Sriram Emani, the founder of IndianRaga, a global platform for Indian performing arts, has an album on Facebook showcasing all the cups he’s collected from different Starbucks outlets in New York. Each of the 74 images shows his name being misspelt. 

“It’s one of the most common names on the planet. But it was still spelt as ‘Syrian’, ‘Shadam’; not a single person got it right. If you can say Schwarzenegger, Saoirse Ronan, you can say Sriram,” says Emani.

This frustrating experience, commonly faced by immigrants, planted the seeds for Jam Boy, Emani’s first film as a writer, director, co-producer and lead actor. 

Jam Boy is about a model immigrant who has done everything to be chosen but has not noticed what it costs him to choose himself.

Spanning 22 minutes 22 seconds, the film has already won Best Film and Best Web Series at DC Independent Film Festival, received Special Recognition at the Boston International Film Festival, and is now travelling through a growing international festival run. It will premiere on October 13 at the  International Film Festival of South Asia, Toronto, North America's largest South Asian film festival.

In 2012, Emani started IndianRaga while at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fourteen years later, IndiaRaga has grown into a global performing arts organisation. Its online education programme, Raga Labs Academy, teaches Carnatic vocal music, Hindustani vocal music, Bharatanatyam, and Kathak through a structured syllabus with certification at every level. 

IndianRaga, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, also offers a Raga Fellowship that selects artists through a competitive international panel to create professionally produced collaborative performances.

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