Some would say comedy and music are two sides of the same coin. No one could agree more than Rahul Ram, the frontman of fusion rock band Indian Ocean and a member of the social satire trio of Aisi Taisi Democracy (ATD).
The two performed to a packed audience over the weekend at St. John’s Auditorium, Koramangala, as part of Red FM’s ‘MusiCom’ that brought both acts together in a six city tour. Talking before the show, Rahul reminisces about his childhood in Bengaluru saying it is great to be back in the city he calls second home. “My ajji (grandmother) used to live here and my chikappa (uncle) still lives in Jayanagar 4th Block. That’s the good old Bangalore. I still remember walking on the streets under the rain trees, buying salted groundnuts – that to me is Bengaluru. Those things I love. You still find them in those backstreets. The main roads have become rubbish.”
On how good is his Kannada? He promptly replies in his best accent: “Sir, swalpa swalpa barutte (little, little I know) – my mother was Bengali and they are cultural imperialists, so while my father learnt Bengali, my mother never learnt any Kannada!” he guffaws and adds: “My grandmother could speak English so we were never forced to learn any Kannada. Even now I can understand it, but speaking may be tough as though my accent is fine but the grammar is not up to the mark.”
Of the show, he says: “I love playing for the Bengaluru crowd. I don’t think we’ve ever had a bad concert here. I hope today is not the exception! I look forward to this show. For me, it is a little tough since I’m part of both acts. So I juggle. It’s the first time we’re doing this. Both ATD and Indian Ocean are used to doing two hours plus sets. So to squeeze the two, it requires a little mental adjustment.”
The takeaways for the audience, he says, are that both are different acts. “Some people come for ATD who don’t know about Indian Ocean, while some come for Indian Ocean who don’t know about ATD. So there’s a nice cross-fertilisation that happens. I think people will end up enjoying both. And both the acts gain from doing this together. I think it’s a great initiative and hope we get to do more such shows.”
The spill over for Rahul is inevitable. “Sometimes I crack a joke, since I do a lot of talking for Indian Ocean also, and Amit will go ‘Hey! This is not ATD!’”
What draws Rahul to both these acts? “Well, this is now my 27th year in Indian Ocean. I think I started practising with the band in February, 1991. So, you know, 27 years – you can say, Indian Ocean has been a severe part of my life and will continue to be.” One thing that is pivotal, he goes on to say, is that “We strive to make good music. It doesn’t help if we lose interest. We don’t want to live off our old music – that is terrible. After Susmit left, he’s doing well and produced another album. We’ve produced albums as well and are having fun making new songs. It’s worked out best for everybody. Indian Ocean has got a new lease of life and we’re enjoying it.”
ATD, on the other hand, is in its fourth year, the entertainer says. “While Indian Ocean is consciously not overtly political, ATD is. So my political soul gets its solace in ATD. Indian Ocean will not play for a party. We will play for governments since they’re beyond a party. The reason ATD works is because it’s not for or against any party. It’s for and against the stupidities of our society. And politics somehow seem to bring that out, more than anything else,” he explains with his infectious smile.
On selecting material, Rahul affirms: “Honestly, mostly it’s about the stupidities. Anything that elicits an ‘ehh?’ or a ‘what?’ response works for the three of us. Varun Grover and Sanjay Rajoura write their own material while we come together to work on the songs. The other thing I learnt is that I can play Indian Ocean’s hits like ‘Khandisa’, ‘Bandeh’ or ‘Ma Rewa’ for 20 years, but I can’t ever repeat a joke twice. You have to keep changing, reinventing the material for ATD.”
What’s at the heart of Indian Ocean for Rahul? He thinks for a bit and admits: “I don’t know. It’s a mystery – whenever I try to analyse, I realise its very Indian. It’s very rooted and honest, it doesn’t try and copy or fall into fads. We pay a lot of attention to our lyrics and also to our music, since a lot of bands tend to focus on one or the other. That seems to work not just in India, but across the world.”
Looking ahead, Rahul says he likes to live in the moment. “With Indian Ocean, we take it as it comes. And with ATD, everyone is so busy, I love getting together whenever we get the chance. Political satire in India is very old history – except that we are taking a new way of doing it. Our society requires satire and will never stop needing it.”
