Sunday ka Tadka

so the Sunday .... man it can been more eventful than this
Stared off with a call from hamza saying there's a musician by the name Kavita Seth who desperately wants to fill the rhythm section for their shooting for 'UTV Bindass Music ka Tadka' show (the same one which Coshish went for almost a month back). I told Hamza it's not gonna happen as in i dont play impromptu without any rehearsals. he mailed me few of her tracks and i was taken aback by her voice. Her voice is what can be categoriesed as 'Bulandh awaaz' with deep low tones and mid ranges. i worked on my basslines while listening to her compositions and was armed with my own compositions for the day.

We were supposed to reach at 5 30 which was the scheduled timing for the Kavita seth's troupe to hit on stage. the moment i reached the place it was heavy with percussive beats of reknowed percussionist Tafiq Qureshi and the kneaded melody created by Ravi Chary on Sitar. and i knew my day is gnna go good and it has already become eventful. so we met with Kavitaji's troupe and greeted them with fake smiles to cover up the feeling of being the weakest link on today's performance. hamza already had written Kavita's compositions in an algorithm, and i as usual didn't study for the exam :(

There was a good vibe of camaraderie in the air so i could feel comfortable and all the more confident. Draped in maroon kurta which was gifted by the 'haat delhi kyuti'. We hit the stage and twas time for setup. Then i heard a sound, a rustic sound of vintage instrument, takes to back to the era of the mughals and the Persians. An instrument that goes by the name Rabab, built like an alien spaceship with 4 strings to strum and the bunch of thin strings to create vibrance in the tones and resonance. Played by Chintuji who has been exploring the instrument for the last 15 years. i was convinced that today's performance will render hapiness into the Sufi souls.

And thus the first original compostion was been played and recorded on the Canon EOS DSLR's and what was before a bunch of session musicians now sounded like a 'band'. and we (hamza and I i.e.) made sure we dont end up being misfits among them as well. The 'Bulandh awaaz' still sounded like how it sounded on the earphones and i was truly tripping. The sufi themed song ' yaar mera gaar mera' was customised to infuse with the rustic reverberating rabab. The band was taking it's own sweet time and it gobbled up the night and seeped into the 'graveyard shift'. the session came to and end with soulful 'khuda wohi hai' and the energetic 'Sanam ab dil'. During the break me hamza and chintuji were jamming and the blues was 'high fiving' with the Sufi compostions. An impromptu jam carved itself into the composition and Kavita herself admitted reaching a state of trance. The song came to an end was and invited by a thunder of claps from the crew members and other performing artists. Kavitaji was truly happy with effort by 'half Coshish' members.

Up next was 'Rabani brothers', three khan brothers from musicals lineage who were so eccentric that they'd alaap hindustani classical ragaas during free time. Claiming they created shockwaves at their session on MTV Coke Studio. I was requested by the production incharge Chanakya Chaterjee to play bass for them as they couldn't bring their own session musicians. And since i was the only 'bassy' in the perimeter, and the room was heavy with humble requests from both the production people and the 'Alaapers'. Hamza had to bid goodbye has he had a long way back home.

I agreed and was looking forward to their rehearsals. I'd admit these 'Alaapers' were finicky. They expected us to be 'Raagafied' and caliberated so much that they always mutter to themselves "nahi maza nahi aa raha yaar" after every chunk of rehearsing. Twas a hostile situation and me with the bunch of other 'in-house' musicians felt restrained. Some how we all got on stage and tried to gel and hold on the other musicians and making sure to have minimal communication with the 'Rabani'. i'd admit the ambigious raagas of theirs could easily be dissected into western scales and the confidence held my hand again. Accompanied by guitar maestro Ravi Iyer. We also made a Reggae version 'Damadum mast kalandar'. and my overworked body was suddenly grooving. Inspite of the 'Alaapers' forgetting the lyrics and humming and retaking the song, the groove kept me going and it all came to and end at sunrise (7 am that means more than 12 hours). the 6 stringer baby was hanging on my faitgued shoulder for more than 10 hours. Whoa! that's quite a rush.

and finally Suyash from the production team and a good friend of mine pooled with me on the cab back home and i crashed into the 'monday' bed. Sorry corporati i aint working for you this monday.