Dikshitar the Great

'vEHNkaTEshvara vibhAvitEna
vicitra vishAkha mahOtsavEna
shukarahasya-prakAsha-guruguhEna
kRttikAsuta shuddha dhanyEna
Subrahmanyena'

-Mudduswami Dikshitar (1775-1835)

Man! What a finish to a song! Amazing how someone can have so much insight into a rAgam. So why is it that Bach and Beethoven are so much more well known than our own Iyyer tantric sitting in south india at the same time(Mudduswamy was born in 1775 and Ludwig in 1770) , whose music, if not better, has as much genius in it?
Go ask anyone in the middle class in north india and he knows nothing about the music of South India. I dont get it. How can one sitting only 1000 miles away know nothing of a genius and his work. But ask him about Beethoven - surely he would have great praise for his work. (whether or not he ever heard it)
So what is it? I agree the west is cooler, technology-wise and weather-wise. But music? Art? Philosophy? So to all those indian bozos listening to western influences, give Indians a chance. Look at Mudduswamy's work, and then next time I ask you atleast say "Yeah, I think I have heard of him."