The Jam of 20th July : Little High - Little Low - Little Hay - Little HO !

Greetings to all ....
Well the precious Sunday arrived again, and we were back heading towards streets of Bandra. The fresh air and wavy winds, the sea-sight and rocky bed pulls us every sunday there in the lap of mother nature - to enjoy every moment and kindle the joy in our hearts.
Actually, this sunday - a meeting with Mr. Kekoo Gandhi was organized - so that Mr. Gandhi can give us his valuable vision, guidance and thoughts on carrying our activities ahead and have a light chat with all core members. But only Suraj managed to make it. He must have had a hearty chat with Mr. Gandhi sharing his own views about MFM. ( sorry Suraj - none of us were able to come ).

Then after that Suraj and Pradeep headed towards bandstand to begin the jam. In came and join Shadab (a regular of MFM) and Abu (his friend) he brought along. Both were in their high energies singing every song with almost correct lyrics. The jam kickstarted with some cool numbers sung by Suraj which was followed by introduction of the band to the masses. Suraj explained the motto and vision of MFM to keenly hearing crowd. There were many supporting persons - like a group of girls - who were screaming and cheering Suraj on their top of their voices. Then came Chintan followed by Tarun and Kailash. There were song requests coming in from all. Then suddenly from nowhere - a guy named Pritam came up with a request to play some cool numbers to play on guitar. He was awesome as he sang along and played good riffs on guitar. He added spice in the jam and went on playing nice songs ahead. Pradeep _the art-o-maniac ... was on high this time - he actually persuaded the crowd with his antics to cheer and clap with the songs. In absence of the high energy Cheer-leading girls Monica andGauri, Pradeep was on the sole task of encouraging the mass. Even Kailash was in high spirits. He sang and played the single 'PAPA KEHTE HAIN' - and made the crowd dance to his tunes.

The audience was in good ambience and responded well. A girl from the mass called Anita came up with the request of a song but could not sing it. Nevertheless she was full of energy and opted for playing the Jambe. There were many others who joined in and I can`t remember all the names. Nowadays, since the ever-growing band has been lime-lighted in the media sector - every now and then - MFM activities are now highlighted in every media format- some or the other.
This Sunday, a guy from TIME OUT magazine named Amit turned up. He had a Brief Chat with Suraj and other Members.

After the jam Suraj met with a guy called Satish ( if I remember well ) who was well spiritually inclined. Suraj had a hearty long chat with him and shared his views. Satish infact had sound knowledge of leading a spiritual life and narrated some great anecdotes from Ramayana and Mahabharata... It was great listening to his 'GYANA' which i term it as 'TATTVA GYANA' - the eternal knowledge. Suraj was awed and interested in his thoughts. He was much engrossed.

Well troughout the jam we missed our friends Vinay, Pulin, Gauri, Aditya, Monica, Gajendra, Ali, and many others who are regulars with the jam.
Hope to see them on the upcoming sunday .. this is Chintz a.k.a chintan signing off..

P.S. : sorry this time again there are no pics of jam. Due to some technicalities the pics could not be retrieved. Inconvenience caused is regretted.

