Ringside View: An Introduction

Ringside View, the band’s debut album, would be easy to bracket as a cynical observer of an increasingly hedonistic society. Imagine MMS scams, ‘lights-action-start sobbing’ reality shows, fly-by-night celebs, webcam voyeurism, televised hangings, page 3 nightouts, me-too mentalities, late night runovers and coke-laced shootouts — Ringside View is all of these and more, for in it the band members have stepped out of comfort zones, and turned the search light on themselves. Intensely personal and passionately dark, the album quizzes society as much as it quizzes the self. It raises questions. Probes. Prods. Nitpicks. And seeks answers for a society — as members of a society — caught within a carefree free-fall.

Part-investigative, part-introspective, the album consummates the band’s decade-long struggle through artistic and personal turmoil. The result is an uninhibited mix of music — from grunge, power chords, rap, hip hop, funk, moody guitar lines, new age metal, and even Bollywoodish kitsch— that have been carefully drafted in to go with the spirit of the lyrics. It is difficult to commit Ringside View to a narrow slot. How can you with an album that has been blended within a hot wok of international sounds, but at its very core, is about issues closer home. Look at it this way: Ringside View, all done and said, was conceived in an India where now resides the world.

Choose your expression. Choose to headbang, or to rap along. Or sitting in the little corner of your room, choose to be a ringside participant. ‘Come to my place…’ goes the opening line of their song, Story of my Life.  ‘….I’ll show you my face/Take off my mask/You’ll see the real me…’ With Ringside View, know you are invited.

Ringside View: Rahul’s studio review

Dear Friends and Fans,

At long last, after almost a decade of performing live and touring, Cassini’s Division has finally completed tracking and recording its debut album Ringside View.

Before I go into all that went behind the making of our record, I’d like to explain why we have repeatedly aborted our earlier attempts at recording an album. The truth is simple really. We were never able to capture the energy and excitement of our live performances on record because we did not have that one big secret weapon of the music business – an accomplished producer. After signing on with HMV Saregama, we were finally able to engage one and so the stage was set for us to go into the studio and bang out some of the songs that have helped us establish ourselves as one of the leading rock groups in the country.

When our producer Simon Henderson arrived on a hot sultry afternoon at Dum Dum, I was excited but also a little apprehensive. The boys (John, Ludo and Sukanti) have pretty much spent almost all their time and creative energy to help me build Cassini’s Division into a formidable outfit by fleshing out arrangements and helping me achieve a musical vision. Therefore, it is understandable that we are all looking to getting it right as far as our debut album is concerned. So in my mind, I thought that there is absolutely no room for failure. The scope for rock bands in India still remains pretty limited and our album will have to carry its weight in that context, which makes it quite a daunting task.

But from the first day in the studio I began to feel confident that things would shape up well. Simon Henderson set us all at ease with his quirky sense of humor and good natured banter. He is one of those people who have the gift of making work look like play without losing focus on the job at hand. So before we knew it we were ready to lay down the drum and bass takes to cues like “now my ladies, stand like swallows with one leg folded and deliver your lines with the grace of a wildebeest who sings for his supper”

Three days into the recording we had pretty much a lot of great takes with some minor arrangement changes on a few tracks that Simon felt was necessary to “bring the song to life” on the recording. So for those who have watched us live, there are going to be a few moments on the album that are sure to shock and surprise. And yes, I must also mention that both John and Ludo worked extremely well and delivered great performances on their respective instruments, taking their craft to a new level.

I also got a shot at vocals in between the other takes and Simon helped to bring out things I didn’t even know that I was capable of. It was a learning experience and I was humbled by his ability to understand my strengths and weaknesses as a singer and address them accordingly. I am hoping the results will speak for themselves.

Then it was Sukanti’s turn to roar as Simon set up the amplifiers to record some “big rock guitar”. An avowedly old school production man, Simon’s disdain for digital processors was on full display with a dogged insistence on not using “those little Japanese boxes”. Therefore after checking the room for the best mike positions, Sukanti was soon laying down the guitar bedrock of the album and his tone sounded really BIG! In the middle of all this, we had visitors (in the form of fans) who were quickly recruited by Simon to sonically create a party scene with hooting, cheering and clapping, all of which will be heard on the dance sections in one of the songs.

After five straight days Sukanti’s guitar parts were completed and I must say he sounds really good on the recording even before any mix has been attempted. On the last few days, I laid acoustic guitar tracks and did some extra vocal tracking while the boys laid down a few BVs. One afternoon, Simon came out to announce “that’s it mate, I’ve got the album” and much to our disbelief it was over! We headed out to celebrate at Simon’s place and are now looking forward to the mixes he’s going to send us from his London studio.

Many people want me to talk about the concept behind Ringside View and what the ten songs mean when taken as a whole, but I think I’ll talk about it later when the album is due for release. Till then, I hope all of you have some fun times, enjoy life and keep the fire burning.

Cheers

Rahul

Dear Friends and Fans,

At long last, after almost a decade of performing live and touring, Cassini’s Division has finally completed tracking and recording its debut album Ringside View.

Before I go into all that went behind the making of our record, I’d like to explain why we have repeatedly aborted our earlier attempts at recording an album. The truth is simple really. We were never able to capture the energy and excitement of our live performances on record because we did not have that one big secret weapon of the music business – an accomplished producer. After signing on with HMV Saregama, we were finally able to engage one and so the stage was set for us to go into the studio and bang out some of the songs that have helped us establish ourselves as one of the leading rock groups in the country.

When our producer Simon Henderson arrived on a hot sultry afternoon at Dum Dum, I was excited but also a little apprehensive. The boys (John, Ludo and Sukanti) have pretty much spent almost all their time and creative energy to help me build Cassini’s Division into a formidable outfit by fleshing out arrangements and helping me achieve a musical vision. Therefore, it is understandable that we are all looking to getting it right as far as our debut album is concerned. So in my mind, I thought that there is absolutely no room for failure. The scope for rock bands in India still remains pretty limited and our album will have to carry its weight in that context, which makes it quite a daunting task.

But from the first day in the studio I began to feel confident that things would shape up well. Simon Henderson set us all at ease with his quirky sense of humor and good natured banter. He is one of those people who have the gift of making work look like play without losing focus on the job at hand. So before we knew it we were ready to lay down the drum and bass takes to cues like “now my ladies, stand like swallows with one leg folded and deliver your lines with the grace of a wildebeest who sings for his supper”

Three days into the recording we had pretty much a lot of great takes with some minor arrangement changes on a few tracks that Simon felt was necessary to “bring the song to life” on the recording. So for those who have watched us live, there are going to be a few moments on the album that are sure to shock and surprise. And yes, I must also mention that both John and Ludo worked extremely well and delivered great performances on their respective instruments, taking their craft to a new level.

I also got a shot at vocals in between the other takes and Simon helped to bring out things I didn’t even know that I was capable of. It was a learning experience and I was humbled by his ability to understand my strengths and weaknesses as a singer and address them accordingly. I am hoping the results will speak for themselves.

Then it was Sukanti’s turn to roar as Simon set up the amplifiers to record some “big rock guitar”. An avowedly old school production man, Simon’s disdain for digital processors was on full display with a dogged insistence on not using “those little Japanese boxes”. Therefore after checking the room for the best mike positions, Sukanti was soon laying down the guitar bedrock of the album and his tone sounded really BIG! In the middle of all this, we had visitors (in the form of fans) who were quickly recruited by Simon to sonically create a party scene with hooting, cheering and clapping, all of which will be heard on the dance sections in one of the songs.

After five straight days Sukanti’s guitar parts were completed and I must say he sounds really good on the recording even before any mix has been attempted. On the last few days, I laid acoustic guitar tracks and did some extra vocal tracking while the boys laid down a few BVs. One afternoon, Simon came out to announce “that’s it mate, I’ve got the album” and much to our disbelief it was over! We headed out to celebrate at Simon’s place and are now looking forward to the mixes he’s going to send us from his London studio.

Many people want me to talk about the concept behind Ringside View and what the ten songs mean when taken as a whole, but I think I’ll talk about it later when the album is due for release. Till then, I hope all of you have some fun times, enjoy life and keep the fire burning.

Cheers

Rahul

ringside view – studio sessions

And so, after 20 mad days, we’ve come to the end of the recording process for Ringside View and Simon is back in London with the mixes.

It’s been a strange 3 weeks for us, where we each learned to let go of our crutches and believe in ourselves and in what the Universe has in store for us. Letting go of a lifetime of cynicism is not an easy process, but Simon guided us around the rocky bits like an expert seafarer. We were surprised to learn of the goodwill that Cassini’s Division has around the world with people in the music industry – some of them legends in their own right.

The tracks have ended up crystal clear and transparent. The drum tones are incredible. The guitars and bass were tracked the old fashioned way without any processors or gadgets, using just the acoustics of the floor, overdriven amps and Neumann microphones, and they sound huge. So all of us are happy.

At Saregama, we’d like to thank Abhimanyu for his patience and expertise, J.K.da for frequently dropping in to ensure that the tambourines were being given adequate importance, and most of all to Atul and Anjum, for the belief. This album would never have been possible without you all.

Simon, mate. What can we say? You know, this just might be mad enough to work. Belly-wave! Chicken girl! Snapping p***y! Totem pole and rubix cube road. Meep meep! The Universe conspires, guv. The Universe awaits.

