When Life Kills…

Water… what picture does that word create in front of your eyes? It's such a harmless word… water… and ninety-nine times in a hundred we get a cool, refreshing feeling… even quiet and contented. Water is called 'Jeevan' in Sanskrit or Marathi. Jeevan also means Life… such a beautiful interpretation.

And today when it rained… the first rains of the year, I glided into the arms of the beautiful but unreal lady called Nostalgia. I raked up a few pages of my old diary and found a page that I thought I must reproduce here. Written four and a half years ago.

January 04, 2005 12:48 PM


There is a terrible cloud of gloom – one on the outside, and one within me. My emotional state has improved since the 31st December and yet I am feeling disturbed.
We had already decided to meet at Ram and Udaya's place on the 31st. On the 26th the Tsunami wave hit the shores of multiple countries. I read the news on the internet and knew at once that this was perhaps the biggest tragedy of the millennium.
On the 31st as I was driving towards Ram and Udaya's place, I felt a pang of guilt. What was I doing? Why was I even thinking of a celebration with such a big tragedy hitting mankind? I have never felt so helpless. What was this compulsion of meeting friends on the eve of the New Year? As we arrived at Ram and Udaya's place, the mood there too was sombre. The conversation for the first part of the evening hovered on the cruelties of Nature and the Tsunami. I was lost in my own thoughts for most of the time. Is it because we are cruel to Nature that it sometimes lashes back at us? Is it Nature's way of telling mankind that it has had enough of our atrocities? But then does not it distinguish between the guilty and the innocent.
Then a session of music followed. But I was somehow uncomfortable singing cheerful songs. So when everybody got up for dinner, I went to the other room. I desperately wanted to pen my feelings, perhaps in form of an essay or a diary entry. But when I sat alone for some time, it slowly came to me in music and lyrics. And this is what I wrote.

ऐसा तेरा करम हुआ कि साहिल सारे बहने लगे
सदियों से जो चुप थे नज़ारे अपनी बात कहने लगे

सूनी आँखें, सूखी पलकें, लेकिन पानी चारों ओर
जीवन से जो बाँधे रख्खे ऐसी बची न कोई डोर
ऐसा मचला बरसा पानी
ख़ून का प्यासा तरसा पानी
पानी, पानी, इतना पानी, जिसमें इन्साँ जलने लगे
मिट्टी के पुतले भी क्या हैं, पत्थर भी पिघलने लगे


The next day I told Suchi that we must do whatever was in our power for the Tsunami victims. I sought out the government website that was accepting the online donations for the Tsunami victims. The strange thing was that the payment gateway was so flooded (a tragicomic word under the circumstances) that our payment wouldn't be processed until yesterday.
It was a wake-up call for me, I think. One should not kill optimism. So far my song was incomplete because I had only spelled the magnitude of the tragedy. There were millions of hands of help that rose simultaneously. It reminded me of the line in SOUND OF MUSIC. "If God closes all the doors, he opens a window somewhere!"
After Suchi and Anurag went to sleep, I sat on the computer hoping to write this diary entry. What followed however was the remainder of my song –

एक ही गीला पल था कोई जिसमें सदियाँ गुज़र गईं
एक ही ऐसी लहर उठी और सारी दुनिया बिखर गई
किसकी सज़ा है? किसका सिला है
जो तेरे बन्दों को मिला है
तिनका तिनका जोड़ के फिर ये बिखरे घर सिमटने लगे
हाथ हज़ारों आगे बढे तो ज़ख़्मों के निशाँ भी मिटने लगे

एक ही जज़्बा दुख से बड़ा है और वो अपनी आशा है
सूखे नैनों के कोनों में उम्मीदों की भाषा है
धरती फटे या अंबर टूटे हम फिर से उभर कर आएँगे
सागर चाहे बंधन तोड़े हम सब से तर जाएँगे
हम फिर उभरकर आएँगे
हम फिर उभरकर आएँगे


The lyrics came with the music. After a long time, I felt that this was a song that came from my own heart. I have to record this. It means spending all that I earned in the Mumbai Festival song. But I think this song is the necessity of my soul. I must talk to Sameer about it tomorrow itself. If anybody can do justice to this song, it is he. I am feeling sleepy now... and rather excited at the same time. It's a strange feeling.

