 |
RAAG ON: The South Asian group
is the latest addition to the campus a cappella
scene.
Linda Cicero |
Bobby Ghosh has performed
songs in Hindi—without understanding a word.
“But I’m taking a Hindi class now,”
the sophomore says, to razzing laughter from his three
harmonizing buddies.
The students are members of Raagapella, the first South
Asian a cappella group on campus. An all-male ensemble
that performs in khaki pants and black Nehru-collared
shirts, the 12 undergraduate and graduate students come
from seven countries—Canada, Italy, Kenya, Nepal,
Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United States—and
speak some 10 languages. Listen to a Raagapella foursome
blend on “Oh! Carol,” Neil Sedaka’s
1959 hit, and you’ll hear Western and Asian melodies
intertwining in the background as a compelling mix of
English, Hindi and Punjabi lyrics punctuates the chorus.
The founding four musicians gathered on a whim, just
nights before the 2002 Diwali festival of lights sponsored
by Sanskriti, the South Asian student cultural group.
“We decided a couple of days before the show that
we wanted to go onstage and sing,” says Jay Pandit,
a sophomore who sings lead tenor.
The men tried out several names—Browntown, NAAM
(Not Another Arranged Marriage) and Lightly Toasted—before
settling on Raagapella, derived from the Hindi word
for classical singing, raaga. They practice several
times a week—often in a parking lot—and
are preparing for a Memorial Day concert in Memorial
Auditorium. They arrange their own songs, thanks largely
to junior Sanjay Kairam, a symbolic systems major who
fine-tunes the pieces with the software programs Cakewalk
and Finale.
Mehul Trivedi, a baritone who plays guitar and tabla,
an Indian percussion instrument, speaks for many in
the group when he says he grew up listening to Hindi
music at home. “But when I got older and got my
own car, I could control the radio and switch to American
pop music.” Although he doesn’t speak Hindi,
the junior is now marrying the melodies of his childhood
with romantic lyrics of the West. “Don’t
ever leave me/Say you’ll never go” may never
sound the same again. |
Listen
to Raagapella members sing “