Jai dada!

Ringside View – now a reality

Hey, so we finally caught up with ourselves.
Its been a long wait for us and for a lot of you who keep bitching, but the permutations had to be correct, and now they are.

We signed up with Saregama (HMV) last month and we’re set to hit the studios mid May. Yup, the century-old, erstwhile HMV studio in Dum Dum, which produced the country’s first recorded song in 1903. The studio has seen them all – Tagore, Nazrul Islam, Satyajit Ray and Bhimsen Joshi. Perhaps the good juju will persist. =P We can’t wait to find out.

Ringside View will tackle a larger concept – “that each one of us is both participant and observer in the journey of life”… a squiggly, bendy, surprising journey. One that we all make.

So yeah. Thanks for waiting, thanks for hating, thanks for the belief.

Amra achhi.

Happy New Year Divisionheadz

It’s been a crazy, bad-ass year with the Division and we just wanted to thank you for being a part of it all! \m/

Have a great New Year and be safe!

School of Fish @ Turquoise Cottage, Delhi

2009-Nov :: Delhi – Gurgaon

Ludo being choked for being an alcoholic and a waste of space. So voted by band consensus.

Wed 18 November

We reach early for a change, Ludo and I, despite several unsuccessful stops at IMFL shops. They’re all shut for some reason. This is solved by an emergency call to Rahul to pick up the stocks. Sealdah station is crowded as is its wont. We locate Rahul and Sukanti without much difficulty. People stare at Rahul’s cornrows and my mohawk. The porters ask their usual exorbitant rate and we brawl till things settle down. The walk is long to our compartment right up front near the engine of the Sealdah Rajdhani Express. We’re soon settled in. One of our co-passengers has occupied 3/4^th of a seat with himself and his baggage so we fish-eye him till he feels guilty. We’re headed to Delhi and Gurgaon to play a couple gigs.

Our new manager Shreya has left by an earlier train. She will be spending a couple of days in Gurgaon, meeting contacts and carrying out general PR for the band, before coming to stay with us in Delhi.

The train moves off and soon we’re plied with tea and refreshments. At the mention of refreshments, Ludo and Rahul realize that they have forgotten to pick up Cola for the rum. More confusion. Ludo has staked his claim on the side-upper berth, which he loses no time in occupying, falling asleep forthwith and sending forth great rumbling snores. Rahul is immersed in a Jim Morrison biography. Sukanti and I, bereft of occupation, spend some time using various unsubtle means to rouse Ludo. We’re unsuccessful. =/ But lo and behold! Just as the train enters the outskirts of Dhanbad, our first stop, his incredible sonar sends pulses to his somnolent brain and we watch him galvanize into action, returning with the requisite bottles of Coke.

Dinner over, the conversation has taken a turn for the cerebral, aided in part by Ye Olde Monk. It’s pretty late before the rum finishes and we wrap up for the night.

Thu 19 November

Rahul cutting off bits of Ludo's hair!

We awake stiff from having to share bunks with our guitars. Breakfast’s over and soon we’re passing Ghaziabad. Delhi’s air is still fresh and chill from recent rains. We catch a cab to Patparganj where my sister Lena stays. It’s good to be back. It’s been our refuge on most of our Delhi trips and it feels like a homecoming. Lena’s home and after hot showers to wash away the

journey, we lose no time in making ourselves a fine lunch of dal, chawal, saag and fried pork kebabs from Khub Chand. Lena’s hired some mattresses and we camp out as usual in her living room. We arrange for hire cars from Amarjit Singh’s rental agency and when they turn up, we head to Vasant Vihar to play our first gig at the new Turquoise Cottage.

The evening opens with Manta Sidhu and her band. She’s a guitar-wielding singer-songwriter whose music evokes strong memories of artistes like Alanis Morisette & Sheryl Crow. She has a way with words and can string together a great melody.

Our gig’s on and Sidhu has provided us with fine sound on stage. We have a great time regaling the audience with a selection from our set. They love it. There’s a bunch of homies in the house – Diyasree, Aritra, Tukan, Madhumita, and then some. They take the front-of-house and set the tone for the set. School of Fish, Only For a While, Higher, Caesar, Story of My Life, Satyr9, Voivoid. We rip through an abbreviated list – a “Best of …” kinda set.

But it’s over all too soon and PINKNOISE from Cal’s up next. We pack up and listen to some of their songs, wandering off at times to scrounge some refreshment. But it’s getting on and we’re pretty much wasted, so we decide to head back to Lena’s for the coup-de-grace. So we say our goodbyes and leave with PINKNOISE wrapping up their set with Idiot.

@ Turquoise Cottage

It’s around 2.30 am by the time we get back but my head’s buzzing like an old fridge and I decide to take a walk. For some reason I find walking calms me, especially in the dead of night when the world’s asleep. No humans, no honking, no talk, no ‘civilization’. Just the cold north wind rustling the leaves and the periodic chatter of my teeth as it bites through the black shawl of the night I have wrapped around me.

Inevitably, my cell phone rings. Dinner’s ready. At 3.30 am. Ludo and Sukanti have made a hot healthy meal for us all. This consists of 5 packets of Top Ramen noodles cooked with 5 eggs, an entire box of cheese and half a kilo of pork kebabs. I nibble at the concoction cautiously, hoping my arteries don’t notice. It’s been a long day.

Fri 20 November

@ Attitude

I’m woken by Lena asking if I’d like some tea. She’ll be leaving for work in a bit so we have some tea and catch up, the first opportunity we’ve had since I reached. We’re of the opinion that we’ve been siblings before too, in earlier lives. There are many reasons for that, but somehow we’re each a part of the other, instinctively aware.

The rest wake after Lena’s left. I make them tea. We laze around till 11 and then decide to catch brunch at the local market. They have a nice momo stall and a chhola bhatura guy, and one can sit in the mild sun and toast while indulging one’s tummy. We stop at Nandu’s on the way for some more tea. He’s thrilled to see us again. We give him much custom, both through our own insatiable thirst, as well as that of passers-by who would like to stop and stare at us outlandish people, on the pretext of sipping tea. When we reach the food plaza we’re horrified to see no chairs or tables around. We ask the bhatura guy why? Local fucking politics. We pack some stuff and carry it back home. We eat. We drink Sukanti’s espresso shots. We sleep again. We wake up and call the car rental agency. Two cars to Gurgaon and back. We’re playing at Attitude, a new and upcoming pub.

The drive is uneventful. We pick up Lena and Vinayak from OUP on Jai Singh Road. We’re being driven by a taciturn character named Parvinder, whom we immediately nickname ‘Perv’. The expressway is busy with people returning home, or (as is the case with call-centers) heading to work. The chaos is made worse by an inordinate number of trucks. After the toll plaza things spread out and we’re in. Gurgaon is a boom city, still growing. As Rahul aptly puts it, “the buildings make you feel like you’re in Singapore, the roads like you’re in Serampore”. Dust from constructions is thick everywhere and even with all windows rolled up, a steady stream cleverly insinuates itself between the tiniest of cracks to delightedly envelope us in a cloud, coating our throats and nostrils, and setting us all coughing delicately.

Attitude at last, in the heart of Gurgaon, above Oak Tree, a swank new place, spacious and wood-paneled. We meet Rajesh Nair, our sound engineer for the evening. The other car with Sukanti and Ludo hasn’t arrived yet, and we’re nibbly, so we grab a quick snack of thukpa and momos. Thus reinforced, we get the soundcheck going. Its 10 by the time we start.

Ludo with The Cure

There are no restrictions on time today, so we play a full set. We even have sections of old-school rock n roll with Dilip Ramachandran joining us on songs like No Woman No Cry, Like a Rolling Stone, and Hey Hey, My My. We take a notional break halfway through, sonically separating the 2 halves of the set and take stage again with the heavier, nu-age section.

Boy! And they said it was an upcoming place which was just beginning to find its feet. The place is crowded with an amazing audience. They are so into the music. They are on their feet and they are moving.

(While watching our video recordings, I realize that I am happiest when I’m playing. All the members of the band have been accused at some point or the other of being social grouches, grumpy, scary and never smiling, but somehow, when I’m playing I cannot not be happy. It’s like that Air Supply song I used to love as a kid: “Hope springs eternal when you’re near, All the passion reappears, All emotion seems so strong; Hope springs eternal thru your eyes, Draws me closer to your side, And keeps me there where I belong.” And that’s what music does to me… is to me. All I want to laugh and bounce about from the sheer joy of it.)

It’s a boisterous night. Shreya is back with us. Lena has retired for the night. Late nights are not her thing. Two days of great gigs and spirits are high. The conversations veer ever wilder as the alcohol is depleted. Sukanti and I happily down our espresso double shots (Lavazza editions). Tomorrow’s a day of rest. Sukanti plans to go shopping for a bigger espresso kettle. This one can only make one double at a time. Rahul decides to call it a day. He takes the spare bedroom. But we’re far from sleepy and unfortunately we were all very bad that night. Someone got his fish cooked, someone got her cellphone confiscated, someone got caught red-handed, and we all got yelled at. Eventually, at 5 we’re like okay it’s getting early, we need to crash. A snore, a giggle, a sibilant whisper, “machliiii… more giggles.

