Memorable day

With kids

Ganesha Chaturthi celebrations at Dr.J’s house was a treat and will go down as one of the most memorable days in my life. With ‘aarti’ to Ganesh in typical Mumbai style being the start of the evening, ended with dinner which included homemade kulfi! Not to mention music playing a big part of the evening.

P, exponent of Saxophone

Aarti included ‘jayadev jayadev jaymangal murthe’ and ‘om jay jagadish hare’ which were given everyone in a printed form. ‘prasad’ was served and soon started a small music session. The kids sang a couple of songs, followed by a ‘raaga’-song piece by P on the Saxophone. He had J accompanying him on the Tabla. P played raag-‘kaafi’. It was a great treat to watch him play and J accompany him. P and J are trained in Hindustani classical music. After their piece, they let me take charge for the rest of the evening.

P and J

Microphones were set and I was all set to start. I was invited to mainly sing bhajans and songs for the kids. When I was about to start, no kids were around. The kids thought that the music being played is not for them. Before starting, I insisted to have the kids in front of me. My song list included a whole range of styles – songs from primary music lessons, bhajans, pure Carnatic, abhang, patriotic, folk, old filmi, etc. J, who was on the percussion did a wonderful job. I knew he had a bunch of instruments in his kit. Half way down the concert, I asked if he had anything folk-ish. He had one which he used when I sang my typical Oriya folk song.

Singing with J

To give some horse tempo, I asked J for some instrument to match the gallop of a horse. He had one just perfect which made me sing – ‘apaara keerti’, a Kannada movie song, which is picturised on a chariot and has horse galloping in the background.

It was raining outside – ‘zindhagi bhar nahin bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat’ – take 1. Then, audience wanted more of old Hindi. After the song ‘musafir hoon yaaron’, sung by Kishore, I sang ‘jab deep jale aana’ sung by Yesudas.

J's artistry - caught close

Way far from me sat a gentleman on the floor shaking his head and enjoying the music with full involvement. I was sure that he knew music since he was putting the exact rhythm for my songs – be it 3 beat or 8 beat. I knew his name – but not the face. None other than Marc Rossi!!!

In the end, it was bliss to hear people say, “You created great music. It was pleasant surprise that Dr.J did not tell us about this plan”. My reply was, “Thank you. I didn’t create music. Music has created me”.

On the lighter side, few aunties are always there in concerts asking, “Where do you work? Do you have a family?”. Once they know my answers, this is how they react raising their eyebrows – “hmmm. You are so good. You are so cute. You are so…” blab bla bla. Then is the time to remind them, “Auntiji, there is more kulfi for you”. J