I'm fairly acquainted with Western rock music, having spent most of my teenage years listening to various rock bands (thereby angering many a flustered neighbour). The Indian rock scene is vague to me and I can only take a few names without resorting to the 'search' button on Google - Motherjane, Pentagram, Indus Creed etc. Now I can add Parikrama to the list. Having attended their concert at NITIE this Friday, I'm convinced our 'desi rock bands' (as Anusha Dandekar irritatingly chirrups on MTV) are as talented as their Western counterparts. We're not far behind!
The beautiful and sprawling campus of NITIE (It has a lake! It looked fabulous by night!) at Powai served as a perfect backdrop for this 2-hour rock extravaganza. Having entered the grounds, I nudged my way forward with my pals to the front, towards the moshpit of the sweaty, smoking, head-banging crowd (quite an eclectic bunch; we had one whale of a time yelling out at them!) and voila - there they were - Parikrama in their element! Special mention goes to Sonam Sherpa (we lovingly called him 'Motuu') who plays the lead guitars (and also the harmonica) in the band. He was the cutest & best-est!!! His fantastic rendition of 'Saare Jahaan Se Achcha' was superb and had us all chanting in rhythm. Another guy who stood out was the violinist - Imran Khan. What a stunning performer! He played the violin like someone possessed. Hats off to these wonderful, gifted guys - it ain't easy to get to the top - especially in a niche market like India. A google search revealed a surprising fact - these guys have been around for nearly 18 years! Sad that only a handful know of this extremely talented band's existence. Here are a few pics from the concert - hopefully these guys will be around, enthralling us for a long time to come :) Heartfelt thanks to Mayank for the passes and Vibz for some of the photos below (your digicam was a lifesaver!)
When we entered...