Sat 21 November

I’m up at 8, surprisingly fresh and Lena and I share a quiet morning over tea. She’s pissed at us coz we were making such a ruckus that she was awake as long as we were. She’s got a splitting head. The others get up in bits n pieces. Another round of tea! Conversation! Since it’s already like 11 o’ clock, and its Lena’s off day, we decide to just head out and lunch. Rahul elects to stay back. He’s not feeling up to more of our shenanigans. We head out to CP and consume a sumptuous lunch at Nizam’s. There’s nothing much to do, no POA, so we loaf around. We need 3 sets of acoustic guitar strings for the morrow. Tukan takes us to a shop that shows us D’Addario and some pricey local stuff. But we just want some cheap ones which will suffice us for now. Eventually we’re shown Karuna ones right from back home Lalbazar. We carry them off triumphantly. Sukanti gets his six-shooter espresso kettle. It’s getting dark. Ludo wants to get his hair braided so he wanders off with Tukan and Sukanti. Lena, Shreya and I shop around a bit and then head home. I’m in one of those weird spaces and need to be alone. So I drop stuff off at the house and go out for a walk. It calms me. Lena calls and tells me she’s cooked pork and Shreya’s made the salad. Would I deign to cook some rice? I would. I do.

It’s a quieter night tonight. We’re all somehow subdued, except for Rahul. After being alone at home all day, he’s full of beans and entertains us till we’re out.

Sun 22 November

Ludo entertaining with dugdugi

@ Dilip's

Sunday! It’s my turn to cook lunch. I will make tehri. Shreya appropriates the chicken I was supposed to use and turns it into a fab spicy curry. I change my plan and decide to make my tehri light and un-intrusive on the spices in the chicken. It turns out quite right and we have a great lunch. I overeat and regret it later. Ludo entertains us with the dugdugi I bought him.

We hire cars from Amarjit Singh-ji. We have a new driver and he’s garrulous. We’re headed to Dilip and Ruchi’s home for dinner and a sing-song.

Dilip (ex-drummer for Parikrama) has always been a great friend, philosopher and guide to the band. Over the years he has picked us up when we were down, encouraged us, befriended us, taken us into his home and shown us love, believed in us, kept us going. Thanks Dilip.

Dilip’s Party: As narrated by Ludo

Finally after a long journey from Patparganj to Gurgaon (it’s across the state line, a drive of around 70 kms) we reached “West End Heights”, the lovely residential complex where our dear friend Dilip Ramachandran lives. After the usual security question-answer and an entry in the register we boarded the lift which takes us to the 15^th floor. As usual, Johnny points out (like earlier times) that the building does not have a 13th floor (the usual superstition). Super-express elevator and in almost 10 seconds we’re inside the place Dilip and Ruchi call home. As always this is a place where we are very comfortable and the hospitality is superb. Within like 10 minutes the party’s on with everyone carrying their glasses out to the balcony for a smoke and Johnny and Sukanti with their coffee shots. Juhi, Ruchi’s sister is bereft of words when she’s told how they like their coffee.

Sharat bhai is a fantastic violin player and a very well known musician in the circuit too. In no time we gel and kick off the jam session. There’s a djembe in Dilip’s house, and I start off with a beat with Sharat and Gyan joining in. The music takes off.

We jam some of our own songs like Rumble, Higher and Caesar. Rahul sings some Swahili songs and also some covers from The Band, Johnny Cash, and the usual country/singer songwriter thing he does. There are some instrumental pieces on odd counts like 7 and 5. Dilip joins in with a jar of sugar as a shaker (when I try it later, the lid falls off along with some of the contents). Finally we end the session with an Indian classical piece which Sharat and Gyan play. The air is electric.

In session: Shona, Sharat, Ludo, jBoi, Gyan

We head for the dinner table and some lovely biryani and raita. It’s around 4’o clock in the morning when we leave Dilip’s place and head back towards our home at Patparganj. As usual, as is the case with these visits to Dilip and Ruchi’s home, this was an evening we will remember forever.

Mon 23 November

We’re leaving today, and the gloom settles on us all. Lena’s left for work and Shreya makes us countless cups of tea and tries to cheer us up. The mattress guy comes to take the gaddas back and our now-empty camp site lowers our spirits even more. Our Rajdhani back is at 4.30. Shreya’s on the Poorva but it leaves at the same time as ours. As I check the rooms and lock up #71 I feel rootless and alone.

We drop the keys by OUP on the way to the station. Lena’s at a meeting so I give them to Lopa and collect the printout of Shreya’s ticket from her.

We settle into our compartment, stowing luggage as best we can. I pick up Amitava Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies from a Wheeler’s on the platform. I bury myself in it before I can be engaged in conversation. I am very fucked up. The others are in somewhat of a similar frame of mind. Talk is non-existent. Ludo climbs into the top berth and does not appear till dinner is served. I climb into mine and read till I’m asleep. Sukanti dozes where he sits. Rahul reads.

The Aftermath

Sea of Poppies turns out to be one of the nicest books I have read in recent times.

Shreya’s train reached 5 hours late.

Our Rajdhani reached only 45 minutes late and all the provisions I had bought in anticipation of the SUCI bandh and the train waiting on the outskirts till 6pm, still sits in a plastic bag in my room.

I wonder what was different about the two journeys. What changed in the interim? We had great gigs, great fellowship, and great food. I got to spend 5 days with my sister. We played in Delhi after almost a year and the audience welcomed us. Why are we feeling this way? Why does it hurt so bad?

2006-Dec :: Shillong – Tura

- by jBoi :: December 2006

15 December

We’re late, Ludo and I.  

Sookie has been calling and the rest are already at the airport. Fortunately the office rush is not too bad today. The trip from Ruby to the airport takes 15 minutes. We meet Rahul, Sookie and Ronnie. There’s the usual good-natured joshing and leg pulling when we reach, together with the usual scramble for the coffee counter and last-minute cigarettes. But we can’t get enough as our Jet Airways flight shows as boarding. We dunk the scalding coffee down our throats and make a dash for it.

As we get to security check, it looks like everyone’s already boarded, because they’ve got a bunch of ground crew looking for us. We’re hustled through pissed off passengers giving us the evil eye and seated in record time, ignoring the usual drivel about cell phones, safety belts, oxygen masks, and emergency exits. And then, with sick, stomach churning certainty, we’re on our way.

Barapani

We’re headed to play at beautiful Shillong and from there to Tura.

I fall asleep halfway through the flight and am rudely awoken by the impact of touchdown at Guwahati airport. We’re received by our vehicle which loses no time in getting out of the depressing industrial dust and heat of Assam’s capital. We pit-stop at Nongpoh to wash down the dust and grime of the journey with tea and a quick lunch. And then the beautiful and gentle climb to Shillong starts. The roads are excellent and the journey quiet, except for the occasional tasteless joke, to which Rahul takes grave exception. We pass the breathtaking Barapani dam (photo courtesy theshillongtimes.com) at sunset and the rays of the dying sun reflect like blood on the calm waters.

Wards Lake

We reach Shillong, in the darkling dusk and check into Centre Point. We are to play at Cloud9 the following night. The evening is spent in leisure – the air is chill and fresh, so we run out for a quick shopping spree, coffee with Sweety Pala at the local CCD, a run-in with a lady whose husband is two-timing her with a 20-year old, rum, whiskey and momos at Rahul’s old haunt, Hong Kong, and back to the hotel for dinner.

16 December
The next day after breakfast, we spend a leisurely time visiting Wards Lake. (photo courtesy headlinesindia.com) The fish seem not to be interested in the moori that we liberally besprinkle on the water. We then catch a cab to St Edmunds, Rahul’s alma mater, and explore the grounds. It is a sprawling facility and my only disappointment is that we couldn’t visit the Christian Brothers’ church which boasts some excellent stained glass work.

On our way out, Rahul informs us that we are close to where the Wallangs stay. After much scouting around and some wrong calls, we finally find a gate marked Springboard, which is Springboard Surprises, Keith Wallang’s event management agency. We are pleasantly surprised to find both Rudy and Keith in their home studio. Rudy is the guitarist and sings in the band Soulmate with the beautiful Tipriti. We spend a pleasant time with them, warmed by their hospitality and genuine pleasure at being called upon. Keith kindly offers Sukanti his Roland blues cube as we are unsure about the sound system being provided at the gig that evening.

Ludo and Sookie head back to the hotel with the amp while Rahul and I head to meet Rahul’s old hoodie, Mup, for a bit, and then we head back ourselves. There ain’t no sign of the other two when we get back so we head up to Cloud9 which is on the top floor, to scope out the joint and kill some beers.

Then Ludo and Sookie arrive. We grab a quick lunch and have a meeting, while drawing up the set list for the evening. The sound people arrive at 4 and we set up the drum kit and start miking it. By the time the rest of the guys set up, evening has set in but the sound on the PA is muddy. Ronnie does the best he can and we hope things will improve when there are some people in the audience to absorb the low end.

