24 AUGUST 2019(^) T
his month marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock,
the music festival that changed the world. Held on
Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in upstate New York, the
400,000-strong gathering of peaceniks, hippies and some
of the world’s greatest musicians was the zenith of the 1960s
counterculture movement. Broadly de ned by a philosophical
embrace of free love, Eastern spirituality, non-materialism,
Vietnam War protests, psychedelic drug culture and a rejection of
conservative American values, it red up the imagination of young
people across the planet, leading to profound societal change.
Even though the hippies were only a tiny sliver of the American
population, they exerted outsized in uence. The press covered
them extensively. They were largely articulate, well-educated and
possessed the infectious idealism of youth.
Fifty years down the line, one can nitpick about how this
pathbreaking generation eventually grew up and sold out, but that
would be missing the point: Their seemingly radical positions then
- whether on issues like individual rights, racism or even climate
change – are now widely accepted as mainstream and correct.
Although India was fairly isolated in those days, kids at
elite colleges like St Stephen’s and St Xavier’s found their way
into bell-bottoms and grew out their hair. The counterculture
impact was also not restricted to this group, nding its way into
popular consciousness through several hit Bollywood movies of
the era and songs like “Dum Maro Dum”. It helped, in a sense,
that Swami Satchidananda Saraswati was called upon to give
the opening speech at Woodstock, and that Pandit Ravi Shankar
played a magical set on his sitar through the rain.
In this issue, we examine the festival’s legacy through two
beautifully written pieces: one, by ace music culture writer
Lindsay Pereira; the other, a deeply personal column by Indus
Creed frontman Uday Benegal. Read them. Even half a century
later, the spirit of Woodstock is alive and kicking.
I had a dream
EDITOR'S
LETTER
PHOTO: MAX HERMANS/THOMPSON PHOTO IMAGERY (CHE). IMAGE: ALAMY (JIMI HENDRIX), GETTY IMAGES@chekurriengq