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Interesting article on Rave by Tehelka
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almost purple
Started Topics :
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24
Posted : Mar 21, 2007 07:14
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In the aftermath of the pune bust, here's the only article that doesn't conform to the convenient lock up all evil trance listening maniacs theory currently being tom-tommed by the Indian media.
That Cosmic Super Groove
Raves aren’t drug-fuelled orgies or a screen for on-the-sly sex, youngsters tell Paramita Ghosh. They’re about the need for a subculture
Rave, in the popular imagination, is deeply purple — young, noisy, without structure, dangerous. Sex and drugs are thought to be the gateways to this hedonistic universe, much like rock-n-roll in the 50s was thought to be about subversion, gangsters and fast cars. Time to clip the pace, decided the Pune police last week, and a raid party in civilian clothes descended on a rave venue on Holi. Young people were herded off to the police station, they faced the media — and the music.
The media rolled off fantastic figures. “Fifteen hundred units of lsd were reported to have been found. There were 300 of us, so that means five bottles each,” says Prakash, one of those picked up. “Do you know what five bottles can do? You die or go insane.” To make matters worse, his face apppeared on TV. “I’ve had people coming up and asking, what are you on. I smile and say, just the music.” Like most ravers, he feels he and his friends are victims of mindsets.
Music, not drugs, youngsters say, is what draws them to raves, gives them a community and a language beyond words. Neel, a first year ba student, says: “Words are subordinate to the rhythm in rave. There’s no language, no barrier, and that’s why rave culture is so big. The connection is through music; it helps you know where you stand and that everyone’s stories are the same. These are big realisations. Raves eliminate categories, it’s collective consciousness. It’s a high without drugs.”
Non-ravers are most likely to trip hard over ideas like ‘connection’ and ‘collective consciousness’, but ravers take them very seriously. The wordless tracks of trance and the high-voltage beats that range from 125-200 bpm, a steady 4/4 kick filled with layers of analog sounds and samples, make a few solid aesthetic points. They will not entertain. They will not perform. They will not pretend. Reena, a 22-year-old graphic artist in Delhi, says of her rave initiation: “For the first time in my life, I felt I belonged. The connection is important for us. Don’t you wish this image drama would stop? Don’t you wish you had a spiritual family? Where has this world gone wrong? In the end, it’s answering the bigger questions that helps you solve the smaller ones. Before you rubbish us, you’ve got to come see for yourself.”
The ‘subversive’ nature of these gatherings may make colourful copy, but it’s an exaggerated picture. The rebellion is more a means of coping. It’s the last flush of post-school, pre-job jitters. It’s a tribe struggling to draw a map to ease their entry into the ‘real world’. Sandy, a journalism student in Mumbai, says the individualism of college life was a culture shock after school. “I needed a space where I was surrounded by people who would reinforce me, tell me they were on my side.” Raves are in that sense, not anti-establishment but a defence against it, against alienation, a reaction against everything and nothing. Alienation is socialisation gone wrong. It’s no party. Everyone wants to belong but everyone is always a little late.
Unlike its popular image, a rave is always on the wrong side of cool. The nightclub is the rich kid’s hangout. A rave is inclusive and unless you have a firang dj as chief entertainment officer, it is not a big-ticket affair. Polish, at raves, is unimportant, even suspect. “In a club, I feel boxed-in and rated. The perfume you wear, the cash in your pocket, is the measure of your membership,” says Reena. “A rave is the only place where a 15-year-old can sit with a 72-year-old and have a one-on-one connect and not even notice the age gap. If you look at someone and smile, they smile back. Sometimes the music gives us messages, sometimes the people do.”
What kinds of messages? Well, not the sort that make you wink. Sex on the dance floor is a classic strand of the conspiracy against rave, feel long-time ravers. “We dance facing the dj, not each other,” says Sheetal, a 24-year-old club manager in Bangalore. “Sex is not on our minds. Ever. We are open to it, but that doesn’t mean it’s the scene we’re going for. If you want to stop the young from having sex, hip-hop parties are a better hunting ground. I’ve been hit on more at clubs than at a rave.”
