21 January,2017 08:28 AM IST | | Joanna Lobo
A Welsh choir has spent a week here, learning Hindi songs, shooting at Dhobi Ghat and collaborating with schoolgirls for a concert
Onâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088a warm winter afternoon, the corridors of Dadar's Shindewadi BMC School reverberate with the sounds of children repeating their lessons after their teacher. Listen closely and you hear giggling and sporadic applause. Climb up to the terrace and the source of both is revealed - a group of men and schoolgirls practising dance moves and in between, playing with a tennis ball. It's an oddly mismatched group - girls in their pigtails and uniforms, and the men in their shorts and sunglasses.
The eight men are the Welsh choir group, Only Men Aloud (OMA). They are on their first visit to India, armed with a camera crew to record their experience and share it online. The girls are part of the school's choir, chosen by Songbound, a music outreach initiative. "We teach music to underprivileged children. OMA got in touch because they were interested in collaborating and wanted to get a feel of Hindi and Bollywood music," says Maureen Pereira, operations manager, Songbound.
Yesterday, both groups put up a music concert on the school grounds. "We've been planning this trip for two years and are glad it finally happened," says Tim Rhys Evans, founder and musical director, OMA.
The right song
The highlight of the concert was Apni Yeh Zameen, a song written by playback singer and songwriter, Rahul Pandey, choreographed by Melvin Louis. "We want to release it on YouTube, Spotify and iTunes. I hope it does well; it is our first time singing in Hindi," adds Evans.
The team spent the last week getting introduced to the language and learning about Classical music at a class conducted by voice coach, Hetal Varia. "It was quite spiritual. We were with her for three hours, sitting on a mat, learning ragas and other elements of Indian Classical music. We were joined by musicians on the tabla and harmonium. It felt like a meditation session," shares Evans.
Hindi may be a new language but they didn't find it all that strange. "The vowels and consonants seem familiar. Even the accents are close," says Steffan Hughes, 22, who is the youngest and newest member of the choir. Hughes, in fact, impressed Pandey with his pronunciation so much that he was asked if he had spoken Hindi before.
While the choir didn't manage much sightseeing - just the Gateway of India - they did go to Film City and shoot a video at Dhobi Ghat. They also went on the sets of Indian Idol. "We met Anu Malik who asked us to sing a Welsh love song - it will be part of the show. Farah [Khan] was a laugh riot, and she gave us tips on how to pull off Bollywood dance moves. We even met Virender Sehwag, and the boys were quite star struck," laughs Evans. "We love cricket. One evening, we went to Juhu beach and played cricket with the locals. We lost!"
Feeling the heat
OMA's Indian sojourn has been an exciting one. "It is everything we expected it to be - colourful, warm and welcoming. People will always smile at you, even when you enter their homes or workplaces and disturb them by singing!" says choir member Craig Yates.
They love the weather. "We find it odd to see the girls here wearing jumpers and sweaters because they find it cold while here we are in our shorts. Before leaving, we struggled to find summer clothes as all the shops were selling woollen wear," adds Yates.
The men have bonded well with the schoolgirls. Their practice sessions, held on the terrace of the school, have taken up afternoons. "We taught them a Welsh song, which was about friendship and they in turn taught us a Hindi song [Yaaron Dosti], also about friendship," says Yates. Friendship and happy memories is what they will take back with them to Wales.
Log on to www.onlymenaloud.com