Unsatisfactory sound check done, we head back to our rooms to change. We head back up at 9. There’s a bunch of people sitting at tables and drinking. Cool, we think. Let’s get this show on the road. So we mount up and play Dashboard Confessional’s Vindicated. Polite applause. Heh? Okay! Let’s try REM. Polite applause. One request for GnR. We’re like, wtf? Okay, no more mista nice guy. We play Stay. Two babes come up and slow dance to it. We’re like totally fazed now. What’s this all about anyway? We change tack and try Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. W00t! Definitely more interest and applause. But that’s the only classic rock song we do. What next?
Fuckit all. Let’s play Satyr9. Halfway through the song there’s this babe who goes all loony toons. She comes hurtling down the room going “Yayayayayaya”, treads all over a horrified Sukanti’s guitar processor and hangs on to his guitar and neck, all the while still yelling. We’re happier now, coz we think like mebbe this is some version of a mosh goin down. But the bouncers come in and carry her off, while all the time she’s still yelling “Yayayayayaya”. We’re nonplussed. But the sound has improved. We’re enjoying playing despite no audience participation. So, we’re like fuck the set list, lets play some more loud obnoxious stuff and go get drunk afterwards. Which we do.

After we’re done, the DJ comes on as gives us a load of attitude about how we’re going to blow his speakers playing this shite. So we’re like, hell yeah, blowing speakers is what we fuckin do best.

The DJ plays Vengaboys. And behold, the audience comes to life, mass fuckin exodus and they’re all on the dance floor. We can’t stop laughing. So we head back to the newly vacated chairs and proceed to down some beers and enjoy the view. Some music lovers come up to us and tell us that they really liked the music, but what in heaven’s name possessed us to play at a disc like Cloud9? Who knows the answer to that one?

We got a heavy day ahead so we crash early.

17 December

We’re packed and ready. The day promises to be a long one. We drop off Keith’s amp. He’s not at home, but we catch Rudy on his way to church. We tell him what transpired the last evening. He assures us that open air concerts are the thing is Shillong. Heartened, we bid him a fond farewell and blow town.

Although Shillong and Tura are both in the state of Meghalaya, there is no direct connecting road within the state. So we drive 3 hours down to Guwahati, switch vehicles, and begin the 7-hour drive to Tura in the West Garo Hills. We had expected it to be tiresome and dreary, but we’re driving through some of the most beautiful countryside we’ve ever seen. If any of you reading this can make time to do the trip, I promise you it will be worth your time. The scenery whizzes past in a blur as we have to reach Tura before nightfall due to the social unrest in the form of insurgency and ethnic aspirations in this beautiful part of the country. We pass tiny villages nestled in backdrop, and see young people sitting with guitars and singing. Sometimes with a harmonica. Sometimes just singing. Awesome. Music never dies.

We reach the outskirts of Tura, Meghalaya’s second largest town, as night falls. The people of the town take the festive season seriously. The town is bedecked. The churches are decorated and lit, and the trees are strung with lights. As we check into the Rikman Hotel, I see one of the most awesome sights of my life. It is a procession of young people. They’re walking four in a row. The oldest must be 16, the youngest 5. They’re all dressed in white ankle length gowns. They all hold candles. They’re singing Christmas carols softly. Row after row, they pass. Their voices come in waves, breaking upon me as I stand open mouthed in wonder. Some 400 of them walk by. And then it is over. I continue to stand for a while, alone in my turmoil. For all my cynicism and negativity, they touch something in me I thought was lost long ago.

I head up to our rooms. The endless tea and coffee orders are already well underway. Ludo is applying himself to Peter Scott. Our event organizer, the lovely Lipika drops in for a bit to update us on the events of the morrow. We take a walk around town, but it is largely deserted by this time. So we head back. I’m a little wasted by this time, so after dinner I fall asleep, propped up against a wall, in the middle of a conversation Rahul, Sookie and I are having. I remember waking up once when Sookie asks me to lie down like a human being instead of a chingri, and covers me with the blanket.

18 December

We’re to sound check at 12. We visit the venue with our equipment and begin the set up. Lipika introduces us to Shekhar, who is providing the sound and lighting systems at the gig. Over the next couple of hours, Shekhar proves to be a man of infinite resource, patience, and a wellspring of smiles and encouragement. He leaves Ronnie to his own devices at the soundboard and goes off to efficiently head his team in the hundreds of other things that go into making the son et lumiere of an event a grand success.

We’re done. The sonics are kickass. We head off to lunch at a nearby dhaba and enjoy some cool pig and goat curries with rice. On the way back, Ludo, Ronnie and I discover the infamous DaTura Special. These are neat Burmese cigars to be bought for 3 bucks or 5 bucks depending on the quality. Back to the hotel to change.

It’s our turn and the mood is upbeat as we provide entertainment par excellence. There’s no one hanging on to Sookie’s neck today as he rips into bone crushingly heavy riffs. Rahul entertains the crowd with some cool hiphop, impossibly fast raps, and evil growls. Ludo’s hair is wild all over the place as he grins at me, his face shining with honest sweat as I take on the toughies at the back of the auditorium. Damn, its good to be alive. We even have headbangers up front, I remember one in a Slipknot tee that Sookie was paying special attention to. We wait for the audience to disperse and then head back to the hotel for some celebrating. Shekhar and his lovely missus, with Lipika, drop by post dinner and I offer them some kwai. Shekhar invites us for a ‘quick bite’ in the morning before we head back to Guwahati for our ride home. It’s a long night as we play Flash or teen patti in the hotel room till 4. We’re due to drive at 7. Stakes that are high to begin with, get even higher. I manage to get away before the losses get too heavy.

19 December

Its 8 and Lipika is already waiting in the lobby with her cute girlfriend who (drool) drives this cool black Gypsy with alloys and radials. We convoy over to Shekhar’s beautiful home. The ‘quick bite’ lies on the table, a feast fit for a king. Tomato and ham sandwiches, sausages, Chinese, homemade cake and pots of tea. Stuffed, we waddle off to the waiting cars. Au revoir. Till we meet again.

The drive is made mostly in silence, partly due to Rahul’s diktat against profanity in enclosed spaces, partly from the afterglow of a trip well made.

Its past 10, and the 5 hours down to Guwahati, before the flight at 4 makes bad math, factoring in pit-stopping for lunch and numerous teas. We make it in good time though, even with Lipika’s sudden urge to get her car washed. Guwahati airport has a cool smoking room where we descend like a plague, rudely disrupting some semi-comatose smokers. A wastebasket and an empty cigarette packet provide us a few minutes of enjoyment and random wagering. Not an easy task at 10 metres. Those damn cigarette packets tend to swing away while in flight.

Our call comes through. Kingfisher this time around. I’m glad to see that they’ve dispensed with the antics and Yana does it better on the little screen behind every seat. Rahul breaks his headphones within 5 minutes and promptly asks for another.

The flight home is uneventful. A dark depression settles over me as the plane descends into the grey murk that we breathe in the city every living moment. Ronnie, Rahul and Sookie share a prepaid cab as do Ludo and I. Our throats burn and eyes water as we readjust to the city pollution levels. I call home to let the folks know that I’m back and find out that we’ve been having power outages every evening. The cabbie wants more than the prepaid fare. Ludo and I squabble over who gets dropped first.

Lmao…

We’re home for sure.

2007 May :: Delhi-Dhanaulti

- by Prasanna Singh :: May 30 2007

It’s a hot and humid Tuesday afternoon – John, Ludo and I meet up at Ruby and hitch a cab ride to Sealdah station. Taxi-rides are pretty uneventful in Kolkata, but not when you are traveling with two crazy members from CASSINI’s DIVISION who spend their time bugging each other. I get my first taste of Ludo’s “Astronaut – Ass” mantra, and it leaves me totally perplexed! But what leaves me more dumbfounded is when Ludo gets down somewhere near Moulali to buy cigarettes from a shop that sells car batteries!!! (An honest mistake, I know!)

The journey hasn’t even begun and yet the signs are ominous – this is going to be one helluva mad-cap journey!

Rahul and Sookie are already at the station by the time we reach. The Rajdhani is on time and we find our compartment. Unfortunately our seats seem to be scattered all over, so after stuffing our luggage on board, we spend the initial part of the journey keeping to ourselves.

I spend my time reading the manual of my digital camera, but I don’t make much headway since the instructions are all Greek to me.

Sookie busies himself by making himself mammoth cup after mammoth cup of coffee.
John gets down to stringing his bass guitar.
Ludo chats with a few co-passengers who are excited to be traveling on the same train as a pony-tailed rock musician.
Rahul? Oh he’s busy reading. He finishes 2 magazines before dinner-time, and then promptly starts reading a collection of fantasy short-stories, absolutely oblivious to the leg-pulling going on between the other three.

And in between all the above we do a lot of munching and crunching – the stewards on the Rajdhani spend a whole lot of time feeding us. We burp our way through the initial part of the train ride.

We also get together in between the munching and crunching to discuss the current rock scene in Kolkata and also about Someplace Else. This is never a cheery topic, and despite the recent success of Cassini’s Division (** touchwood **), Rahul reminds the other band-members that it will always be a struggle for bands in Kolkata, regardless of them being “THE HOBOS or LOS LOBOS”!
And so the journey continues…

Dinner is soon served – and it’s chicken curry. However my advice to all of you

would be to avoid it all costs the next time you travel by Rajdhani. Not unless you wish to spend a night of stomach clutching and loo running!! Seriously – by the next day 4 of us are feeling quite miserable and we blame the chicken for our plight. But that is another story.

