Zubeen Da once said, the people only speak volume of money, I don't play for money but for my people and for my land. This is what I had in my mind when I started back in 2012, not as a singer in a band but as a roadie.
2012, BLUES BAR, CHRISTIAN BASTI
"Yo, chop chop, gears ain't gonna drag themselves you know." David, young and stoic back then.
"On it, boss." I was still a noob back then.
"So, what's with all the theatricality?" I asked David.
"Ssshsss, quiet, Vikram is possessive about the band's ideology and the influence it has over the scene, he will slaughter you if he senses mutiny or negativity within the crew." David, scared and bumped out.
Yes, Vikram Rae Kennedy, the mastermind behind Magna Carta and the cult status for the scene and the band, the first ever black metal band to emerge from Guwahati. The harbinger of chaos and rebellion.
"Heathens, are you all ready to be cleansed?" Vikram used to speak like some unholy priest if a satanic cult.
And then he does the unthinkable, a live sacrifice of a Goat to draw its blood and smear it over the crowd. A pure shock value. And then he opens his mouth to unleash hell. Raw and unfiltered chaos ensues until the local cops shows up to shut down the gig and makes 7 arrests that night for the act of violence and live slaughter.
Next day
"I didn't sign up for this David; I am a stage handler not some cult member of a mad satanic cult." I was pissed and frustrated.
"Neither did any of us, but we do not have a choice." David, helpless and confused.
"Bullshit, everyone's got a fucking choice, listen to your conscience man." I tried to reason with him.
"Is that retaliation I sense boy? A blasphemy?" Vikram, like a true cult leader.
"You took it too far! This is not what we were meant for, we are musicians, not terrorists." I was still pissed off.
"Walk out and you shall suffer the consequences." David with his concerned tone.
"Let him, he shall return once the theory is completed, at the age of 18 we are all fools, aren't we? So let him go David." Vikram understood and maybe was little scared.
2022, Present day.
[Elsewhere]
"I hope it does brother, I hope it does." David with is concerned tone.
[At the jam-pad]
"You cannot shrug it off like you don't care. What's in your mind, man?" Zayne asked.
"Look, there's something I didn't tell you guys, David and I go way back, we have a long history of a life we didn't chose for ourselves, a life of true violence and pure chaos." I laid more than I could on the table.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Zayne, curious.
"Remember the 30th October, 2008 blast at Ganeshguri perpetrated by ALPHA?" I asked.
"Yes, I lost my friends to that blast, what about it? How are you related to that?" Zayne, curious again.
"It was us who influenced the ALPHA. We gave them the arsenal and the weapon of mass destruction and chaos. We were running an organization called THE ORDER OF CHAOS back then under the leadership of Vikram Rae Kennedy the older psychotic brother of David." I made a much bigger revelation.
"I am not mad, but I am curious and concerned about what comes next. What if Vikram comes back from the shadows and unleashes more chaos than what David has already escalated?" Zayne's concern was valid. He worried about me like an older brother.
"Even I don't know yet. I guess not until the next hearing which will address Sourav's death obviously." I was practical as I can't let myself be driven by emotions at this moment.
And then the day of hearing came, the case got shifted to Gauhati Hight Court lead by the defendant Jitesh Talwinder.
"Your honor it was quiet unfortunate that my client Sourav Borah was killed brutally at his cell at the central jail. I sense a prison fight angle here." Jitesh made his move.
"But here's an angle, what if someone from the band EMBER SCARS had something to do with it given the fact of their brief history of rivalry and MR Borah attempting a vandalism over a member's motorcycle." Jitesh was turning colder and colder.
"I object your honor, this is a blatant baseless accusation on my client with no proof, we cannot make a case on mere assumptions over here, I hope my colleague, MR Talwinder knows this.
Ugh, the classic courtroom banter like in a cliched Bollywood movie from the older days starring Dharmendra or Bacchan sahab. I was dying out there right then.
Another long session of which I would love to skip the details.
"The court is adjourned!" the judge made his call.
[Meanwhile]
"Jitesh failed." Vikram within the shadows.
"He won't next time but this shall be the last chance." David, cold yet controlled.
[Outside the court]
SFX: -SCREEEEECCCHHHHH [SOUND OF AN SUV RUSHING THROUGH JITESH]
A hit and run attempt, although he survived. The case will be taken over by a different lawyer after this probably or not because he made a public statement.
"THE OPPOSITION WON'T STOP ME, I'LL MAKE A COMEBACK STRONGER AND POWERFUL TO DEFEAT THE HERETICS CALLED EMBER SCARS, THIS CULT SHALL END!"
"A cult? Dude David is running one here not us, we make music, not dance with the davil." Lohit, witty yet cynical.
I sensed that this asshole was way too into religion and backs his logic with Kattar Hindutva. He clearly wants no "Violent or chaotic music" in the music scenario.
[Elsewhere]
"The fatso survived?" A cult member smirked.
"He won't for long." Karma while sharpening his dagger.
"You know what to do then?" A cult member in an evil tone.
"That I do master, that I do!" Karma, grinning.