FirstCity Column COVER STORY WRITERS’ SPECIAL SONGWRITERS 8 Muttering under one’s nose, making up words as you go along, in the interest of lyrics that shall be violated no more, comes the FIRST CITY Writer’s Special Songwriters don’t win Bookers. They don’t have the luxury of free verse; rhyme and metre are worthy adversaries and item songs, their nemesis. They are like guerilla poets, sneaking up on you through the car radio, bringing the mountain to the Mohammed, a moment of profundity between the daily motions of the day; and yet there will be a line, stuck in your head in an obscure confine; can’t wish it away, as Elton John croons, “My gift is my song, and this one’s for you.” Words, from the corners of the country. Music that finds its path - in Bengali or Malayalam, chaste Hindi, English or Manipuri; songs transcend geography and they are all here for the Songwriters’ Special Featured Songwriters: Indian Ocean • Akhu (Imphal Talkies) • Piyush Mishra • Swarathma • Chandrabindoo • Swanand Kirkire • Avial 18 FIRSTCITY June 2013 ADAVA Y MA I SH A Y B GRAPH O T O CEAN. PH O AN I IND Bhor was originally conceived for a film, Bhor which eventually got shelved. And we get very happy because a lot of these films don’t by INDIAN OCEAN happen and then we can do whatever we want with the song!... The song is in a way BHOR IS A SONG from Indian Ocean’s 2003 album Jhini. very simple, but very profound as well. Bhor bhor bhor bhai ek udta panchi/ Ja baitha ek daal, ja baitha It’s about finding some sort of a spiritual ek daal/ Khushboo daal ki man har le gayee, man har le gayee/ platform... So this bird is your mann, jo ki Khusbhoo daal ki man har le gayee, gajab tha rang jama idhar udhar bhatakta rehta hai Dawn/ A bird in flight/A branch, made its abode Saans saans chadhe ishq ka jadoo, ishq ka jadoo/ Saans saans Why I chose this abode?/ I curse my benumbed senses. chadhe ishq ka jadoo reh reh kare kamaal/ Saans saans chadhe ishq ka jadoo reh reh kare kamaal/ Arre saans saans chadhe ishq Panchhi kahe kis gagan udu mein, gagan udu mein/ Gagan ka jadoo reh reh kare kamaal/ Saans saans chadhe ishq ka jadoo udu, gagan udu, kis gagan udu mein/ Panchhi kahe kis gagan reh reh kare kamaal udu mein behtar jo is daal/ Panchhi kahe kis gagan udu mein behtar jo is daal/ Pankh sunehriii/ Shahad chadh gaya, shahad Soaking its fragrance/ The world, coloured anew/ Every breath, chadh gaya, shahad chadh gaya/ Pankh sunehri shahad chadh a spell/ Every moment sublime gaya/ Pankh sunehri shahad chadh gaya/ Pankh sunehri shahad chadh gaya/ Antar tham gayee chal Kaun ghadi mein/ Aree chuni daal thi/ Chuni daal thi/ Chuni daal thi/ Kaun ghadi mein chuni daal thi, chuni daal thi/ Koshe New horizons fail, the sky far/ This abode evokes magic/ sudh budh har Wings clothed in golden hue/ A stillness seeps within firstcitydelhi.com June 2013 FIRSTCITY 19 FirstCity Column And the magical side of this song creation is that they never I meditated a lot for this song, for almost asked me what this song is about. Toh yeh ek beautiful cheez two weeks, and one day it just came to hai mere aur Indian Ocean ke beech mein.” He deconstructs the spirituality of the song for us, “The song is in a way very me and I finished it in two minutes, no simple, but very profound as well. It’s about finding some sort cutting, no rewriting, nothing! Once of a spiritual platform... So this bird is your mann, jo ki idhar you’ve meditated, spent enough time with udhar bhatakta rehta hai - the branch that the song is talking about is a metaphor of a spiritual platform, of that occurrence the idea, toh phir gaana ekdum ready where you meet your inner self for the first time, and you are andar se khil ke aata hai blissful. During the initial stage, you wonder if there’s some- thing else more beautiful than this... And finally, everything dissolves within the expansion of your consciousness... I can Qatal bhi aisa hua ke panchhi marke malamal/ Qatal bhi aisa write a whole book on it!” The song is thus deeply contempla- hua ke panchhi marke malamal/ Malamal hua aisa qatal bhi tive, and needed a particular state of mind to be articulated. hua/ Qatal bhi aisa hua ke panchhi marke malamal/ Allah “You have to completely empty your mind to reach this state, mere chidibaaz ne aisa phenka jaal/ Katra katra aasman hai and then patiently wait for an occurrence. I meditated a lot bujhi asal udan for this song, for almost two weeks, and