10-member band from Ryan Intl School, Kharghar intends to be together and perform even after leaving the school

Ten students from the newly formed rock of Kharghar-based Ryan International School have got into the groove of rocking several stages with their rock performance. They call themselves the 'Ryan Rock Band' and are probably one of the youngest rock bands in city.

The sole motive of all the members of the band is to enjoy music and let others enjoy it too. Rithendra Dirghangi, the lead vocalist and a class VII student of the school, said that for all the members of the band, music is passion. The band was formed with a view to help polish student's skills and to help them excel in other activities beyond the four boundaries of classrooms.

Principal of the school Alice Vyas says, "Our school's and Chairman Dr Francis Pinto's vision is to see the students excel in extra curricular activities and to go beyond the books." She added that the students used to perform in the school assembly and they realised that they have a lot of talent and hence encouraged them to start a rock a band.

"The young band comprises of students from class VII and VIII and it was named Ryan Rock Band as Ryan means Little King," says Vyas. She further said that they all love music and have been practicing regularly under the guidance of the school music teacher Shibu Varghese.

In less than a year, the band has performed at several stages, at DY Patil College and SIES College, Nerul, graduation ceremony of the Montessori section and the farewell of St Joseph High School, Panvel among others. Rohit Ghosh and Kiran Kumar pay the keyboard, Sanjeev Hariharan and Dinesh Jain play the bass, Ranjan Sriram is the lead guitarist, Rohan Nair, Nivedita Sekhar, Dorothy Bodhak and Ritendra are the vocalists and Majid Sheik is the drummer. According to Varghese all the students are very good in their own way and hence when they play together there is a great chemistry.

According to the young musicians, though it was difficult getting into playing rock music initially, it is no more the same. "Though we feel nervous before the performance, when we get on to the stage we forget everything and its only music that we can think of," says Ritendra. Talking about the response from the audience he said that they try and interact with audience, and more importantly, they only strive to enthrall the audience every time they are on stage.

Nivedita concludes saying that though most of them aspire to take up different professions, they intend to be together and play good music even after they leave school.

Priya Jayakumar/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication