I was a rebel, not to mention, the inconsistence of shifts from a moderate rebel to a inhibit dude. I was in the era when pop music was camouflaging itself to rock, and rock music took a turn to hard rock. I never played any musical instruments, but drummed to a beat on any surface of wood or metal like a possessed oracle. Long-playing records were items of desire, and listening to them a ritual. Yes I always wanted to be in a band, but never even could get near a real instrument, but got all the satisfaction singing in the choir in school
I killed the desire to be in the band by doing which every youth does dream, and to distress there were movies, plays were we could act and the best I did was to paint and photograph. Like in the movie Rock on we were a gang, went all over to Pune, lonavala, Surat, panchgini matheran to every spot where we could go to take photographs. We did take a lot of pictures of nature but never forgot to zoom into God’s greatest creation the women. I was known as Wrangler Arvind being the fortunate few to posses a pair of jeans ( verginal). The cloth Jhola, and Rajesh khanna kurta, was a fashion statement, we went to J Krishnamurty lecture to seek gyan and firangi pyar, as the discourse venue was filled with them. Osho did his best to keep us away even though we tried our best, maybe he thought we would never graduate from dandya rass!!.Like in Rock on even we had a dark room where we washed our black and white films, teaching many friends of the fair gender the affects of red light in a dark room. As in Rock on we had, one gang member who would have little bit of money, I was the leader, and the other two or some time three, just followed….!!
We had our fights over how we spend on our girlfriends and and on some silly reasons as to who gets to eat one batatawada extra. But when it came to Photography or a painting or buying a record,or going for a show we were one, chipping in and be together like Spartacus to fight against the onslaught of inflation.
We did have a Vahan two-wheelers, Vijay super, and Bajaj…. which took us around but also separated us; we took up our respective jobs to face this unquestionable duty of winning our bread. One went abroad, one could not go anywhere…I went where I had to go…like in Rock on not realaising we have lost so much to gain so little.
