Sunday, 11 May 2014

Skilfully serenading on a Sunday


Music has the power to override the worst crisis in life. Good soulful music can give an orgasm unprecedented. Those who have ear for music and worship this divine art form will surely find my statement disparaging and sacrilegious. That however, I presume was the best way I could define the overflow of emotion experienced listening to Indian Ocean perform live in Bhopal.
 It was one such evening when heat and chill was at a tug-of-war, leaving us baffled with an erratic weather. Cannot surmise if it was the lulling zephyr of the upper lake, the beatific charm of Bharat Bhawan or the invigorating notes of the popular Indo-Western fusion band of the country, something had enveloped me in a stupor, an intense one, which followed me to my dingy one BHK apartment and remained adhered for a substantial period. The four-member troupe started the performance with a song titled ‘jhini’. By the time I entered, the open-air theatre was reverberating with enthusiastic singers crooning along. Not surprisingly, the musically and culturally advanced breed called Bhopalis were aware of all the songs played subsequently, most of which I had not even heard of! The only songs I managed to lip sync were the incredibly popular ‘Des mera’ from Peepli Live and ‘Bandeh’ from Black Friday. Other songs that quenched the ear’s thirst included tracks like ‘bhor’, ‘Maa Rewa’ etc. The enigmatic bunch of musicians further bewitched all with scintillating rendition on a single-stringed instrument, used fundamentally in Baul music, a genre typical to Bengal.  The musical spell was so profound, I never realized and three hours passed away in a jiffy, punctuated with small episodes of tiffs between my close buddy and her usually submissive boyfriend. Getting to meet a candid Rahul Ram, the vocalist and bass guitarist of the band was like icing on a whole platter of deserts. Trained in Indian Classical music, a singer who has the chutzpah to smoke chillam on the stage, Raghu, is one from that coterie of people you feel like having a cosmic connection with and can relate immediately.

Mellifluous music and a small talk with an astounding singer, what can be a better way of signing off a weekend!

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