Life down there is a strange illusion
The music of the “Raghu Dixit Project” (erstwhile Antaragni) has been released on CD.
I first listened to them in the psentisem OASIS (2k4) and they were absolutely amazing. I recently ran into them in the SAARC Bands Festival. And the moment that I had been waiting for has finally come. According to TK they have finally launched their CD. Can’t wait to get my hands on the CD people, even though I have most of their MP3s.
First, Dada made a century, in Kolkata. Here is what Anand Vasu has to say.
For Ganguly, Kolkata feels an unconditional love, the kind that asks for nothing in return and yet blindly accepts whatever it gets. There’s nothing objective about the manner in which Ganguly is assessed as a cricketer, and anyone who dares to contradict the overwhelmingly positive image is not spared. He’s the uncrowned prince of Kolkata, and on Saturday, in the company of VVS Laxman, the man who earned the position of the lord of Eden Gardens with his 281 against Australia in 2001, Ganguly rattled off a century as easily as he was batting in the bylanes of Behala, and not a Test match.
Next, TK, Bharathi, Ritu and me attended the SAARC music festival at Central Park, CP. Brilliant place for a concert. Listened to Raghu Dixit Project (formerly Antaragni), East India Company, some Bhutanese band, and Indian Ocean.
Raghu Dixit Project, as expected, was awesome. Lot of showmanship, crowd enthu and nice songs. I had heard most, except three. Aambar (I wish I could get the mp3), Khidkiyan, and Gudugudiya sedi nodo (awesome again, mp3 anyone???).
East India Company to me was the highlight of the show. The lead singer was wasted but had an awesome vocal. They were kind of electro-folk. Nice mix. They sang some Rajasthani, a couple of Assamese, and two hindi songs I guess. Hindi ones were a remix of Tere bin nai jina which was good. The next one was a not so good remix of Mast kalandar. Overall, I loved the band.
The Bhutanese band was ok, nothing great. I think they got overwhelmed by the occasion.
Last – the most awaited event. Indian Ocean. They were so damn delayed by other bands that they hardly had an hour to play. Rahul Ram (the bassist) was so damn pissed off at it, and so was I. They started off with Bande, the some other song which I have heard, but don’t know the name of. Then a new one Bula raha hai, which I liked. Then we (TK and me) had to rush off to get the bikes from the Palika parking. And I think they played Kandisa and Hai Tamasha after that.
Topped it off with some nice food and gen bakar at Mamu’s (Chimpoo at JNU). Ended with coffee at Barista. Perfect!
PS: Lot of snaps at the music fest. Snaps to be uploaded soon.