New Delhi, Dec 26 (IANS) As the rock band Indian Ocean’s members are dealing with the sudden loss of their singer and percussionist Asheem Chakravarty who died here Friday, the band’s bass guitarist Rahul Ram recollects how he used to be the live-wire of the band.
“He was so generous. He had no malice against anyone. This was one of the reasons why most people loved him. He was a very nice guy,” Ram told IANS in an interview.

“Apart from this, he had this wild funny bone. He used to make everyone laugh. ‘Woh bahut mast tha’ (He was very lively). He was the life of this band who had this gift of making everyone happy with his jokes and amazing sense of humour,” he added.

Asheem, 52, was hospitalised in Doha after suffering a heart attack in October and was in a state of coma for a brief period, but was recovering well. He died Thursday afternoon after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Everyone is now wondering how the band, with hits like “Kandis” and “Bande” to its name, will survive. However, the band members are confident of carrying on.

“We have been performing without him ever since he suffered a heart attack in October. We have done around 12-13 concerts without him. The fact is that we knew we had to carry on without him for a year or something till he recovered, but we had not expected anything like this to happen,” Ram said.

So would there be someone replacing him?

“It is a very difficult question but yes someone has to come to take his place. It is too early to comment on this. We too don’t know how the band is going to go without him. We still have to think about this aspect,” Ram said.

Asked about their professional relationship, Ram said they (the four band members) “were just like four persons in a marriage”.

“We used to spend more time with each other than with our families and at home. So we knew each other so well that it was a perfect combination,” he said.

“We will certainly miss Asheem because we have lost a family member,” he added.