Skip to main content

What Is Art Without A Frame?

Imagine this: You are rushing towards your office on a Monday morning with meetings in your mind. You hear mellifluous tunes coming from the street corner, would you care to stop, appreciate and possibly contribute a few rupees to his earnings? In all probability, No. However melodious the music might be to your ears, I don’t think anybody today has the time to spare for such trivialities of life such as street musicians. Right?
But what if you came to know it was actually Mandolin Srinivasan or A.R Rahman actually at the road bend? Ah! Now things are different, isn’t it?

Nope, I haven't gone bonkers. This was exactly what happened couple of months ago when Washington Post journo Gene Weingarten set out to discover if famous violinist Joshua Bell -- and his Stradivarius -- could stop busy commuters in their tracks.

This is what happened: On Friday, January 12, 2007 renowned violinist Joshua Bell performed six classical pieces in 43 minutes to 1,097 people at the L'Enfant Plaza Station standing next to trash basket. He collected $32.17 with just one person recognising him. The story in detail here

So much for the name and fame that people scamper after.

To be noted is that nearly 20 years ago, Bruce Springsteen did a similar thing in Copenhagen, where he joined a street musician to perform "The River." Not many people noticed him, either.

Things haven't changed much in all these years. So if you are one of those geniuses waiting to be discovered, wakeup and get yourself a good PR agency.
Labels:

Comments

Shree said…
Whoa..two posts.!! Good..:)
Know what..i think you have a better chance of getting recognised at a street corner rather than thru a good PR agency..not many good ones around.:)
Monday, 09 July, 2007
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Are T20 World Champions!! ....really?

Am overjoyed and as happy as every other cricket loving Indian at India winning the T20 worldcup. It was a nail biting finish and I whooped in joy as the tricolour was paraded proudly around the ground..but all the same it seemed too good to be true. A creepy thought passed my mind - Is this all true or is it part of an elaborate scripted show put up for our benefit? It was like a bad thought or dream that nobody wants to think about but it keeps recurring. Maybe I am just going bonkers. Voice in my head - heck, isn't it too much of a coincidence that the final would have to be between India & Pakistan?...Especially after the world cup debacle, cricket took the biggest beating ever in its Indian history. It was almost on the verge of dying a slow death, sponsors pulling out support , public support was lost. Me - What the hell, it was a great game. Played in front of millions. Voice in my head - Forgot the earlier match fixing tales?. After the world cup fiasco the very foun...
16 comments
Read more

Malayalam vs Tamil Cinema

Having been homebound for sometime now and with enough clutter in the TV channels,watching movies suddenly has became very appealing. But I have to confess that am no longer in the rampant watch-any-movie age where I could digest anything from a Saajan to a Hero No 1 but clearly not also yet there to enjoy a Satyajit Ray or Pedro Almodvar movie.Anyways its regional cinema that I am talking here. All this movie watching started with me giving company to my mom and she restricts her staple of movies to only Tamil and Malayalam films. After a point of time comparison was just bound to follow... Best things first - Malayalam films are quite a revelation. From being funny,melancholic, enchanting, tragic, uplifting to plainly being entertaining the range and depth of malayalam films has simply awed me. And am not even talking here of the well-known, superhit mad capers of Mohanlal or Mamooty that the outside world knows of. Let me confess I dont even understand the language completely....
12 comments
Read more

Why Do We Sink This Low?

Let me tell you a very interesting albeit true story. There is large family whose one son is not very happy with the life they lead and wants to earn big bucks. So he goes and finds a job with a rich family who treat him like dirt but our guy is happy making his moolah. One day the rich family accuses him of a heinous crime and almost persecute him. The guy's family back home stands by him and goes all out to get him freed. After raising a lot of dust they manage to free him and get him back home. The father and neighbours go all out to make him feel comfortable and even go ahead and promise him a job. You think the story ends on a happy note here? No. The boy goes begging back to the rich family to adopt him since he has been proved innocent. The rich snooty family looks at him like he is some loony (which I have no doubt of) and simply throws him out. You must be thinking, "Who could ever be such a moron?" Well, we are. Atleast it looks like we are being ruled by some....
8 comments
Read more