Their music is a blend of rich Indian classical and folk traditions, poetry, lyrics, and spiritual influences from the east...mix this with rock and jazz influences from the west and you've got world music with a discernable Indian flavor! For the second consecutive year, the truly unique and talented quartet from Delhi performs in the SF Bay Area. 'Indian Ocean' is scheduled to perform at the Chabot College Theater in Hayward, California for a fund raiser conducted by Association for India's Development, SF Bay Area (AID-Bay Area) on July 14, 2007. AID had organized Indian Ocean in the Bay Area earlier last year on April 16, 2006 in what was a sold out event helping AID raise $20,000 in net proceeds. 'Indian Ocean' is a mystifying conglomeration of four unique individuals, Sushmit, Asheem, Rahul Ram and Amit, who came together in the 1990's. Self-taught and self-discovered, their music blends with different cultural boundaries echoing the distant folk music that still prevails in rural India. The lyrics are mostly influenced from the hamlets of India and when set into a tune, celebrate individual journeys to transform the self and collective struggles to change the world to a better place. Songs of liberation and redemption combined with memorable melodies with compelling rhythms bring audiences to their feet even as they inspire the mind and the soul. They are VERY popular in various college campuses across India. In 1999, the band was honored to perform for the President of India at Khajuraho Millennium Concert. They have successfully toured across the globe and to name a few , have performed at the India Festival in Singapore, the Melbourne Arts Festival, the New Zealand International Festival, the Folklife Festival at the Smithsonian in Washington DC, the Trafalgar Square in London and the Indo-Pakistan Amity Concert at MIT. AID-Bay Area is organizing this fund raiser to generate support and create awareness for various developmental projects in India. Being a socially aware music group, the notes of 'Indian Ocean' range from rocking political anthems to meditative spiritual ballads. Rahul Ram has been a strong supporter of the Narmada Bacha o Andolan, a people's movement against the debilitating affects of large dams in India. For more information, you can visit the following sites - www.indianoceaninbayarea.org., www.aidindia.org OR www.aidsfbay.org.