days, and in Pune for almost a full week. At this point I feel adequately acclimated for the next fourteen weeks, but I have yet to determine the significance of traveling and nightlife to my experiences here. Pending a few other small decisions, I am now essentially prepared for  life in the City of Virtue.