Indian Boom In U.S.

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31660, 22 April 1968, Page 3

Indian Boom In U.S.

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) NEW YORK. India’s music, food, dress and religions are enjoying an unprecedented popularity in the United States. The popularity is most evident in New York, where sales of Indian records are booming and Indian restaurants are crowded with new customers anxious to sample hot curries Women in saris and men in “Nehru” coats are common sights at parties. Spiritual seekers are turning in increasing numbers to Indian philo-

sophy and religion for enlightenment. / A Times Square record shop reported that sales of Indian records now equalled those of the Beatles. Incense sales are growing too. “Hari Khrishna”—an adoring chant of worship to a Hindu god—is intoned by hippies wearing beads, bells and flowers, strolling in Greenwich Village. No-one is more responsible for the phenomenon than Ravi Shankar, one of India's finest classical musicians, who became an important figure in American popular music a few years ago. Young people, especially in the hippie movement, greatly helped increase his reputation. He does not share all their beliefs, such as the use of drugs, and will even insist on no smoking during recitals. But he compliments hippies on their choice of incense and throws back their orchids. Shankar’s success has helped other Indian musicians in the United States, such as the sitarist Anand Johsbi, and All Abkar Khan, who plays the sarod which, like the sitar. is a stringed instrument. A New Delhi-born actress, Madhur Jaffrey, who appeared in the film “Shakespeare Wallah,” has begun reciting Indian poetry before college and women's clubs across the country. But not everything Indian

succeeds. An Indian-inspired play, “The Guide,” about an escaped convict who poses as a swami to avoid recapture, recently closed on Broadway after seven performances. The play starred Pakistani actor Zia Moyeddin and featured music by Shankar. Indians in the United States are amused by the interest in the habits of their country. But they think it is nothing more than a fad. About 10,000 Indians live in the United States, including 1500 in New York city. They are doctors, engineers, businessmen, farmers and students. Some settle perman ently. Most return home after four or five years