Where The Hell is Matt?

I’m in a Music League with some old coworkers and friends where we share music selections based on a given prompt for each week and then vote for our favorite ones. The league is a fun way to discover new and diverse songs while also enjoying some friendly competition and banter.

One of our recent prompts was to choose a song that is mainly in a non-English and non-Latin language and that resonates with us. As soon as I saw this prompt, I knew I wanted to submit Palbasha Siddique’s rendition of Praan, which was featured in the Where the Hell is Matt? 2008 video.

I first came across this video in college during a study break at the library. At the time, I had never traveled outside the United States nor experienced much in diversity of cultures and thoughts outside of NYC. This video further inspired me to appreciate diversity, adventure, and active participation in life, not simply let things happen to you. It also showed me something more powerful and beautiful than any individual: the potential of humanity, regardless of where we are geographically.

Matt’s travel journey takes us on a trip around the world with one simple yet universally human theme: dance. As he visits various places, he is sometimes alone but often joined by the locals who share his joy of dancing.

Matt is spreading joy, hope, and love that is undeniably magical. Palbasha Siddique’s cover track (Lyrics adapted from the poem, “Stream of Life” from Gitanjalil by Rabindranath Tagore) over the video is pure perfection. Even without knowing a word of Bengali, anyone who listens and watches the video can easily understand how special this combination is. The final product is a four-and-a-half-minute encapsulation of humanity at its best: simple, kind-hearted, and joyous.

We are more similar than we may realize. Our individual aspirations and goals may differ, but ultimately we are all on this floating blue orb trying to make the best of every day with the limited time we have.

It doesn’t matter what language we speak, our age, the color of our skin, our religion, our sexual orientation, or our geographical coordinates. We are and can be truly remarkable, especially when we have videos like Matt’s reminding us of how unique yet similar we all are.

Thank you, Matt. Sixteen years later, you’re still inspiring with this one!