The music club story – Teja version

The music club story – Teja version

Ragging is good, because it brought out the raw talent in Teja and also made two other guys – Rama and Shanky his friends, in the barkatpura route bus. Prashant became a buddy because of a few hallway conversations and auditions for Saarang trip by the then (undefined) cultural committee. Saarang opened doors to the realm of organized way of doing creative work. And then came Springspree, of NIT Warangal, which for the first time gave the then college music team a reason to stay back after working hours and practice. Naveen came along in that trip to NIT Warangal. All the five guys never got together at this point of time, but probably shared a common idea of doing creative work in an organized way. Post cultural fests,
they shared all the music related prizes in the intra college competition among them and started becoming very good friends. But it was the annual day during first year that brought them musically together with the song Papa kehtein hain – just one song show! Nevertheless the response was very satisfying. That crystallized the idea of music club, where all the musically inclined guys jam constantly because they like music and there by hone their skills.

When this was happening, the idea of having a cultural festival – Sintillashunz rubbed off among the senior students of the so called cultural committee. The reason might have been VNR’s frequent presence in various cultural festivals and/or the new found bunch of enthusiastic students who can support the committee and carry the tradition forward. There were orators and now music guys along with a budding dance troupe, which totals up to about 30; strong enough to organize their respective fields and also contribute collectively. The then cultural in charge Dr. Rajasekhar was an amazing support to the enthusiastic students; he was very much part of the team and mediated between the students and the college management effectively; he genuinely liked students with multiple interests. This was the team that created a tradition in VNR to go to Saarang regularly and the number of participants always grew by the year. Thus VNR started acquiring a strong cultural shade. By then their second year has just started.


The boys were contemplating a good stage to establish themselves and create confidence among everyone that they can hold a music club in a hitherto culturally averse college like VNR. And the opportunity came in the form of Sintillashunz. They right away decided to give a public show on an open stage with no instruments at hand and no clue about the complexities of sound. Probably it was the confidence out of ignorance or the passion to establish a club that drove them to do this feat. All their thoughts were quickly poured into vision, mission statements and constitution of the club was prepared, and a proposal addressed to the principal was churned out in two days. The first phase of which would be a public show during Sintillashunz to pass a message to everyone; and that the college has to buy some music equipment to make this show possible. The proposed bi-annual festival Sintillashunz it self was not given a complete acceptance yet and the idea of college investing in music instruments which was unheard of, looked totally bizarre to many. But the boys existed in their happy worlds unaffected by any worldly bullshit of rationale and possibilities. The plan was to give a good show, establish themselves and announce the club to everyone and ask for participation. Above all, they truly loved the idea of jamming in college and giving a full-fledged public performance.


To everyone’s surprise, an impossible coincidence and a totally unexpected surprise in the whole of music club story happened then. The Sintillashunz proposal got accepted a day or two before music club proposal reached principal’s desk; and he liked the whole idea of music club and was ready to buy instruments. All that needed was a short meeting between the principal and the boys. It could have been the ‘one song show’ or the thought that had gone into the paper work or it just was the genuine enthusiasm among the boys that convinced the principal. This was the only extra curricular body where the rules were made by students.


Sintillahunz was approaching and there was not much time to waste in administrative work, so the in-voices for the instruments were collected in no time and a grand budget of Rs. 60,000 was prepared. Dr. Rajsekhar was totally not convinced by this huge figure but went on to support this budget after prolonged discussions; the proposal was put forward with lot of skepticism from him. But the boys were totally cool because they saw a perfect reason behind this estimate - either do it this way or don’t! This sometime proves to be a very strong stance in negotiation. Principal, with all the smartness he acquired over the years gave them a challenge – The budget will be partially sanctioned but immediately mobilized and further purchase will be made only when the boys prove their mettle. He probably liked the idea but did not want to give in easily. It was an interesting bargain for them because 50% was sanctioned and promised to be mobilized immediately, and gave an opportunity to ‘earn’ the next phase of instruments. Principal included a note to the VNR senior management to release funds asap. Yet another pleasant surprise, which showed a major shift in the notions of management.


