Happy 70th Birthday, John Lennon!

Like many of you, I spent part of today blasting my favorite John Lennon songs in commemoration of what would have been his 70th birthday.

The official John Lennon YouTube channel has been collecting tributes from fans around the world for the past couple of days. Here’s one submitted by Bollywood playback singer Suraj Jagan. (He’s best known for the song Give Me Some Sunshine from the 3 Idiots soundtrack.):

And because I strongly believe that no South Asian-themed John Lennon tribute would be complete without a link to the Bollywood version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, here’s that as well:

What are your favorite John Lennon songs? And have you noticed any other South Asian tributes to the Beatles?

A rare look at the Beatles in India

It was 40 years ago today that Paul McCartney announced that the Beatles were breaking up.

In honor of the greatest band of all time, I thought we’d take a look back at the Beatles’ visit to Rishikesh in 1968. Unfortunately I don’t speak Italian, but here’s a news report about the Beatles arrival in India. (See if you can spot Mia Farrow and Donovan in the footage.):

Part two here. And be sure to visit The Beatles in India for some extraordinary color photographs of the band on their meditation retreat.