WHEN MY KOLAVERI DAY?



There is a Book called ‘The Bible’. There is a book called ‘The Koran’. And, there are these two books called ‘The Ramayana’ and ‘The Mahabharata’.

Has anyone heard about them?

There was a man called Siddhartha. There was a man called Alexander. There was a man called Lincoln. And, here, a man called Gandhi.

Has anyone heard about them?

There was a film by the name ‘The Ten Commandments’. There was a film by the name ‘Ben Hur’. There was a film by the name ‘The Sound of Music’. And, here, there was this film by the name, ‘Moughle-Azam’ . And then, there was one more. They called it - ‘Sholay’.

Has anyone heard about them?

The Bible has survived more than two thousand years. ‘The Ramayana’ and ‘The Mahabharata’ - much more than that… ‘The Koran’, maybe, slightly less.

Siddhartha and Alexander were born hundreds of years before Jesus Christ did. Lincoln lived much before Gandhi did. ‘The Ten Commandments’ was released years before our ‘Sholay’ did.

Very often, I wonder: How did they survive so long? How did the makers of these products promote them? Yes, I have read the ‘Acts of the Apostles’… Yes, I have read about the years of wandering of Gautama Buddha and his faithful ‘Anandas’… I have read about the relentless campaign the Great Alexander pursued to conquer the whole world… I know, very, very well, how shrewdly my hero, Gandhi, sold himself through his out-of-the-box weapons.

I also wonder: How many years Valmiki must have taken to chronicle his epic? What technology Cecil B. DeMille must have used to divide the Red Sea in his Magnum Opus? I wonder: Was it YouTube or Face book that made Sholay so famous, Lincoln’s Gettysburg address so immortal?

Last night, a friend of mine was passionately telling me this. “You need to be more visible,” he hammered into my skull. “Even a local fisherwoman is on Face book and you are not.” He kept recounting to me about how some of his friends had put their work on YouTube and Face book and how many ‘hits’ they had received… and how it had helped them to promote themselves professionally.


I did not argue with this dear friend of mine.

He was right.

You can’t light your lamp and hide it under a bushel,” Christ had said,

“Raise it high… Place it there on the high stand…

Only then will it spread its light.”

I knew, a good product and good packaging (marketing) alone sold.

I knew, some rules had to be respected

in order to win some games. So, my friend was right…


I need to be more visible: I need YouTube and Face book… to show the world what I have created… how good it is… and, how good I am.

But, after my friend had left, I, once again, began to wonder: Who wrote my nursery Rhyme: ‘Bah, Bah Black Sheep’? Who wrote the story ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’? Who wrote my Konkani folk song ‘Ge, Ge, Ge Re… Ge Re Saaiba’? Who kept the legend of Akbar and Birbal alive? Who sold the Malgudi Days’? Who carried the essay ‘The Message to Garcia’? Who did ‘The Acres of Diamonds’?

I remembered the heart-melting Christmas fable of O’ Henry… ‘The Gift of the Magi’, Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’. I remembered Leo Tolstoy’s ‘God Sees the Truth, But Waits’. Shakespeare came to haunt me: Wow, his ‘Romeo Juliet’, ‘Julius Caesar’, ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Macbeth’. Oedipus’s tragic tale came to life, all over again, last night… so did the rise and fall of the invincible hero of Trojan War, Achilles.

I wondered: Through which ‘Tube’ and through which ‘Book’ were these classics sold? What has kept their legends alive, even now?

I got goose bumps when my mind rolled back into the sublime land of ‘Shakuntala’. Kalidasa wrote it… a sage; just a sage. Even if one argues that, in those days, there were some benevolent Kings to patronize and promote these sages, I would still counter-argue that those Kings were no fools to sell ‘cheap’ stuff. ‘Shakuntala’ was a stuff of substance. Once-in-eons stuff… No, it couldn’t have been simply sold by a wealthy King… And, even if he did, to survive so long – and so fresh – ‘Shakuntala’ had to be a real, real gold! I felt like shouting: “Come on, Chetan Bhagat, you do it.” “You try, Salman Rushdie.”

