Thus the band, which burst onto the college campus scene in the eighties as Rock Machine, became Indus Creed in the nineties and, lately, turned Alms for Shanti. In its recent self-titled album, a western melody with English lyrics, Varanasi Trail spawns a Hindi kashmakash with lyrics by Suhail Abbasi.

Likewise, the Pune-based Agni, which made its big splash in 1993 with the English Wind Dance With Fire, recently brought out a bilingual album, Mrityunjaya. The highly popular number, Tandav, with all its raga-like classical embellishments is receiving generous airplay on satellite television.

Says Kaustav Dhavale, the lead vocalist of Agni: "Though rock music in India is not something that holds mass appeal, it is easier for people to relate to the compositions when it is in Hindi. Why Hindi only, we are planning to release Mrityunjaya in Tamil and Gujarati as well."

Yet another case in point is the Indi-pop phenomenon, Euphoria, with three successful albums, Dhoom Pichuk, Phir Dhoom and the recently released Euphoria Gully. Last year,when its lead vocalist Palash Sen was approached by Orange Street to sing Candywalk for the World AIDS Day, he rewrote his part in Hindi, simply "because this is an issue that needs to reach the common man".

There is also the Mumbai-based Pentagram’s latest album up, which is all English but for one track So Strange, where the Indian influence comes through strongly. Vocalist Vishal Dadlani says he is "not against incorporating Indian sounds into rock", but not because others are doing so.

Subir Mallik of Parikrama makes a similar claim, pointing out that he had to reject 18 album offers to go pop in Hindi. "We are not against the Hindi language at all," he adds. "It is just that we cannot relate to singing in Hindi because then the entire audience changes."

Veteran rocker Gary Lawyer (of Nights of Fire fame) also believes that there still exists a market for original music in English in India" "It isn’t as if we aren’t an English-speaking nation. We are just not ready to give a band that plays original music in English a fair chance."

Lawyer speaks from experience, having failed to exploit the merits of Nights of Fire with regular follow-ups such as music videos, radio spots and air play on television. "An artiste needs to be seen or heard to be remembered," he explains. "That explains the success of many western bands."

"The support system for Indian rock bands is sorely inadequate," complains Agni’s Dhavale. "We don’t even have proper studios or music producers like the West does. Record companies may not necessarily be interested in investing in original music in English."

Ultimately, it all boils down to audience acceptability. Cyrus Oshidar of a well-known music channel points out that no amount of promotional effort can ensure the success of an album if it fails to pick the pulse of the public. After all, channels are guided by viewers’ responses, he reasons.

"We have had good music rejected by the public and bad music turning out chart busters," adds Iyer. "Unless a band abides by this populist approach, there is no future for it. You also need to understand the nuances of the music industry, never mind if you have to deliver in Hindi!" (MF)