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Our Music
Music has been one of the
best parts of our college life. Music competitions, chapel services,
entertainment and the bathrooms have really helped to explore our musical
talents. Our musicians are plenty and we really enjoy putting up music.
There are some catches though. We are famous for our indecision when we
choose our songs.(courtesy Pradeep Ninan and gang). We have the honor of
losing three interclass music comps very closely in a row. Maybe we should
institute an award for anybody who can repeat that feat.
Partying is a popular
pastime and every place and event warrants a party. Rooms, terraces,
balconies, bathrooms, stages, lawns, hilltops, streets, restaurants have all
watched us boogie-woogie, shake, headbang, twist, shout, swing, thump,
scream, move and jive to pop, rock, bhangra, rap, tribal, ska, nursery
rhymes, indypop and plain noise.
Dancing........ Besides
partying the dances that we put up for various entertainment programs have
been well appreciated. It started off with the girls setting hearts ablaze
with the first dance they put up to the tune of Harry Belafonte's 'Jump in
the line'. There was no turning back for the girls and they just got better.
The guys were slow starters. Dancing on stage was not our cup of tea.. We
finally shook off our inhibitions and, inspired by one of our girls' dances
(the fusion dance), we put up a dance 'imitating' them. ('Imitation is the
best form of flattery!'). Our girls initially revolted at the idea, but
their hearts melted at the sight of their guys exploding with energy on
stage. That was it! After a brief stint at headbanging on stage, final year
saw the guys put up a brief history of dance in CMC- a subtle blend of
flattery, humour, talent, sarcasm and stamina. CMC will miss our girls'
unique talent and the guys' innovation.
Here are some tidbits from
our music comps:
- The choice for the instrumental for our II
yr music comp was changed about 4 times. 'Can u feel the love tonite',
'That's what friends are for', 'Friends', 'What a Feeling', 'Gloria', '
Apple Blossom' were tried and rejected before hurriedly choosing 'All at
once', a number by Whitney Houston.
- In sharp contrast, our I yr instrumental,
'Speak softly love' was chosen on the first day of practice and went on
to win the award for the Best Instrumental.
- Our prize winning acapella 'Everybody
said..' was nearly thrown out after practice sessions turned out messy.
But we persisted and it has been one of the best numbers we have put up,
easily winning the Best Song in our II year. Woooooooo...!
- We tried another acapella in III yr -'Take
it away'. After the first few days of practising there were objections
to it- too boring, why another acapella, too tough,blah...blah...blah.....We
switched over to Benjamin's Calypso, which we enjoyed putting up. It
didn't win any prizes though.
- Our instrumental for the II yr 'A Whole
New World' had an interesting concept behind it. Pradeep played
Aladdin's part on the trumpet while John played Princess Jasmine's part
on the violin. The end result was a duet of love between the two
instruments adequately backed up by a piano, keyboards, a bass guitar,
acoustic guitars and the jazz set. Needless to say it went on to win the
Best Instrumental number that year.
- Eastern music has been an unlucky category
for us. We tried various tricks. First year, Vikram lent his vocal
talents. Second year saw Jacintha rendering an Eastern Gospel song.
Third year showcased the first Eastern duet in CMC in a long time.
Vikram teamed up with Pradipta to belt out a Jagjit Singh Ghazal. All
three unfortunately met with disappointment.
- Actually the Eastern category has not been
all that unlucky. Annie won the instrumentalist in first year for
playing the Eastern violin.
- Ajit has been the man behind our ghumbal
all three years. His efforts finally paid off when in third year we won
the Best Ghumbal prize. The prize surprised all of us(Ajit was the most
surprised!)
- Ige and Sibu have been one of the best
sound mixing teams CMC has seen.
- Pichax brought psychedelic lights onto the
music comp stage. Ghosh, Agni and gang made our stage look good.
Unfortunately the judges didn't think so. ;-(
- The best part of the music comp is
invariably the post music comp session at Presto. Check out the
photographs in the photographs section.
Our Musicians:
Some came in as born musicians while many
others became musicians after reaching CMC. Here's an (incomplete) list of
our musicians.
Pradeep: Piano, Trumpet, Guitars, Vocals
Ivan: Piano, Guitars, Bass Guitar, Vocals
John B: Violin, Piano, Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer C: Vocals, Guitars
Rajadoss: Bass Guitar, Guitars
Sujith: Vocals, Guitars
Jacintha: Eastern and Western Vocals
Hepsiba: Keyboards, Guitars
Evelyn: Guitars
Benji: Drums, Guitars, Bass Guitar, Tabla,
Vocals
Santhosh: Clarinet, Congo
Annie: Eastern Violin
Vikram: Eastern Vocals
Pradipta: Eastern Vocals
Nisha: Harmonium
David: Tabla
Ajit: Ghumbal lead vocals
Shantha PJ: Flute
Ige: Mixer
Sibu: Mixer
Rebekah Dass: Vocals
Kishore KP: Vocals
Sushil: Vocals
Gina: Vocals
Susan J: Guitars
Bertrum: Violin
Urvashi: Violin
Our Songs:
Here's a list of songs we've put up during
our music comps
First year
- Eastern song by Vikram
- Almaz by Jennifer Christina
- Speak Softly Love (Instrumental)
- Boat on the River by Rebekah Dass
- Twist and Shout (Ghumbal)
Second year:
- Eastern song by Jacintha
- Straight to the Heart by Jennifer
Christina (Backing vocals by Jacintha)
- Everybody Said: An acapella by the guys
- All at Once (Instrumental)
- Go Home/ Twisting by the Pool (Ghumbal)
Third year:
- Eastern song by Vikram and Pradipta
- Prayer by Jennifer Christina (Backing
vocals by John and Jacintha)
- A Whole New World (Instrumental)
- Benjamin's Calypso (Group Song)
- Joy to the World/I Got More Money/Love of
the Common People (Ghumbal)
Prizes we've won:
You've already been enlightened on the fact
that we lost all three music competitions closely. Although the Best Class
award has eluded us we have drawn comfort in the following prizes:
I year:
Best Incoming Musician : Ivan
Best Instrumentalist: Annie
Best Instrumental Number: Speak Softly Love
II year:
Best Number: Everybody Said...
III year:
Best Instrumentalist: Pradeep
Best Instrumental: A Whole New World
Best Mixer Crew
Best Ghumbal
Best Outgoing Musician: John Banerji
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