Back in 1984, before most Indian Ocean fans in college concerts were even born, Susmit met Asheem…during a concert. He was a fan of Niharika – a Bengali band Asheem played tabla for. They hit it off right away. Asheem was taken up by Susmit’s guitar-playing and his vision to evolve a new sound. Susmit, in turn, learnt the nuances of rhythm from Asheem - not the basic 4/4 beat, but the mysteries of chhand and jhonk and taal.

For the next 3 years, every now and then, they jammed as a duo, Susmit on guitar and Asheem on tabla and drums – no vocals anywhere in sight. After a memorable debut concert at Roorkee, there was only the occasional stray performance.

In 1990, Susmit sold his electric guitar to raise money for a demo recording of their band, by now called Indian Ocean (Susmit’s dad suggested the name). With Shaleen Sharma on drums, and Indrajit Dutta and Anirban Roy on bass, they recorded the demo, taping an incredible 45 minutes and 7 songs in 1 day. Despite the rushed recording, the quality of the demo tape impressed HMV enough to offer them an album deal.

In 1991, Rahul Ram, a schoolmate of Susmit’s, joined the band, replacing Anirban on bass.

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