Mera Juta Hai Japani

Last night I wisely skipped the presidential debate to watch Raj Kapoor’s 1955 Bollywood classic Shri 420 , whose opening song, “Mera Juta Hai Japani,” has been running through my head off and on for a good decade. The song, like the film, is a fable of modernity, urbanization and globalization: what do we make of a world where everything around us comes from somewhere else? What’s lost, what’s gained, and what can we hold onto? “Mera Juta Hai Japani,” from the film Shri 420 , performed and directed by Raj Kapoor, music by Shankar-Jaikishan, playback singing by Mukesh