I’m quickly writing this short post as Steve checks his quote engine (I program for him)

These days I’m constantly listening to FM stations while working. This is because I’m mostly coding and doing promotional and administrative work; most of the writing work is outsourced.

About older songs: I mostly like pre-90s, or rather pre-80s songs, as they contain less of musical noise and more of vocal expression. For me, a song is always about expression, mood and language. The newer songs have no depth, although musically (it’s an illusion) they seem more evolved. They either tilt towards western music, or totally folk, rustic style. They are rarely easy going, relaxed expressions. I mean, today’s musicians, and even lyricists, sadly, don’t have enough depth to create something like “ye nayan dare dare” or “tum gagan ke chandrama”.

Another thing I like about older songs is that they didn’t have to depend on facades in order to be creative. Take for instance, “tasveer teri dil mein”, two normal looking people (who might have just purchased vegetables from the corner) sing and enjoy on the roof while there are lots of clothes hanging for drying. It’s dark, there is just one night bulb, the guy is wearing shirt and pants (Dev Anand) and the girl is wearing a patternless, dark-colored saree with her hair tied into a juda (Mala Sinha).

It’s not that I don’t like complicated singing and lavish surroundings, it’s just that, contemporary compositions seem too desperate to “create” something.

After doing my riyaaz (singing practice) while having breakfast I was listening to this song – zindagi bhar nahi bhulegi wo barsat ki raat (I’m never going to forget that rainy night) as my effort to understand Raag Yaman (or Kalyan) better. While playing the song on YouTube repeatedly, I gradually began to notice how well Bharat Bhushan has acted in this song. I noticed because if you see the same sequence in some contemporary movie or music album the contrast is striking. The moment the song starts the singer goes into this maniacal trance and in the ensuing fit he or she almost swallows the mike and vomits all over. All hell breaks loose as if some inter-planetary war is going on and soon you’re not sure whether you are watching a singing performance or being witness to an angry speech by one of the wrestlers of the World Wrestling Entertainment. Of course some say it’s like unleashing the inner you, but seriously, are you singing, or are you being tortured by the Taliban?

If the embedded video doesn’t play you can watch it here

Then compare this song. Bharat Bhushan sings in front of a mike in a radio station recording studio. All the expressions are so subtle. He looks a bit conscious, a bit reminiscent, slightly romantic and he also seems to be putting in an effort to sing properly. Notice how when he says dil mein tufaan uthate huae jazbaat ki raat he comes forward and grabs the mike with both hands as a natural reaction to reaching higher notes (I too have this tendency to grab something – sounds crude, though – when I’m singing higher notes). This is how you sing.

Of course I’m not saying this is the only way of singing. I’m just talking about enacting this particular sequence. The director has so dexterously captured the contours of the character.

Ghar se chale the hum to
Khushi ki talaash mein
Ghum raah mein khade the
Wohi saath ho liye

I left home in search of happiness, sorrows were lurking on my path and they came along.

The most heartbreaking line in this song is:

Ye beti bhi hai aur behen bhi hai maa bhi
jinhain naaz hai Hind per wo kahan hain

Always brings tears to my eyes.

My Guruji had asked me to learn this song so I was listening to it while having breakfast. The rendition brings tears to your eyes. The same goes for the performance, especially by Dilip Kumar. Madhubala, his wife, wants him to enter the temple, but there is some guilt inside him and the guilt stops him from coming face to face with god. You can actually see the emotion in the way he moves forward and climbs up the stairs. Great acting.

This is my first attempt at recording a song in my own voice and putting it on YouTube.  I generally don’t like my voice and for a couple of weeks I had stopped practicing.  Yesterday I felt like singing and after having sung a few songs I felt like recording them.  Give me an opinion if you have one and be frank.  I know there are some mistakes and my voice sounds a bit immature and "youngish" and I am trying to improve that and I think it is going to take another six to eight months.  In the meantime I will be recording more songs and sharing them with people just to see how I am improving.  The strengths in the song — according to my opinion – are that I have sung this song with clarity, with good diction, with expressions and feelings.  I will constantly try to improve.  The lyrics of the song are: Chaundavi ka chaand ho, ya aftab ho, jo bhi ho tum khuda ki kassam, lajvab ho.

The immense power of this song lies in these two lines:

Mein man ko mandir kar daloon tu pujan ban jaa
Mandir se puja ka rishta mein na bhoolungi

Translation: “Let me make my heart into a temple, and let you be a prayer; I’ll never forget the kinship between a temple and a prayer.”

This song always reminds me of a tranquil, sleepy summer afternoon with warm but pleasant wind blowing and you can hear leaves colliding with each other, outside.

But excellently rendered: