Preetu Nair, TNN
PANAJI: He wasted the best years of his life doing drugs on the streets of Colaba. After being thrown out of home at 15 for his addiction, this Class VIII dropout survived doing odd jobs in Mumbai, sometimes at the docks. But, after an eternity on the streets, he got tired and returned to his ancestral home on the island of Chorao, Goa. That was 10 years ago.
Here, Joseph Rocha, fondly called Slow Joe, was to become a `Cinderella Man', on the lines of celebrated American boxer James Braddock. Rocha deaddicted himself and devoted himself to singing although he has no formal training.
Occasionally, he would sing at shacks in the area. During one such evening in July 2007 he met a young foreigner. He was playing a four-string guitar and, he recalls, ``I started to sing. I had no idea that it would lead to this,'' Rocha recalls.
Cedric de la Chapelle, a young musician from Lyon with a four-man band, was looking for inspiration. The group was so taken in by Slow Joe that they took him to Delhi for a recording. That's how `Slow Joe & The Ginger Accident' was born, with the islander as the lead singer. ``His voice is soulful, soaked with American musical culture, and he is much younger at heart than any of us,'' says Cedric.
Today, Rocha (67) is waiting to fly out to Paris to play live at the Trans Musicales De Rennes Festival 2009, France's oldest live show.``Now I love my songs and my feni. Trust me, music, at times, is better than sex,'' he says.
``When I was young, I was a coward and would run away from realities of life by taking drugs. When I started accepting life as it was, I learnt to live without drugs. Now I have the strength to fight. And guess what? I am turning lucky as now I am getting my due,'' he says.
``I started singing ever since I learnt to talk,'' says Slow Joe. At first he would sing Sinatra or Presley, but now he sings his own compositions. ``I was 12 when I wrote my first song. Life has taught me important lessons and I bring out my experiences in my verse,'' says the man who always moves with a notebook. ``I never know what could inspire me.''
There are, however, still some twists left to his story. He has to reach Paris for his his first ever live show but has no passport. It expired in 2000. His ration card hasn't been renewed since 1997 and he closed his bank account years ago.
``I've been careless. But people are helping me. I've got a letter from the panchayat stating I've lived in Chorao for more than five years,'' he says. He also has an affidavit. The passport office is cooperating. ``Let him come to me with the documents and we will do the needful,'' said passport officer S B Hire. Meanwhile, the band is in Goa so that they don't miss out on their practice, waiting for Slow Joe's passport to glory days.
28 October 2009, The Times of India, New Delhi edition
Here, Joseph Rocha, fondly called Slow Joe, was to become a `Cinderella Man', on the lines of celebrated American boxer James Braddock. Rocha deaddicted himself and devoted himself to singing although he has no formal training.
Occasionally, he would sing at shacks in the area. During one such evening in July 2007 he met a young foreigner. He was playing a four-string guitar and, he recalls, ``I started to sing. I had no idea that it would lead to this,'' Rocha recalls.
Cedric de la Chapelle, a young musician from Lyon with a four-man band, was looking for inspiration. The group was so taken in by Slow Joe that they took him to Delhi for a recording. That's how `Slow Joe & The Ginger Accident' was born, with the islander as the lead singer. ``His voice is soulful, soaked with American musical culture, and he is much younger at heart than any of us,'' says Cedric.
Today, Rocha (67) is waiting to fly out to Paris to play live at the Trans Musicales De Rennes Festival 2009, France's oldest live show.``Now I love my songs and my feni. Trust me, music, at times, is better than sex,'' he says.
``When I was young, I was a coward and would run away from realities of life by taking drugs. When I started accepting life as it was, I learnt to live without drugs. Now I have the strength to fight. And guess what? I am turning lucky as now I am getting my due,'' he says.
``I started singing ever since I learnt to talk,'' says Slow Joe. At first he would sing Sinatra or Presley, but now he sings his own compositions. ``I was 12 when I wrote my first song. Life has taught me important lessons and I bring out my experiences in my verse,'' says the man who always moves with a notebook. ``I never know what could inspire me.''
There are, however, still some twists left to his story. He has to reach Paris for his his first ever live show but has no passport. It expired in 2000. His ration card hasn't been renewed since 1997 and he closed his bank account years ago.
``I've been careless. But people are helping me. I've got a letter from the panchayat stating I've lived in Chorao for more than five years,'' he says. He also has an affidavit. The passport office is cooperating. ``Let him come to me with the documents and we will do the needful,'' said passport officer S B Hire. Meanwhile, the band is in Goa so that they don't miss out on their practice, waiting for Slow Joe's passport to glory days.
28 October 2009, The Times of India, New Delhi edition
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