Avni - The Journey So Far

Circa the winter of 2006.

Umpteen cups of tea alternated with hic-hic and puffing sessions.

Three guys who knew where their soul came from.

Who couldn’t care less if their neighbors attempted to beat them to pulp for yet another episode of their by-now notorious head banging evenings (read weekend practice sesh)

Who were sure that they did not want to be one of those dime-a-dozen bands that originate in obscure garages, and after some dismal ten-people-in-the-audience-gigs (out of which 9 are family), peter into murkiness and subsequent oblivion.

Who believed strongly only in (some) broken bottles, and certainly not broken dreams.

Easier said than done?

You bet!

That’s how Avni was formed.

From the original trio to the current sextet (and it’s not what you think), we’ve come a long way indeed.

Indian fusion, contemporary music, hard metal – we do it all.

From crooning at seven Corporate events – that’s a cool average of three gigs a year, to making college teeny-boppers tap, sway and karaoke to our cadenced tunes early this year (and modesty obviously isn’t one of our virtues), we have always believed in foraying into newer channels.

Hell, recently we even let a woman into our hitherto ‘hallowed’ space. Thank God she only blows her own trumpet, and leaves our drums and guitars alone.

We know that the above warrants at least a two-minute standing ovation.

So let’s tune our instruments and wait for the applause to settle down.

(Pause)

Thank you.

Mighty decent of you.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Avni – the Indian Fusion Band.

Cheers to the psychedelic lights, the booming yet synchronized beats, gestured hand signals in the air, throaty laughs, smoke-filled camaraderie, and a group of music junkies who literally eat, drink, and sleep music.

Let’s hope that is ‘music’ to your ears.

It sure is to us...