The Indorewalas

RJ actor and podcaster Puranjit Dasgupta better known by his stage name Mantra left Indore for Delhi in 2003 But he carries the city in his heart and his art ldquoThe humour back home is different so is our style of talking We speak Hindi in the most beautiful way possibleWhen I used to host shows in Delhi and later Mumbai and say things like lsquokripya kar kersquo people would be amused But I was not trying to speak fancy Hindi thatrsquos just the way we Indoris speakrdquoRaj ShamaniIt comes as little surprise then that social mediarsquos biggest gamechangers are emerging out of Indore Historically it could have started with MF Husian who spent his childhood in Indore Then came the OG Indori Rahat Indori who was born as Rahat Qureshi in 1950 and died last year Indori was known for his soulful poems These days standup comedian Zakir Khan and music director Sneha Khanwalkar are among the OGs and 2021 also paved the way for Indori musician Osho Jain influencerentrepreneur Raj Shamani and creator Aanchal Agrawal who recently launched her own merchandise line The advent of social mediamdashIndore accounts for 12 lakh mobile Internet users out of the 12 crore users in the entire Madhya Pradesh circlemdashhas given the talent pool a huge boostIndore says Mantra has been the hub of cultural events Clubs like The Yeshwant Club named after the late Maharaja Yeshwant Rao II Holkar and Sayaji Club and Hotel named after Late Maharaja Sayaji Rao III Gaekwad of Baroda long provided platforms to art and music talent in the region The city also has a flourishing rock and metal music scene Nicotine one of the cityrsquos earliest and most popular bands is widely known for being the pioneer of metal music in Central IndiaOsho Jain singersongwriterBut the change to ldquocoolrdquo happened in 2000 when the first private radio channel in the country launched in Indore Mantra feels ldquoI had hosted that first show and I think itrsquos around then that the city was inching towards modernityrdquo adds Mantra who runs a production house that specialises in audio dramasJain who is known for his soulful lyrics and melodies returned to Indore briefly from Mumbai during the pandemic He says that he knew he wanted to be a poet when in school ldquoMy father is an astrologer but he was also a tabla player Growing up we talked of raagas and shayars Most people in Indore talk about poetrymdashno one knows where that comes from but it is just part of us and how we live Maybe itrsquos also because of stalwarts like Rahat IndoriLike me several Indoris have taken up writing I graduated in mass media from Indore University Most production houses in Mumbai have at least one person from my college But since the canvas is small we prefer moving for better opportunities to Delhi and Mumbairdquo says JainJain however offers a more romantic explanation for why Indoris love poetry ldquoIn Mumbai if I love someone I can meet them and express everything easily But in a small city like Indore itrsquos not so easy so many feelings stay in the heart Because you have so much inside you you have so many more stories to tell The city has made me and my music very unpretentious and raw Itrsquos the way it ismdashvery groundedrdquo says Jain who says he has seen several creative art schools open up in recent times to cater to growing demandRaj Shamani 24 has a million followers on Instagram who take his advice on Metaverse NFTs and all kinds of money matters Though Shamani grew up in a business household he nonetheless liked attending kavi sammelans and magic shows He feels that being an Indori has made him more informalmdashhe can break into a conversation with anyone on the street ldquoI think most people who are in the arts are very aspirational and see it as a ticket to get out of Indore which is a small city compared to Mumbai So they aim to become creators or join Bollywoodrdquo he says while explaining why Indoris are flooding the influencer and artistic sceneShamani also adds ldquoWhat Indoris also do right is that they give in to the pleasures of life They are laid back Every evening they think about how they want to spend their time culturallyAnd thatrsquos what has eventually shaped usrdquo