A group of young men who decided in the early 1980’s to try and make an impact. And that too for one night only.
You can follow the lives of: The Sultans of Soul here, exclusively on AIM.

by Ravi Mangat
Writer

[Earlier chapters: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10]

By the time they got together that night, each of the guys had different things on their mind. Raj had his mind clearly focused on the band and what they were going to do. Ramesh was so hung over with love that he wasn’t really listening to anything that was being suggested.

Ashok was silent, for once. He was still worried about his sister Rupa and what she must be thinking about his less than lawful activities. As for Bernie, well he was in two moods. One side of him felt like a child again, as if he was at the beginning of a new adventure. The other side was tormented with a sense of guilt at what the guys would say if they found out what his original intentions for the band had been.

So, all in all it was going to be quite an eventful evening. Raj started the ball rolling. “I spoke to Mr Joshi at the coach depot today and he said he would be interested in sponsoring us. That should help with the money for the suits”.

There was no response from anyone.

Raj looked a bit perturbed. “Hello…did anyone hear what I said?” Still no response. “I said that I signed a record deal with E-M-I”. There was hardly a flicker from anyone. He carried on with his tact. “They said they would give us a million pounds for our first album”.
When he was met with silence again, Raj picked up his jacket and headed towards the door of the garage.

When he was just about to leave, Bernie stopped him. “Where you going?”

“At last”, said Raj turning back. “What does it take to get your attention?”

“Now you’re beginning to sound like my first wife”.

“First wife?” questioned Ashok.

“You were married?” queried Ramesh.

“Okay…okay…can we stop discussing Bernie’s marital status. We came here to practice”. Raj spoke like a head master.

“You sound like an ad for a movie”, quipped Ashok, “they came to practice”.

“Don’t you think that Jas is such a beautiful name?” asked Ramesh.

“Man…are you still trippin’ on that”, replied Ashok.

“Hey…it doesn’t happen too often to me okay”.

“I’m surprised it happens at all”.

“Guys…come on. Can we please concentrate”. Raj was trying hard to make this meeting worthwhile. “If you’re more interested in what you did today instead of what you can achieve tomorrow, then it’s not worth being here”.

The other three looked at each other, and then as one let out a sarcastic, “Oooo”.

“Look…we’re heading in the right direction. We’re getting sponsorship, we’ve got a practice area, and…there’s a competition coming up”.

“What competition?” asked Bernie.

“At the club in three weeks. It’s a talent show for musicians, comedians, even jugglers. You name it, they want it”.

“We’re not going to be ready in three weeks”, said Ramesh.

“Yeah, you’re right. We won’t be ready, especially if we carry on like this”.

“Raj is right”, Ashok said. “We need to sort ourselves out”. It almost seemed as if Ashok was talking about his own circumstances.

“So has anybody had any more ideas about a name?” Raj looked around hopefully.

“What about the Fantastic Four?” suggested Ramesh.

“That’s from a comic book”, replied Ashok. “And why four…there’s only three of us”.

“What about Bernie? Come on, we know he’s got the best voice out of any of us and it would be stupid to waste it”.

“Now…hold on guys”. Bernie held up his hands. “I’m just the manager”.

“No, wait Bernie. I think Ramesh has a good point. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it. You’d be a perfect front man for the band.” Raj sounded keen on the idea.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea”. Bernie paused. He looked over at Ashok.

Raj sensed there was some tension between Ashok and Bernie and tried to rectify it. “Come on Ash…what do you think? Don’t you think it would be a great idea? We need all the talent we can get”.

Ashok nodded his head slowly. “Yeah…we need help”.

“Guys, I haven’t stood in front of an audience for years”, Bernie didn’t really want to protest because he was keen on the idea himself.

“We haven’t stood in front of an audience…ever”, Raj said.

After a moment of hesitation, Bernie smiled. “Okay…I’ll do it”.

“Great”, enthused Ramesh. “I’ve thought of another name…Asian Knights”.

“Not bad…but not quite right”, said Raj.

“What about Soul Power?” said Ashok.

There was a general nod of agreement and then Bernie said, “Listen guys…we’re agreed on the music, right. Soul. And what are we saying about ourselves. You look at all the great bands and they all had a name that suggested they were the best. The Four Tops. The Originals. The Temptations. We need something that suggests the best and something that says something about you guys”.

“I got it”, said Raj. “The Sultans”.

“Yes”, agreed Ashok.

“The Sultans of Soul”, said Ramesh.

“Even better”, agreed Bernie.

The guys smiled at each other. “Well that’s the easy thing out the way”, said Raj. “Let’s get down to some rehearsals”.

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This serial is fictional and any similarity with existing groups or individuals is unintentional.
Ravi Mangat is contactable on: rav38man@yahoo.co.uk