On Jan. 16, 2026, rock band Human Bondage returned to the stage, but funnily enough, as a tribute act to themselves.
Call it marketing or just a careful reverence for their legacy. Still, longtime members are now back, performing with Mumbai act Rajeev Raja Combine as part of a three-city tour that kicked off in Bengaluru and will travel to Goa (Jan. 22 at Cohiba, Jan. 24 at Take 5, Jan. 25 at Chitra Museum) and Mumbai (Feb. 8 at Antisocial).
Henry Babu Joseph (vocals and guitars) joins on all shows, while Ramesh Shotham (drums and percussion) has performed at two of the three Bengaluru dates. Meanwhile, Radha Thomas, although now known as a jazz vocalist, returns to rock and roll for a special show with Joseph and Shotham as part of BLR Hubba’s Kantha Festival on Jan. 19, 2026, at ADA Ranga Mandira in Bengaluru.
Shotham — who shuttles between Germany and India — points out that it was Babu and Rajeev Raja who first got in touch about putting the shows together. Barcelona-based Babu adds that talks began when Rajeev Raja Combine’s guitarist Paul Santiago and he were recording virtually. “We recorded some bossa novas and Spanish boleros. The recordings were not very satisfactory, so Paul suggested going to Bombay and doing it at Rajeev’s studio. Rajeev agreed to do that and came up with the idea of doing some concerts in Bombay as well as a tribute to Human Bondage,” Babu recalls.
The tour plan matched with Shotham’s India travels as well as Human Bondage’s keyboardist Fred Manrics, although the latter had to drop out due to health issues. The artists are backed by Rajeev Raja Combine’s eponymous flautist, Santiago, and Hitesh Dhutia on guitars, drummer Adrian D’Souza, and bassist John ‘JD’ Thirumalai. “I know Rajeev from Bangalore and have been following his musical journey. I put a setlist together and Radha added her songs to it. Our rehearsals with Rajeev’s band have been smooth and a lot of fun. They are a tight band and have been very enthusiastic,” Babu adds.
Raja, who grew up in Bengaluru and looked to Babu as a mentor, particularly during his shift from playing Carnatic flute to a more “Western key,” says the tour also came together with help from sponsors BLR Airport, Paul John Visitor Centre in Goa, and Air India Express as Travel Partner.
Thomas, for her part, is returning to perform rock songs for the first time since the Seventies. She recounts, “The very first time I sang with HB was, I think, 1973. Honestly, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I idolized them and couldn’t believe they let me sing. But that’s a long time ago… We haven’t all gotten together in, I guess, 50 years, so this quasi-reunion is half a century later.”
Among the earliest rock to emerge from Bengaluru (then known as just Bangalore), Human Bondage included members Babu, Thomas, Shotham, along with his brother Suresh on guitars, keyboardist Steve Law, Manrics, Xerxes Gobhai (who passed away in 2023) and Vinty Bunyan on bass, all managed by Gasper D’Souza from 1970 to 1976. Their setlist today, like back then, heavily leans into rock, ranging from Fleetwood Mac and Janis Joplin to extended jams.
Although there was a brief and private jam-led reunion in Goa in 2013, Babu says the last time Human Bondage played together was at the Blow Up disco at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai (then Bombay) in the Seventies.
Back then, touring was not nearly as easy as it is today, Babu says. “We traveled by train and carted all our equipment, but we had long contracts to play in hotels. Now things are a lot better; most venues have their own equipment and sound engineers. It’s very professional,” he explains. Shotham adds, “We had to improvise with standard situations like travel, rehearsal spaces, equipment, etc. Now things have changed, and things have become much more professional for bands on the road.”
What they’re happy about is that live music has only grown in the decades since, and “the standard of musicianship is very high,” as Babu observes. “There are rock music schools and good equipment is available now compared to our times,” he adds.
Shotham, who recently released his new album Weirdly In Time, says he’s been coming to India often over the years to interact with artists out here. “I’ve been impressed with the quality of music and equipment here,” the drummer adds.
Thomas, too, has been a regular in the Bengaluru and Indian jazz circuit for decades now, releasing albums on the regular and performing with pianist-composer Aman Mahajan. While she’s excited to perform with the Rajeev Raja Combine as well, she admits she’s “quite nervous to sing rock and roll again.” She adds, “It requires a different energy and feeling than jazz, which is what I’ve been up to… and I hope I can do it justice. But it is great fun. I’m enjoying it.”
Raja adds, “It’s been an amazing journey so far. The musicians in my band are enjoying re-creating the sound of Human Bondage, and we’re having a blast on and off the stage.”
