Write the name Shillong down somewhere as the answer to the above question.

An excerpt from the BBC story:

Tipriti says she is inspired by Mississippi blues

It is Friday night in the north-eastern Indian hill town of Shillong, and Tipriti and her band Soulmate are belting out gut-wrenching blues in a cavernous pub called Cloud Nine.

"The blues is my teacher
The blues is my friend
The blues never hurts me
It just heals me in the end," sings Tipriti, as her mates plunge into a gritty sound.

The audience is a mix of the young and old who have paid 200 rupees ($4.40) each to go in and listen to blues and fusion acts like Soulmate and Mermaid, a grungy girl band playing out lead singer's Gweneth Mawlong's angst-ridden takes on life and times, alternated with her mate's Lolly's sedate guitar licks.

Shillong is a place where the music stopped - in no other city in India does rock and roll, blues and country music rule so strongly. Even hard metal. There are almost no DJs scratching records and playing hip hop, and there are no 50 Cent and Snoop Dog clones.

It's also a place where people take to the floor listening to peppier 12-bar blues. Where a politician and ex-minister is an ace blues harp player. Shillong is also home to ageing Elvis Presley imitators, and two music festivals to celebrate the music of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley.

Cabbies play Deep Purple and Jethro Tull on stereo as they weave in and out of diesel fume-spewing traffic, muscled bikers roam around town in AC/DC tee shirts. The place teems with bands with names like Mojo, Meghalaya Love Project, Ace of Spades.

And they all take their music seriously.