Asheem Chakravarty of Indian Ocean Passes Away

Asheem Chakravarty, the founding member and singer-percussionist of `Indian Ocean`, one of the country`s pioneering rock bands, died after a cardiac arrest. He was 50.

The musician was cremated at a private ceremony attended by close friends, family and the three remaining band members, Amit Kilam, Susmit Sen and Rahul Ram.

Chakravarty, who had earlier suffered his first heart attack in October this year had been in coma for a brief period but was recovering.

"He was out of coma and in a semi-conscious state. He had a heart attack. The death happened at his home here. His friends and family were around him".

The band were at their transit stop in Qatar en-route from their US tour when Chakravarty suffered a massive heart attack at the Qatar airport on October 15.

After being treated at a hospital in Qatar, he was flown back to Delhi, while the band continued on their international concert series.

The musician, who quit a career in advertising to pursue his passion, played the tabla, tarang and other percussion instruments while also being a vocalist for the band.

Chakravarty was popularly known among Indian Ocean fans as "the man with the golden voice" and had the rare talent of being able to sing and play simultaneously.

The band which describes itself as "the sound of contemporary India getting to know itself", was formed in 1984 and gradually went on to become one of the most popular groups in the country.

Indian Ocean which created a trademark sound with a mix of rock and Indian classical, is best known for hits like `Kandisa`, `Ma Rewa` and `Bande`.

As news of the death spread, websites like Twitter and Facebook were awash with messages of grief and mourning.

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