Notes pad

16/330, khajoor lane, Karol Bagh. The iron gates leading to the house are rusted; the paint is peeling off and the nameplate dull with dust. But it8217;s got character and if you listen hard enough, it hums with music. For, this is where the original desi rock band, Indian Ocean, has been rehearsing since 1997.

In a small room inside the house owned by drummer Amit Kilam8217;s friend Gurpreet Singh, the instruments sprawl on the ground, their caskets a canvas of airline tags8212;from Kingfisher to Lufthansa. A low bamboo chair, a couple of mikes, CDs and a TV set are the only other objects in the room.
Today, instead of the lilting notes of Kandissa or the angst of Are ruk ja re bande, a few four-letter words fill the air8212;each time Indian batsmen fall to the Aussie attack in the India vs Australia Twenty20 match at Melbourne. 8220;We are cricket maniacs. We try not to miss a match India plays. That8217;s why we8217;ve got the TV here,8221; says Amit, pointing to a bat inside the room. 8220;We play cricket in the veranda during breaks,8221; he says.
The TV has other uses as well. 8220;We use it watch rough cuts of our music videos. We also watch sequences of movies and try to compose tunes that would suit them,8221; explains guitarist Sushmit Sen.

The walls are off-white, the inside door connecting to a studio where the group records rough cuts is painted orange. Is there any reason for the choice of colours? 8220;No particular reason and we really don8217;t care about them either,8221; says Sushmit. 8220;We8217;d rather invest in gear than in the deacute;cor of this room which indeed is shabby,8221; he says wryly.

What has made them stick to this pad for so long? The high ceilings make for good acoustics, for one. The musicians also believe that the house acts as a buffer as they8217;ve had 8220;no complaints from neighbours8221; thus far. That, we think, is for some other reason. Who8217;d complain at being woken up by the best of contemporary music?