Song Credits:
Lyrics & Music - Kaushal S. Inamdar
Arrangements - Sameer Mhatre
Backing Vocals - Suzanne D'Mello and Rishikesh Kamerkar
Recorded & Mixed by - Chinmay Harshe, Swarlata Studio

Marathi Asmita - Marathi Abhimaan Geet

In 2005, I composed and performed a prayer at the inauguration of the Mumbai Festival, "Tuzha Soorya Ugave Aamhi Prakaashaat Nhaato", written by Mangesh Padgaonkar and sung by 63 school children. That, in itself, is good news. The bad news was that after the 7 minutes of that song, apart from a spontaneous speech by Nana Patekar, for the next three hours, not a word of Marathi was spoken on the Mumbai Festival stage.
This is the situation everywhere in the Capital of Maharashtra. Mumbai is in Maharashtra, but Maharashtra is nowhere to be seen in Mumbai! Not a single commercial radio station in Mumbai plays a single Marathi song!! (You may hear a Tamil song here and there and quite a few Punjabi songs, but NEVER a Marathi song. When I asked a few of my friends working in these radio stations, they admitted off the record that 'it makes the station look downmarket'.) Would you like to hear that your mother-tongue is downmarket? In Mumbai, you can't buy vegetables in Marathi or even go from one place to another in Marathi.

This is a conversation that I had with a customer care executive from Vodafone on their Customer Care number.

I - "Namaskaar, Mala maajhya talk-plan baddal kahi mahiti havi hoti."
Vodafone Customer Care Executive - "Sorry sir, we are not allowed to talk in Marathi."
I - "Barobar. Pan mala Marathi bolaychi paravanagi ahe na?"
VCCE - "No sir. We can help you only if you talk in Hindi or English. We are not allowed to talk in Marathi."
I - "Aho pan, Mumbai ahe na hi? Maharashtrat rahato aapan. Rajyachi bhasha rajyaatach bolaychi paravanagi nahi?"
VCCE - "Dekhiye sir, aap Hindi mein baat kijiye ya agar aapko English aati hai to English mein baat kijiye. We are not allowed to talk in Marathi."
I - "Hich policy tumhi Chennaila hi follow karata ka?"
VCCE - "Ji?"
I - "Mi vicharal, hich policy tumhi Chennai kinva itar baaherchya rajyanchya shaharanamadhe hi follow karata ka?"
VCCE - "Sir Main aapko baahar ki koi jaankar nahi de sakta. Aap please Hindi ya English mein baat karenge to hi hum aapki madad kar paayenge."
I - "Aho pan Vodafone Marathit bolanaryanna madatach karnar nahi ka? Maazha talk plan kay aahe evadhach jaanun ghyaychay."
VCCE - "Dekhiye, kripa karke aap Hindi ya English mein hi baat karein."
I - "Pan tumchya Maharashtra Goa circle madhale lok boltat ki Marathit. Mumbai madhech ka nahi?"
The Vodafone Customer Care Executive hangs up the phone.

I would really like to know whether Vodafone has the same policy of not speaking Tamil or entertaining customers who insist that they can express best only in Tamil.
In my own State I am told that if I continue to speak in my mother-tongue, which happens to be the official language of that State, I regard this to be an insult to my State, my people, and even to the Constitution of India which gives me a right to talk in my mother-tongue, at least in my own State. There seems to be no unreasonable demand here! It is no as if I am insisting that I should be spoken to in Marathi when I am in Ahmedabad, for example.
After this conversation I also asked a few of my friends to see if they faced a similar problem and they did. We have recorded some of these conversations. If what Raj Thackeray does is considered to be violence then even this sort of a policy is nothing short of violence against a language - the language of the State and the language of the single largest majority in the city.

That Marathi should face such a problem in its own capital is a matter of shame.
The question is not exclusive to Mumbai. The real problem seems to me to be the indifference of the Marathi people towards their own mother-tongue. The movements that go on in the name of Marathi only result in stray violence, arson, and a terribly unstable atmosphere. This prevents the common Marathi person from participating in such so-called movements. And that does not prevent Marathi getting a raw deal, especially in its own capital city of Mumbai.
I honestly feel that if there has to be a sane movement for Marathi as a language, it has to spring from the common-folk. Never was there such urgency for all the Marathi speaking people to come together and stand together. Before we tell the non-Marathi speaking people to respect Marathi, there is a necessity of sowing seeds of self-respect among the Marathi speaking people themselves. MARATHI NEEDS A SONG OF SELF RESPECT!

Labhale amhas bhagya bolato Marathi
Jaahalo kharech dhannya aikato Marathi
Dharma, pantha, jaat ek jaanato Marathi
Evadhya jagaat Maay maanato Marathi!

