Be the Change!



"BE THE CHANGE” is a phrase that Mahatma Gandhi used once to describe how each one of us, as individuals, needs to be internally transformed in order to change the world. In other words, any attempt to MAKE a change is ineffictive unless you ARE the change you wish to make.

We live today in challenging times. India is "poised" ( as popular branding would have it, ) to be an economic super power, whatever that means. Yet, one doesn't have to look very far to see the injustices brought on by this economic boom, which basically means more consumption, more exploitation of fossil fuels, more pollution, more poverty, more starvation deaths, more violence against women, more displacement by industry, more farmer's deaths, more crime, etc. etc. Where will this take us? Oh, to the malls of course, where we can forget all this quickly as we eat GM corn and try on products made by multinationals using sweat labour in dingy sheds.

The album, "BE THE CHANGE!" is another firebrand album that takes on some of these issues slap on, urging the world to get off the fence and do something about the state of affairs. Musically, the fourteen tracks in the album are different from "Public Issue" which was released in 2005 and which brought Susmit Bose back with a bang on to the global urban folk music scene. The lyrics of "BE THE CHANGE!" acquire a new intensity and urgency and mixed with more instrumentation and multiple vocals, has a rock-swing feel to it. It is distinguished by Susmit's own urban folk style freely peppered by flavours of blues, jazz, rock and reggae. An interesting blend of the analogue and the digital and acoustic instruments, the album has a live concert feel to it.The last track is a traditional Indian song and Gandhi's favourite, Vaishnava Janato, accompanied by the pakhawaj and the manjira.

The songs are:

Be the Change
It's Time for a Change
Dear Sir
One too Many
Money Talks and Cash Yaps
Capital Express
Wipe out the Jargon
With some Rhyme and Reason
Flower in the Rain
The Tiger and the Blackbuck
Bang
The Economic Hit Man
Vaishnava Janato

The album is supported by Action Aid. Viveka Foundation is the Executive Producer.

The album will be released by end February and is priced at Rs. 250/-