So are drugs, booze and sex the sticks the State and other agencies of control use to beat rave-goers into submission? If they are, they’re unlikely to work. “In rock concerts, discos and clubs, drugs are much more in circulation than at raves,” says Neel. “Politicians are always afraid of those who don’t follow the system they work so hard to hold up. It threatens their power, it upsets them. At the end of a week, what’s wrong with a little garden party?” Subcultures are consolidated by hostility; a thousand mushrooms will, nonetheless, bloom.
Mar 24 , 2007
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dhruv
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
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100
Posted : Mar 21, 2007 10:27
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awesome !!!
atleast some form of media people can trust .
Tehelka is fukin kickass
 Nothing but music!!!
You do l.s.d i confuse you
We dance slow you dont dance you jog you stupid fool !!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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phazed
IsraTrance Junior Member
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1642
Posted : Mar 21, 2007 10:50
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Yeh good article.. although its too late now.. and no other paper would dare speak this truth...
-.-. .... --- --- ... . / .-.. --- ...- . |
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coSmiIic r080t0n3
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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2340
Posted : Mar 21, 2007 16:05
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Quote:
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On 2007-03-21 10:50, phazed wrote:
Yeh good article.. although its too late now.. and no other paper would dare speak this truth...
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It's time to move on to the next step in the psychedelic revolution. We've reached a certain point, but we're not moving any more.
Ken Kesey |
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Psynaesthesian
IsraTrance Junior Member
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557
Posted : Mar 21, 2007 17:06
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Well Said ... Much Respect .... Hope it will help some people see the true light and spirit of these gatherings!!
........................ much like how the brits converged for a cuppa chaa(i) and chinwag backed by a soothing orchestral ensemble
B'om Shankara!!
"... b'om ..." |
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saintsanty
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3
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108
Posted : Mar 21, 2007 19:22
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good atrticle, it should be on the front page of times of india and the world
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Alias
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Mar 21, 2007 20:00
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MorNinG MaGiC
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1815
Posted : Mar 21, 2007 20:33
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mad article ..
a killer read //!
party safe every 1 may the force b wid all of us ..!
boOom..!
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headyatail2000
IsraTrance Junior Member
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2304
Posted : Mar 21, 2007 22:19
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vv2 ,,,
i guess sum1 did speak up finally..
the voice from the other side!!
<~< "the best things in life aren't things" - art buchwald >~> |
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Oran
IsraTrance Team
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Posted : Mar 22, 2007 00:33
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On 2007-03-21 07:14, almost purple wrote:
Mar 24 , 2007
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Back to the future?
Always agressive never progressive. |
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Shaqattack
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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1381
Posted : Mar 22, 2007 08:34
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THats an awesome article...
i enjoyed reading every second of it and relating to the current situation in india this is a wave of fresh and pure air...
nice to know people are ready to understand the other side of the spectrum.
though i still am sure this wont affect the mind sets of the population at large atleast attempts are being made so hey....atleast a shot is worth it..
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On 2007-03-22 00:33, Oran wrote:
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On 2007-03-21 07:14, almost purple wrote:
Mar 24 , 2007
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Back to the future?
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yupp dint get that bit either....! its still the 22nd where i am at right now....
Why Worry?? BE.........HIPPIE |
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Cosmic Tandav
Trailoka
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1026
Posted : Mar 26, 2007 07:43
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aXis
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Mar 26, 2007 10:19
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thanks but no thanks !!! just fucking be underground and safe.
Remove the drugs frm within dont wait for cops to do that for us .
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Goddess of Chaos
Started Topics :
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132
Posted : Mar 26, 2007 11:57
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Profound thoughts, thanks for sharing..
"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace" |
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coSmiIic r080t0n3
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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Posted : Mar 26, 2007 19:25
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Quote:
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On 2007-03-26 10:19, aXis wrote:
thanks but no thanks !!! just fucking be underground and safe.
Remove the drugs frm within dont wait for cops to do that for us .
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It's time to move on to the next step in the psychedelic revolution. We've reached a certain point, but we're not moving any more.
Ken Kesey |
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