For a period of five to six years in the late 1960s, the Imperial Tobacco Company hosted a music competition named after their Simla brand of menthol cigarettes. On #WorldMusicDay we look back at the Simla Beats and how it led to the formation of India’s first rock band. 1/14
Many believe the coming of the Beatles to Rishikesh for their spiritual visit in 1968 was hailed as India’s rite of passage to the world of Rock Music, but there are others who believe that a certain music competition heralded India’s Rock Revolution. 2/14
Around 1967 the tobacco brand ITC decided to promote their cigarette brand Simla in a unique way, by hosting a competition for competing music bands. In those days the Indian youth was slowly getting hooked to the beats of a Western genre called Psychedelic Rock. 3/14
ITC decided to boost this underground movement, so started the Simla Beat. Every year henceforth Bands from all over the country competed in the Simla Beat. People used to line up outside the Shanmukhananda Hall in Bombay to enjoy the music. 4/14
The bands who won were given a chance to record their winning beats in Calcutta and this was released under the compilations titled Simla Beat. The compilation’s sleeve had the band’s name, their city, and the song’s name. 5/14
The artwork used for the event was another thing to behold. Quite abstract and strangely beautiful, they give a rare insight into the cultural and musical outpourings of the wild and rebellious era of the 60s and 70s 6/14
The Savages, The Confusions from Madras, and The Dinosaurs from Bangalore were some of the bands who participated in the contest. The combustibles were another popular band from Mumbai, but they never managed to win the competition. 7/14
The Simla Beat was however not the only competition in town. Sound Trophy, organized by HMV, was another one that had a similar competition of the bands. The music had everyone hooked on, the age of rock had arrived. 8/14
There was no looking back from this. In 1971 Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, the vocalist, and guitarist of the rock band Led Zeppelin were found strolling down the streets of Mumbai. When a pub owner recognized them, he couldn’t believe his eyes. 9/14
It is believed that the duo performed an impromptu gig at the grunge pub Slip Disc, though it is mostly taken to be an urban legend now with no records of the performance surviving. It added to the growing popularity of the music genre, nonetheless. 10/14
In 1975 seven young men in Calcutta, some in their twenties and some in their teens decided to completely change the status quo. The city reeling from the aftermath of the Naxalite movement still had the audacity to defy. 11/14
In the backyard of a south Calcutta house, the group led by the enigmatic singer/songwriter Gautam Chattopadhyay found what is believed to be India’s first rock band Moheener Ghoraguli (Moheen's Horses). 12/14
The band with their fusion of Bengali folk and jazz bought the genre into a completely new light. Born out of rebellion the band truly embraced what it meant to be a rock band: rebellious, anarchic, and most of all pathbreaking. 13/14
Though Simla Beats cannot be fully credited for the formation of Mohener Ghoraguli, its influence in forwarding psychedelic rock from garages to the fully packed venues and heralding a new genre of music to Indian ears remains undeniable. 14/14
NB: Paperclip does not promote or encourage use of LSD or any kind of addictive drugs/substance. We also strongly encourage everyone to abide by the laws of their respective regions with regard to consumption of addictive substances.
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Four years ago in Kerala, sixteen strangers walked into the Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram. They were from different districts, different walks of life. But they all carried one name that bound them together.
Gagarin. Yes, Gagarin.
So, What brought them together? 1/16
The name needs no introduction, or does it?
On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to journey into space. For the world, it was history. For a section of Kerala’s left-leaning families, it was inspiration strong enough to echo in their children’s names. 2/16
Take P.D. Gagarin from Cherthala.
According to reports in Hindu and New Indian Express, he was born on that very day in 1961, when the Soviet cosmonaut made his historic flight. His father, a communist and space enthusiast, named him Yuri Gagarin. 3/16
Long before she was a global icon, Mother Teresa walked the streets of Kolkata, and when she had nowhere to go, the city’s iconic Kali Temple opened its doors. On her birthday, we remember the unlikely home that started a journey of compassion that changed the world. Thread 1/19
When Mother Teresa began her work in Calcutta in 1948, she had almost nothing of her own. She wore a plain white cotton sari with a blue border and carried little more than conviction. 2/19
Her belief was simple yet radical: that the poor who lay unwanted on the pavements, the sick abandoned in the streets, and the dying left in filth deserved dignity in their final days. 3/19
Why does sugarcane taste so sweet in India today? India’s sugarcane wasn’t always this sweet. The reason it tastes the way it does today goes back to the stubborn brilliance of one woman who fought prejudice, doubt, and even war. Thread.
1/19
Janaki Ammal was born in 1897 in Kerala. At a time when most girls were expected to marry early, she chose science.
Botany became her world.
2/19
Janaki grew up in a large family with 19 siblings. Her father was not a scientist, but he loved tending gardens and writing about nature. From him, Janaki absorbed a way of looking at plants not just as crops, but as living wonders.
Open a Crayola box today and you’ll find hundreds of shades. But if you grew up in the 80s or 90s using Crayola art supplies, you might remember a crayon called Indian Red. And then, one day, it just disappeared. What exactly happened?
1/14
To answer that, you have to travel way beyond the Crayola factory in Pennsylvania…
all the way to a small town in Kerala, India.
In 1807, a Scottish man named Francis Buchanan was surveying the region for the East India Company.
2/14
So, who was Buchanan-Hamilton? think of him as a one-man research institute on foot: surgeon, botanist, surveyor. after Tipu Sultan’s fall, he was tasked to map and describe the south.
3/14
This year, a controversy broke out over a scene in Kesari 2. It allegedly misrepresented one of Bengal’s greatest freedom fighters, Khudiram Bose, by calling him Khudiram Singh. To understand why that name matters, we have to take a train to a small station in Bihar. Thread 1/19
The station has two platforms and is located in Samastipur district, part of the East Central Railway’s Sonpur division. To understand why the name mix-up hurt so deeply, we have to look beyond cinema. This small, unassuming train station may hold the answer. 2/19
It has worn several names over the years — Waini Railway Station, then Pusa Road Waini after the nearby agricultural university was built. Later, Waini was dropped. For decades, it was simply “Pusa Road.” 3/19
Rahul Gandhi’s startling claims of voter list fraud have sparked intense debate over India’s election integrity. Nearly a hundred years ago, a small West African country experienced one of the most extraordinary election frauds in history. What exactly took place? Thread 1/18
In 1927, Liberia went to the polls. On paper, it was just another general election. In reality, it would become a masterclass in how far those in power will go to hold on to it.
2/18
Liberia was small. Tucked away in West Africa. Founded a century earlier by freed African Americans.
Its ruling class — the Americo-Liberians — controlled everything: the courts, the military, foreign trade, and land.
3/18