The instruments (drum kit and key board) were bought within a week’s time and the practice sessions went for 1.5 months for the first big show. Few senior students came along and anyone with a little commitment got a chance to contribute. After all, the motive of music club that strongly got etched in the hearts of the boys was to include everyone and grow/go collectively. In spite of stupendous efforts with attendance dwindling to 40%, everyday practice sessions till late evenings and on holidays, handling constant complaints from various departments that music is distracting classes, the show turned out to be a huge let down. Everything that can go wrong went wrong on that day – sound equipment, instruments, tuning, and coordination. Blame it on their inexperience and bad luck; the chances for second phase and full-fledged music club were looking utterly bleak. But everyone liked them, may be they took it as a novice attempt; this liking and support from the college crowd remained for ever.


The following few months went in practice, knowing about sound, finding new talent and making music practice a part of life. To find a suitable place for music equipment and jamming was the biggest challenge because it rubbed various HODs on the wrong side. With growing scorn among few staff members and interest among students, the status of music activity in college was in confused phase. Posing a deaf ear to all the nonsense the boys enjoyed their music and learned to manage the college management. They needed yet another chance to prove their worth and ask for the second phase of instruments which in turn would help them formally announce the existence of a music club. The new students brought in new contacts from whom equipment could be borrowed and this was the best arrangement possible at this point of time. Hence borrowed equipment - small to medium size amplifiers and electric guitars became everyday luggage. They could not be kept in college overnight. The boys started coming only on bikes to carry all this stuff back and forth every working day and holiday. Life was revolving only around music activity for them.


Again came the annual day in second year, hence another opportunity that they were waiting for – an open air show. As the day approached the practice got intense and longer and the size of load carried got bigger/heavier. But the practice was tighter and mature than ever before. A music gig feel was slowly coming to their rehearsals. Finally the show took place with two electric guitars, one bass guitar and few amplifiers that are borrowed along with college drum kit and key board. By this time the boys had some knowledge about sound, mixing and sound check. The show was an instant hit with the crowd and took many a staff member by surprise. Principal sat through the whole show even though it had a heavy rock song – the kind of music one doesn’t expect the oldies to relate to. The boys got the break they were looking for and an interesting question too. Principal asked them how much the sound equipment that college hires every year for annual day would cost. This ignited an idea among them to widen the budget and ask for sound equipment as well. The confidence a successful show fills in is unimaginable!


A quick research about equipment was done and a revised budget was prepared with a target of pushing the management to mobilize the funds before third year commences. This time principal readily agreed with the proposal and the boys had the equipment before commencement of third year. So now they have electric guitar, bass guitar, processor, congo drums, amplifiers, mixers and speakers, along with keyboard and drum kit - altogether worth a lakh of rupees. Probably a good achievement to move the management in investing that much money in an extra curricular activity run/managed completely by students.


Third year started, and they have the task that is due for over a year by now ahead of them – formal announcement of the music club. The boys wanted to do this as a welcome show for the first years, within one month of their entry into college. So they established few practices like regular auditions for fresh talent and consistent music room (which was till then moving by the ‘windfall’ of complaints from staff members) and two shows per semester target. Also by this time they learnt and mastered the art of managing attendance, parents and faculty members. Academic achievements and many other activities people generally do to please the world around them did not matter to the boys any longer. While relentlessly working for music club, they also started growing and maturing and knowing themselves better. The role each person played in the club was taken by natural, involuntary choice; without their knowledge they were learning invaluable lessons about team work, relationships with people around, gut feel and persistence. It was turning out to be an enriching life experience.