I have composed music for this poem by Suresh Bhat. I plan to record this song with around 300 singers and around a 100 musicians. The expense for this song can easily be sponsored by one or two sponsors, but doing that will turn this into a 'commercial' product, which is not the motive. If this has to remain a movement, it has to involve our participation. If at least 2000 people contribute - and I say contribute, NOT donate - at least Rs. 500 each, this expense of recording the song can be covered. If you participate in this movement, I shall be very happy. Please remember, that this is NOT an appeal for help. This is an INVITATION - an invitation to participate in this movement for Marathi.
This movement already has gathered around 400 activists from India and abroad and this number is growing every day. We plan to release this CD on the 1st of May 2009, on the Maharashtra Day. A booklet will also be released along with CD which will contain the names of ALL the contributors so that a signal will be sent to one and all that this MARATHI ABHIMAAN GEET was the result of 2000+ people COMING TOGETHER and WITHOUT any corporate backing, sponsorships, or political initiative. It is a common feeling of the common Marathi speaking person. The booklet will also contain authentic information about the SANYUKTA MAHARASHTRA MOVEMENT, which is not easily available to people of my generation and the coming generations. The language-wise reorganisation of States was done in 1956 and yet it took 4 years for the Marathi speaking people to get a State of their own. Thousands circle the Hutatma Chowk everyday without knowing its significance, and then question the necessity of knowing Marathi in Mumbai! Some blogs refer to Mumbai being "TAKEN AWAY BY MAHARASHTRIANS BY USING STRONG ARM TACTICS!" So it is a requirement that the authentic information about the SANYUKTA MAHARASHTRA MOVEMENT reaches every Marathi speaking person. Prof. Sanjay Ranade, HOD of the Dept. of Journalism & Mass Communication will be authoring this part of the booklet which will be published by MOUJ PRAKASHAN, one of the most credible and distinguished publishing houses in Maharashtra.
Every participant will get a copy of this CD and booklet delivered to their doorstep at no cost.

You may send your cheques or DDs favouring "Marathi Asmita", 102, Triveni, Shuchidham, Film City Marg, Near Dindoshi Bus Depot, Goregaon (E), Mumbai - 400063. For any queries contact Mandar Gogate on 9820877279. You can also go to www.marathiasmita.org.

I urge every person who loves his/her mother-tongue to participate in this movement... and that includes AR Rahman who did his mother-tongue proud by speaking it on the Oscars Stage!

© Kaushal S. Inamdar, 2007

In Defence of Marathi

The topic is tricky, but something needs to be said about it. Raj Thackeray is being made out to be a villain, a saviour, a hero, and a traitor. The country is in a jingoistic mood and I am sorry to say that we are in it too. As a Maharashtrian, and an Indian, and most importantly as a citizen of the world, I have some experiences to share.

It was 1998, December. I was in an upbeat mood as I was going to be married. I wanted to shop for a blazer and so I went to a Raymond's store in South Mumbai. The salesman was an old man and I figured that he had been living in Maharashtra for a long time. So I said in Marathi:

"ब्लेझर विकत घ्यायचा आहे." (I wish to buy a blazer.) The man on the counter gave me an irritated look. He seemed exasperated when he said, "हिंदी में बोलो|" (Talk in Hindi). Without giving it much thought, I repeated my question in Hindi. Without looking up at me he pointed out to the section where blazers were kept. I turned. As soon as my back was towards him, I heard him telling his subordinate who had been standing right beside me.

"उसपर नज़र रक्खो।" (Keep an eye on him.) I turned back in a flash and looked him straight in the eye thinking that it would embarrass him. On the contrary, he was defiant. I felt humiliated and insulted and walked out of the store. When I reflected back, I knew that I had been treated with contempt only because my opening lines were in Marathi…. In my mother-tongue.

The second incident occurred a few months later when an old Muslim employee of a relative of mine from Delhi had come to Mumbai. My father asked me to drop him to the Bombay Central station. I waited while he enquired on the ticket counter. The old, Muslim man hailed from Delhi and the man on the counter was a native of UP. The place was Bombay Central Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra. Their conversation was in Hindi. The old man asked the man on the counter something and I heard an extremely rude reply in an uncalled for, loud voice. I rushed to the counter and began in Marathi:

"साहेब, जरा नीट बोला, तुमच्या वडिलांच्या वयाचे आहेत हे." (The man is your senior. Treat him with respect.) To which the man on the counter retorted:

"अब तू मुझे सिखायेगा क्या? घाटी?" I was incensed and replied that he was on my soil and was insulting the people of my State by calling meGhati in such a derogatory manner.