6th July, I got to overcome the blues

The junoonis were ready for the third trip to MFM JAMnagar. Finally Gaurav Anand joined in this time over and Ravish(a college junior and a guitar student) too came over for the jam. Remember Gautam, the 15 year old guitar maestro, he had introduced me to a guy Mukund some time ago. Mukund too came alongwith a friend Puneet and both played really nicely throughout the jam. Some students namely Varsha, Asheesh, Gaurav(baut gaurav hain yaar), Chanakya(the regular boy). And is baar to Poonam didi ne bhi join kiya. She is the one who made possible the first jam(the one in G.P.W., Faridabad). She is a huge supporter and motivator for us, so simple and yet so strong.
The area around the fountains was all wet so we decided to jam inside the mall, the same spot where we jammed last sunday. Vipul, Ravish, Mukund and yours truly began playing with the rest of the junoonis keeping enery levels high alongwith us. We played "Kabhi Kabhi", "Laree Chooti", "Sajni", "Dooba Dooba" and may other nice numbers. Puneet was inintially reluctant but then the Junoon made him give up his hesitation and he took the Six String and played with vigour(A demo of power of music that was).
The crowd response seemed pretty weak this time but why were we so concerned about it. We should have carried on keeping in mind the purpose of the JAM. Why did we want to pull people towards us? Why weren't we letting the cause act as the bridge between crowd and us, and were instead ourselves acting as the show-stoppers and the crowd-pullers? The previous two jams were all about music and recreation but still that was the start and now its the time to give shape to the VISION. The first two jams it didn't hurt but this time it hurt as at least i felt as if i was a showpiece meant to just attract people. The purpose of the jam is strong enough a force to bring people together.
The energies in the jam were high but that purpose was missing and that was when i felt those BLUES. Although we did come across a guy, Arun who loved this activity and spoke heartfelt words for us. He called up his mother on the phone and we sang "Maa" for her over the phone. He was delighted. That moment really lit me up. That was the moment i felt "Jo hota hai ache ke liye hi hota hai". So I got a little boost. But, then the jam was interrupted by a Mall Official who was acting on someone's complaint. Then again the same guy, Arun stepped in to defend the jam. That was really great of him and such are the moments that reinforce one's faith during difficult times. Infact, we were allowed to Jam again. But, it was almost the time to leave so we packed up and decided to move and return with some heavier doses of Junoon. That was a sign from heavens for me to set our ACT straight. And who doesn't have a bad day in the office some time? So I decided that next time over it'll be more than just recreation and fun.
Time for some Pics

Mukund And Powerhouse(Nidhi)

Gaurav Anand(ek photo mein akela yeh hi aata hai tabhi single photos hi dikhenge iski)

Asheesh(left mein so raha hai) , Gaurav and Gaurav(G.G.)
gaurav hi gaurav hai yahan par to

G.G. and Me

13th July: The highest energy Jam that was b'RAIN WASHED' by rain gods

After the 'HIT RADIO SHOW' at studio, Radiomirchi 98.3FM with RJ Sharanya .., we packed our bags and were off to Bandstand. We were quite a bit early this time. With Suraj, Pulin, Kailash, Monika, Gauri, Tarun, Chintan and last but not the least Aditya turned up for the jam right away after performing live at the "Radiomirchi jam" .

Well we started off with some very good songs like 'Kabhi Kabhi aditi......' and so on... Gradually the band picked up some tempo with Pulin, Aditya, Gauri, and Monika singing in some really cool numbers. Tarun introduced the band and Monika cheered the crowd- injecting them the required enthusiasm. Pulin, Kailash, and Aditya were the Guitar Trio strumming on and on while the Jambe Maestro Tarun and Rhythm Breaker Chintan were drumming with high adrenaline power. Nothing seemed wrong after the onlookers were not just the ones... but they started actively participating in the jam with songs like 'Sayonee' and 'Maeri' coming in .

After a while , people from all strata, whether young and old were clapping to the rhythm and cheering up the band to perform with some of their requests. Nevertheless the band was in its peak form when some 20-odd Malayali or Telugu speaking (i don`t which South Indian language they spoke) persons who were from a common fraternity, joined in and requested to play for some cool Malayali number. It was a rage for them and the rest of the crowd. The song-and-dance sequence followed in when they started a hit malayali number "Ippadi pode pode pode, ippadi pode pandale....." (i dont know the meaning neither the lyrics). Again they broke into wild dance and sing format.

All this was going on well, but i think our guitarists pulled in the wrong string at the wrong time and may be they might have played the "Raga Malhar " by mistake..that it started raining so heavily, now the jam has to be stopped abruptly. Chintan, Aditya and many others were drenched from head to toe while trying to save themselves from "THE RAGING RAIN" with instruments while others were half wet. Gajendra then turned up late but brought with him the new energy reviving the band spirit. After the some time Gajendra, Monika, Gauri, Kailash, Tarun and many others continued with the jam while Aditya, Chintan, and Pulin decided for an exit due to some previous commitments and time constraints.

But the rest continued jamming till late evening . The time had came at about 8.30pm when the jam ended.
Hope that the jam must have been in its usual Spirit of bringing the people together and spreading the message of oneness.
This is Chintz a.k.a chintan signing off now..
will be back with few of jam pics

11th July : MFM springs in HINDUSTAN TIMES

Finally, there we are,MFM gets coverage in a news paper daily called HINDUSTAN TIMES.-(Mumbai edition) on 11th july 2008. This article is written by Mauli Buch and photographed by Pradip Guha. It has inputs from Suraj, Monika, Gauri, and Chintan and 'mentions' about the motto of MFM.

