17 April,2011 07:16 AM IST | | Yolande D'Mello
After all, their 51 year-old curator mom Geetu Hinduja has her own band Geetu, that will be performing at Blue Frog this evening. She, whose songs are inspired by things as diverse as her three children to traffic signal vendors, tells us why the adage 'better late than never' makes sense to her
Geetu Hinduja sits in a dimly-lit office of The Fine Art Company, her art consultancy in Khar, surrounded by canvases. But tonight, she isn't playing curator. She is practising with her band of four. "Don't sit too close to the art," she tells Vinayak Warrier, percussionist. "It's probably worth around Rs 5 lakh," chides Prasad Ruparel, the lead guitarist. Flautist Shriram Sampat is running late for practice.
The musicians met in 2009 when they performed at the festival Celebrate Bandra, and have been a band ever since. All of them work through the day and moonlight as musicians for the band, Geetu. Warrier is a cinematographer, Ruparel freelances at events and Sampat works as a producer with a national radio station.
Dressed in a flowing skirt of a dark, earthy shade that contrasts with her short white crop, 51 year-old Hinduja says she "always wanted to make music" but studying interior design at the JJ School of Art, setting up her own art gallery and raising three children didn't leave much spare time.
"I started learning the guitar and vocals after I had two kids and now that they are grown up, I can finally give more time to music," says Hinduja, who writes songs based on everything around her. "My songs are inspired by members of my family, my travels, stories I hear at parties I attend or just something I've seen that struck a chord."
For instance, White Flowers is a song about a woman buying flowers from a street vendor selling gajras at a traffic signal. "The song ends with 'I didn't buy any flowers because I had no one waiting at home'," she shares. Rise Up Oh Woman, another song that Hinduja is working on, delves into the issues of the girl child and women's liberation.
Do the three men want to sing about the liberated woman? "We are all married, and I have a daughter too. It makes sense to us, because we have had strong women in our lives. I've seen Geetu's music change from being about empowering the woman to celebrating the woman. That we can all understand," says Ruparel.
While Hinduja writes the lyrics, Ruparel develops the melody and Warrier and Sampat work on the score. Their different creative backgrounds have a positive impact on their music. "It's a good thing we have so many creative minds because we don't look at music as a release from workplace anxieties," explains Ruparel, while the rest nod to that.
"A full-time job and a family can be difficult to handle, but I look forward to practice every week," offers Warrier. "Family support is crucial," says Ruparel, whose three year-old daughter has wandered onto the stage on occasions.u00a0
"My daughters think I'm a cool mom, or at least I think they do," laughs Hinduja. "They are very supportive, though I think the song 'I'm a B'tch, I'm a Lover' makes my son-in-law uncomfortable."
At: Bluefrog, Lower Parel, 10 pm
Call: 40332300
