"Dhoom Pichuck" by Euphoria

SONG TITLE: Dhoom Pichuck
ARTIST: Euphoria
ALBUM: Dhoom
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1998
WORDS: official website [pdf]
DOWNLOAD: right-click here

Euphoria invented an entire genre of Indian pop music that came to be known as "Hind-rock". They are the rock gods of India, and are totally unheard of in the states. The band is headed up by Palash Sen, who is known as "Dr. Polly". Dr. Polly is a practicing physician and surgeon, in addition to his role as lead writer and singer for Euphoria. And he's dreamy. We may as well just call him Buckaroo.

I saw these guys perform at a corporate party for one of the big BPO companies in India in January 2004 - one of the execs is Dr. Polly's cousin. There were 6000 employees at the party, the huge majority of them kids in their early twenties who were over the moon to see Euphoria. I was in the VIP area, which meant that I got to sit on a nice overstuffed couch in the front row to enjoy the show while the screaming masses stood ass-to-belly behind a security rope twenty feet behind me.

The band played for four hours straight without a break. In addition to playing all of their own popular songs, they did dozens and dozens of Western songs. They did ACDC and Pink Floyd and U2 and everything in between. And they did it all incredibly well, shifting style effortlessly from one tune to the next. I've never seen such a versatile group. Every time they played one of their own songs, though, the crowd went crazy with cheers, dancing with just a tiny bit more enthusiasm and singing along.

Dr. Polly talked a lot to the audience, speaking the blend of English and Hindi that's earned its own name - Hinglish - and that really messes with your brain if you're overtired and only speak on of the languages. At one point he looked at me and asked if I understood any of what he was saying. All I could do was shrug happily. I was bouncing along, cheering and clapping and dancing and having a great time even though I had no idea what he was talking about, and it made him laugh out loud. Definitely one of my favorite Indian experiences.

Unfortunately, the company that's released their music has gone through some trouble and it's next to impossible to find any of their CDs anywhere, even in India. I saw one cassette once that I regret passing up now. You may have some luck on LimeWire or another file sharing system if you stick with it. Over time, I've managed to amass ten songs, but only with dedication and patience. This is the absolute best of the lot, and it was their breakout hit as well. My second-favorite is "Maeri", which is also worth any time spent digging for it.