Laugh out loud
An all-female band will incorporate humorous anecdotes in between their songs
For Indiva, a four-piece band, a gig is not only about music, but also about sharing personal experiences and humourous anecdotes. “It’s the way we say things that makes us funny,” says Goa-born Merlin D’Souza, who often cracks the joke about how she comes from a land of lazy people during their performances.
D’Souza, Hamsika Iyer, Vivienne Pocha and Shruti Bhave constitute the allwomen band that was formed as an aftermath of the brutal gangrape of a 22-year-old girl in New Delhi in 2012. Disturbed by the incident, D’Souza came up with a song titled ‘Suno’, which spoke about women’s issues. She came together with the others to perform it, and that’s when the idea of forming a band struck them. Most of the band’s songs revolve around the themes of love, peace, happiness and freedom. Apart from English and Hindi, they also incorporate Sanskrit, Swahili, Tamil and Kannada into their songs.
“We also blend jazz, rock, folk and Indian classical music. Since all four of us come from different musical backgrounds, fusing these genres was not difficult,” says D’Souza.
Another highlight of their show is that, this time, 40 students from a school for the destitute — St Catherine of Siena School, Bandra (W) — will also join them on stage. “They will sing a song called ‘Helelele’, which means anything good can happen to you. I created the song while sitting beside my mother when she was admitted to a hospital some time ago,” adds D’Souza.