Indian Indie Songs Explained: The Stories Behind Five Classics

Some songs make people search for what they mean. Usually that's because the words are in a language most listeners don't speak, or because the song has a history the music alone doesn't tell you. This page covers five of the most searched Indian independent songs: "Kandisa", "Bandeh", "Bulla Ki Jaana", "Choo Lo" and "cold/mess".

A quick note on how we do this. We don't print lyrics. Song lyrics are copyrighted, and the full words are easy to find on licensed services, including the synced lyrics on Apple Music and Spotify. What we give you here are the facts: where the words come from, what language they're in, when and where the song was released, and what has been reported about how it was made. Release details come from Apple Music India, checked on 28 October 2026. Where we explain what a phrase means, we keep it to a short line, not the lyric itself.

For more songs to explore, see our guides to Indian indie songs and Indian indie albums from before streaming.

1. Indian Ocean – "Kandisa" (2000)

Where it's from. "Kandisa" is the title track of Indian Ocean's album Kandisa, which Apple lists from 1 March 2000 (seven tracks). The album also includes "Ma Rewa" and "Kaun".

What the words are. The band didn't write the words. "Kandisa" is a setting of an old Christian prayer sung in Syriac, a form of Aramaic, by the Syrian Christian (Nasrani) churches of Kerala. The prayer is known as the Trisagion, or "Thrice Holy". In Syriac it opens with Qandisha Alaha, which means "Holy are you, O God". The prayer asks God, as holy, mighty and immortal, to have mercy on us. The song's title is the band's spelling of that first word, qandisha, meaning "holy".

How it came to be. In interviews, Indian Ocean bassist Rahul Ram has described the words as an Aramaic prayer still sung in churches of Syrian lineage in India. The Church Music Society of India has noted that the band used the Syro-Malabar (East Syriac) pronunciation of the text. The prayer itself is far older than the band: its Greek original dates to around the fifth century, and the Syriac version was probably adapted about a century later.

Why it matters. A rock band from Delhi took a Christian prayer from Kerala, sung in an ancient language, and made it its best-known song. That tells you a lot about what Indian Ocean stood for: finding words in India's own traditions instead of writing in English or film Hindi. More: our Indian Ocean albums guide.

2. Indian Ocean – "Bandeh" (2005)

Where it's from. "Bandeh" is on the soundtrack Indian Ocean composed for Anurag Kashyap's film Black Friday, about the 1993 Bombay bombings. Apple lists Indian Ocean's Black Friday album from 3 May 2005 (nine tracks). A later edition credits Indian Ocean and Piyush Mishra.

What the words are about. Bandeh is Hindustani for "person" or "servant of God", and the word is often used in the sense of "O man" or "O human". The song addresses a bandeh directly, and it plays against the film's story of violence and revenge. The whole Black Friday soundtrack is credited to Indian Ocean, which is rare for an independent rock band in Hindi cinema.

Why it matters. "Bandeh" showed that a band from outside the film industry could make a film song that outlived the film. Start the Indian Ocean albums guide here if you came for the film.

3. Rabbi Shergill – "Bulla Ki Jaana" (2004)

Where it's from. "Bulla Ki Jaana" is on Rabbi Shergill's self-titled debut album Rabbi, which Apple lists as a 2004 release (nine tracks). In December 2024 he released a new live version, "Bulla at Biella Jazz Club".

What the words are. The words come from a kafi (a short Sufi poem meant to be sung) by Bulleh Shah, the 18th-century Punjabi Sufi poet. Bulla ki jaana main kaun roughly means "Bulla, who knows who I am?" The poem goes through a list of identities the speaker is not: not a believer in a mosque, not a Hindu or a Muslim, not one thing or another. It ends with the speaker not knowing who they are. The poem is about letting go of labels like religion, caste and place to find a self underneath.

Why it matters. Rabbi Shergill set a roughly 300-year-old Punjabi poem to a folk-rock arrangement, and it became one of the best-known Indian non-film songs of its time. It also opened the door for Sufi poetry in Indian indie music. Our guide to indie ghazal and Sufi rock in India follows that thread.

4. The Local Train – "Choo Lo" (2015)

Where it's from. "Choo Lo" is on The Local Train's debut album Aalas Ka Pedh, which Apple lists from 25 September 2015 (nine tracks). The album also includes "Aaoge Tum Kabhi".

What the words are about. Choo lo means "touch" in Hindi, as in a plea to be reached. It's a love song in plain, everyday Hindi, sung to someone the singer is drawn to but can't quite reach. The song doesn't tell a complicated story. Its power is in how simple and direct the words are, carried by Raman Negi's voice and a slow guitar build.

Why it matters. "Choo Lo" arrived just as streaming was taking off in India, and it is one of the songs most linked to the Hindi alt-rock wave that followed. It showed that a band singing everyday Hindi could reach listeners who had never been to a rock gig. More: The Local Train albums.

5. Prateek Kuhad – "cold/mess" (2018)

Where it's from. "cold/mess" first came out on 13 July 2018, according to Apple. It's the title track of Prateek Kuhad's EP cold/mess (Apple lists a seven-track edition from October 2020). A solo piano version followed on 5 February 2021.

What the words are about. It's a love song, in English, about a relationship under strain. The title puts two words side by side, cold and mess, and Kuhad keeps the lines short and plain rather than telling a full story. The music video stars actors Jim Sarbh and Zoya Hussain.

Why it matters. On 30 December 2019, Barack Obama included "cold/mess" at No. 22 on his list of favourite songs of 2019. That's one of the few times an Indian independent song has drawn that kind of global attention. More: Prateek Kuhad albums.

How to look up a song's meaning responsibly

• Read licensed lyrics. Apple Music, Spotify and the artist's own channels show licensed lyrics. Lyric sites without licences often get words wrong.
• Check the source of old texts. If a song uses a poem or prayer, as "Kandisa" and "Bulla Ki Jaana" do, the original text and its translations are the best guide to what it means.
• Listen to the artist. Interviews, liner notes and live introductions are where meaning really comes from. A fan's reading is still a reading, not a fact.

Common questions

What does "Kandisa" mean? Qandisha is Syriac (a form of Aramaic) for "holy". The song sets an old prayer from Kerala's Syrian Christian churches that praises God as holy, mighty and immortal and asks for mercy.

What language is "Kandisa" in? Syriac, a form of Aramaic, as used in the liturgy of Kerala's Syrian Christian churches.

Who wrote the words of "Bulla Ki Jaana"? The 18th-century Punjabi Sufi poet Bulleh Shah. Rabbi Shergill set the poem to music on his 2004 album Rabbi.

Why is "cold/mess" famous? Besides its own audience in India, it was No. 22 on Barack Obama's list of favourite songs of 2019.

Why don't you print the lyrics? Lyrics are copyrighted. We point you to licensed sources and explain the background instead.