But that incident did it. I vowed that I would never speak in Hindi with any native of UP and Bihar who was settled in Mumbai. They would have to speak with me in MY mother-tongue, in MY state. Enough was enough; I was not going to be treated in this manner in my state. Since then, I have been speaking only in Marathi with people who are earning their livelihood in this wonderful state called Maharashtra.

Not many people who have migrated to Maharashtra know that unlike UP and Bihar and even Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra was created as late as 1960. It was not created along with the other Sates when India was organised along linguistic lines. And it did not come easy for the Marathi speaking people. There had to be a struggle – the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement for the Marathis to get a fair and just share of what was theirs. And people had to die for it. Thousands of migrant taxi drivers circle the Hutatma Chowk without knowing what it means for the Marathi people. And to be quite honest a lot of Maharastrians also pass the Hutatma Chowk without once giving it a thought that Maharashtra came into existence for a heavy price.

And once I started speaking in Marathi, I knew that we were slowly becoming foreign in our own land. People who say that India is One and anybody can migrate anywhere should say the same thing in Chennai, for instance. Nobody disputes that India is One, but if the States were organised on the basis of language, the fathers of the constitution meant that they were homes primarily for people of that language and the states should be governed in the language of the State. But what does one see here? People like Alyque Padamsee demand an autonomous Bombay state! There is a motion in the BMC that its affairs are run in Hindi?! That is ridiculous! Will Municipalities in Tamil Nadu conduct their affairs in Bhojpuri? I wonder!

I am not against any language. But the trouble here is that in spite of being the most and I repeat MOST welcoming state, Maharashtra and Maharashtrians have been getting a second-class treatment from the Centre and people who have migrated here and made their lives. People come here with dreams in their eyes and know that their hard work will be rewarded because Maharashtra and Maharashtrians do have a heart for it.

During the last few months I have been personally having a bad time with taxi drivers from North India, particularly Bihar and UP. If I talk in Marathi my query would not be answered at all. They refused to understand if I talked in Marathi. And I was not even expecting that they talk in Marathi, but don't I have the comfort of speaking in my mother-tongue in my own state without being treated with contempt?

Let me tell you another incident. The first Mumbai festival happened in 2005. Mumbai – Capital of Maharashtra. And do you know that apart from the one song that I did there was NO MARATHI SPOKEN on the stage at the opening ceremony EXCEPT in the speech made by NANA PATEKAR? In the next Mumbai Festival the marathi programmes were held in small grounds or theatres in and around Dadar while the more glamorous venues like the Gateway of India were held captive by Hindi and English.

Have you heard of any commercial radio station in Mumbai which plays a Marathi song? Even the government run ALL INDIA RADIO's FM station devotes equal amount of time for Marathi and Gujarati. I wonder if Marathi gets the same airtime in the radio stations in Ahmedabad. The radio jockeys too are all non-maharashtrians. They hardly speak a word of Marathi. Come to think of it they don't speak in any language!

Having said this let me also say that I come from one of the most cosmopolitan families you could imagine. My uncle was married to a Tamilian, and my first cousin married a Malyalee. My Aunt married a Kannadiga. So that covers most of South India. Among my father's cousins and my second cousins – I have Punjabis, Sindhis, Kannadigas, Tamilians, Muslims, Christians, and even Britishers in my close and immediate family!

I work with a lot of non-maharashtrian friends who have worked most lovingly with me on my Marathi songs. And I respect them because they show a lot of reverence for the language.

I love Marathi and I feel the same pain that perhaps Raj Thackeray feels (I am not, as yet, doubting his motives), when as a Maharashtrian I feel being treated with contempt and in my own land. (I most definitely know of people who seem to think that Marathi is the language for servants). But I denounce Raj Thackeray's methods. And I think that his GUTS are only proverbial…. A figment of his own imagination and that of his supporters.

I say that there is no purushartha in getting your supporters to slap around hapless rickshaw drivers and burning the property that belongs to your own state. IF RAJ THACKERAY HAS THE GUTS TO PERSONALLY SLAP ABU ASEEM AZMI OR ALYQUE PADAMSEE, WHO UNABASHEDLY ADVOCATES AN AUTONOMOUS MUMBAI, I WILL PLEDGE MY STAUNCH SUPPORT TO HIM. Of course, there is a chance that to this Raj Thackeray and his supporters will ask me the question: "Who are you?"

So let me tell them that I am just another proud Maharashtrian who loves Marathi.

