All up in the air

Paradoxically, while Khush grew up in the USA on the tabla and dholak, Ramana 37 grew up in India on rock-n-roll, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Hendrix8230; An IIT graduate, who went to US in1986 for a PhD in Solar Energy, he ended up expending more energy on music than on studies. He even formed a college band with local and Jamaican musicians, and soon Ramana was forced to choose between the PhD and music. He settled for a masters in CS, instead!

They met in 1989, when Ramana went shopping for a flute. The vibes resonated and Misty Rhythms was born. Since then the duo has been regularly playing at concerts, clubs, pubs and the works. quot;We come from unique backgrounds and there is no reason why we should be together8230; you would not expect two people talking different languages to enter a room and create music,quot; says Kush. For Ramana it is a matter of wavelengths, more than talent, personalities have to match. quot;People on the same wavelength play better than two ustads on different wavelengths,quot; he asserts.

The title, Misty Rhythms has a fascinating genesis 8212; it comes from the mist of San Francisco, eternalised by Jack Kerouac. Explains Ramana, quot;You wake up to a San Francisco morning, see fogroll over the mountain, advance towards the city, swallow it up8230; and suddenly all around is mist. The lights come one, pulsate8230; and there is rhythm.quot;

Khush and Ramana would love to be full time musicians, if only they could afford to. quot;But reality slaps, you have bills to pay and have to earn to pay those bills,quot; says Khush. So music has been more of a passionate digression, a safety valve. quot;After the tensions and pressures of the day, we come home to music and to catharsis,quot; adds Ramana. He puts down the melody, and Kush creates the rhythm. And though Kush is in Berkeley and Ramana in Bangalore, they keep the pipeline open via phones and emails. quot;We shift tapes to and fro, send sound files via email8230; puts a little strain, but we manage to work closely,quot; says Ramana.

He finds the current music scene in India vastly different from the time he went abroad, during the Chayageet days of the mid-8217;80s. But Ramana refutes that it is quantity at the cost of quality, quot;Excellence does not come bymagic. It evolves from pursuit. You have to get bad before you get better!quot; Also the boundaries between various forms of music have become fuzzy and Misty Rhythms plans to erase it completely. Their music fits no bracket, toes no conventions. Even the records companies they went to were stumped. quot;They heard it, pondered and said, Ok, sounds great, but where does it fit!8217;quot;

He calls their music quot;Reflectionquot; since it is an autobiographical journey of their tryst with pain and pleasure, sorrow and happiness. The title track, Aye Laila, comes from an early morning rendezvous at a dhaba in Berkeley, where Khush and Ramana met to read the papers and have chana-chaat. Just then, a breathtakingly beautiful woman came by and sat at a table a little distance away. Ramana gaped, gulped like an asthmatic and finally garnered the courage to walk up to her for a chit-chat. quot;She looked as if a jerk had come. I was struck by the whole process of being so enamoured that you end up doing stupid things!quot;The girl walked off, but left behind a song!

And a band that came to Mumbai on a whirlwind tour 8212; and left almost without a trace but for a fine mist that hit Rhythm House, this month 8212; in the form of a new album.