SHAURYA SINGH THAPA
EUPHORIA ’ S MAERI EVOKES A NOSTALGIC ROMANCE FROM THE 90S
SCORE INDIE CLASSICS
Fronted by Dr Palash Sen , Euphoria has been one of the first independent Indian acts to become a household name . Continously making music since their 1998 album Dhoom , they have had a consistent track record and continue belting out singles till this day .
But for the ‘ 90s kids ’ who grew up with their music , Maeri might be one of their most preferred tracks . As Sen revealed in an MTV Unplugged episode , he wrote this song as a tribute to his mother . A single child , he started off Maeri to show his frustration at his father who was never there . But towards the end of the track , he just ends up getting emotional and cheery thinking about the mother that raised him .
The equally memorable music video however changes the connection and finds Sen musing on an old romantic interest with whom he couldn ’ t end up . He misses her with bittersweet memories with some positive , singalong energy accompanying the mellow lyrics .
Directed by Pradeep Sarkar , the 6-minute short starts off from a chaotic railway station scene . As the band members hurriedly enter their Dehradun Express coach with their instruments , the band ’ s lead singer just sits near a window staring aimlessly .
The train starts moving and Sen goes on a walk down memory lane . He thinks about his town and how he used to spend time with his partner ( a pre-fame Rimi Sen playing the part ). As this environment and period are devoid of social media , the couple engages in simple and naive past times like eating sugarcane and pressing coins on the train tracks . And then in typical Bollywood fashion , the girl ’ s parents extend their reservations with this romance and get her married off to someone else . Sen eventually gives up and finds a new purpose with the timeline shifting to the present .
Interspersed with this ill-fated storyline are some contrasting jovial scenes as Sen tries to forget his sadness and jam with bandmates like
bassist DJ Bhaduri , percussionist Prashant Chaturvedi , guitarist Gaurav Misra , and harmonium player Kajal Ghosh . Despite the Bollywood romance angle , Sen and his musical ensemble are far from a mainstream film industry act .
As Sen said in a recent interview , ‘ Being called a Bollywood singer is as good as an insult to me .’ As for Euphoria ’ s stint as an indie act , the band has stuck to performing and releasing music for more than two decades now . And given the interactions they receive on social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube , they don ’ t show any signs of stopping . This is a notable fact for a 90s band in India as most of them ended up being one-hit wonders or just broke up after a few years . In this sense , they are no less than indie legends and tracks like Maeri have become landmark songs in Indian independent music . Till today , the video of Maeri continues to get nostalgic comments from teary viewers and listeners . For instance , a user commented ‘ Maeri is not only a song , it ’ s an emotion ... a journey back to childhood ’.
The Score Magazine
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