Indian Ocean at the Bay of Bengal!

 

From left to right: Amit Kilam, Rahul Ram, Sushmit Sen and Asheem Chakravarty

If you are familiar with surfing, you have definitely experienced catching a wave on top and riding it smoothly to the shore and occasionally, starting just a little bit off and having the wave crash on you. In the first case, it’s a thrilling, familiar ride to the shore. In the second, you are thrown into a spin and tumble that sends the brine into your mouth and lungs. You emerge from the deeps shocked, gasping and spluttering.

Listening to the rock band Indian Ocean live, for the first time, was a series of such experiences as I rode the surf of their sound waves that flooded Chennai on 19^th October.

The band – Sushmit Sen (acoustic guitar), Asheem Chakravarty (tabla, percussion & vocals), Amit Kilam (drums, percussion & vocals), and Rahul Ram (bass guitar & vocals) – performed in aid of the “Elixir of Life” initiative of the Rotary Club which aims to provide safe drinking water to underprivileged children.

I was already familiar with the band and its genre of music but hearing them live and seeing them perform on stage was like surfing in uncharted waters. And boy was I caught on the wrong foot as the first wave came crashing down! The quality of the sound, the acoustics of the auditorium, the reverberating bass, and all instruments mixed to such perfect levels created an electrifying magic. The bass and strength of Amit Kilam’s percussion were like tiny explosions inside the cranial cavity even as the entire body experienced the shock waves of the Indian Ocean. I knew it then that this night was going to be one hell of a ride! Operation shock and awe was underway…

The band opened with “From the Ruins,” a track from their album Desert Rain. At the end Rahul Ram, addressing the audience asked, in a not-so-subtle jab at the Rotarians, “can we talk less and just keep playing?” He was referring to the many introductory speeches that past, present and perhaps even future Rotary Presidents made before handing over the stage to Indian Ocean. The crowd cheered loudly in approval!

Up next was “Kya Maloom”, a familiar piece from the album Kandisa. And here the vocals of Asheem Chakravarty and Rahul Ram took centre stage with support from Amit and Sushmit during the chorus. This piece opens with light cymbals and a chorus of vocals in Sanskrit. If you know the piece like I did, it is one of those occasions when you catch the wave perfectly. Until that is Asheem Chakravarty kicks in with his handiwork (is that possible!?) on a small drum and the bayaan. Although I expected the drums, the power with which they hit, caught me unaware. To continue with the analogy, it is one of those freak moments when you have caught a wave, but close to the shore, are met with a back-wave that is going in the opposite direction as it recedes from the shore. The result is a clashing of waves as they meet in a crest, while you perform somersaults underwater that even the best of Olympians would find hard to emulate.

After this, Rahul Ram took some time off to speak to the audience. Referring to his colleagues he said, “We’ve been together for 19 years! That’s longer than what most marriages last.” Moreover, a marriage has only two variables, here there were four!

“Last year, we sat back and did some introspection. It’s rare that we do it, but we did it.” Rahul Ram continued. “And we realised that in 18 years, we had made only 30 songs. That’s less than one and half songs per year. It’s hopeless,” he joked. Justifying this, he said this was probably because Indian Ocean had long songs that “we like to cook slowly like good payasam!”

They went on to perform “Hille Re, Bandeh (from the film Black Friday), Bulawa, Bhor, Ma Rewa and finally Kandisa.” It was the best payasam I had eaten in a long time! It was heated just right by the percussions of Amit Kilam and Asheem Chakravarty, and blended and stirred together by the fluent guitars of Rahul Ram and Sushmit Sen into a rustic fusion of folk, classical and rock music.   

And the crowd relished every bit the band offered. They clapped and whistled in beat and demanded “encores” and requested the band to play some of their more popular compositions. You just couldn’t help putting your hands together!

I came back from the concert, drenched in the signature melodies of the Indian Ocean. But apart from the music, what also left a deep impression was the spirit with which the quartet performed. They put their hearts into their music and had been doing it for the better part of their lives.

Here were four men who had discovered what they wanted and were living life on their terms. It was one of those rare occasions when your work, your talents and your passion and dreams are all the same thing. Most of us can’t manage putting all of these in the same place, most of us compromise. Oh the joy of having discovered what you want to do in life! It showed on their faces!