MICHAEL JACKSON, THE KING OF POP - A TRIBUTE FROM INDIA

I always wanted to blog. For some reason or the other it would never happen. But somehow the big news today prompted me to write one. My first blog is for a ‘Tribute to Michael Jackson’.

When I was checking for day’s news stories on the Internet in the morning, I got to know about the death of the King of Pop. It was shocking news to say the least. It was quite difficult to believe! I have not been able to watch the television today yet. I am sure MJ would be all over it. The morning newspapers in India are not carrying the story, since this news broke out in very late last night (From India’s point of view).

For someone very fond of dancing, this is some event for sure. Personally, I have always admired MJ for his “Dancing’ than for his music. I am sure that is true for many of us Indians. So, let me stick to Michael Jackson, the dancer. He was a special dancer! Was not he? I don’t think any other dancer has influenced or impacted the dancers around the world as much as he could in our lifetime. He first appeared on the music scene in the seventies and became quite popular in the eighties. It has been decades since then, no male dancer has become as popular as him, or for that matter got even remotely close. He brought Break dance into the mainstream. His music videos popularized this dance like never before. Its amazing to know how many people took to that form of dancing. And it was all due to the Michael Jackson factor. MJ’s trademark moves, ‘Moonwalk’, ‘Robot’, etc are almost immortal. People still continue to learn, practice and show off many of his dance moves. And to know how Indians have been/were fond of Break dancing, consider this fact- Many of the well known male dancing names in India, Prabhudeva, Hrithik Roshan, Chiranjeevi, etc have all been good Break dancers! It is interesting how many in India can dance the ‘Break dance’.

We could not see much of MJ in the last many years. One wonders what would have happened had he been in control of his personal life. Lot more music and lot more dance! But then there is also a view that MJ could no more offer any thing special in terms of ‘Dance’ and It was getting bit monotonous. Have no idea how many agree to that view. And in the last decade or so the Break dance’s popularity diminished considerably. And is it not an interesting coincidence that MJ’s popularity also diminished considerably in the last decade? Though its clear that MJ’s fall was not due to Break dance not continuing to be popular. It was largely he own undoing than anything else. The fact that MJ was in news many for all the wrong reasons didn’t help his reputation at all. But no one denies the impact he has had on the world of Music and Dance. He was this classic case of ‘love him or hate him, you cant ignore him’.

Was looking forward to his planned concerts/tour in July. Its really sad that his end came just a few days before his Tour could begin. Now only the god knows how the concerts/Tour would have shaped up.

So, Thank you Michael Jackson for all that you could give. May your soul rest in peace!

--Arun