one day it just came to me and I finished it in two minutes, no cutting, no rewrit- Enriched, the journey ends/ Trapped, the bird no more/ ing, nothing! Once you’ve meditated, spent enough time with Allah, the bird trapper spreads his net/ Trapped, the bird no the idea, toh phir gaana ekdum ready andar se khil ke aata hai more/ enriched, the journey ends/ Allah, the bird trapper (it comes ready from your being).Whichever writing process spreads his net/ Its essence now the sky/ It’s flight, the only it may be, it’s not just you but a lot of other cosmic elements truth that write alongside you; you become a channel or a tool for someone else.” Bhor bhor bhor bhor.... Rahul has his own take on it, “The song is about a bird and in Sanju’s mind, he conceived of the flight of a bird, not as a Dawn/ A bird in flight. liberation, but as a search... A bird keeps flying here and there, and finally lands on a branch and is struck by an epiphany; this ndian Ocean, eponymous with the indie rock is what I have been searching for my entire life! The bird is even scene for two decades now, are known as much cursing itself, look at me I’ve completely fallen in love with this, for their disdain for labels as for the beautiful what is happening to me... which sky will I fly to which will arrangement of their songs that speak about be better than this branch? And with the last line, anthar tham everything from rivers to riots, from prayer to gayi chal - the restlessness inside was settled. And with that, the politics. The band has created a unique Indian bird found its ultimate destiny, it became the richest creature Ocean sound by weaving a rich tapestry of musi- in the universe, and understood the meaning of real flight. So cal influences, ranging from Bengali music to jazz basically everyone can have their own interpretation of it, but improvisations, from Hindustani classical music you can say life is a constant search for something and that to hard rock, from Sufi rock to soulful melodies. something can be around you, or within you, you just have to The band’s current line-up sees them perform as a five-piece find it.” Bhor performed live is an impressive 17 minute musi- with Amit Kilam (percussion, drums), Rahul Ram (bass, vocals), cal arrangement. It was also the background score for a film ISusmit Sen (guitars), Himanshu Joshi (gabgubi vocals), Tuheen about Indian Ocean called Beware Dogs by Spandan Banerjee. Chakravorty (tabla, percussion). First City in conversation with “It’s one of the most difficult songs to perform live because it frontman Rahul Ram and lyricist Sanjeev Sharma about Indian requires a lot of peace and quiet; it’s difficult to perform for Ocean’s favourite song, Bhor. college audiences or even when people are drinking, it’s much Lounging in Rahul’s Mukherjee Nagar house with their many, more of a sit-down concert song. Once you create a song you many adopted strays, he speaks to us about the song’s creative can do anything with it; we keep thinking that if Sanju would journey while cradling the two-week-old puppy, Kanakalashmi have given the song to somebody else, an entirely different song Joe. “Bhor was originally conceived for a film, which eventually would have happened. And that’s why singer-songwriters are got shelved. And we get very happy because a lot of these films important because they conceive of the whole thing. The first don’t happen and then we can do whatever we want with the song he wrote for us was Khajuraho, he wrote some very nice song! Indian Ocean and Sanju (Sanjeev Sharma) have had a lines (Dhoom machi har nabh mein phoote ras ki phuharein/ longstanding relationship he’s written a lot of songs for us. Anhad ke aangan mein naache chanda sitare or The heavens What’s nice about him, there is very little back and forth because celebrate with the fountains of sweet nectar/ Dancing in the there are no producers or directors involved. Bas Sanju aur hum courtyard of the immeasurable are the legion of stars and the hai.” Sanjeev confirms the same over a phone conversation later, moon), and we were instantly sold. Done, Sanju done!” “The best thing about this song is that once I gave it to Indian Rahul meditates upon the myriad themes explored within Ocean, Asheem was going through it and he started murmuring Indian Ocean songs, and what drives these ideas, what inspires the melody and he and Amit created the song within minutes.