Imphal's protesting poet

Imphalbased Akhu Chingangbam claims hersquos a lousy physicist But the musician popularly known for his role as frontman of alternate folk rock band Imphal Talkies did complete his doctorate studiesif only to prove to his detractors that ldquoit wasnrsquot just the uneducated who chose musicrdquo Chingangbam who performed in Mumbai last week is most excited about his latest venturethe Imphal Music Projectwhich allows him to collaborate with other likeminded musicians to spread awareness about issues plaguing the people around him Akhu Chingangbam at Imphal Talkies the cinema hall after which he named his band What is the idea behind the Imphal Music Project How do you choose your collaborations The project began out of my determination to bring to fore topics that arenrsquot talked about in the mainstream For instance the song for the first collaborationwith Indian Ocean bass guitarist Rahul Ram Naga folk singer Guru Rewben Mashangva multiinstrumentalist Hem Gurumayum Imphal Talkies guitarist Sachin Angom and Sunil Loitongbamtalks about the communal conflict in Manipur Just before we began recording the song in January a Manipuri film actress from the Meitei community was assaulted by a member of the Naga socialist army It was very fitting for Guru Rewben and me as a Meitei to sing together The song is also about losing touch with tradition and culture and about Manipurrsquos Loktak Lake Rahul Ram who Irsquod met many years earlier during a student protest in Delhi sang a few lines in Manipuri about the sangai deer which is nearing extinction The song was something I wrote in 2003 but itrsquos still very relevant The artiste centre with bandmate Sachin Angom and Naga folk singer Guru Rewben Mashangva pics courtesySiddharth Haobijam I really enjoy collaborating with other artistes It helps me understand other cultures When I choose who to jam with it isnrsquot about the kind of music they play but what they believe in It is important that they be concerned by whatrsquos happening around them Which artistes are part of the second episode of the project Mumbaibased guitarist Sumit Bhattacharya has come on board Irsquom looking for other artistes to collaborate with I even wrote to Joan Baez one nightI did get a response probably from her agent but it was in the negative But jokes apart it would be really fitting to work with a Bangladeshi artiste this time because the song is about the Shahbag protests which began in Dhaka in February in demand of capital punishment for the accused war criminals of the 1971 Liberation War I have been reading a lot about the protests and am currently writing the song which will be partly in Bengali which Sumit will help me with and partly in English Your first album Tiddim Road was released in 2009 When can we expect the second one I have decided to release a double album containing 28 songs next The recording will begin in April While the first album was completely in Manipuri the second one will also have songs in English My bandmate Sachin likes to stick to Manipuri but writing comes to me very spontaneouslysometimes I write in English and other times in Manipuri Apart from the guitar and harmonica which other instruments do you use I recently bought the ukulele in Thailand It is a Hawaiian string instrument which I taught myself how to use online Irsquove also used the pena in my latest releaseLullabyit is a traditional Meitei instrument What is your opinion about the current music scene in Imphal Rock music has become a huge part of Imphal Street concerts happen all the timewe even had one to celebrate Holi But whatrsquos really disturbing to me is how Americanised the young rockersrsquo way of understanding the world is I just canrsquot digest that I havenrsquot seen any of them sing or talk about the troubles wersquore facing in Manipur Itrsquos strange to me how they witness something horrific and then go on stage and sing Hotel California For me when you have a microphone on stagethatrsquos when you can tell your story thatrsquos when people will listen to you That is why I choose to sing songs such as Eche a tribute to Irom Sharmila and India I See Blood in Your Hands Music helps me express anger I was a student in Delhi for 13 years but I constantly felt like an outsider Most people believed I wasnrsquot Indian Back in Imphal it was no easier The common people here are constantly caught between the Naxalites and the government Has singing protest songs got you into trouble Not yet But my parents are worried about me People believe Irsquom part of a political outfitbut thatrsquos not true at all My music is only about expressing myself Besides not everything I write about is political How did you go from studying Physics to writing protest poetry and music My aunt who I lived with while I was attending university in Delhi introduced me to a lot of American poets including Robert Frost and Chilean poet Pablo Neruda But it wasnrsquot until I read Allen Ginsbergrsquos poem lsquoAmericarsquo that I was truly inspired I began researching Manipuri literature and came across the works of 1960s poets Thangjam Ibopishak and Yumlembam Ibomcha I began writing at this time too My first poem was about a professor who used to teach us Mathematical Physics He was pretty old he could barely stand against the blackboard to write he would sit on a chair and show us the solutions Even today Irsquom more into poetry than music A couple of friends and I publish a journal in Delhi called lsquoOur Private Literaturersquo We began this journal because we find that others donrsquot understand our kind of poetry Now we have entries coming in from Kerala and Maharashtra Gig guide Psychedelic circus Gilbert Levey popularly known as Goa Gil is bringing Goa trance to the city The San Franciscoborn musician is often credited as one of the founders of the genrea form of electronic music that became popular in Goa in the late 1980s His music heavily inspired by yoga has now become the sound of Goarsquos full moon parties When March 31 7 pm to 130 am Where Blue Frog Lower Parel Call 61586158 Still rocking on Indus CreedUday Benegal Mahesh Tinaikar Zubin Balaporia Rushad Mistry and Jai Row Kavimade history when they jammed with Bon Jovi and Slash The band which made a comeback last year with a selfproduced album is performing at the Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel next Saturday as part of the hotelrsquos RLife LIVE journey When April 6 9 pm onwards Where Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel Chinmayanand Ashram Powai Call 810883411u00a0