One of the great things about getting old is trying to become the person you should have been and having beautiful memories that must be kept alive. Most of all we remember fondly, people, places, incidents and things that leave a mark but today, being special, I recall wonderful childhood memories related to a SONG !
My earliest reminiscing starts in the 1960s with my Dad’s obsession for songs. As a boy, I remember the piece of paper he had, with lines ( lyrics) written in ‘Roman’ English. On select evenings he’d approach ‘Niluda’, a cousin who stayed in our house, to sing that particular number. Both went into a kind of trance singing that timeless melody and remarkably we got so used to this ritual that the tune and lines got etched in our hearts !
As we grew up and started enjoying film music of the Golden 1960’s (thanks to ‘Vividh Bharti’), Dad shared with us the ‘legend’ behind this quintessentially beautiful rendition from auteur director Bimal Roy’s path-breaking classic film ‘Sujata’ (1959). The film had actress ‘Nutan’ superbly playing a young girl, born to a lower caste but living in a family that gave her affection but the ‘class divide’ is too deeply entrenched for her to have a status and social acceptance. Till she meets the hero who falls in love with her, oblivious to her ‘caste’ antecedents.
Dad would regale us with the backroom story.. iconic Dada SD Burman composed and sang memorable songs for this film, but no suitable situation could be conceived for a romantic song by the hero. Finally SD came up with a brilliant idea – the hero serenades the lady on the phone as she silently listens & weeps to it – ‘Jalte Hain Jiske Liye, Teri Ankhon Ke Diye, Dhood Laya Hoon Wohi, Geet Main Tere Liye..’ Talat Mahmood’s sublime, soft voice lends great depth and poignancy to it. Later, I read in the book on Dada Burman- in his early days he’d often entertain his friends by singing on the phone.
On our Dad’s 104th Birthday today, I quietly recede into my study to sing in his memory this ageless composition, remembering and marveling at the great taste he had in songs, music and literature, which he passed on as his legacy to our generations to follow.
Working on Living 