Darjeeling is and has always been famous for its musicians. Every house hold has atleast one member who plays some musical instrument or the other with the guitar being the most famous. So it is not surprising to find many good bands who come out every six months in Darjeeling. Some make it big in other places such as Kathmandu and Bombay, some are lucky to create their own identity in Darjeeling, but most of them end up unsuccessful in making a career out of it.The reason our rock bands cannot make a living / career out of music is there is not enough oppurtunities to perform shows and make a living out music. The only one place in town that offers rock bands a platform and some money is The Buzz at Glenary's. There is also the lack of good jobs available. In the cities one can work in the day time and perform shows at night. Out here its impossible to do that.
It is therefore very saddening to hear that Sahdev and Sanjit of The Reincarnation are leaving for Delhi to find jobs as Music teacher. Sahdev is perhaps one of the finest guitarists to have come out of Darjeeling and Sanjit is very good drummer as well as a singer. A month ago we were planning on reviving The Reincarnation as they were so good at one time with their single "Hijo Samma" reaching cult status and creating waves and fan following. While Mantra kept playing and stayed together as a band The Reincarnation guys split up and ended doing their own gigs separately. Their come back performance was at the recently held Inter College Fest CONFLUENCE in Gymkhana with the younger generation still going wild with their originals.
We always blame our rock bands being not up to the mark compared to the cities, but the truth is there is no proper way out for these guys. Unless and until our guys get propoer job opportunities right here in Darjeeling our music scenario will not change drastically.
Till such times our musicians have suitable day time jobs and can dedicate enough time to their music, we must be ready to see them off to Delhi, Bangalore and other major cities where they can earn a living and keep their dreams aside...
5 comments:
great article bro. very true that our fellow artists are flocking down to the plains in pursuit of a daily bread earner leaving aside their dreams and aspirations as you have mentioned. Really deprived of what we own.
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very true.. more people need to take initiatives.. things like concerts, studio, cd selling shops, contests in Darjeeling.. and these should not be genre based, so all gets accepted.. and musicians should not quit easily, a few generation needs to struggle a lot, and then only can some good things come out of it..
very true.. more people need to take initiatives.. things like concerts, studio, cd selling shops, contests in Darjeeling.. and these should not be genre based, so all gets accepted.. and musicians should not quit easily, a few generation needs to struggle a lot, and then only can some good things come out of it..
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