He claimed he had been educated in go, let God, and you can be changed." I;:ngland and moved to the United States. Pandit's teachings arguably paved the He appeared to personify all that America way for the Beatles to sing "All You Need expected of an Indian musician, a mix of is Love" and the popularity of the maharDeepak Chopra and Ravi Shankar. His pro- ishis , gurus , pirs and rinpoches who gram consisted of him staring dreamily attracted a whole generation of young into the camera while he used the piano Americans. Another expression attributed and organ to perform "Favorites of yours to Pandit, "I do not like to use labels, and mine, played on the 'Healtstrings of because labels become liable," might have Time'." Mostly, he relied on the "universal been a clue to the Pandit mystery. He had language of music" to communicate with no connection to India at all. his audience. He never spoke during the Born in St. Louis, Missouri his real program, but his aphorisms were collected, name was John Roland Redd. That was including his observation: "In India we probably as far east as he had traveled. He believe that music never dies, but ever belonged to a family of musicians and materializes into beautiful forms ." ministers and as a young man, elected to He became one of early televi-
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sion's first superstars. Femaleadmirers would send him pianos and millions of viewers would tune in to watch him perform his "music of the TH E MAGIC IAN Exotic East" along with a blend of waltzes, tangos, cha-cha-chas and tunes of the ' 40s and ' 50s, with the occasional classic such as Claire de Lune or The Swan thrown in for good measure. Pandit was known for playing both"his favorite instruments-the Hammond organ and piano- simultaneously, working the piano with his right hand and the organ with his left. An adept performer, he had started Irene Ware (from Left), Bela Lugosi and out composing theme songs for radio pro- Edmund Lowe on a poster of the 1932 movie grams like "Chandu the Magician." He Chandu the Magician. "Chandu the also performed on a number of other Magician " was also one of the longest artists ' recordings, including records by running radio adventure serials. It aired in the Sons of the Pioneers, a group once led the 1930s and was revived in the 1940s and by one of TV's famous cowboys, Roy 1950s. Korla Pandit composed music for the Rogers. But Pandit's real calling was pre- radio program. senting the East to the West. As he said: - -- - -- - - -- - - - -- "Music is the golden union of East and follow his musical side. By the time he West." For millions of Americans he pre- was 17, he was making a living as an sented a taste of India's mystical tradi- ':" -organist in Iowa. Soon after, he followed tions. In some ways, he prepared people his sister to California, where like so for the New Age that was to follow, with many young people before and after him, his philosophical exhortation: "Love and he reinvented himself. It was in California that Norma Jean respect yourself, and be aware of yourself. Then we can begin to visualize the state Baker became Marilyn Monroe, Ramon we are seeking and feel the reality of it. Estevez was reborn as Martin Sheen, Then relax, and it will come to pass. Let Marion Michael Morrison found fame and fortune as John Wayne, Allen Konigsberg For more information: metamorphosed into Woody Allen and Korla Pandil Thomas Mapother IV wowed the world as awp. rutgers. edu/Facls/Eleclions/P Tom Cruise. John Redd was no different. Soon after he arrived in California he Korla Pandil-" Miserlou " http://www.youlube.com/watch?v = G9ylSC8rz84 started to remake himself. Racism was endemic at the time, so he OX
Sajid Khan 's "Maya" theme http://www.youlube.com/walch?v= _6eqn6fXwEA
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may have had more reason than most to reinvent himself. In the 1940s Los Angeles, opportunities for African Americans were extremely limited. Redd ftrst changed his name to Juan Rolando, implying a Hispanic background. Shortly after that, he married and created the Pandit character with his new bride. They concocted more than the name. They created the history and the story ofPandit, the turban-wearing, musical mystic from India. Perhaps it was the ingenious craftsmanship, perhaps it was an unslaked American thirst to be entertained by India, but Pandit became a huge success, performing on more than 900 television programs, continuing to perform right up to his death. It wasn't until 1967 that an .~ American television show was pro~ duced in the real India, using real ~ Indian actors. Titled "Maya," it was ~ about an American boy who teams up ~ with an Indian friend and his elephant (Maya) to find his missing, presumed dead, father. It offered American audiences a look at the real India and Indians-actors Sajid Khan, Iftekhar, Prem Nath and I.S . Johar. Unfortunately, it lasted just 18 episodes because of production costs. But by the time "Maya" was broadcast, young Americans did not need television to explore India. Both the Beatles and Rolling Stones had used a sitar on popular recordings . The Beatles' " Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" featured the instrument on the LP "Rubber Soul" in 1965. A year later, Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones used the sitar in "Paint It, Black." By then Ravi Shankar had played at the Monterey Pop Festival in California and "head shops" all over the country were selling sandalwood incense, Indian print bedspreads and Rajasthani mirror work . There was a steady stream of young people headed to Rishikesh and Goa, looking for enlightenment, drugs and themselves. The stream hasn't stopped since, broadening into a river that takes in academics, artists, businesspeople and seekers of all kinds. But the start of America's fascination with India was neither so promisingnor real. ~
Michael Macy is the culturaL affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. SPAN MAYIJUNE 2010
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