Meghdol: The Pied Pipers of Dhaka, from Dhaka, for Dhaka

                Music lives within us, but the way we interpret music and expand our horizons of musical taste is quite different from each other. But 9 out of 10 Bangla music lovers will tell you that there might be many artists, many bands but none comes close to Meghdol. It is Meghdol where everyone unites as an experience like no other, a concept never heard before. A band who will lure you away from reality just like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, only that you are willing to take the experience and never wanting to come back

              The story of Meghdol began in the early 2000's. A group of students from Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka university, namely Shibu Kumer Shil, Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, Rasheed Sharif Shoaib and Masud Hasan Ujjal, used to work together in a designing shop at the basement of Shahbag's Aziz Super Market. There, they found out the common love for music they had. They soon officially formed Meghdol in December 2003. The name Meghdol is taken from the Charles Baudelaire poem L'Étranger.

The current lineup consists of : Shibu Kumer Shil(vocal), Mejbaur Rahman Sumon(vocal), Rasheed Sharif Shoaib(guitars), Amjad Hossain(drums), MG Kibria(bass), Tanbeer Dawood Rony (keyboards) and Shourov Sarkar(Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone)..

           So far Meghdol has released 2 albums.The band released their eponymous album “Meghdol”, subtitled “Droher Montre Bhalobasha”, in 2004.The second album “Shohorbondi” came out in 2009. Their upcoming 3rd album “Aluminium er Dana” is soon to be released with 5 songs already released via digital medium.

            So, after all these introductory facts and random information, one might ask: Why Meghdol? What DO they have in their songs? Well, the answers are not so simple. 

         In case of Meghdol’s songs, it can’t be brought under a definition, nor can it be bought under any comparison. Songs like “Nirban”, “Abar Shohor”, “Rongin Feresta” (“Shohorbondi”),  “Esho Amar Shohore” (“Aluminium er Dana”) are their most famous creations, depicting the urban life of Dhaka city in such fashion that one can literally visualize the melancholy, the happiness, the wonder, the struggles of Dhaka. When it starts as: “আগুনের দিন গুণছে সকাল বাসস্টপে একা আলোর পথিক // রাতে ঝমঝম দিনের অসুখ পুড়ছে শহর // যে গল্পের নাম ঠিকানা আমার কাছে আজও অজানা // সেই গল্পে ঠায় দাঁড়িয়ে গাইছি এ গান // এসো আমার শহরে // না বলা গল্পের অহেতুক ভীড়ে” (“Esho Amar Shohore”) - a clear picture of the melancholic urban Dhaka comes to mind.

            Meghdol also has songs about verified topics, for example in  the song ”Amar Shohor”  (“Meghdol”) it’s writer and singer Mejbaur Rahman Sumon thinks about the time when the streets of the city used to flare up at an instant regarding the numerous protests: “সেটা কোন সময়ে হঠাৎ চোখে // বিজলী ঝলক মুখর শ্লোগান // এই শহরে // দূর মেঘ মেঘ মেঘ // দূর মেঘলা আকাশ”. Again, songs like “Chena Ochena” (“Meghdol”) and “Kumari”, “Muthophone” and “Pathure Debi” (“Shohorbondi”) talks about the romance of the urban people, how one finds love in the simplest local bus.

Leaving the lyrical part, when we delve into the song themselves, we get amazed by the whole composition. Meghdol having two vocals can be flexible about their songs. From the deep, resonating and bassy vocals of Shibu Kumer Shil in the songs “ Kumari”, “E Hawa '' etc.to the soothing, calm presence of Mejbaur Rahman Sumon in the songs “Char Char Chouko”, “Thik Thak” etc. makes one wonder about their limits. 

Added to the vocals, the crisp, on point guitar works and solos of Rasheed Sharif Shoaib  (who by himself is one of the top guitarists of the country) combined with the underlying, intricate and fulfilling bass notes of M G Kibria, gives the song a modern vibe. Added to this the punchy drums of Amzad Hossain, the songs truly take the urban “Rock” theme. 

            But the theatrical parts are observed when the surreal, nerve chilling flute and clarinet works of Shourov Sarkar gets embedded with the magical keyboards of Tanbeer Dawood Rony. Hence, they have taken their genre as “Theatrical Rock”

            Meghdol’s take on the urban theme has attracted audiences from both home and abroad. Meghdol’s official Spotify artist page shows that among the monthly listeners, the listeners from Kolkata of India are second behind Dhaka in number. In the Youtube comment sections of the songs, praises from the people of Nepal, Bhutan, Assam regions of India etc. are observed. And all are attracted to the beauty of the songs of Dhaka.

Although, the journey of Meghdol wasn’t an easy one. Three of the founding members of the band have already left. Moreover, in November 2021, the band was sued for allegedly hurting religious feelings for the song “Om”; although the charges were withdrawn a week later. Despite these hurdles, starting as just a collaboration of some university friends from the designing shop at the basement of  Shahbag's Aziz Super Market (hence, literally from Dhaka), the band has come a long way today.

Hence, Meghdol is not just a band, it’s an overall experience. An experience that takes one from the highs of urban life to the lows of eternal sadness; from the metropolitan melancholy to the ravishing romantics. Meghdol intricately intertwines with the inner intensity of every living spirit. Truly, Meghdol are as if the real life embodiment of the Pied Pipers of Hamelin, only they are the Pied Pipers of Dhaka, from Dhaka, for Dhaka.