West Coast Jive...........................

Participants' Remarks

Pranav ~ Gayatri ~ Subhajit
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Pranav...

PranavIt certainly was the day I will remember forever.

First of all, I must confess Venky, I did play cricket in the morning. I did not want to admit that in front of Shashi, or else I would have got a new name too...!

Being a member of this egroup itself is an educational experience for me, not only in terms of RD and his great work, but also music in general and how RD mastered the art. The meeting was the best of both worlds for me.

Hilights of the meet for me were -

1) Shashi's treasures, and his real life accounts of RD trivia - just amazing.
2) Subhajit and Sourav, the true RD fans - I have just heard and know RD's hits, they know RD and his music in the true sense of the word.
3) Atish and playing the live music - Atishda, the last HKKN medley was just mind blowing.
4) Venky on the percussions was truly awsome

And above all, thanks Venky for arranging this. Without your enthu and efforts, I would have missed this golden moment. Thanks again for making this day a memorable one for all of us.

Pranav

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Gayatri...

GayatriLet me use this forum to thank Venky, Shashi, Pranav, Atish, Sourav and Shubajit. Special thanks go out to Sudha (Venky's better half :) ) and Dhruma. Their kids are also music buffs. I have never seen kids so calm in the face of so much halla gulla!

I understood why some people are termed "fanatics" :) Shashi's collection is more than many CD stores. Alas I could not tape stuff since I had to leave early, but I got a good look at the combos available in the market. I did not even venture to examine the huge carry on luggage of only audio cassettes. I must rush to Shrimati's Music store or get my friends in Mumbai to visit Rhythm House or better stores..

I normally never attend these "star studded nites" or "stars of the millennium" type bollywood shows put up in the US. But I'm surely going to make it for any function put up by these guys. What a talented bunch! Thanks everyone for a great afternoon!

Gayatri Gopalan

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And Subhajit...

SubhajitIts time for me to share with you my experiences on the day of the rather impromptu yet fulfilling west coast meet, that vouched for my belief that entering the pancham group as a fan was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life.

I would not like to repeat the detailed account of the events that adorned the weekend encounter with live panchamism -- Venky, Gayatri, Pranav and Atish have all done it so perfectly. I would term this as an encounter of the fourth kind, well above all other mundane encounters that we have to be a part of in our daily lives. I think this is the right time to stop using metaphors and state a few of my observations over the last weekend.

First of all, thanks to Venky and Sudha for being such wonderful hosts and Pranav and his wife for making such delicious dhoklas and to Pranav especially for playing the pancham tunes so enchantingly on his guitar. I was really amazed by the speed at which u could pick up the tunes and harmonize with Atish and Venky on their respective instruments. I wish u will keep up the same enthu and spirit in the future.

Atish impressed all of us by his performance of HKSKN numbers with Venky assisting him on the synth and congo. I could feel the RD touch in his renditions. Venky -- malik, aapko shayad pata nahin ke main apko guru manne laga hoon. I have to imbibe the sense of rythm as much as I can from u. Well, hum to milte hi rahenge.

Sourav has this nasty habit of always trying to impress me with his stinkingly gigantic knowledge about RD in the 80s and the 90s, and GOD, he always succeeds in doing that. I am indebted to him for opening my ears to a lot of gems that RD created in the late 80s and 90s that I had not even heard about (shame on me). Although I am an 80s person, I prefer to listen to RDs compositions in the 60s and 70s and early 80s, but Sourav has been hugely successful in attracting my attention to the ninetees output of RD. I surely was missing out on a lot of good stuff. Thanks Sourav for your endeavour.

Gayatri, I am really sorry for not being able to push your "Dhanno ki Ankhon me" to the top of the geetmala list. I guess we were all so entangled with the unheard gems of RD that the more common ones had to take a backseat.

Now, its time to talk about -- well u all must have guessed by now, whom I am going to talk about. A walking and talking encyclopedia of RDs music. Why only RDs music ? The history of the whole goddamned Bollywood is on his fingertips. A true entertainer and a true Pancham fan. The most important truth I learnt from him is that I still have a long way to go before I can call myself an RD fan. Shashi, u are absolutely right. I hardly know RD. Ignoring his late 80s and 90s compositions has been an unpardonable error on my part. The 80s and 90s work show a different level of maturity in RD that I should begin thinking about. Although, I must admit that his 70s and early 80s compositions are closer to my heart, I promise to explore in more detail his later works. Thanks a million times for allowing me to tape some of his rare gems from your equally rare collection. Dubbing "Musafir" was like a dream come true. I wish we have more of u in the near future.

Hail RD

Subhajit

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