DURING THE LATE October 2005 Advaita, a psy-fusion band in which I play guitar, was in the middle of a television interview for a Doordarshan programme on communal harmony. As the shoot was winding up, I got a call from an Englishman who introduced himself as Andy Baines, who told me about a rock festival that was going to be held in the beautiful hills of Dhanaulti. Apparently, this festival was to be done in collaboration with the UN. The purpose was to raise funds and awareness for the victims of the earthquake that hit Kashmir and Pakistan during that time. All zesty thanks to the noble ideals we were already talking about in the interview, we instantly felt this was something to agree upon. The band was ready to rock in the beautiful hill station, added with the spirit of human compassion.

 

About three weeks after my conversation with Andy, our band and some friends reached a place in North Delhi, where a bus was waiting to take us to the hills. Immediately, it was evident that Andy had made calls far and wide. There were bands from different places. Ours was the only band from Delhi. There was Cassini’s Divisionfrom Kolkata, Grungy Morphinsfrom Darjeeling and another band from Andhra Pradesh. Although, the night journey was fun, we had to change the bus before the start of the mountains. Further, when we finally reached Dhanaulti at four in the morning, the place was freezing beyond imagination.

 

The first Dhanaulti Rock Festival (DRF) in November 2005 was a momentous event for the Indian rock scene, and one cannot escape the irony that it was initiated by an Englishman. It was in many ways a new concept of bringing musicians together. Although there are many festivals in the country, they always seem to be lacking the true ‘festive’ spirit, something which many felt was clearly permeating this particular event.

 

That is not to say that the event was without any problems. Firstly, the ‘cause’ seemed to be nowhere in the scheme of things. Apparently, the UN had backed out. So, it was now only about ‘awareness’ for the earthquake victims. There were also various lodging problems. Let us not forget that at this time of the year it was excruciatingly cold and taking a bath was some sort of a challenge, and most places had no jugaad for hot water, some did not even had any water with most of them were without any electricity.

 

To be honest, one did not know what to make of these things at the first glance. Although, there was a good sound system and a huge amount of bands from all over, it seemed there was not going to be much of an audience and in all likelihood the various bands were going to end up watching each other. There were a few adventurers from Delhi who had tagged along with some of the bands.

 

Yet, by the first evening when the music started, the people who were till now scattered and hiding in hotels trying to warm themselves came out and gathered in the park where the stage was set up. Advaita played on the first evening and as we began our doubts over the true intentions of the event and all the other drawbacks were put on hold, as we realised we were playing our in a really beautiful place and the fact that there would not be too many chances to play in a setting like this. Also, there was something about the way music resonates in the hills where the silence is actually noticeable. To cut a long story short, Advaita put up a great performance and everyone present during the show loved it. Our expressions of ‘what are we doing here’ changed into smiles that stretched from ear to ear.

 

Although, my band members had to get back to Delhi for some work, a friend and me decided to stay behind and enjoy the place and all the other bands. It was incredible, even though, there were not too many people, a lot of the top bands like Parikrama, Orange Street, Vishnu, Nakshatra, Felixes (from Imphal), Menwhopause were present.

 

That brings me to the point of the whole thing. Dhanaulti is a beautiful place, and for the music lovers, the hills always have a special attraction. With the kind of beautiful places we have in India, one wonders why a festival like this does not exist already. Obviously, a few words that come to mind are money and sponsorship.

 

The first DRF was supported by Parikrama Inc., the event management company run by the keyboard player of Parikrama Subir Malik. No one really knows the financial arrangements made for the festival but clearly somebody was running a loss.

 

In fact, none of the bands got paid, although, their travel and lodging expenses were taken care of. This was a reasonable arrangement, though, I wonder if all those bands that crossed the earth to get there would have come at all had they knew that the ‘earthquake relief’ part of it was not really there. When the three-day festival, which included lots of drinking and partying came to an end, most of the people I knew were glad to be back from the cold to their ‘organised’ lives.

 

However, it was not the end of the road for the DRF. A month back, somewhere around end May or early June 2006, the news spread that the festival was happening once again. This time, however, it was going to be on a smaller scale with cheap sound system in a cheaper venue, Andy’s backyard. We decided there was no point for the whole band to go, a decision that was taken by some other bands as well. However, as it was the month of June and the heat in Delhi was in its full swing, some of us decided to take the trip. Our bass player Arpan and me went to backup our friend Sajid and felt his acoustic stuff would be perfect for the hills.

 

The second DRF gala was in many ways a non-event. Apart from the mentioned factors, the bands that went were also not the best known ones. The price of the ticket at Rs 1,000 was basically ridiculous. However, musicians like Anirban of Orange Street, a few others and myself supported the event and the concept behind it. Further, everything was taken care of, and for the musicians it was a free holiday with some music thrown in. At this time of the year, the weather was also perfect. We had a few chats with Ajay, Andy’s partner and all agreed that what these guys are trying to do is not only fantastic but also important for the underground music scene in India.

 

I have been playing on this so-called ‘scene’ for the last eight years or so and have seen quite a few changes. The style of the music bands have changed, the scales of the concerts have changed, and more promoters have propped up apart from the ‘mighty’ Rock Street Journal. Yet, even now, there are too many competitions, mainly in college fests, and not that much camaraderie between the bands. Even the biggest events like the Great Indian Rock do not really have the feeling of being a festival. From the marketing pint of view, a huge chunk of rock listening janata could not care less about the local scene.

 

The DRF has the potential to be the one thing on the musical calendar that goes against the grain. Here, we enjoy the company and performances of the other bands. Even in the second DRF many people from different bands just got on the stage and jammed for fun. For the spectator the experience can be wonderful and multi dimensional, and it must be packaged that way.

 

I hope it does grow into all it promises to be and sponsors do come in. Who knows, it may just become the ‘Indian Woodstock’.

 

 [Abhishek Mathur plays guitar for the rock band Advaita that was part of the DRF 2005 and 2006]

 

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