India is not for beginners. Living here for a week I could write a book. After a month, I would have enough observations to flesh out a few articles and, after a year’s time, my sensory powers will be all but nullified. Best to get it out while I can.

Tonight was a strange night due to the fact there was nothing strange about it. Everything that should tell me I’m in India makes me think I’m back in Brazil or the U.S. After watching Sri Lanka and Pakistan play cricket, my roommate and I vegged out to reruns of ‘Friends’ and ‘The Simpsons’ at his parent’s flat.  At a Karaoke night at Opus later in the evening, hardly an Indian tune was sung until after last call. If anything was strange, it was how few of the songs I was able to recognize and how few of the words I could sing to those that struck a chord.

There were two standout perfomers: A girl whose Joss Stone electrified the crowd, and Bharat Krishna, once of the most gifted musical madmen I’ve encounted since Helder Araújo. Before I talk about Krishna, it’s appropriate that I delve into the irony of an Indian songstress in Bangalore imitating a British girl whose claim to fame is her imitation of American soul singers. The performance I saw of ‘Fell in Love with a Boy,’ itself a cover of song by ‘The White Stripes’ was quite clever. Her rendition of ‘Lady Marmalade‘ from the soundtrack to Moulin Rouge was even better.

A dropout of the IIT, India’s most prestigious technical university, Bharat Krishna fuses American radio hits with contemporary Indian pop. When he stepped on stage, I thought he looked like my friend, Harith, until he started pop lockin’ and ripping up the stage with slick dance moves. Krishna and his multiple musical personas are makin an impact on the local music scene here in Bangalore and on the Web with his cutting edge mashups. The window below has one of his tunes, Wonderbrawl, which he performed. I hope I get a chance to pick his brain while I’m out here because he’s definitely an innovator.

Barry – WonderBrawl | Online recorder