The Hill- Rohit Shakya: Serene sounds of the Himal

As an avid appreciator of Electronica and music in general, I stumbled upon Rohit Shakya’s project called Evening Session on Youtube around 2020. Rohit Shakya is a multi-dimensional musician from Nepal. I was familiar with his Rock Band called Jindabaad for some years prior to that. Anyone with a little feel for music could see that Rohit was built for this. Jindabaad certainly hit all the notes and the vibes within that realm, but I think that his adventure into Electronic music shows his brilliant range and his greatness.

In the Evening Session, I got mostly drawn to the short piece called The Hill. It was right around the start of the Covid lockdown around the world, stuck in the house, I was looking for some easy listening for my 2-year-old son at the time. Just as I started the song, my little son stood there watching Rohit bop around with his beat machine on top of a misty hill grooving to the music. I still remember that moment like yesterday even after all the haze of the pandemic.

The Hill starts with subtle keys that sound like drops of accumulated mist from the top of the roof and slight ethereal sound of a Saarangi (a subcontinental three stringed instrument played with a bow) behind it a few seconds into the song. Just then we realize that this is about to have the modern sounds and the traditional sounds coming together. And right after, Rohit adds the drum beats to the layer and surprisingly, he goes for the drop right around the 24-second mark. At first, this feels like the drop may be coming a little too early, but around 30-second mark, he brings in the sound of the flute with the drop. I think this is what makes it a truly beautiful piece of music. Flute is a quintessential subcontinental instrument that goes back to the days of Lord Krishna running around with it as a child in the holy books. The sounds of it are entrenched in the cultures across the subcontinent and Rohit uses that sound to create a beautiful melody that really brings this song together only half a minute into it.

After the first drop and lift of the flute, the keys continue to remind us of the raindrops and the sounds of birds chirping in the background. And the modern sounds of the drumbeats keep it all together as if it is telling us to march along as we are embarking up the hill on a misty morning. This becomes even more apparent once we start to notice the subtle hints of Maadal (a Nepali handheld percussion) in the background. This almost takes us to a Chautaari (rest stop under a tree) on a trip where we are reminded of the common sights of Baajes (Old folks in Nepali) beating on the Maadal while relaxing with friends alongside smoking cigarettes with a cup of Chiya (tea). With two drops and peaks of two and a half minute of this masterpiece, Rohit decides to end it with the sound of the Maadal slowly drifting away. It could be that he decided to rest under the trees at that moment. We can see why Rohit decided to name it The Hill- it couldn’t have been anything else.

In addition to being a superb fusion of modern and traditional sounds, The Hill’s minimalistic arrangement lets us resonate with it in our own personal way, which is the ultimate power of music. My only issue with this piece is that it ends too soon.