When entering a musician’s home, to be greeted by a pair of drums would only make the opening scene of a poorly thought Bollywood film. We, however, didn’t find ourselves walking in a movie, but right into the jam session of the band Parikrama, happening in vocalist Nitin Malik’s Sainik farm house. With equipment strewn all over the living room, song lists on the floor and the band’s promo material in one corner, we inched our way to the well stocked bar that adorned a pillar.
“I am not that much of a drinker, save for beer. The bar is my brother Subir’s, who is very fond of entertaining guests and throwing parties, even though he doesn’t drink much himself,” said Malik in his famously throaty voice. A veritable open house for friends, fans and well wishers, there was still unpacked material from their last tours, even while they were heading for another one just two days after this interview was held.
“We are always enthusiastic about meeting fans and many of them even come for vocal lessons when possible,” Nitin said. Crossing one instrument after the other, we chanced upon this unique piano, but not quite, which we were told was a Hammond. “We bought it from a guy in Bengaluru, several years ago and since it’s such a delicate instrument, it had to be transported piece by piece via road,” he said.
But that was not all for the harmonic wonders, for we chanced upon a 40-year-old LP player, with several dusty jackets of LPs lying on top, some not even opened. “This collection is not a very old one and whenever we go out on tours, few additions take place,” he said.
So how many instruments were there? “There are 10 guitars, six keyboards, two pianos and one Hammond, one drum kit in all. We are working on a sound proof-jamming pad in the basement, which would allow us to practice anytime,” he added.