The New ork Gimes India Ink + Motes on the Worlds Largest Democracy October 29, 2011, 5:08 AM Muppets, Warhol and Rebirth: Lady Gaga Holds Court in India By NIKHILA GILLMustafa Quraishi/Associated PressLady Gaga arrives at a news conference in New Delhi on Friday. “Performance art is my life. The idea is to create a fantasy that is so great that when we are together, it feels very real.” So _— said Lady Gaga at a news conference = 4 in New Delhi, and so she has. 4 With 15 million followers on Twitter, the most in the world, and 44 million es’ on Facebook, the 25-year-old Grammy-winning artist, has redefined what it means to be popular. Now in India, where she will play during the closing ceremony of the inaugural Indian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, she seems to be aiming for 1.2 billion more fans. She is already popular with urban youth, but has not replicated the chart-dominating success she has had in America and Europe, and is virtually unknown in rural India. ‘The journalists waiting for her news conference Friday afternoon at a five-star hotel in Delhi certainly seemed won over. Faint murmurs of complaint, which grew steadily louder after she was more than an hour late, were silenced the minute she walked into the room. She was dressed in a Naeem Khan outfit and wore the colors of the Indian flag in her hair. Even a seemingly jaded journalist for an English-language daily, who earlier made a flippant remark about knowing as much about Gaga as she knew about him, appeared spellbound. Gaga first expressed her gratitude to her Indian fans for welcoming her, then spent about 15 minutes answering pre- selected questions. “The sights in India are beautiful, but the most beautiful sight is the people,” she said. Lady Gaga shared her Indian influences, which include Osho, a meditation-heavy philosophical and religious movement founded by an Indian guru. Her concert in India is a part of the promotional strategy for her latest album, “Born This Way,” which she described as an exploration of the meaning of reincarnation. “Reincarnation during your one singular lifetime, this one,” she said. “This album is about being able to be reborn, to liberate yourself through love and music. | believe that you're never trapped in anything,” Apparently her influences do not include the megastar Shah Rukh Khan — in response to question shouted from the back of the room about what she thinks of him, she shrugged and looked confused. She talked about her creative process. “am a big admirer of Andy Warhol's and he said, ‘always make things beautiful but do as much as you can get away with’.” Her eccentric style and sometimes bizarre outfits are an extension of that experiment, she said. “I am like any other girl. | wake up each morning and put on things that make me happy. Sometimes the things that make me happy are Muppets,” she said For Lady Gaga, it’s all about pushing the boundaries of love and acceptance, because she can be one woman or a hundred at the same time, she said. In her view, “People in America find it hard to believe that a young blonde woman writes her own music and plays her instruments, too.” When asked about how she manages the expectations placed on her, she said her family helps to keep her grounded. “Every day of my life is quite similar to many of the men and women who are in this room today,” she said, a claim that may have strained credulity abit. “| am just trying to make my parents proud.” Lady Gaga has planned a show that would make Farah Khan proud, complete with specially designed sets and collaborations with Indian Dis who will spin her hits to Desi beats. But not many Indians will get to see it. The tickets, only a 1,000 in number, are priced at 40,000 rupees each ($822).