The photograph of the jam in the article has its location at Bandra Bandstand...Suraj with all core members like Gauri, Bharti, Tarun, Monika, Pulin, Chintan and Gajendra as well can be seen.
This jam happened to be the most adventurous jam with its highs and lows. But finally things turned out well with supporters joining in the mutiny against the MUMBAI POLICE (hey no offenses please) .

29th June, The dream goes on and i see an angel in it

We were eagerly waiting for sunday, 29th june after the great start of the sunday jams last sunday, 22nd june. This jam was vital as we had to keep the fire, that was sparked last sunday, alive.
The guitar threesome of Manav, Vipul and Tarun seem to be totally junoon-struck now and they're very keen on carrying on the torch of MFM jams as far as possible. And the threesome along with Vikas, G.G., and yours truly were ready to carry the dream forward. We practised for a little while and then left for SRS mall and started jamming at around 7:45 p.m.
There Akhil(a drum student) alongwith his two friends who also are music lovers(sorry guys forgot your names) and Bharat(another drums student) were waiting for us. It was there first time in the jam and i hope they join it as regulars in future. And this time we even had a 15 year old guitar maestro, Gautam playing in the jam as well. Gautam and i composed the song "Give peace a chance" written by Suraj bhaiya. I felt really nice for this boy. The concept will help him a lot in this tender age as he is very receptive to the idea and is very humble and down to earth despite being a real genius on the guitar. I hope he too becomes as regular as this jam can feed the hunger of music and people can utilise this common platform to express the divine power of music that comprises their thoughts and views as well. Chanakya joined the jam again and so did Vipul who brought his bhaiya along too.
And it was so nice to see Arvind again for the jam and he was not alone, his friends Ravi, Sanjay and James too were along. All these guys are music lovers and are very keen on joining the jams regularly.
I addressed the little gathering of friends around about the idea and the purpose of the jams as well as about the power of music and then we started with a nice, sweet song, "dil haarey pukare" by "jal". Then we sang my favourite "dosti" followed by "tu hi meri shab hai", "yaaron", "pal" and many others. Another keen guitar student, Deepak alongwith his friend, Varsha too joined in. Many people from the crowd joined and sung along enjoying every bit of the action.
Sanjay sang a great self composition which goes like "Chhod de apne aap pe bharosa, kar Masih pe bharosa" which had beautiful words and sweet music and he sang it so well "direct dil se". Sanjay composes christian songs and plays them alongwith his group in a church in Dabua Colony in community music events that are very similar to the concept of Music for Meaning. The song he sang for us was one of those beautiful songs and according to my interpretation it says that we should let go of the materialism in our lives and live the way God has sent here for. We should believe in God as he already has plans for us and we should lead our lives free from all worries of future enjoying every bit of the present of the beautiful life created by the Almighty.
Nidhi alongwith a friend too joined in. She is so effervescent and energetic, really raises the energy levels around. She'll be a regular i'm sure.
And G.G. and Vikas were all into the jam as usual cheering the people, singing and dancing with van unmatched vigour. These two guys have been the pillars of the foundation of MFM in Faridabad. And its greta to see them enjoying music so much.
The cloud cover had started pouring. So we went inside and then found a staircase on the first floor of the mall apt for the jam. We started singing again and we had a stupendous response from the crowd there. the crowd built up while we were playing and the place was all jam packed.
A little baby girl, she was an angel, joined the party and enjoyed with us all. Kids, I feel are the closest to God. Because as we grow up in age we get more and more spoiled by the materialism and the false divides and differences in our society that are all but creations of the corrupt human himself. The kids are the ones who are least hesitant and least indifferent towards the outside world. They dont know the definition of "WRONG", which is definitely not the one that has been fed into our minds while growing up, drifting us away from our fellow beings and above all from ourselves. The sight of that kid living every moment of her world unabashedly moved me.
The response to the jam was more than we expected. People came and enjoyed a lot and several promised to join the jam every sunday.
In the end Arvind gave some valuable inputs for the jam. It was very nice to see him participating whole-heartedly in the movement. He alongwith his friends took it so naturally, infact they are all very involved into such community events in church. And James had come despite being very ill, I was overwhelmed with this commitment towards a cause. You rocked guys. Keep on rocking in the free world. God bless all.
Time for some pics.

