On 21st December 2011, a Delhi based rock band performed a co-concert with the in-house talent at Tihar Jail in Delhi for over two hours. This was the result of a workshop at Tihar with members of the band, Menwhopause and the musical talent of the inmates. This was a first for both Tihar and rock bands in India.Yahoo in an email conversation with members of the band on what has been a life-affirming experience. Here's a look.
Transcript of email Q & A with Menwhopause
Q: So what's is the music room in Tihar like?
MWP : There are instruments. And there's a curtain to hide the bars.
Q: Tell us a bit about the in-house talent you found in Tihar?
MWP: They are people like us. People with ideas and songs. People with nothing left to lose.
Q: So we take it, you'd gone in to perform there and out came the idea to work with the inmates? How did that happen?
MWP: Tihar officials have been super supportive. They let us go about it however we wanted it to. Singing our songs would have been easy. That was the plan anyway. But once there, we figured we better do something more long term than a mere menwhopause performance.The Flying Souls had to be 'the' act for others to warm up to 'the music room'.
Photo Credit: Vijay Kate
Q: The fortnight you spent in that workshop - Do share moments from that?
MWP: 'Ma I'm going to Jail,' hasn't made many mothers happy. Ours were. The thing is, people expect people to be a certain way. What we forget is that people are people wherever they may be. It wasn't very different from working with kids in slums. Or with brand managers marketing big brands.
Q: Was there anyone you met in there who could have made it big in the free world?
MWP: Everyone can make it if God and time conspire. That's what we work for anyway.
Q: Flying Souls — that's the name of the Tihar band. You came up with it?
MWP : The band did. They don't just make awesome music. They know how to put pen to paper too.
Photo Credit: Vijay Kate
Q: Tell us about the actual performance ?
MWP : 21st December from 3 pm to 5 pm. Much fun. Much laughter. Inmates dancing, cheering the band on. The best part was menwhopause not playing menwhopause songs. Rather, The Flying Souls singing 'Fly Away' and Free. And of course, the menwhopause + Flying Souls original compositions "What's your name" and "Hey Ram". From a planned 1 hour set, The Flying Souls and menwhopause played together for close to 2 hours. If only pictures could tell the tale.
Photo Credit: Vijay Kate
Q: Was this a first for Tihar and for you?
MWP : Definitely a first for any rock band in India. In any Jail in India
Q: Will the music continue to play in Tihar after this experiment?
MWP : Well, next we take our studio to Tihar to record the 2 original compositions The Flying Souls and menwhopause worked on. Then we shoot the music videos for them. Bharat Music House and Onstage India have been super awesome. Thanks to them, we have been able to leave behind 3 guitars and a drumkit. The music will definitely play on.
About the band: Menwhopause is a five-member rock band based in New Delhi, India. The band was formed in 2001 by guitarist Anup Kutty with an original lineup of singer/songwriter Sarabjit Chadha and acoustic guitarist Inder Pal Singh (IP). The trio became a full fledged band after recruiting bassist Randeep Singh and drummer Rahul Chatterjee. In a country where popular music is dominated with commercial Bollywood music and the live rock music scene is generally full of cover bands, menwhopause stuck to playing original compositions.
For more on the band:
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