For those of you who don’t know me, I am Atul Dixit, one of the members of Anubhooti. Today, June 2, is a very special day for all of us. You might wonder why…
It was 2nd June of last year. Aman, a good friend of mine, had invited me for an informal ‘mehfil’ at his place. When I entered his house, I could see so many music-lovers along with several musical instruments. I saw Apratim on keyboard jamming with Rajat, who was playing guitar. I had seen Apratim play the piano at the Indian Graduate Students Association’s ‘Diwali Night’ in the Fall of 2006, and thus recalled how all the graduate students present, formed a circle around him and listened to those mellifluous tunes! I knew Rajat since our Freshers' welcome party and was aware of him as a passionate guitarist and singer. And then there was this new guy Aravind. Rajat had told me over the phone that Aravind plays violin very well. So we started the mehfil along with other friends – Kumar, Gargi, Sahu and Chandu and Aman's I-Bhangra friends. Deb was in India at that time and so could not come. The program was very entertaining and within no time, we developed a very good rapport and jammed till 2am in the night.
After some days, Rajat put forth an idea of forming a band. All four of us liked this idea and thus eventually ‘Anubhooti’ was born! But since the formation of ‘Anubhooti’ had its genesis in the mehfil at Aman’s place, we consider 2nd June as the day of Anubhooti’s birth! Soon we started practising at Apratim’s place which has been, since then, our hub. I recall the first song which we did. It was none other than Panchamda’s evergreen melody – Saagar jaisi aankhonwali from the movie Saagar. It was a different ‘experience’ to work with other people, learning intricacies involved while preparing a song. It’s when you actually start preparing a song by yourselves that the song unleashes the divine beauty within! But perhaps the most amazing part is to view as a third person, how the song develops from scratch to completion.
After our first few sessions, there arose the question of naming our band. Rajat was actively suggesting some names like Goonj, Pratidhwani, Shruti, Surmayi, Abhigunjan, Anubhooti; but we were unable to finalize any. I felt that our band name should stand out. On the day of our debut performance at the IGSA Freshers’ welcome party in August 2007, few minutes before starting our program, Rajat told me, “Atul, I have given you all enough time for coining the name for our band. Suggest a name NOW otherwise it’s going to be Anubhooti”. Analyzing the situation at hand, I said, “Okay, let’s keep Anubhooti”. Thinking back, after many if’s and but’s from my side, it wasn’t a bad choice at all!
Since then Anubhooti has embarked upon a musical journey with just one motto: ‘Enjoy, love and create music for the sake of music itself’. On account of its first birthday, it is nice to see its transition from a newly born baby to a toddler. On this auspicious day, I just want to say ‘Happy Birthday Anubhooti!’
Long live Anubhooti!
It was 2nd June of last year. Aman, a good friend of mine, had invited me for an informal ‘mehfil’ at his place. When I entered his house, I could see so many music-lovers along with several musical instruments. I saw Apratim on keyboard jamming with Rajat, who was playing guitar. I had seen Apratim play the piano at the Indian Graduate Students Association’s ‘Diwali Night’ in the Fall of 2006, and thus recalled how all the graduate students present, formed a circle around him and listened to those mellifluous tunes! I knew Rajat since our Freshers' welcome party and was aware of him as a passionate guitarist and singer. And then there was this new guy Aravind. Rajat had told me over the phone that Aravind plays violin very well. So we started the mehfil along with other friends – Kumar, Gargi, Sahu and Chandu and Aman's I-Bhangra friends. Deb was in India at that time and so could not come. The program was very entertaining and within no time, we developed a very good rapport and jammed till 2am in the night.
After some days, Rajat put forth an idea of forming a band. All four of us liked this idea and thus eventually ‘Anubhooti’ was born! But since the formation of ‘Anubhooti’ had its genesis in the mehfil at Aman’s place, we consider 2nd June as the day of Anubhooti’s birth! Soon we started practising at Apratim’s place which has been, since then, our hub. I recall the first song which we did. It was none other than Panchamda’s evergreen melody – Saagar jaisi aankhonwali from the movie Saagar. It was a different ‘experience’ to work with other people, learning intricacies involved while preparing a song. It’s when you actually start preparing a song by yourselves that the song unleashes the divine beauty within! But perhaps the most amazing part is to view as a third person, how the song develops from scratch to completion.
After our first few sessions, there arose the question of naming our band. Rajat was actively suggesting some names like Goonj, Pratidhwani, Shruti, Surmayi, Abhigunjan, Anubhooti; but we were unable to finalize any. I felt that our band name should stand out. On the day of our debut performance at the IGSA Freshers’ welcome party in August 2007, few minutes before starting our program, Rajat told me, “Atul, I have given you all enough time for coining the name for our band. Suggest a name NOW otherwise it’s going to be Anubhooti”. Analyzing the situation at hand, I said, “Okay, let’s keep Anubhooti”. Thinking back, after many if’s and but’s from my side, it wasn’t a bad choice at all!
Since then Anubhooti has embarked upon a musical journey with just one motto: ‘Enjoy, love and create music for the sake of music itself’. On account of its first birthday, it is nice to see its transition from a newly born baby to a toddler. On this auspicious day, I just want to say ‘Happy Birthday Anubhooti!’
Long live Anubhooti!
