It is a journey back to the 50s and 60s as a man, sporting a cowboy hat and a guitar slung across his shoulder sings Mr. Tambourine Man, Georgia on my mind, Imagine…Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and John Lennon come alive as he plays the harmonica hanging around his neck and blows into the kazoo, a wind instrument.
He is Rockin Robin, a French musician, who chucked up his job to become a travelling street musician. For the last two years, he and his friend Sandra have hitchhiked across the world.
They park themselves near roadside eateries, cafes and even highways and perform for whoever they find there. It is a free performance.
Well-wishers are free to contribute some money if they like his music. And now they are at Kites Café for a performance.
This is their only source of income now, says Sandra. “We do not spend money on accommodation. We make friends and stay in their houses or we put up tents.” Sandra is a chocolate and wine taster. Both of them have often tried to combine their passions by co-hosting a music and chocolate tasting session in cafes.
They have travelled around 20,000 kms in these last two years across Iran, Armenia, Romania and other European countries. Robin launches into a song he learnt on his visit to Romania. Themed on the Robin Hood myth, it is a tribute to the local heroes, who steal money to give to the poor.
They heard this song from a group of punk rock youngsters as they trekked down a hillside in Romania, says Robin. “We saw this group huddled around, singing these songs, their voices breaking the still night air. The songs were revolutionary. It was a different experience. The music felt good and I knew I had to learn it.”
In India, they have been around Kerala and Tamil Nadu. “In France, the music has got to do a lot with the night life in the city. Here, I do not find such a culture. Music is very connected to the religious places.” So Robin and Sandra headed to Tanjore, the home town of classical music and temples and decided to give a street concert there!
It was during one such performance at Tanjore that they bumped into Amith, a music buff and a Cognizant employee from Coimbatore. The French couple stood out from the devotees streaming out of the temple, recalls Amith. “I was so moved that I even wrote a blog post about it. I asked them where they were staying and they pointed at their tent. I asked them to stay with me in Palakkad and convinced them to perform in Coimbatore.”
Robin sings a few more songs as we sip into steaming cups of coffee and dig into sandwiches.
He surprises us all with a Malayalam song by Aviyal, the popular rock band. This he learnt in his short stay in Cochin, he says. He has downloaded the whole lyrics into his tablet and renders the tongue twisting syllables in the song with so much ease and confidence. “Music is just not about the language. It’s all about the feel,” Robin says.
MARS, a local music band in the city performed with Robin at a recent shopping expo. “He jammed with us for a few minutes and right away got the rhythm and beat of the Tamil and Malayalam numbers we sang!” says Sandeep, a band member. MARS launches into a raunchy Tamil song, and Robin accompanies them with his groovy guitar beats.
In Cochin, he performed in coffee shops and in coastal villages. “We stayed with a group of fisher men. It was an amazing experience. Every evening we would perform for them,” recalls Sandra.
“And, they would fetch us nice fish. Our day began with a dip in the sea.” Robin and Sandra have managed to inspire many, who they met on their way. “Many youngsters want to travel like us. We met a fisherman at Rameshwaram who was an educated man, but was not interested in making money. He wanted to join us and so did a magician at Cochin who was inspired to take our path and explore the world as a street magician.”
Robin and Sandra are headed to Thrissur next. They want to soak in the regional flavours of Kerala, relish its cuisine and maybe, if lucky, get a glimpse of the rains in Kerala.
But where do they hitch hike to after they leave India? Robin shakes his head. “We do not know. The journey is not about the destination. It is the path. And as of now, we are enjoying just that.”