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Music 1040
Barbara Shelton (Instructor)
Cultural Semester Project
Authored by Ben Heath
7/15/2015

Balaji Mudliar is a native born citizen of India who is currently a resident of the
United States of America. Originally he was born in Bombay, India. Now the city he was
born in no longer exists as it was. It is now named Mumbai. In 1995 the Hindu
Nationalist party, Shiv Sena won the elections it took control and renamed the city after
the Hindu Goddess Mumbadevi. Many thought that the name Bombay held too much
baggage from when it was under British colonial rule. Balaji was born in Bombay and
lived there with his family. While living in India he partook in the culture that
surrounded him. India is rich with cultural heritage. It is steeped in tradition that goes
back amongst the earliest history of the World. His father was looking for employment
that would provide for his family and thought that he could find it in America.
Immigrating to the United States is not easy and would take a long time; however
immigrating through Canada was much easier. They set out for the North American
continent traveling by boat to Canada. They arrived in the port city of Prince Rupert,
British Columbia. They spent several years living and working in Canada until the made
there way into Washington State and settled in Seattle. For a few years they were able to
live fairy well with their father having a good job. Then their father decided he wanted to
go back and live in India leaving the rest of the family in Seattle. Balaji graduated from

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Washington University and served as a in the Marines, protecting a country that he was
not officially a citizen of.
There were many thing that he found different living in Canada and then the
United States versus living in India, and yet not all the different at the same time. The
biggest difference was the commercialism. The ability to go and buy virtually anything
you want was a dramatic change. It is so easy to just go and pick up material goods, from
groceries to electronics that would have been much harder to procure in India. The people
were not that different in the way that we are all citizens of the world and create
communities in which we help each other and get to know each other.
Music however

was dramatically different.

As a child Balaji

listened to music by Ravi

Shankar and Vilayat

Khan. This was mostly

laced with sitar music

and few vocals. This was

music that he listened to

because it was what his

father listened to. Ravi

Shankar is one of the most

recognized recording artists from India. He is a pioneer in exporting sitar music to the
rest of the world. During his career he collaborated with George Harrison of the Beatles
and inspired George to take up the sitar. They worked together on the album Shankar
Family & Friends as well as the tour that followed. At one point Shankar was even
nominated for an Oscar for his work on them movie Gandhi released in 1982.
Sitar music is a great representation of the culture of India. When you hear the
music it reminds you of a fast paced, active society and at the same time it is relaxing.
The music itself never seems to take a breath. It goes on and on never pausing its

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melodious tones and notes from the electric sounding sitar. In music of India you find
some different instruments but with familiar sounds. Instruments such as: the Dotar
which is similar to a mandolin, the Esraj which has been described as the Indian harp, and
the Algoze which is a pair of wooden flutes played at the same time. Balaji says he still
listens to music from India though not as much as he used to since he has grown more
accustom to the music found in the United States.
While growing up his music preferences were influenced by living in the United
States. However there was a catalyzing event that changed his taste in music. When John
Lennon was gunned down Balaji was just 13 years old. This struck him and he was
fascinated by the man. After Lennons death Balaji began listening to the Beatles and
other music from that era. It is interesting how something like the death of a singer can
change your view on music.
As his musical preference began to switch he began listening to a lot of popular
60s music. The Beatles were by far his favorite. Recently he was able to live out a life
long dream of seeing Paul McCartney live in concert. He raved about the experience for
days. The Beach Boys were another band he enjoyed. The easy listening mood of their
music was enticing. Eric Burdon & the Animals was a British band that made a name for
themselves in America and were another band that had a huge impact on Balaji. The Brits
were big during this time frame and the band Cream was another one of those bands that
made a sound from across the pond. In addition to those bands Ray Charles with his
smooth voice and his way with the piano was someone that he loved to listen to.
Most of this music has not much to do with traditional music from India but
instead is a representation to the new culture that Balaji had embraced. Though he was

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born in India, Balaji is as American as anyone you will meet. Today he still listens to the
music he loved as a teenager but now his influences have more to do with his own
teenagers. Balaji is married to a true southern belle. He has 3 children, a boy and 2 girls.
As a father he is forced to listen to music that they like, though it is clear that he enjoys
Katy Perry and Taylor Swift more than he would admit. It is funny how sometimes you
can influence your kids to the music you like and in some families your kids influence
you.

Bibliograpy

Beam, Christopher. "Why Did Bombay Become Mumbai?" N.p., n.d. Web. 11 July 2015.

"Ravi Shankar, Sitar Player, "Godfather of World Music," Dies at 92."Latest News. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 11 July 2015.

"India-instruments." India-instruments. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 July 2015.

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"Indian Music." - Music In India. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 July 2015.