Drowning

In mid-90s, as music television became mainstream in India, there were a few music videos that caught people's eyes. One such video starts with a quiet lake amongst the mountains and a yellow vintage volkswagon beetle partially submerged in it. A sherwani clad guy with a pine colored acoustic guitar drops in from the sky (cheesy) and then finds himself on the bonnet of the yellow car along with his buddies.

Mohit Chauhan, Atul Mittal, Kem Trivedi and Kenny Puri formed a band beautifully named 'Silk Route'. It conjures images of this ancient trade route that connecting medieval cities of learning and business, the mix of gothic and Persian architecture in those cities, of seamless cultural exchanges that flourished hundreds of years back, all to trade this desirable commodity of luxury - Silk.


'Dooba dooba' became an instant hit. The album, 'Boondein', received some level of success, but it was really just one song that won people over.

The song is sung for the love of his life. Mohit is drowning in her eyes. He has become lovelorn. The days go not pass and he can't sleep and all he has of her, is a picture, which just doesn't do any justice. When he meets her, his heart lights up. He wishes her to be his for ever, and then when she does not linger, he calls her heartless, imploring her to stay on.

As the song progresses, the band members perched on the car eventually all drown. As he drowns, Mohit imagines of his love swimming towards him. She comes close, and then seems like she is looking at her own reflection, a narcissist attitude and she swims away.

The melody is haunting. Mohit's voice is silky like the name of the band would suggest. The use of a recorder & clarinnet for the interlude enhances the freshness in the song. The beat is simple, and there's a light touch on the percussion.

Equally unusual in Indipop is the use of harmony. While not as extensively used, there are some places where Silk Route just gets it right. The Simon and Garfunkel influence on Mohit Chauhan is amply exemplified in this song, in the melody, the use of wind instruments, the use of harmony, as well as, perhaps the band member's outfits, which seem like the 80s S&G look.

Watch the original video on youtube. While an unplugged version of a song that originally features an acoustic guitar seems redundant, the rehashed version of the song is worth a watch too for the Mohit Chauhan fans.