A confused morning
It was the 8th of October and we were to travel to Jaipur to play at taBLU rooftop bar – Hotel Clarks Amer. The cabs arrived at 5 am for an early pick up. Exactly then, our manager Akash’s phone decided to give up on him! With the main co-ordinators phone down, the whole “let’s leave early” idea went for a toss. Shrikant prepared some tea for himself and the driver while trying to resolve the confusion. It took us a good 2 hours to figure things out before we could finally leave at 7. We picked an irritated Akash on the way and headed straight to McD’s.
Some fries and amusing stories
The sky was overcast. A light drizzle kept the windshields moist and the cool breeze addressed the approaching winters. All the commotion from the morning faded away in the calm weather. The other folks were slightly ahead of us and had ordered their share of morning fries and burgers until we caught up. The evil breakfast of oil drenched French fries and loaded cheese burgers satisfied our palates heartily. Our driver had some amusing stories to share about how Sanjay Dutt was his drinking buddy! He also proudly discussed his feud with Ashwariya Rai during which he asked her to vacate his vehicle!
Ohh..the rains!!
Heading past the borders we realised the light drizzle had now turned to a heavy shower. One after another each of us cosily dosed off. A couple hours later we found ourselves parked at a restaurant. To our surprise, it was still pouring! Though not hungry, the weather propelled us to settle for some hot kulladh chai and paranthas. Having satiated our impulse, we got back to our drive. No matter how far we went, the rains wouldn’t give in. Endless amounts of water constantly poured down the highway wetting everything on it. Poor bikers took a toll with trucks, busses, cars splashing gallons of water on them.
The tension and release!
The road seemed endless. It had never before taken us this long to reach Jaipur. After a long tiring drive, the hotel showed up through the window. The fries and paranthas had disappeared by now and our tummies called for some lunch. We quickly checked in and sat ourselves over a delicious buffet, but there was a little unrest. taBLU’s gig venue is an open rooftop and the rains just refused to stop! Antariksh’s club gig adventure was under serious threat. We had enough for the day, finished our food and went straight to bed and let Natasha (our dear friend and the gig organiser) storm her brains. About an hour into my nap, Sahil (our sound engineer) woke me up to call for a sound check. YES!! The gig was happening. Not at their usual venue, but inside the restaurant. The stage was neatly set up with a large candlestick and aromatic flowers!
Such a lovely club gig experience!
Despite the rain, a fair number of people turned up for the event. It was intimate and personal. The audience was calmly energetic and very receptive of our music. What started to look like a jeopardised club gig, turned out to be one memorable evening for us! Natasha, almost at the brink of a breakdown a while ago, was absolutely rocking and dancing to the music. The organising team, the audience and us together pulled off a great gig through the major set back and I enjoyed playing a drum solo on some tables, chairs and railings. You will find this solo on Instagram.
Happy Birthday!!
Post the gig, we sat together to conclude an interestingly eventful day. Just then, Natasha got us a cake to celebrate 10 years of Antariksh. How overwhelming it was for all of us. taBLU too was celebrating it’s 19th birthday the same night! I had promised not to touch dessert that night, but my will power to withstand the desire for that delicious chocolate cake faded away. I gorged onto it like a child! Having satisfied our cravings, we left for our rooms. Varun, Sahil and Akash were to stay back, while Shrikant, Josh and I decided to head back to Delhi right then. The journey back was nothing short of a nightmare and definitely is another mad story to tell! keeping it for another time. Meanwhile, keep listening to our last release Quest (English Reprise). Do catch up at a future Antariksh’s club gig and say Hi? Here is our calendar so you know when that is. See you soon!
Cheers!