Many years ago, when Aamir Khan and Rani Mukerjee made us hum: ‘Aye… Aati kya Khandala’, there was no YouTube or Face book. Many called the song crazy, silly and even sacrilegious. Anyway, we hummed along… It made us smile… and who cared whether it would be hummed by children – yes, one thousand years hence?

And, now, this overnight sensation called – ‘Why this Kolaveri di’! “What is the magic? What is the secret?”


yo boys i am singing song

soup song

flop song

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
rhythm correct

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
maintain this

why this kolaveri..di

distance la moon-u moon-u

moon-u color-u white-u

white background night-u nigth-u

night-u color-u black-u

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di


“Such silly stuff, yet, such insane success”… Every one raves about it… even the priests in the temple; even the eunuchs at the signals!

Every one sings - Pa pa pa paan!

Now, who did it?

YouTube did it.

Face book did it.

You did it… I did it.

Just a second back, I checked. 22,608,092 hits! Still counting, every second, every breath!

“I wish I were two pegs down,” a man told me, last night, while he was blasting it out on his cell. He wanted to dance!

I loved what this man said. “He is so happy,” I smiled.

I wondered again: How nice yaar! How nice! How easy to become ‘Great’, overnight!

Then, something hit me like a stone: “Fool, wake up! Write your silly stuff… Leave the ‘Tube’ and the ‘Face’ alone. Just write.” I could feel the effect on my mind as it shook me well with further ‘hits’: “ Maybe, like Kahlil Gibran, some might love you - your silly stuff - many, many years after you are gone. This day is yours, seize it. Carpe Diem! Seize the day! Live like a King in your own kingdom. Let the other kingdoms go… Let the tomorrow go… Let this day be your day, your Kolaveri day!”

I said, “Amen.”

So be it!


GERALD D'CUNHA


THANKS:

The brilliant images used in this Post are by Ashok Ahuja. He is a professional Photographer and a very dear friend of mine. He is also one of the founder members of The Dawn Club, and, along with his gifted-artist wife, Sudha, has been helping me, and the Club, right from its inception.

Comments

ARJUN GUPTE said…
Simply fabulous! Rocking!

.. ARJUN
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Thanks Arjun. Glad!

Love, GERRY
sonal said…
Kolaveri was something which hit instantly was because
It had a different tune.... a new language....used the latest technology to show case it...got the result instantly....
on one hand i find that you tube and face book are best way to showcase yourself....you can be heard instantly...the music was first hit on you tube channel and then aired on T.V...we need to change with technology...thats the need of time...Therefore i totally agree with your friend....
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Yup, v shd cNj vdh tym!

Sonal, I was just trying to 'change with the time'... U are at least better than me... I belong to the 'old' world!

Anyway, my friend was right. no doubt.

Who knows, my Posts may beat the original Kolavari!

Serious, now! There are some fundamentals for success. The team of Kolavari, I am sure, has not disobeyed them. The music is great, there is life in it... It deserves the fame. They sold it well, hats off!

I love it.

I evoked a debate on the 'shortcuts'to success. pl stay away!

Thanks for your brilliant thought, Sonal

Love, Sir
Uhzaz said…
FB and Youtube or other sites are just mediums,

1)Law of Few
2)Stickiness Factor
3) Power of Context

Try the above with all or any medium and see the roll.

For your kolaveri and all examples stated there is one very common stuff WORD OF MOUTH.
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Thank u Uhzaz; very insightful comment.

I am very keen to learn from u something about those three Laws/Factors. Wd love to hear/learn from u it... if u can send me some more clarity on it...

I am sure, it will help others, as well.

U express very well... and, therefore, do not hesitate.

We all are learners here... let's not try to play God. I am a mortal... and want to remain so.

Thanks again, Uhzaz...

Looking forward,

Love,GERRY
Anonymous said…
Another 'Killing rage". When Geri Sir came to Anushakti Nagar some where in 80's there was no You tube or face book or for that matter even email. But "Geri Sir" was an instant Hit with the students. Technology or no technology.... Great work spreads like fragrance in all directions.

N.Kumar

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