It was Independence Day 2002, when two guys who had nothing in common met up in Mumbai.

Pranab had posted an ad about wanting to form a band. Swapnil was there to answer the ad, hoping against hope to find musical resonance.

They found a lot in common, eventually. The determination to create rock music that goes beyond imitation. To sing about life as they lived it, not some Westerner on a dark desert highway. To not care about aping the stars, but to express what they felt, in the language they thought in.

The first rivers of thought merged – Prayag was formed. With the help of an old friend, Hitesh, a few initial compositions – including the basic structure of the now popular Tejo Mahalaya – were created. A few months later Kiran Roy was invited to record for the band and became the lead guitarist for Prayag along with Pradeep Radhakrishnan on drums. Kiran played a major role in the composition of the song Raaste, which still never fails to rock a live audience.

Prayag hit the usual bottlenecks. Record companies wanted remixes, not original material. Pradeep vanished into thin air (we still don’t know where he is). Differences saw Kiran bid adieu. Swapnil and Pranab were left with an album no one wanted. The inevitable tensions followed. Their determination to do rock music was being tested.

Meanwhile, Viru – who had engineered Prayag’s initial songs along with Mr Rajesh Ranjan Singh of the erstwhile Throatlatch Records – was invited to try his hand on the drums. And it was clear from the first snare shot that here was a guy with rhythm in his blood.

A few days later Swapnil came across another online ad, posted by a guitarist wanting to play “any kind of music.” His name was Sumit. Sounded pretty ordinary. He even looked the sober, workingman type. But all that changed when he strapped his guitar on.

Swapnil, Pranab and Viru were stunned. Sumit hemmed and hawed at first, but later accepted the invitation to join the band, and suggested taking another guitar player along with him. So in came Naveen, full of life and enthusiasm. The rivers had merged. Prayag was ready to rock. Big time. Right now, the band is recording a few new songs in the studio and winning new fans with every astounding performance.