There isn’t much to do after dinner, so I decide to go to sleep despite it being only 10 PM. The others spend their time in more productive ways no doubt. My last memory before I conk off is that of John meditating on his bunk and Ludo swigging away at rum concealed in a bottle of Coke.

May 31st, 2006
Morning. The train is running late by a bit. Ludo is still sleeping. The others are up however. Well actually, it seems like Rahul, Sookie and John couldn’t sleep a wink, so they were technically up the whole night. Rahul is also worried that his guitar might have faced irreparable damage after spending a night under John’s and Sookie’s guitar flight cases. They debate about that for the next 10 minutes till morning tea is served.

After tea I pass on my METAL HAMMER magazine to Rahul, the pages of which he starts flipping through gleefully. Sookie busies himself by brewing another killer cup of coffee. After a nice breakfast I suddenly experience one of those weird Manipuri mood-swings and start yelling and swearing in Bengali, much to the embarrassment of John.

After an hour or so of my torture we finally reach New Delhi.

Delhi! Whew!! What can I tell you – man, it’s burning HOT in our capital city. And hello??? NO humidity you say? Woh! My 1st 10 minutes here tell me that it’s almost as bad as Kolkata.
Anyway, we all bundle into a cab and head for Patparganj (located on the other side of the Yamuna river) – the residence of Rose and Lena (John’s sister). On the way we ask the cabbie to take us to the nearest booze shop. But the guy can’t seem to stop grinning as he informs us that liquor shops in Delhi DO NOT OPEN BEFORE 1 PM!!!!!

WHAT???? What kinda weird debauched system is this???? We are so stunned (well me and Ludo at least… Rahul keeps on saying “I told you so, I told you so”) that we don’t utter a single word during the journey. I am already starting to miss good ‘ol Kolkata – at least things are a lot more NORMAL back home!

We finally reach our destination – we are tired, and sweaty, and hungry. And our stomachs don’t feel good either (courtesy: last night’s chicken curry dinner). Anyway it’s great to be inside the comfort of a well-furnished apartment. Lena and Rosamma are both at work, but they have left a load of instructions on a piece of paper for us – food in the kitchen, eggs in the fridge, don’t use the 2nd tap on the left, turn on the A/C, yadda yadda yadda.

They both make their appearances after an hour or so – and Lena brings along some beer and wine and a bottle of whiskey for me. God bless her. I am introduced to the 2 ladies as “the fan from Kolkata” – and I don’t know whether I should be proud of that intro, or whether I should behave like a dancing bear and show them some stunts! Anyway!

After some much needed rest we all feel re-energised. Ludo and Sukanti go out to meet a friend of theirs (Mainak). Rahul seems to be in a major artistic mood and he spends the entire evening strumming Rose’s guitar and making notes in his diary. I finally get over my initial shyness and start behaving like the crazy Manipuri that I am, much to the delight of Lena and Rose. John doesn’t know whether he should shut my mouth with scotch tape or run away. The whiskey is definitely not making things any better.

We end the day with some more astounding Delhi facts – courtesy Ludo and Sookie… it seems that cigarette shops in this city all shut-down by 11 PM. But not so the ice-cream wallahs – they roam the streets at night selling their wares to the ice-cream starved citizens of our capital city, and people actually seem to buy these icicles even at the ungodly hour of 1 AM!!!

Boy what a weird city this is.

1st June, 2006
The bus to Dhanaulti is in the evening, so we have a lot of time to kill. Unfortunately the oppressive heat discourages us from going out for a city stroll. So we spend the day inside – and Rahul plays his new conceived tunes for the other band members. Needless to say, they sound awesome. He also jots down some real cool lyrics for these tunes in the wink of an eye – and voila, a new Division song!!

The band gets into the thick of things now, and come up with some other cool tunes for possible new songs. They also discuss strategies for their new album. It feels really nice to be a part of these discussions – especially when they ask me for my, AHEM, opinion!

We also spend a bit of time listening to the songs on my mp3 player – the guys like the new BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and DISTURBED song on it. We talk about LACUNA COIL and LINKIN PARK. And also about one of Sukanti’s favourite bands, SLIPKNOT.

Meanwhile John is walking around the house in his socks the whole day, something we cannot understand for the life of us. I assume that it’s some kinda fetish thingie… can’t be anything else.

We go out in the evening for some provision hunting – namely mineral water and medicine (avomin for me) and cigarettes too. I also need some whiskey and John needs black-nail polish. So me and Ludo and John go hunting for those as well. After much rickshaw hopping and “astronauting” we find our stuff. And by the end of our little outing Ludo has labeled all the shop keepers of Patparganj as “astronauts” … poor Delhites!

John and Sookie make a few phone calls and find out that our bus is to depart at 8:30 PM and not 6:30, as we had been initially informed. We also get a few calls from RSJ who are delighted that the band has arrived in tip-top shape for the Sunday gig at CLIMAX – part of RSJ’s much publicized month-long “Pub Rock” festival happening in Delhi.

Anyway, the time for “Destination Dhanaulti” approaches. We set off for the bus start-zone. It’s a nice bus and besides us there are members and friends of the bands Advaita and Vishnu… a few others too, whose band names I don’t remember. We manage to get front seats – Sookie and Ludo initially sit in the cabin beside the driver. After a quick roll-call the driver revs up the engine – and we are OFF to Dhanaulti.

I spend the initial part of the journey sleeping and occasionally swigging whiskey from my hip flask. Ludo swigs away with me as well. Everyone seems pretty excited – old pals meeting up and swapping manly jokes in the rear section of the bus, others are busy smoking the night away.

We stop at a nice dhaba for dinner in between the journey – and after dinner the bus driver (who is pretty much drunk) decides to make our journey more exciting. For some weird reason he decides to start the journey without half the passengers who are still at the dhaba having their meal! After much shouting and cussing he drives back to pick up the rest of guys. And then after another restart he has to stop again – this time John has left his cell-phone behind at the dhaba!

2nd June, 2006
It’s way past midnight and yet none of us can sleep – mister bus driver is driving as if he’s being pursued by a T-Rex. The bus swerves dangerously from one lane to the other, barely avoiding lorries and other buses approaching from the opposite lane. We also notice the guy nodding off at the wheel!

Everyone is on the edge of their seats now – I keep on remind myself that this ain’t no scene from Keanu Reeves’ “SPEED”!!

Anyway, after much hollering and swearing we wake up the driver’s assistant who has been ‘till now, sleeping like a baby! Asshole!! And we also force the driver to take an impromptu tea-break. In fact we all need a tea-break as well, after that hair-raising experience!

The rest of the journey goes on peacefully – Ludo wakes me up at around 3:30 AM when we are passing through Haridwar. I personally am not a fan of places of pilgrimage, but in this case it is absolutely awesome viewing this holy town in the early hours. The air is getting slightly nippy too, a sure-shot sign that the mountains are close by.

We arrive at Dehra Dun at the break of dawn. I love the look of this town – reminds me a lot of Shillong, one of my favouritest places on this planet.

Anyway, the first part of our trip ends at Dehra Dun. We are asked to board another (much smaller) bus for the 2nd and final leg of our journey. And this we do… up and up we go – the air starts getting cooler with every passing minute. And I am mesmerized by the view of the mountains and green around me – it’s great to be up in the hills again!

Most of the passengers are either sleeping or staring groggily at the mountains like zombies. Actually, so am I!!

There is a huge box full of milk packets on the bus as well, and a few of these packs suddenly decide to make this sleepy journey more exciting by leaking all over the front of the bus. In no time we have milk all over the floor and the bus starts to smell like a diary product. Anyway this hiccup, we finally reach Dhanaulti – as the bus parks in front of Andiji’s “Evolving Restaurant” I get my first glimpse of our host Andy Baines – a tall gentleman with a huge mop of “dreadlocked” hair and an extremely warm smile. Ajay Ramola, his assistant shows us our rooms – I decide to bunk in with Rahul and John for the time being.

After a quick wash-up we all decide to go have brunch – it is almost 11 AM, and the band is supposed to be playing in the evening. After a hearty helping of aloo parathas and double omlettes we all head back to our rooms, where the others decide to catch up on their sleep. I decide to take a warm bath instead but am horrified to see that none of the locks on the bathroom door work!! And ditto in the other room as well. To soak or not to soak?? Well I choose the former with much trepidation!

By the time evening approaches the gang is as fresh as daisies. I’m pretty much amazed that anybody got any sleep though – the sound system has been blaring non-stop since noon and it’s been driving me bonkers.

Anyway, we hop over to Andy’s joint, where Ajay hands out our entry cards for the show. The venue, by the way, is in the back-yard of Andy’s restaurant – a nice comfy area which seems capable of hosting 100-150 odd people – but not more. The previous edition of “Dhanaulti Rocks” was held on a grander scale, but none of the bands seem disappointed with this year’s venue as a whole. We stand around and check out the guys from Vishnu who are going through the motions of their sound check.

The sound… hmm. 1st impression – not too good. Me and the band have a quick cuppa tea and head back for a pre-show meeting in our room. Strategies are chalked out and a rough song-list for the show is assembled. Everyone is pretty relaxed, and the general consensus is that if the band can play good at a pub the size of Someplace Else back home in Kolkata, then the sound over at Andy’s shouldn’t be much of a deterrent for a good show. And I have to agree with them.

We soon hear Bobby Cash dishing out his country songs to the Dhanaulti crowd from our hotel room. Rahul decides to go check him out and we all follow him down to the venue as well.

