(From left) Nikhil Rao, Tuhin Chakravorty, Rahul Ram, Amit Kilam (sitting) and Himanshu Joshi, the current members of Indian Ocean

It might have been way back in 2003, but we remember the first time that we ever heard an Indian Ocean song as if it's yesterday. We were on a beach in Puri, in Odisha. An open-air film festival was being held there. People were milling about under the evening sun in between screenings. There was an air of genuine relaxation when, suddenly, a massive speaker started blaring a song that had a sound which, up until then, was completely alien to us. The track, Kandisa, was decidedly folksy. Yet, it also had a tinge of spirituality that lent a sense of magicality to the surroundings, such that the moment will be trapped in our memory for years to come. We were, in short, sold.