This is the starting point of second generation of the music clubbers. After the auditions, the boys got a few talented sub juniors and expanded the boundaries. The new bunch of guys gelled extremely well with them and in turn brought few more enthusiastic students. It was growing to be one happy family. They all jammed and had loads of fun simultaneously. This big group became their social circle outside the college as well. It truly was one big happy family. The show welcoming juniors went well and this was inside the auditorium – first experiment with in-house sound equipment without renting. The music club was christened ‘Crescendo’. This was followed by another show that semester. The main guys responsible in running the club in second generation were Sandy, Sillu and Osho. Slowly everyone picked up instruments according to their interest and the music club as a whole was getting tighter. Never was a genuinely enthusiastic guy who had the energy to stay back after college hours and practice was denied an entry into the club. All that they looked for was basic music sense, tremendous commitment and openness to accommodate others. Three simple criteria helped the boys get the second generation clubbers who will help them in building the club and take it forward.


Now, with enhanced force they wanted to take the college by storm with one thrilling performance that will etch the name of Crescendo in the memories of college forever. This opportunity came in the form of Vector. The Vector organizers wanted a cultural event on the valedictory day and Crescendo wanted funds to hire good equipment for that one-big-show; hence started the tradition of partnering with the event organizers. The deal was that Crescendo entertains the crowd and the organizers hire the best equipment in the city. The preparations for this big show were massive – for the first time Crescendo made sound tracks to complement the live music on stage. The tracks were made from scratch to replicate the original numbers and never was there a rip off from the net. With two impressive indoor shows under the belt, the turn up for Vector show was amazing. About 1000 students waited beyond the last bus time to see Crescendo perform. And the show was a smash hit – the longest show till then with a wide variety of songs. It also had the experimental value of sound tracks blending with live music. All the staff members were thrilled and instant promises of more equipment came showering on the club. Many lecturers who nagged the clubbers till then walked up to them and congratulated. And the students, as always loved it! All the fake promises vaporized but the club had a great new spirit that it can pull off big shows…probably bigger than Vector.


Thus the third year ended and fourth year commenced. Placements, personal relationships, competitive exams, cultural festivals and many more happened but the attention towards club was always constant from everyone. Saarang always took a major seat because it was a key motivator. Crescendo never won nor at least made it to the finals of Saarang but always gave that contest a wholehearted attempt. Surprisingly that’s what counted for everyone on board.


This marked the starting point of the third generation of music club. Crescendo always performed to welcome the juniors and hence it got talented guys from the next batches. The third generation had two pivotal clubbers Anusha and Viddu who took the club forward. Viddu became the grand old man of the current day Crescendo, haunting the place even after graduation, jamming! May be that’s the only thing he did in college that he relates to. With all the three generations, Crescendo looked stronger and organized than ever. Then came the mother of all shows – Convergence; this is the second time Crescendo was partnering with event organizing committee. And this show had to be the best of all…the boys probably wanted it to echo in the college forever. With all the support, talent and experience, this show turned out to be best ever music gig for the boys! And the later half of final year was spent in general jamming and hanging out with everyone. The best part of Crescendo was that everyone bonded over the point where they were true to themselves – music! And hence everyone shared amazing rapport and cool friendships.


Today after three years the boys left college, Crescendo is bubbling with talent and matured to a great extent. It survived all the cynical predictions that the club will die after the boys left. It in fact is in much better shape than it used to be when the boys were around; much more organized and enjoys much more involvement from many clubbers. The jam room is far away from the classroom complex where people can barely know about the music activity. “We do not remember the days we studied but we will remember the days we jammed” is the only quote displayed on its wall, which makes a bold statement about the character of the club and its members.


After engineering, Prashant went to college and gave cameo performances in the big shows that Crescendo gave and got a great applause from the crowd; the boys still are in touch with everyone in the club including the juniors of the third generation clubbers and their juniors and their juniors and their juniors and possibly their juniors too! They still go to college whenever possible and feel the warmth and pleasure and see the live and active club with heart swelling satisfaction and pride. No one knows how many times the geeks and the lecturer pets return to the college but the boys probably will always do, not because they studied there but because they lived there. They truly did what they love the most and cherish their college days for the same reason. They respect the college for giving them that freedom and opportunity and will stay connected with it forever.