Carlos the percussionist

Joe the Bullet Mechanic

Simran the Bead Maker

Sonia Sirsat the Singer

Kismet the Band

Miek the Vet

 

 

 

 

 Carlos

 

He’s back from Ireland to play again in Goa. Percussionist and drummer, Carlos says he found it extremely cold there (the weather that is!). Now his plans are to spend a year just thawing out and jamming with old music buddies.

‘I am also gonna use the time to learn Indian Karnatak music’ adds chocolate faced Carlos, peering at me with his soft Labrador like eyes.

Carlos’ obsession with percussions has been forever. He says his training started first with the use of household utensils, much to the irritation of his family members.

A few years later he joined Raul (drummer), learning notations also at the same time. At age 17 he had formed a band in college, and a year later joined Deep Red (a band very popular some years ago).

Carlos’ big break came when he joined Colin (bassist) and Lester Godinho (drummer) playing as Obligato. Apparently both saw the percussive talent in him and encouraged him greatly. With Obligato (Latinho setup) he also got to travel all over India enriching his experience and musical sense in the bargain.

At the same time he continued to freelance a lot with several other music artists – Loy Mendonsa, Remo Fernandes, Joe Pereira, to name a few.

And then, about a year ago Carlos moved to Ireland, where he worked a regular job in the mornings and played Irish folk music in the evening. Carlos says he loved Irish music in much the same manner as the Irish enjoyed Indian percussions. During his stay there he also conducted workshops in a few schools and even ‘basked’ on Grafton street - his percussion case serving as the proverbbial hat to collect coins!

 

9822382824 carlos

 

Dr. Joe

 

He has ripped the rusty 350 cc Enfield down to nuts, bolts and bones. Every system – digestive, circulatory, nervous and excretory – has been separated and placed neatly in greasy bags in a corner of his garage. Now all that’s left is the thick chassis of the bike and the headlight holder which, devoid of its bulb, is staring at me like the hollow eyes of a skeleton. The man whistling nonchalantly as he tussles with the heavy engine of the motorbike is Doctor Joe; the most famous Bullet mechanic in Goa.

My blue Bullet which needs a new chain is being attended to by Joe’s helper; an eleven year old boy who seems to understand more about the Enfield than many of the previous mechanics I’ve visited. I’ve known Joe for sometime now. But I haven’t a clue as to why the title ‘Doctor’. My query draws a laugh from Joe.

‘I cure all diseases of bikes, Aids included!’ replies Joe.

I raise my eye brows at the smart answer and Joe hits me with another teaser. ‘Hey I’m an M.B.B.S – that’s Macalister, Bullet, and B.S.A. Surgeon!’

I give up. Joe may not have got through his eight standard in school but his English is impeccable and the sense of humor sparkling.

Joe started working on bikes at the age of fifteen on the footpath in Bombay. He worked for a garage and repaired British bikes (Nortons, Triumphs and B.S.As) which were plentiful at that time. Eight years later he moved to Goa and spent the next five years fixing bikes on Calangute beach. A three year stint at the Calangute petrol pump, and Joe had finally saved enough to build his own garage situated at Porba Vaddo in Calangute.

At around the same time Joe joined hands with a Mr. Clouse Brass; the proprietor of Classic Bike Adventure Tours. The bikers toured were the Himalayas and Rajasthan for a total of twenty two days. All the bikes were Enfields.

Joe’s job was to follow the twenty odd bikes in a jeep loaded with spare tires, batteries, cables and tools to fix any problem that should arise on the journey.

Joe recalls the tours nostalgically. They would cover 300 - 400 kilometers a day and then find a good spot to camp. Usually this would be a valley ensuring plentiful supply of water. Food, including live chickens was carried in a truck that also followed the bikes.

Following the death of Mr. Clouse Brass a few years ago Joe quit Classic Tours. He now works full time at the garage.

I became acquainted with Joe on recommendation from my neighbor who also owns a Bullet. I had at that time just purchased two Bullets and was searching for a good mechanic. The Bullet is an amazing bike to ride, but a little tricky to maintain. I took an instant liking to Joe.

Joe is the type of a guy who will never force you to repair or replace a bike part unless it is absolutely necessary. Many of the spare parts now fitted to my bike are scrap pulled out from his massive collection. That saved me a lot of money!

A few days back I thought of changing the piston rings of one of my bikes to get a little more power. Joe refused to get it done.

‘Why put a good man in hospital?’ was his defense.

It is this attitude of Joe’s that I and all his clients love.

Joe’s clientele is fifty percent foreigners and fifty percent Goan. He opens up full engines and modifies bikes including B.S.As, Nortons, Triumphs, Harleys, and other foreign bikes as well. Spare parts for foreign bikes are also available with him.

 

Get the buzz on Joe at 2299278 (Residence)

 

 

 

 

SONIA SIRSAT

 

 

She balances two totally unrelated careers with ease - on one hand Sonia Sirsat is an LLM (post graduate law) student hoping to get into teaching law. On the other hand she plays a more glamorous role as a professional Portuguese Fado singer. ‘Fado’ she explains to me, is a form of Portuguese music more on the classical side (somewhat in the nature of the relationship Ghazals have to Hindi music)

Singing since the age of eight she has won practically every singing competition in Goa. The list is endless and I will name only a few by way of examples. In 2000, she won the French All-Goa singing competition. The same year she was runner-up in the Saregama bands special. In 2001, she won the same at the national level; the prize for which was a free, month-long trip to France. In 2002, she was winner of the Portuguese singing competition.

