'We just try to do music with honesty'

The winter morning had just started rolling towards afternoon. We were waiting for our tea at a cafe in the Hill View residential area of Panchlaish, Chattogram around 11:00am on Wednesday.

Suddenly we saw someone very familiar sitting there a couple of tables away. Clad in baggy trousers, T-shirt and jacket, it was none other than Rahul Ananda of music band ‘Joler Gaan’. He was sipping at his coffee sitting in a corner of the cafe.

I went to him and asked, ‘Aren’t you Rahul Ananda?’ The encounter turned into an engaging conversation that continued for about an hour.

So, before going into the conversation should I say something about Rahul Ananda? The man has a nationwide fame. He’s a musician, lyricist, instrumentalist as well as a poet. He’s one of the founding members of the exceptional music band, ‘Jolert Gaan’.

Rahul Ananda is always experimenting with his music and instrument. His songs feature different themes including love, life and nature. Rahul however has another identity -- he’s an actor too. He had come to visit Chattogram a few days ago for he’s acting in a short film.  

All different topics came up in the conversation with Rahul. When asked, “How many instruments have you made till date?” Rahul Ananda laughingly said, “There no record. There are hundreds.” He built as many as 67 instruments for ‘Joler Gaan’ alone. He builds an instrument every day.

Rahul Ananda laughed and said, “It’s a sort of obsession! There are some crazy people like who does all these. Take this cup for example.” Rahul raised the tea cup saying this.

“It must have been someone crazy to make that cup the first time. We have ruined the word ‘crazy’. People who are mentally ill, we call them crazy. Yet it is craziness from which something beautiful is created,” he added.

Rahul Ananda is a lover and a poet. How do you find time for nature and people amidst such busy schedule? Rahul replied, “Whenever I go somewhere, I take some time alone out for myself.”

“I have taken some time out for myself coming to Chattogram as well. A lot of antique shipwreck items are found here at Bhatiari. I’ll go there and look for some items to make instruments with them,” he added.

The band Joler Gaan is so popular among Bangla speaking community all over the world including Bangladesh as well as India. But what’s the reason behind such popularity? Rahul Anana doesn’t know the answer to this question.

Rahul said, ‘I don’t know why we are famous. But I have noticed that children like us a lot. Children are indeed ruthless critics. And they like our songs. We receive many videos from children. And the reason could be honesty. We just try to do music with honesty.”

In 2016, Rahul Ananda had suffered an accident. He had come back from the dead at that time. He had written the song, ‘Amar Ekta Dana Bhanga…’ based on that experience. It’s a really sad song. What’s surprising is that children like this song too, Rahul Ananda said emotionally.  

‘Joler Gaan’ had to come across a lot of ups and downs. Many had terribly underestimated them in the beginning. But those who love music have liked Joler Gaan till the end. And Joler Gaan wants to spread light till the end. Rahul believes anyone can spread light if they wish to.

In Rahul’s words, “We can see the darkness only because there’s light. When the sun has set, we’ll light lamps, we’ll light candles. These are the replicas of the sun, maybe in a smaller size.”

“We too can spread light, be it in a smaller scale. Therefore, if I use what has been given to me in terms of knowledge, there will be light even if it’s just a flicker. It will remove the darkness after all,” he added.