Indian Ocean's music has some very good memories associated with it for me. The first time I got introduced to their music was in my first year at IIT Bombay. I don't recollect whether it was because of the repeated, torturous reference to the Rewa river or the awesomeness of the song itself! But during the 2001 Hostel 3 PAF, Nimaad, I fell in love with Maa Rewa. Subsequently, I got my hands on a cassette of their popular album, Kandisa. I went to Delhi later that summer to visit my parents and my grandparents. I must mention here that when I go to Delhi, I am welcomed by a home filled with the smell of incense sticks, continuous playback of M.S Subbalakshmi reciting the Vishnu Sahasranaman or Swami Sukhabodhananda making a living for himself on Aastha Channel. Every now and then, some songs of Maharajapuram Santhanam would be played to cleanse the house of all the spirits. Needless to say, I was quite nervous about playing my Indian Ocean album in this atmosphere. After some deliberation, I convinced myself. I played Kandisa. Noone objected. Afterall I was on a vacation. The consensus was that I could have my way for the few days I was going to be there. After the cassette had been played a few times, my grandmother asked me, "Hey Arvind. What is this song you keep playing". I thought to myself, she's probably had just about enough of my stupid nonsensical music and she has finally decided to put her foot down. But much to my surprise she actually really liked it. And so did my grandfather and my mom. Kandisa was played a lot for the rest of the summer of 2001.
After that summer, I moved on to some other music because I had had a little too much of Indian Ocean by then. But later in December 2003, at Mood Indigo, I got to see them perform live for the first time in my life. All the love for Indian Ocean got rekindled. I went on to download their previous albums, the likes of Desert Rain and Indian Ocean and got into the world of their music all over again. Needless to say Kandisa still remained my most favorite album even then.
In September 2008, Indian Ocean came to DC. I roped in a few people and went to see them perform live once again. I LOVED this concert. This was the first time I noticed Asheem Chakravarty, their lead percussionist and tabla player. I realized that he was the magical voice behind many of their songs. Especially the vocals in one of my most favorite songs, Khajuraho. I was fascinated at how he could sing while also playing the tabla. A rare feat among musicians, I learned later. The thing that was most jaw dropping was how he got some very interesting sounds out of the guitar. Asheem knew exactly the right chords to strike. Well that doesn't seem to be a very unique feat for a musician, does it? Well the difference was that he was not using his fingers to play the guitar the traditional way. Rahul Ram, their Bass guitarist, held out his guitar and Asheem played it as if it were a tabla. I wish I had a recording of that performance. Words can not describe it.
I clicked on a link today. A video news clip on Indian Ocean. This was about their latest movie: Leaving Home - The Life & Music of Indian Ocean. Three of the band members were on the interview doing a "live jam session" much to the amusement of the host. Asheem was conspicuously absent. I wondered what happened. I later learned that Asheem Chakravarty passed away on 26th December 2009. I felt some very weird emotions. I was filled with sadness, hurt but most of all guilt! This happened over four months ago and I found out now. How could I not care enough? My brain came up with million excuses for why I may not have gone through the news on 26th December 2009. But none of them seemed to matter! I still feel miserable. I feel ashamed of calling myself a fan. I don't know what I could have done by knowing about this four months ago. Obviously nothing! But, I might just have been spared of the guilt!
Some voids can obviously never be filled. Rest in peace, Asheem Chakravarty!