‘They don’t let me compete anymore’ she laughs. ‘I can only attend competitions now as a judge.’

Her prize winning however isn’t restricted just to singing. Sponsored by the JAYCEES she entered the International Personal Development contest, winning the title first at the national level at Indore and later at the Asia-Pacific level in Thailand, which took her all the way to Hawaii for the finals.

Professionally she sings today for three bands: Status Four, Bhangrallem Goem, and a Portuguese Fado music group. She has also sung for four albums; Jezuk Vakanta, Fulam Fulam, a Christmas Carol Album, and a non stop disco album.aaa. She has sung in eleven languages to date.

And what is most surprising is that she has never had any formal training in singing!

 

Contact; 9822984416

 

Simran Sidhu

 

This interview is a tough one. Reason one; I have absolutely no sense of or taste for anything that falls in the category of ‘jewellery’. Reason two; the girl who makes the jewellery is exceptionally pretty!

I must confess however, that though I sound defenseless, I do know Simran Sidhu for over a year now. Vivacious and cheerful she is easy to talk to. For an introduction may it suffice to say that she was born in Shimla and she studied in Delhi.

Her occupation, ‘hand-knotting’ as she calls it, started from her urge to do something creative right since childhood. When she was in class four she had already begun making sketches and designs of jewellery, and by the time she was in class seven she was bartering her creations with friends for music cassettes and other things she wanted.

After her studies she joined People Tree in Delhi, where her passion enabled her to earn a livelihood at the ethnic store. Her dream however always was to be self employed. So in 1999 she quit her job in Delhi and moved to Goa. She has lived here ever since.

When I ask her what she likes about Goa she says it’s the greenery, the clean air and the friendly nature of the people.

‘When I was in Delhi, my designs were only black and brown in color. Since I am in Goa I find that I have started using different colors’ she explains.

Her creations – which include necklaces, anklets, waist belts, bracelets, earrings, bags, watch straps - anything she can ‘hand-knot’ - are sold at Casa Goa and the ‘Saturday Nite Bazzar’ in Arpora. Some of her work also goes to shops in Pune, Mumbai and Delhi.

 

Phone; 2278458

 

Miek

 

Unlike most foreigners who visit Goa for the beach parties and suntan, Miek flew all the way from Holland to spend a year working with cows!

And it isn’t the first time she’s in Goa for this purpose. This is her fourth time. On the earlier occasions she worked for short stretches with varied animals – dogs, cats, birds – at some of Goa’s well known animal shelters. She even got experience in Pednem, training under Dr. Gustavo Pinto, one of Goa’s better known government vets.

Presently working at International Animal Rescue Assagao, Miek is training to be a veterinarian. It’s ‘year six’ of the total seven she has to get through in order to acquire her license as a professional vet.

In the sixth year Miek had to choose between large animals and small animals. Miek decided to specialize in ruminants. She will be in India for a whole year gaining experience no doubt but also enjoying herself.

I ask if she always wanted to care for animals. She tells me that her decision to become a vet was made after her mother turned down her first choice – ‘I wanna be a fireman’.

What else does she do?

When in Holland she plays hockey. That accounts for her athletic build. Now in Goa chasing bulls with a syringe serves the alternate exercise routine!

I notice that her hair is half blond and half brown. ‘Brown is the original colour. Blond is from it getting bleached on the Anjuna shores’ she chuckles, happily admitting to running off to the beach only whenever she gets a chance. Which I guess may not be too often since at IAR she works nine hours a day, six days a week.

But on Sundays the cows take a backseat as she hits the beach or plays pool till late night.

 

Phone;2268328

Email; [email protected]

 

 

Kismet

 

Fusion-rock band Kismet is all set to release its first single titled 9/11 this Sunday. I’ve listened to the song a few times and I think it rocks!

Surprisingly the song is more on the metal side, reminding me very much of Chennai based rock band Moksha, as it kick-starts with a heavy distortion guitar riff.

What’s a little different however is the excellent percussions quickly filling in two bars behind as the band dives head on into the song with a rumbling bass and drums.

I couldn’t follow the lyrics very well, but I figure they are anti-terrorism.

Musically, 9/11 is a great composition. I’ve seen Kismet perform for Groove magazine launch at Hawaii Dona Paula. They are all excellent musicians and so I sort of expected the complex scales and percussions.

Only flaw, as I see to the song, is the recording quality. I think it holds back a little of the punch 9/11 would deliver had it been mixed and recorded perfectly.

Otherwise, like I said, great work guys!

Kismet was formed about a year ago and comprises Vijay (lead vocals, guitars and songwriter), Vinu (bass), Alex (drums), Satish (Carnatic Percussions)and Floyd (keyboards).

Besides the single 9/11 being released this Sunday, the band plans on releasing a full album with nine original songs by the beginning of 2005.

Kismet leader Vijay also hopes that the band will be touring a lot all over India in the future.

Kismet believes in carrying out its social responsibility and would love to play for charity events and raise money and awareness for worthy causes.

 

Kismet can be contacted at

Vijay 9822480663

2733832

Vinu - 2705835

 

 

Email; [email protected]

Website; www.geocities.com/kismet.goa