Bobby Cash! Wow! I never really liked him much but after watching his performance tonight I have to admit that he’s one helluva artiste and an extremely talented guitarist as well. It was a fascinating show. At one point during his performance there is a power outage, but he’s totally nonchalant and continues playing despite.

Vishnu is up next. And they don’t waste any time in churning out their collection of Guns ‘n Roses covers, with a few Iron Maiden ones in between. Pretty cool show they put up.

We take a quick rain-check before their show ends – the guys go back to their rooms for a final round of preparation – and it’s a pretty funny sight watching them get dolled up before their show!!!

John takes out his “FAMOUS” McLaren jacket from his bag. And despite the constant leg-pulling from Sookie and Ludo, he decides to wear it on stage anyway. And he also busies himself with painting his finger-nails black and applying kohl to his eyes. His objective seems to be to look as gothic as possible during the show.

Rahul can’t decide whether to wear a sweater on stage, or his “99.9% Evil” tee-shirt over his sweater. In the end he chooses neither and puts on his “Wasted” full-sleeve jumper.

Sookie takes a quick rush to the loo and comes out grinning like a Cheshire cat after a few minutes. I presume he’s been downloading.

Ludo takes a few more swigs from my hip flask – and cracks a couple of “Chewing-Doing” jokes which irritates everyone no end.

Finally we are all ready – the band that is. We carry the equipment down to the venue and wait for Vishnu’s cover of IronMaiden’s “Invaders” to get over.

I help the guys put their toys on stage and select a strategic point for myself so that I can shoot pictures of the band in peace. The crowd has kinda thinned after the Vishnu show – I see a few excited (and possibly drunk) American tourists jumping up and down in front of the stage. Vivek Mattoo, a fan of Cassini’s Division joins me as well. This guy is a true member of the CD underground army – he’s from Simla but works in Noida, and he’s bunked a day’s work just to see the band play live. I tell him about the band’s new sound and he’s absolutely on tenterhooks, waiting for the show to start.

And then the music begins!!!

The band initially plan to dish out a few covers (as an unofficial sound-check) becoz they aren’t too sure about the quality of sound. So they start off with Dashboard Confessional’s “VINDICATED” but I cannot hear Sookie’s lead AT ALL! And the vocals sound like someone is singing in Paris and not in Dhanaulti. But the song goes down well with the sparse crowd.

R.E.M.’s “IMITATION OF LIFE” is up next – the band sounds a bit better now (after Andy has done some knob-twiddling no doubt) – so plan-B comes into picture – a full-fledged assault of Cassini’s originals for the crowd!!

Drown, Only For A While, Higher, Stay… they all come in quick succession. By the time they play “Stay”, the crowd has increased considerably. I smile smugly and yell back to the band “Kheye gachhe, crowd kheye gachhe” (loosely translated from Bengali to English: the crowd has fallen for you stuff hook, line and sinker!)

And then the highlight of the show – the 1st ever rendition of “Satyr9” at Dhanaulti. The crowd are thunderstruck and don’t know what has hit them – and then the moshing starts!!

I have already decided that I won’t be indulging in any head-bobbing activities – so I hide behind a pillar and busy myself by snapping away merrily.

The band complete their white noize assault with “Fake”, “Void Void”, “Caesar”, “Glow Worm” and “The Urban Phenomena”. The crowd up front goes completely berserk!! I see the members from Vishnu and Advaita and Orange Street staring intensely at Rahul and the gang from the back rows. I really can’t say what’s going on in their heads.

But the bottom-line – Cassini’s Division bring down the house on Dhanaulti Day #1. The crowd don’t let them get off stage until they play an encore – so they go into another round of “Satyr9”, which turns out to be the night’s biggest hit.

The crowd cheers as the boys come off stage – and I get a few pats on the back too from the crowd (they obviously think I’m their manager or roadie or groupie or WHATEVER!!!!)

It’s been a highly successful show despite the patchy sound. The band has won over the Dhanaulti crowd with their unique sound and undoubtedly added a whole bunch of people to their fan list.

3rd June, 2006
We stick around for a jam session between Advaita and a few other professional musicians, but hunger strikes us real bad and we leave after a few songs. It’s way past midnight too, and we had been promised a car by Ajay Ramola to take us back to Delhi as soon as our show got over.

Unfortunately there is no car and we aren’t sure what to do. Shampa, a friend of Vivek’s, suggests we stay back and hitch a ride to Delhi in the morning. And ultimately after much discussion with Ajay we decide to do just that. We need the sleep anyway – the bus journey the previous night still has us pretty much KO’d.

We go back to our room and chat a bit with Vivek who is absolutely bowled over by Cassini’s performance. We get to talking about music and good ‘ol Kolkata for some time, until Vivek goes back to his room. John on the other hand has gone A.W.O.L. – and everyone is worried about his whereabouts. Rahul and Ludo even plan a search party for the lost member, but Sookie is snug between his sheets and is in no mood to budge. What to do… me and Ludo take a few more swigs from the hip-flask. And wait.

Finally John arrives, and it’s past 3 AM!!! He tells us that he’s been to the potato farm looking for leopards… I don’t know whether to turn into a leopard myself and eat him up like a potato!!!! Anyway, we go to sleep becoz we all want to be fresh tomorrow for our long journey back to Delhi.

We’re all up and raring to go back after a good night’s sleep. We enquire about our car back for Dehra Dun, and are told that all arrangements have been finalized – the plan is to go to Dehra Dun and from there we board an A/C vehicle back to the capital.

Me and Ludo decide to go skulking around the back-roads of Dhanaulti before we leave – it’s really an awesome hill station and I sincerely wish we could have stayed longer. I guess maybe at the next Dhanaulti show. After a cuppa tea we head back to the hotel to get our stuff and along the way we meet the Delhi band Manthan. Nice chaps they be. Anyway, we say bye to Andy and Ajay and Vivek and Shampa and get into our vehicle. And off to Dehra Dun we are!

Within 15 minutes of our journey I start to feel woozy – it can only mean my body is succumbing to motion sickness!! I promptly decide to spend the rest of the journey with my eyes closed and listening to my mp3 player. So I miss most of the bullshit that takes place during the ride back. But I do have the good presence of mind to open my eyes occasionally to take in the beautiful scenery around us. Uttaranchal is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful states of India. The sight of mountains all around is awesome!

We drive through Mussorie and reach Dehra Dun after a few hours. Another change of vehicle – this time a Mahindra Scorpio is at our beck and call… boy, the band sure knows how to travel in style!

We continue our journey – near abouts Meerut Rahul starts jumping up and down in the car – he’s spotted a forest full of “weed” growing on both sides of the road – a proper cultivation in the truest sense of the word. We stop for one of our customary tea breaks and Rahul wastes no time in getting a leaf sample, which he presses between the pages of John’s notebook.

And the journey continues. The weather is unexpectedly pleasant – it’s been raining throughout the state. We pray that it is raining in Delhi too.

Lunch, somewhere near the borders of UP and Uttaranchal. And boy, can these guys eat! Barring Rahul, the rest of the band members have appetites that would rival Bhima’s or Kumbhakarna’s. And this has rubbed off on me as well. We all gorge on a repast that would surely have fed a minimum of 10 people. I feel kinda sick after our late lunch – I never seem to learn that gluttony is a cardinal sin, but I still pray to God that I don’t end up puking in the car on our final leg of the journey.

Anyway, we are off once again – and apart from the customary tea break in the evening we seem to be making good ground. The guys spend their time listening to a lot of music – hindi as well as hip hop. (yes yes yes , not alternative or metal!!)

We finally reach Delhi. It’s past 10 PM. I am absolutely pooped. Thank god the weather is cool. And it’s great to be back at Lena and Rose’s apartment where the toilet is clean!

June 4th, 2006
The early hours of Monday. The band and I have freshened up after our long road trip and have had dinner and yapped a bit with the ladies of the house. We are all tired but the band decides to have a meeting. I stay awake despite my deadly drowsiness. It is one of the most important meetings Cassini’s has ever held and I am honoured to be attending it.

It’s about 2 AM when things wind-up. We have a long day ahead and need to sleep.

Morning. RSJ has been phoning the band non-stop – tonight’s gig at CLIMAX looks like to be a major one indeed. Everyone is excited – and we have also been reading reports in the Delhi newspapers about the band – some are favourable and some extremely ambiguous, but in general we all seem pleased and excited that the band is getting some positive coverage.

Nikhil Kaul, a reporter from RSJ is supposed to be our liaison agent for the day. He comes over to meet us at around about noon. The plan is to shift the band to a guesthouse close to the venue, so we pack our stuff and follow our escort Mr. Kaul.

Our 1st stop is in a field adjacent to the RSJ office premises. We are left standing in the heat and totally at our wits end, while Nikhil goes hunting for an official RSJ vehicle that would take us to the guesthouse. After a long wait he finally returns and we all bundle into a Tavera and head off to our next destination: Chittaranjan Park.

Chittaranjan Park. I’ve heard tons about this place, but have never been here before. It is supposedly a “little Kolkata” in the heart of sprawling Delhi… and the moment we enter this locality I fall in love with it, as do the rest of the band members. All around us we see houses with Bengali names on their address plates. And signboards in Bengali as well. It seems like we’re driving through Salt Lake, and we feel totally at home.

