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| Band on the run� Out of college finally, with a degree in hand and aspirations of becoming a CA, I decided to take a hiatus from the commercial career perspectives and try my hand on this guitar, while also learn computers at Aptech. Speaking of the guitar, I was introduced to it thanks to a distant cousin who wanted to discard his old cob-web raided piece. I took to the guitar and experimented with it day and night until a friend of mine got frustrated with the pandemonium he had to live with. Vijay used to sing for a small time Hindi band and he introduced me to Raja, my first guitar teacher, who said he was not a great player himself but would teach me the basics if I am dedicated and willing. I was amazed by this person's sense of music, and I wanted to prove my will to learn. Within a year my friends would coax me into forming a Gujarati dandiya band which apparently seemed the easiest of all musical ventures to pursue at a stage where I knew nothing more than the three chord theories. Thunderbolts (a name I suggested) kicked off early August 1992, and that year's Ganesh Utsav saw the band's first performance at Baagneri building, Chunna Bhatti. Thunderbolts came up as the brainchild of Nilesh Valia, a young lad with determination overruling age barriers. Vijay took over the singing, and Devesh Muni was on the keyboards. The drummers were Nilesh, Ajay, Sachin, Hiten Ashish and Shailesh. Devesh introduced us to his friend Anjali, a skillful and gentle girl with an M.A. in music, who would have your ears ringing in awe the moment she starts singing. With a mind-blowing voice and a dressed-to-the-occasion attire, Anjali would become the cornerstone of the band's success story. The 'Blunder Dolts' as I would always refer to the blokes in the band, never looked back, we were an instant hit locally, bagging every dandiya occasion and also bagging our first Navratri performance at Thane next year. We as a band were good together, and Ajay, my childhood bum chum on drums, swaying away to glory while banging the drums, would be the most fascinating site to watch when Thunderbolts went live. The better days in life... I met Kavita in an intercollegiate where I was to play the guitar for a ghazal that Vivek my friend from Podar, would be singing. Kavita's harmonium player hadn't turned up, so Vivek requested me to play the guitar for her. I was more than ready, as I was already impressed by her voice and looks. Her musician eventually turned up and I lost the opportunity to play for her - an opportunity which I wouldn't regret much because, thanks to Vivek, I had befriended an adroit vocalist and within months I would find myself playing the guitar for every competition she takes part in. When she wins (she seldom lost) it was victory for me too, and when she lost I always wanted to cry with her, but would end up consoling her. I convinced her and her father (Wing Commander Murthy) about our musical venture and made her a part of Thunderbolts. Her rendition of the Sunita Rao hit 'Paree' would become the talk of the local junta. The end of innocence� Vipul Samani is a name that can be synonymous to eccentricity, genius, wild and 100% gujju chokras. I met Vipul during a gully cricket tournament where he would frighten batsmen to almost give up batting with a bowling talent that could rattle the stumps whenever he desired. He told me that he plays the 'CASIO' (kayshio as the gujjus term it) and one fine day when I heard him play the tiny instrument he had at his place, I knew that he is going to be a prodigy some day. Vipul became a part of the band late 1993. His entry can be termed as the band's turning point. His musical genius took the band into realms never dreamed of, though I must confess that we initially used to ridicule his oral renditions of sounds he wanted the drummers to create. As many good things come to an end my career with the Dolts also ended. Trouble began when I had organized a small Hindi music show for my building and had Vijay, Kavita, Anjali, Vipul and Ajay in the team (the other Dolts were out of the question as they lacked playing skills). Despite my timely reminders to the band, they took up a show and the missing members were replaced with a set of freelancers. I was flabbergasted when Ajay walked out on me to play the drums for them (his reasons were different, and he claimed that since he does not have an instrument to play here, he'd rather go there) and when Anjali gave me a choice, I requested her to go and provide some saving grace for the band. I quit Thunderbolts, a reckless decision as some would put it, after that show. I was heartbroken as I had never missed a single performance, come hail or high water. With Kavita and Anjali happily married and have settled in Chicago and New Jersey respectively, and Vipul scaling great heights with his music classes called Gurukul, the Thunderbolts are practically dormant as of now. I could write more about my liaisons with Thunderbolts, but since the band is no longer a part of me, I would prefer moving on, with just one thing to say that the band still remains as the 'numero uno dandiya band' in my list. |
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