Guitars in a Carnatic city: The rock ‘n’ roll story of 1960s Madras

In the 1960s, Chennai was a quiet city with tree-lined boulevards, bungalow-studded neighbourhoods, and the beginning of an art movement that would become synonymous with Madras. The city was steeped in tradition but one willing to allow through the cracks the influence of English protest music. Much of that came from the West — mostly the UK and the US — from musicians who sang about everything from Civil Rights and the war in Vietnam to just wanting ‘to hold your hand’.

Rock music, with its barbed guitar riffs and growling voices, came to wooded college campuses with a gentle lilt — students sang of American themes in Indian hostel rooms on quiet evenings.