Friday tunes: "Chola Maati Ke Ram," from the Peepli Live soundtrack

I drove south last weekend to a predominantly Indian suburb of Los Angeles to catch Peepli Live (Wikipedia) at a movie theater that plays only films from India.

Its was terrific, a poignant and LOL-filled commentary on the state of Indian news media, and the injustice and tragedy that rural communities face. Unsurprisingly, the soundtrack was full of great tunes. My favorite was the song embeded above, "Chola Maati Ke Ram," performed live here by Nageen Tanvir at a launch event for the film.

The lyrics of this song are about human mortality. Loosely and imperfectly: Time spares no one… death spares no one… our bodies are clay robes that will eventually disintegrate, so it is best to dedicate our lives to honoring Lord Ram, and all that is eternal.

Incidentally: Today, Kamla Bhatt will be interviewing the Indo-fusion rock band Indian Ocean, who performed several songs in the Peepli Live Soundtrack, at 12.30 pm PST on Stanford radio station KZSU. Listen online here.