Of course, like I mentioned – Chittaranjan Park being almost a carbon copy of Salt Lake, we take ages to locate our guesthouse (For those of you who have ever visited Salt Lake, you’ll know what I mean). We end up driving in circles for the next 10-15 minutes desperately seeking the guesthouse. The driver and Nikhil are as lost as we are. Anyway after a loooooong search we finally locate the place. Nice cozy room it is too. Nikhil takes his leave but before doing so he informs us that the car would be picking us up at 4 PM, becoz our sound-check is at around 5ish.

We order lunch and watch a bit of TV. Towards the evening a friend of Sookie’s drops by – Amartya. I’ve met him at Someplace Else before, so it’s cool to see a familiar face in big bad Delhi. He loses no time in asking me what appears to have become a customary question, “Are you Sukanti’s younger brother?” – I believe I’ve been asked this question so many times this trip that maybe it would be a good idea to actually become his blood brother. Officially. In a court of law thingie.

Anyway. We spend some time listening to his weird quirky yarns. It helps to kill the time at least, becoz as usual, our transportation to Climax is nowhere in sight. Phone calls are made to Nikhil and Shivani (RSJ Assistant Manager – Events & Promotions) and they re-assure us that the car would be arriving soon to pick us up.

The band starts their usual pre-gig preparations – the theme tonight seems to be “all black”. So everyone decides to wear black tees. John borrows my “Shadows Fall” tee and it looks kinda cool on him, even though I say so myself! They also decide to play an all-original set – another move I find sensible.

The car finally does arrive. We say goodbye to Amartya who promises to be at Climax by 7 PM (that he didn’t turn up at all is a different story altogether!) – and head off to rock Delhi!!

Climax. My 1st impression of the place is like “WOH MAMMA”!!!

Speaking strictly in a Kolkata context, Climax reminds me of a cross between ROXY, B.E.D. and SHISHA (all happening night-clubs back home). It’s truly a swanky joint and extremely upper class. But holding a rock gig here??? Pardon me, but I am pretty skeptical – especially when I notice that the stage is outdoors.

We take our equipment inside and pile them up in front of the stage. The RSJ staff comes up to greet the band, and we meet the lovely Shivani as well. I’m smiling inside, becoz I’m sure the RSJ staff are thinking, “Who the hell is this guy with the Queensryche tee? And why is he with the band??”

Them Clones is on stage doing their sound check – and we get a taste of tonight’s sound system – pretty much what we had expected, state of the art gadgets and crystal clear sound all around. The band looks happy, and frankly, so am I.

About tonight’s gig – Cassini’s Division are the opening act, followed by Them Clones and Mumbai rockers Vayu. I personally am excited about Them Clones, becoz I admire them a lot and I love their sound. Of Vayu, I have absolutely zero idea about them, but they seem like seasoned performers, and any band which can make it from metal crazy Mumbai must be good!

We roam around Climax (looking for the bathroom) waiting for our sound-check turn. In between I get to meet the grand old man of Indian rock, Amit Saigal. I exchange a handshake and a pleasant hello with the dude and I get the same bewildered look from him as well… “who is this guy with the band anyway???” But I am positively chuffed.

The guys finally go up on stage for their sound-check. Pretty elaborate it is too, I should add. But everyone seems pleased with the way things are going till now.

And now, the long wait. The gig is supposed to start at 8 PM, but this being India, nothing really ever does start on time. So we wait. And we wait. The crowd slowly starts to trickle in. We go to the gates becoz we have a few passes for friends and acquaintances. And we find out that this night-club has a dress code as well – no jeans or sneakers or sandals!! Eeegad!!! Bloody murder!!! Luckily this rule has been relaxed otherwise hardly anyone would be allowed entry!

Outside we meet Lena and Rose and Abhishek Tiwari – another Delhi-based fan of the band. Also outside is Ludo’s pal Mainak and Tukan.

Inside its pretty crowded now. And it’s a pretty hep crowd – totally unlike what I am used to seeing at my favourite pub Someplace Else back home. I’m not sure whether these people are here to listen to the music or to just socialize the night away. But I keep calm anyway – no point in getting agitated even before the show has begun.

My pal Abhishek Majumdar finally arrives as promised, and I am delighted to see him – and as promised, he brings along a few of his pals as well. I also am happy to see Hemu Adhikari, an orkut pal of mine. Tall guy he is, and a nice “Cannibal Corpse” tee he is wearing too (or is it “Cradle Of Filth” – my memory!!!).

Amit Saigal and the band finally get up on stage. Mister Saigal says a few words and formally declares the start of the PUB ROCK festival in Delhi (lucky city, I’m already jealous!!). He introduces Cassini’s Division to the crowd and lets the festivities begin!! And begin they do – the band dish out “Drown” to the crowd. And it’s an excellent rendition as well, I might add. “Drown” is followed by the usual suspects: “Only For A While”, “Higher”, and “Animals”.

However, something doesn’t really seem right here. The crowd isn’t really getting involved or anything. They’re sitting on the ground and applauding after each song. And there are a few shouts of appreciation from behind as well. But not a single indication that there might be any headbanging or moshing happening tonight. I feel pretty disappointed.

Anyway, the show goes on – the band play “Stay” – and that perks up the Delhi crowd! I can see some of them bobbing their head now.

“Satyr9”. Awesome start to the song, and the crowd seem to like it a lot – the excitement on their faces is pretty visible.

I’m looking around however and I still see no signs that any moshing might take place. But at least the crowd behind the bar is jumping up and down with excitement. Unfortunately the crowd in front of the stage seems to be hard-core heavy-metal fanatics (I have read a lot about this underground group – they only listen to metal, the heavier the better!) and though they seem to be enjoying the music, they don’t show any signs of getting up.

And then… disaster! Rahul’s mic suddenly starts to fade out during the rendition of “Fake”. I don’t know whether he or the other band mates even realize this, but it’s definitely sounding bad, almost as if he’s whispering on stage. Lena frantically rushes off to the sound guy who raises his hands helplessly. After the song I shout out a few swear words about the sound. And a few guys in the crowd do so as well. Thank God. Coincidentally the AAJTAK camera-man starts to focus his gadget on me after my swearathon, which is a wee bit embarrassing – and I also get stared at by the pretty AAJTAK TV reporter. Stare, mind you, NOT ogled at!! I decide to mind my language for the time being – looks like Delhi can’t handle my weird Manipuri act.

Anyway, what to do, CD continue their Delhi onslaught with “Void Void” which goes down exceptionally well with the crowd. As is expected. And then follows the crowd puller “Caesar”.

Unfortunately, another gaffe enfolds here as well.

For some weird alienistic reason, one of the RSJ guys (a pony-tailed dude in an Arsenal tee) decides that this is the right time to tighten up a screw of one of Ludo’s cymbals… yes, in the middle of the song. So Ludo is rendered playless for a few minutes, which is absolute madness. And the guy also manages to disconnect Sookie’s guitar as well. So there you have it – for the 1st time ever, a semi-nude version of “Caesar”! I’m boiling mad by now.

The rest of show goes on without anymore sound or equipment hitches – “Glowworm” and “The Urban Phenomena” are appreciated with a good amount of clapping and cheers. But no calls for an encore, unfortunately – this crowd either did not enjoy the show or they happen to be the most decent crowd ever to have been present at a Cassini’s gig. I am absolutely bewildered!! But anyway, I guess I can’t complain – it was definitely a sizable crowd, and there was no hint of the intimidation factor that I had heard so much about. Delhi rock lovers are considered to be the toughest people to play to in the country, so in hind-sight I would have to say this was a pretty good gig by Cassini’s Division – but it didn’t rise to their Sunday “Someplace Else” heights, thatz for sure.

The band seem to be disappointed with their performance though and they vanish from Climax with Chintan Kalra and Dilip Ramachandran (both of PARIKRAMA fame) – I guess they need time to reflect on tonight’s performance and over-all crowd reaction. So I let them be.

I stick around and check out Them Clones who are now on stage are busy wowing the crowd with an all original set. I like this band a lot and it feels good to see them playing live after almost a year.

I spend the rest of the evening hobnobbing with Lena and Rose and the rest of Cassini’s support line. And with the crowd of Delhi socialites – they are an interesting bunch of people, the likes of whom you don’t really get to see in Kolkata. The crowd has magically decided to stand up now and all those scary metal-heads who were initially sitting are now head-banging with gay abandon to each Them Clones song! Well duh, Them Clones are a Delhi band after all, so I guess it’s very natural that the Climax crowd loves them so much. Sniff. Reminds me of the Sundays back home at Someplace Else when Cassini’s Division plays to a full house. Sniff.

After Them Clones, it’s now the turn of Vayu to get up on stage. The Cassini’s gang co-incidentally decides to make their re-appearance at Climax again with Dilip and Chintan. We stick around to watch Vayu who are a classic rock covers band. And they give a really tight performance with loads of classic rock crowd-pullers. Their front-man 2Blue is quite the showman. He even tears his tee off and offers to give it to the woman (or was it a hetero-sexual offer this? Don’t really remember!!) who screams the loudest during their show. I wonder if he really did give his tee away. I didn’t stick around for that scene, thank god.

