Here's why Mumbai's musicians make punk music, and what it means to them

The Jantar Mantar protest in Delhi showed us that the act of singing and playing instruments as a form of peaceful protest is alive and well The protestors werenrsquot playing punk but the ethos of the music that refuses to let anyone lull ourselves into complacency is why we feel that punk isnrsquot and will never die Seeing not only the frustrated youth but also middle aged and senior citizens find solidarity through music with their songs and slogans is something that is a testament to the fact that music was always an act of standing onersquos groundNumetal singer and producer Paritosh Bailung has been in the scene for more than a decade and regularly performs in all major cities PicParitosh BailungWe speak to Mumbaibased metal band to know their take on whether there is still any space for antiestablishment music in the scene today Paritosh Bailung 29 is one of the flagbearers of this thought and chooses to live this reality every day Bailung is originally from Assam and now goes by the stage name lsquoCosthetarsquo is of the opinion that being ldquopunkrdquo in Mumbai poses the challenge of finding solace through community in a city of millions According to him ldquoThe scene survives because people are passionate enough to keep it alive despite the lack of funding sponsorship venues and supportrdquo While being vocal about the racial profiling North Eastern communities face in the city ldquoI take pride in my culture and it is very present in my music for anyone who hears it I want them to hear what my part of the country sounds likerdquoSidharth Raveendran 34 from the post hardcore Mumbai band Pacifist and feels that dissent has been subverted by latestage capitalism ldquoIt capitalism has reduced all subculture into aesthetics and stripped it of all its meaning discovery pursuit of facts and the ideology belief systems used to be once sought but now needs ldquoseedingrdquo plantedrdquo he says So punk felt almost natural ldquoMy values align way better with the ethos of whatrsquos considered historically punk and thatrsquos why I play in a hardcore bandrdquo he addsPosthardcore band Pacifist has played and managed to spread the word at some venues including Lollapalooza and Independence Rock PICAbhishek GuptaCOSTHETA also talks unfettered about topics that are usually taboo mdash even among friends ldquoKindness is punk Extending love to those systemically excluded from it on grounds of caste class gender religion and more is punkrdquo he says He reminds us that politics is very much about diversity and remembering history ldquoPolitics matters because every community has a history behind where they are today If people are going to connect with the music they need to feel heard understood and representedrdquo he addsIs punk finding new kindred spirits COSTHETA feels the increasingly new faces is another reason to keep doing what he does ldquoThey new music lovers seem to be more openminded when it comes to genres and artistesrdquo he says However Pacifistrsquos vocalist Sidharth disagrees ldquoThe audience has mostly stayed the same unfortunately new faces are not as frequent But I hope the new generation finds meaning through this music and find their way to us in these timesrdquoThe musicians tell us how they try to practise acts of rebellion in their everyday lives Sidharth says ldquoI just chose to be vocal about whatrsquos wrong in the world be it in my neighbourhood or in another corner of the planetrdquo he says While Costheta adds to it and believes it all starts in the mind ldquoReal rebellion today is less about how you look or dress and more about whether yoursquore willing to think for yourself and stand by what you believe inrdquo he addsWhile rebellion finds a new song in every generation we only hope that it never goes silent As they say mdash Vive la reacutevolution