Cynthia Chandran

Nottingham (Britain), Sep 3 Indians living in Nottingham West Park village in Derbyshire have in the past month woken up to a sound from their homeland -- thanks to a five-member band that plays the popular south Indian percussion instrument 'chenda'.

The brain behind Nottingham Boys is 35-year-old Siju Stephen, a male nurse in Old Vicarage Nursing Home in East Midlands.

"I had never learned the chenda before. But I have been interested in all kinds of arts forms and I was keen to start a band here," said Stephen. In Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the chenda is used extensively during temple festivals. Chenda Melam (Chenda ensemble) is known for its loud sound.

The band practises almost every day for a couple of hours at Nottingham West Park, which is about 16 km from the Long Eaton County Council office.

Stephen teamed up with four of his Kerala friends in Nottingham -- Raju Pappu, Tejin Lukose, and brothers Alan and Alvin Joy -- and thus was formed the chenda band, Nottingham Boys.

Alan, a Class 9 student, and Alvin Joy, who has completed his A levels, are the youngest members of the band.

The chenda is seen hanging from Nottingham Boys' necks, all sporting identical white T-shirts with the picture of the chenda on it. They use two sticks to strike the upper parchment (made of cow hide) of the chenda.

Alvin performs 'chengila', a musical accompaniment with the chenda, where a thick bell-metal disc hung by a strap looped through one wrist and struck with a short solid wand in the other hand makes a clinging sound.

Nottingham Boys was formed August 1 this year and they had their first performance here coinciding with Saint Alphonsa's feast.

"It was interesting to know that Nottingham Boys did not have any proper training and yet they mastered the art form on their own. It was an excellent performance by them at our 8th annual convention," said Benny Maveli, secretary of the Birmingham unit of the United Kingdom Knanaya Catholic Association (UKKCA).

According to Stephen, when he returned in June from his native place, Kerala, he bought a chenda and realised that his friends were also interested in learning and performing.

So four more chendas reached from Elloor in Ernakulam district in Kerala at a cost of Rs.6,500 per piece.

Thirty-eight-year old Raju Pappu, who was a professional performer in Kerala and now works in the pharmacy sector, is the trainer of Nottingham Boys. The other senior member, Tejin Lukose, also works as a male nurse.

The immediate priority of Nottingham Boys is to expand the band to a strength of 10.

"We are looking forward to performing before the British public in the Nottingham Council Carnival next year," said Stephen.

Nottingham Boys also plans to train the new generation from all communities, including British nationals, in the chenda.