Here's why Mumbai's musicians make punk music, and what it means to them

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The Jantar Mantar protest in Delhi showed us that the act of singing and playing instruments as a form of peaceful protest is alive and well. The protestors weren't playing punk but the ethos of the music that refuses to let anyone lull ourselves into complacency is why we feel that punk isn't and will never die. Seeing not only the frustrated youth but also middle aged and senior citizens find solidarity through music with their songs and slogans is something that is a testament to the fact that music was always an act of standing one's ground.

Nu-metal singer and producer Paritosh Bailung has been in the scene for more than a decade and regularly performs in all major cities. Pic/Paritosh Bailung

We speak to Mumbai-based metal band to know their take on whether there is still any space for anti-establishment music in the scene today. Paritosh Bailung, 29, is one of the flagbearers of this thought and chooses to live this reality every day. Bailung is originally from Assam and now goes by the stage name ‘Costheta' is of the opinion that being "punk" in Mumbai poses the challenge of finding solace through community in a city of millions. According to him, "The scene survives because people are passionate enough to keep it alive despite the lack of funding, sponsorship, venues, and support." While being vocal about the racial profiling North Eastern communities face in the city, "I take pride in my culture and it is very present in my music, for anyone who hears it I want them to hear what my part of the country sounds like."

Sidharth Raveendran, 34, from the post hard-core Mumbai band, Pacifist and feels that dissent has been subverted by late-stage capitalism. "It [capitalism] has reduced all subculture into aesthetics and stripped it of all its meaning, discovery [pursuit of facts] and the ideology [belief systems] used to be once sought, but now needs "seeding" [planted]," he says. So punk felt almost natural, "My values align way better with the ethos of what's considered historically punk and that's why I play in a hardcore band," he adds.

Post-hardcore band Pacifist has played and managed to spread the word at some venues including Lollapalooza and Independence Rock. PIC/Abhishek Gupta

COSTHETA also talks unfettered about topics that are usually taboo - even among friends. "Kindness is punk. Extending love to those systemically excluded from it on grounds of caste, class, gender, religion, and more is punk," he says. He reminds us that politics is very much about diversity and remembering history. "Politics matters because every community has a history behind where they are today. If people are going to connect with the music, they need to feel heard, understood, and represented," he adds.

Is punk finding new kindred spirits? COSTHETA feels the increasingly new faces is another reason to keep doing what he does. "They [new music lovers] seem to be more open-minded when it comes to genres and artistes," he says. However, Pacifist's vocalist Sidharth disagrees. "The audience has mostly stayed the same, unfortunately new faces are not as frequent. But I hope the new generation finds meaning through this music and find their way to us in these times."

The musicians tell us how they try to practise acts of rebellion in their everyday lives. Sidharth says, "I just chose to be vocal about what's wrong in the world, be it in my neighbourhood or in another corner of the planet," he says. While Costheta adds to it and believes it all starts in the mind, "Real rebellion today is less about how you look or dress and more about whether you're willing to think for yourself and stand by what you believe in," he adds.

While rebellion finds a new song in every generation we only hope that it never goes silent. As they say - Vive la révolution!