I grew up on a staple dose of Indian film music of the 1950s and '60s
era. Since my father was an avid fan of old Hindi songs, his cassette
rack was a mini repertoire of music from masters like K L Saigal,
Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Hemant Kumar, Salil Chowdhury et al.
Some of his favourites were gems from classics like Awaara, Shree 420,
Deedar, Baiju Bawra, Anmol Ghadi and Yahudi. I can still recall the
mellifluous tunes of Ye mera diwanapan hai (Mukesh) and Tu Ganga ki
mauj mein (Mohd Rafi) playing in our home. Frankly, I never quite
liked the music of that era and was more into contemporary Hindi film
music.
When I was in school in the mid '80s, Suresh Wadkar, Mohd Aziz,
Anuradha Paudwal, Shabbir Kumar and Manhar Udhas were the popular
mainstream playback singers, apart from evergreen idols, Kishore Kumar
and Lata Mangeshkar.
I found the old songs boring, unappealing and simply tasteless. I
reasoned with my father that he should instead develop ears for new
songs than the boring stuff he liked. He told me that I would like his
kind of music when I grew mature enough to appreciate the lyrics and
the lilting melodies. I never bought his argument.
During that time, the only English songs I could possibly listen to
were the ad jingles on the idiot box – Doordarshan, to be precise.
After my matriculation in 1991, I developed fondness for English songs
and became a fan of Michael Jackson. I also liked Madonna, Cliff
Richard, Wham and the man behind it, George Michael.
In 1992, my father died. Later, during college years, my circle of
friends grew and I was introduced to new tastes in western music —
rock, metal and rap. My new idols were Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen,
Michael Bolton, Bon Jovi and Shaggy.
Sometimes to break the monotony of western tunes and to indulge my
occasional mood swings, I used to play the cassettes of my late father
in solitude. My adolescent years were over and I was more mature. The
old melodies grew on me and I started to relish them. I found solace
in the soft music and rich poetry.
All these years, these classics never fail to take me down memory lane
where I relive the moments spent with my father. When nostalgia
overwhelms me, I feel his blessings come wrapped in the golden voices
Virendra Singh Rawat works wih Business Standard in Lucknow. He amalgamates two of his passions for his fellow SDA friends- that of Music and Writing.
era. Since my father was an avid fan of old Hindi songs, his cassette
rack was a mini repertoire of music from masters like K L Saigal,
Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Hemant Kumar, Salil Chowdhury et al.
Some of his favourites were gems from classics like Awaara, Shree 420,
Deedar, Baiju Bawra, Anmol Ghadi and Yahudi. I can still recall the
mellifluous tunes of Ye mera diwanapan hai (Mukesh) and Tu Ganga ki
mauj mein (Mohd Rafi) playing in our home. Frankly, I never quite
liked the music of that era and was more into contemporary Hindi film
music.
When I was in school in the mid '80s, Suresh Wadkar, Mohd Aziz,
Anuradha Paudwal, Shabbir Kumar and Manhar Udhas were the popular
mainstream playback singers, apart from evergreen idols, Kishore Kumar
and Lata Mangeshkar.
reasoned with my father that he should instead develop ears for new
songs than the boring stuff he liked. He told me that I would like his
kind of music when I grew mature enough to appreciate the lyrics and
the lilting melodies. I never bought his argument.
During that time, the only English songs I could possibly listen to
were the ad jingles on the idiot box – Doordarshan, to be precise.
After my matriculation in 1991, I developed fondness for English songs
and became a fan of Michael Jackson. I also liked Madonna, Cliff
Richard, Wham and the man behind it, George Michael.
In 1992, my father died. Later, during college years, my circle of
friends grew and I was introduced to new tastes in western music —
rock, metal and rap. My new idols were Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen,
Michael Bolton, Bon Jovi and Shaggy.
Sometimes to break the monotony of western tunes and to indulge my
occasional mood swings, I used to play the cassettes of my late father
in solitude. My adolescent years were over and I was more mature. The
old melodies grew on me and I started to relish them. I found solace
in the soft music and rich poetry.
All these years, these classics never fail to take me down memory lane
where I relive the moments spent with my father. When nostalgia
overwhelms me, I feel his blessings come wrapped in the golden voices
Virendra Singh Rawat works wih Business Standard in Lucknow. He amalgamates two of his passions for his fellow SDA friends- that of Music and Writing.
No comments:
Post a Comment