The Angel

James in green T-shirt(Body bimar hai to kya hua dil to mast hai); myself playing guitar and mere piche photo leta hua Chanakya

The Guitar maestro, Gautam

Strumming In Harmony L to R: Tarun, Sanjay, Vipul, Gautam and dur kone mein Manav
(The world's our stage)

Thats Nidhi in white with her friend besides her
(Miss High Energy)

The Indian Ocean Jam

I was in Gurgaon last week and had the oppurtunity to jam with the guitarist from Indian Ocean - Susmit Sen . It began with Susmit sir playing some of his compositons while all of us sat listening. It was quite a kick! We sang a few random songs and then suddenly one of us started with "Badshah in Jail". Susmit obliged and there was no looking back then. We played and played and played and sang and jumped and screamt and bounced and jumped. What a night! Susmit sir kept playing IO numbers back to back and we sang our lungs hoarse. We closed the night with Kandisa...

MFM Jams in Faridabad! 22nd June-the Dream comes true!

So finally the junoonis have marked the beginning of the routine every sunday jam in Faridabad as well.Here I'll share the first sunday jam which wasnt planneed or organised but just happened, the Almighty had laid out the plans for it.
I practised with three students, Tarun, Manav and Vipul who have begun playing the guitar really well now for sometime and we left for SRS mall along with my roomies and friends G.G. and Vikas (remember the support staff in the previous post) and reached there at around 8:00 p.m.
The very purpose of MFM as well as the MFM music school is taking shape now. I believe it is the dawn of a new era here, where I can imagine the unifying essence of music reaching every heart and spreading harmony and positivity around.
I can feel it now, the musical revolution that was sparked off when we planned to bring MFM to Faridabad and begun with the opening of the music school to start and support the propagation of the concept.
The junoon is rubbing off on all the students and now it'll reach many others with the beginning of the jams now.It was like the first passout batch of the school getting ready to jam who'll soon be joined by others forming the evergrowing MFM jam band.
It was a very satisfying moment for the teacher inside me to see three of my pupils walking the path i wish to see them on.I always believe that the music of a Musician gives him a great power that can heal wounded hearts and mend broken ties in the society.So the concept came very naturally to me and i thanks Suraj Bhaiya for this Enlightenment.
Lets start the action now.We started with my favourite, "Dosti" and then "Khudi" by "Junoon". These songs with their message of friendship, hope and faith really fire me up. Some other students, Vinny, Vipul, Chanakya of our school too joined the jam and Vinny and Vipul did a great job keeping high energy levels really drowned in the junoon. And our manager saab G.G. and Vikas too were doing great singing,dancing and cheering up the crowd. It was great to see them all enjoying the jam so much.
The people came, few stayed and most took notice but left but we were unfazed. I see those dreams where one day this junoon will strike many a hearts. and a few did stay with us and the feeling was very nice, the energies of the people around in harmony. and we just belted out one song after another keeping levels high. One of the guys, Arvind from the crowd sang with us throughout the jam and another one, Rishi too joined the party.I could see smiles all around(cloud no. 9). People fromall castes adn religions who hardly have time for each other stood there together enjoying the song and dance act. SANGEET KE RANG MEIN RANG RAHE THE SAB.
We had a dance performance too from a guy there who spread many cheers around. i could feel an unknown energy surrounding the jam which was radiating and reaching the people out there.
The jam was all masti and music was what people wanted so i could hardly interact with people. Although Vikas and G.G. did manage to interact with a few people. But i felt even this all masti routine served the purpose nicely as it did manage to bring smiles on the many faces around.
And what can be better than the joys that we managed to scatter over there. There must have been many people bogged down with troubles, many with pains in their heart and we could bring joy to them for a few moments at least.
Time for some pics.

Vikas and Tarun(taking requests)

The foursome on guitars L to R: Manav, Vipul, Myself and Tarun

Yeh Vipul (mast chora) guitar ki khair nahi is drummer ke hath mein

Rishi and Arvind, the two guys who sang till the last note from the guitars