Anyway, personally I feel Kolkata’s very own Hip Pocket is a much better classic rock covers band than Vayu – but Vayu certainly does put up a very impressive show, they seemed to go down with the Climax crowd extremely well.

SO, the 1st Pub Rock show ends and it looks like it’s been a major success. As in Dhanaulti, here too members of the audience come over and pat me on the back and shake my hand and tell me how much they loved Cassini’s sound. One bloke even comes up to me and says that he has my number and would be calling me up to book Cassini’s for another Delhi show in October.

It’s past midnight now. All I wanna do is eat dinner and go to sleep. I have a flight to catch at 9 AM in the morning and I am in no mood to party whole night. Unfortunately the night is still young – and no one really is concerned that it’s already a new day, Monday –

5th June, 2006

We have a quick pasta dinner and I manage to get the band to pose for a few snaps with the Them Clones guys who are sitting at the table adjacent to us. Dilip from Parikrama is also around and he wants to take the gang to his pad to hear an uninterrupted acoustic version of “Caesar”. And Chintan is coming along too. So that means I have to tag along! Oh dear! I’m more worried than sleepy now becoz it looks like it’s going to be a looooong night.

We follow Dilip back to his flat in South Delhi and I must say it’s an extremely well furnished place. Chintan and a few of their friends join up as well. So after the customary jokes, the band get down to business – Rahul plays and sings them “Caesar” and a few other tunes like “Simba”, “Rumble” and “Mister Mishra”. Our hosts are absolutely delighted with their mini performance. Chintan and Dilip dish out a lot of words of encouragement for the band, and it really is wonderful to see such established musicians speak so highly about this “controversial” Kolkata quartet. They even call them the “FUTURE OF INDIAN ROCK” – now that, my friends, is the mother of all praises!

Unfortunately I ain’t in much of a sociable mood – so I sit quietly in a corner sipping away at my peg of Absolut feeling sleepy and worried drunk. Worried that I ain’t gonna get any sleep and that I’m gonna miss my morning flight. Anyway. It’s a pleasant party notwithstanding and I do enjoy myself even though I generally keep mum. If either Dilip or Chintan is reading this then I apologise for my weird behaviour. I’m generally not that bad a bum or party-pooper. Well most of the time at least.

At approx. 4 AM we decide to call it a night (or should I say morning??). We say our thank yous and byes to our hosts and head back to CR PARK. The trip doesn’t take too long – the roads are empty after all!

And that my friends ends my part in this journey of mad-cap mystery. I guess I’ll just add that I did manage to catch my Kingfisher flight after just 1 hour of sleep back at CR Park. My last memory of the band is:

Ludo snoring away to Kingdom Come.

John snoring away to Kingdom Come as well.

Rahul underneath his blanket.

Sookie downloading in the bathroom.

The CD guys leave for home in the evening by train. I hope none of them strangle anyone on their way back or is force fed poison.

A week with the band – one of the best experiences I have ever had – I got to hang out with not only 4 talented musicians, but also 4 really good friends. It was one of my best vacations ever, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for taking such good care of me and also for letting me be a part of their world – the nutty, crazy, totally blow-your-mind-out world of CASSINI’s DIVISION.

2005 Nov :: ‘Dhanaulti Rocks’ Music Festival

by jBoi on 14.11.2005

01 November
On the road again. The Rajdhani Express to Delhi shudders dangerously as it speeds along manically, and we muse on how in the midst of life we are in death. Only Rahul enjoys the journey completely as it is sanitized and remote from the unwashed masses. This is the way to travel, says he. We disagree completely. We are on our way to play at the Dhanaulti Rocks Music Festival 2005 to be held on the 4th, 5th and 6th of November at Dhanaulti, Tehri Garhwal, Uttaranchal.

02 November
A bus has been organized from Delhi to Dhanaulti, but it leaves on the 3rd, so we spend a pleasant day at Patparganj, where my sister and her flatmate stay. A long walk around CP and Gol Market, a little singsong, and lots of kebabs and rum, make for a late but pleasant night.

03 November
We catch the bus in the moist and balmy evening, and head off through the traffic via Gurgaon and Meerut. There are three other bands traveling with us – Advaita from Delhi, Aliens from Vizag, and Grungy Morphins from Darjeeling. It feels amazingly good to be traveling with a bus-load of musicians. The stuff one only gets to read about. We have bagged front row seats and soon strike up conversations with members of Advaita.

04 November

It transpires that the bus will be taking us only till Dehradun, from where we will have to shift into a smaller (??!!) bus. We pass

floodlit Haridwar past midnight. The changeover in Dehradun is very cold and is made at an ungodly hour. Members of Aliens admit that they did not come prepared with warm wear to handle this. I inadvertently remark that from here on its straight up and very much colder – a prospect that seems to worry them greatly.

We reach Dhanaulti at 4.30 am. The cold is absolutely exquisite. As we chatter and shudder, Andy, of the Andiji’s Evolving Restaurant fame (why not come inside and eat?), looms through the darkness. Andy is tall, with blonde dreadlocks and eyes twinkling from under the brim of his Stetson-style hat. He regards our rigor amusedly and remarks, “Rather fresh, wot?” to which we find no suitable reply, but instead look mutinous. We find rooms with great haste and call it a day.

We wake at midday and breakfast at Andiji’s, instantly falling in love with Charlotte and her homemade crusty bread. On moseying around, we find that Dhanaulti is basically one horse town with lots of hotels, motels and restaurants. The festival site is on the edge of a wooded area – replete with grassy slopes and a border of fir trees. Uphill from the festival site is the potato farm – a vantage point for viewing the snow peaks and other activities. It seems that some of the bands scheduled to play today are not going to be able to. Plus the snare drum has gone AWOL – but a replacement is on its way up. The opening ceremony consists of longwinded, poxy bureaucrats intent on their two minutes of fame and screen time, followed by Andy’s two prophetic words, Let’s Rock. Survanaasham, local favourites, come on first. Aliens follow but are unable to proceed due to the extreme cold. They are followed by Advaita – a young band from Delhi, whose music we absolutely dug.

We are scheduled to play on the 6th, but are asked to put in a small acoustic performance, after Parikrama, which we do, playing an REM cover and four originals.

05 November
Saturday witnesses a Garhwali performance – song and dance accompanied by a local band. Mussoorie rockers Silver Rain give what is probably their last and possibly finest performance as a band, before going out to answer the call of duty to the country. Menwhopause deliver a cool, earthy, original set. The hillside is dotted with bonfires. Then come the day’s headliners, Parikrama, who unleash an hour and a half of incredible covers interspersed with a couple of their compositions including But It Rained. What an incredible stage act. Their performance is accompanied by a scintillating fireworks display.

Inebriated locals interrupt the proceedings as the penultimate band of the day, Vishnu, are in the final stages of their performance. A lousy and potentially dangerous scene ensues, with Andy herding the locals and soothing visitors. Nakshatra, the last band to have gone up on stage, decline to play, understandably. Thus ends Saturday, on a not so pleasant note.

06 November
Sunday. I wake early and drink a couple of chais with Akshay, who will be handling the sound today. A long walk and many plans later, we return to the village. A now-suitably clad band of Aliens perform their set of covers and originals. Prithvi comes on next with a half hour set of hard rock.

And then it’s us. In the dying rays of the sun we perform an all-original set. It takes us a while to adjust to the sound and the cold, but the audience whoops and cheers with each song. We are especially warmed by Andy and the lovely Charlotte, and members of the Parikrama team, including Chintan and Dilip, who have stayed back. Caesar draws particular enthusiasm as do Only For A While, Fake, Voivoid and Stay. We are asked to perform Caesar once more as an encore – we feel quite chuffed about it. Way cool! We pack our gear feeling quite international, instead of like a small band from Calcutta. Lots of people come up to us and tell us that they really like our sound and lyrics. We do too, guys!

Orange Street is next. With musicians playing over the texture bed of a GrooveLab, their electro-fusion rock is a treat to watch. Prestorika follows with an original set of hard rock with metal and progressive influences. Then come the crazy metalmeisters from the Queen of the Hills – Grungy Morphins from Darjeeling. Strange how you can tell a band that lives and believes in a lifestyle from one who has put together an act. These guys are the real McCoy. Sikkim metallers, Still Waters bring up the close of the day and of the festival with a combination of covers and originals.

We head back to Andiji’s for a much needed cuppa and to thaw. The bus is supposed to head back to Delhi at midnight and will take a good 12 hours, and Rahul needs to catch the train from Delhi at 5 in the evening. So we decide to cut our losses and hire a car, which is an expensive proposition – but what the heck!! Meanwhile, we return to our rooms to pack our stuff.

07 November
When, by 12, the bus has left and we haven’t, we begin to wonder. So we head back to the warmth of Andiji’s where countless cups of coffee later, the car arrives at 2.30 am. We pile our gear in, and following fond farewells to Andy, Charlotte, and Siddharth, we pile in ourselves. The twisty road makes some of us feel quite ill, but the jewel-encrusted Dehradun signals the beginning of the plains.

Final Entry
It is over – for now. But there will always be another Dhanaulti, and lots more bands. As we pit-stop at Haridwar in the first light of the dawn, it seems the auspicious thing to do. There is no turning back for this band.

And dawn breaks.

(Photo Credits go to the rock lawyer Abhishek Tewari and Lena Bose. Thanks guys)