I think that the trouble is that nobody seems to have reverence for anything that is decent and cultured. A lot of Maharashtrians are guilty in displaying an arrogant disregard towards their own mother-tongue. We don't buy Marathi music, we don't watch Marathi cinema and and we don't care about Marathi theatre. When boards and banners in support of Raj Thackeray went up in the area where I live, most of them were written in ridiculous marathi with absolute disregard for grammar and purity of the language. We have to learn reverence.

I hate violence as strongly as I love my mother-tongue. And I denounce any kind of violence. It is reverence that we need, reverence for Language; reverence for our Home; reverence for Culture and reverence for Life.

Ek Packet Ummeed: It’s all about Hope

Ek Packet Ummeed is a TV series running on NDTV IMAGINE and drawing a good response from the viewers. I had the good fortune to compose the title track of this series. I had not done television work for a long time and EPU was a perfect launch pad for a re-entry. JD Majethia and Aatish Kapadia the producer duo of HATS OFF PRODUCTIONS placed their faith in me absolutely without hearing a shred of what I had composed and I am really thankful to them. It was wonderful working with the two of them. JD is a warm and effusive person and Aatish is calm and extremely sensitive as a writer. He had written the lyrics for the title song I liked at once. The song has been sung by two of my favourite singers – Hamsika and Mahalaxmi Iyer. I hope you like this song.

An Orkut Conversation with a SAREGAMAPA Fan

We use the word 'fan' so often that we forget that it's short for 'fanatic'. Reproducing here, a short conversation between me and a SAREGAMAPA 'fan' on the networking site – 'Orkut'. It is so fresh that I haven't had the time to analyse whether this conversation is hilarious or tragic or part of a black comedy.

Sourabh Kulkarni:

i think something has gone wrong. coz, we all have seen megafinal of saregamapa. and u were interviewed by mr.atul, but all we didnt understand, how mr.limbekar stood as mahagayak?even he didnt have a voice quality, and he was singing only gramin songs,on the other hand, mahesh sir was at his best, why did u not disqualify mr.limbekar at time of auditions?waiting 4 ur reply.

Kaushal:

it's your opinion, sourabh and you're entitled to it. If Mr Limbekar got through to the finals, I would have looked like a fool disqualifying him right at the auditions, wouldn't I? Secondly, good music is something beyond individual tastes. So I assure you my friend that nothing has gone wrong except for the fact some other people may think different from what you think. So take it easy!

Sourabh Kulkarni:

in one of ur interviews, u told, u were also expecting a pair of Mahesh & sangita chitale, but all the dice went wrong marginally.Let me question u, if Mr. mutalik would have stood up as mahagayak along with Mrs. chitale, would zee marathi have had any problem?also, at the time of declaration, even they didnt announce the scores, that might tellu the story of partiality.i am not blaiming u, also Mr.limbekar was weakest with his pronunciations and still he is mahagayayak, that will really affect TRP, that is why, zee has assassinated the tallent, waiting 4 ur reply

Sourabh Kulkarni:

no doubt, good music is somewhere beyond the cards, but intellectual people like Mr.mutalik, Anandsagar pathak, got biggest setback. I have no objection abt zee marathi' policy, yr temperament, but one thing is quite conspiquous,instead of brahmin people getting uplifted, they r badly pulled off, dont know , who is accountable for that

Sourabh Kulkarni:

one thing, Mr.Salil and Mrs. Ashatai, the were phenomenal with their duty. I was shocked, when Mr.salil desired mr.limbekar to be a mahagayak. They both r brahmins, they should have uplifted mr. mutalik & Pathak. We all wasted our more than 4 hrs in watching that preplanned show. same thing was also happened with MANGESH BORGAONKAR, Mr. kosambi also moved as mahagayak even he did not deserve it. Situation was different, when u were mentor for one of the schedules. That schedule had all the brahmin candidates,that is why, mahagayak was always going to be a brahmin. again zee went partial, when they selected Mrs.bhaisanmade neglecting sayali panase.hence, they r doing it incessantly

Sourabh Kulkarni:

waiting for yr reply

Kaushal:

I think you are wrong and I don't want to answer such a venomous comment. We look at music and not whether it is sung by a brahmin or not. And let me remind you that zee does not select the mahagayak. It is people like you who send in their smses. Why are you insistent on making this a casteist issue? Salil Kulkarni and Asha Khadilkar are honest musicians who see music as their religion. There is no place for caste there. Why should they uphold only brahmins? If you're shocked, it's entirely your problem. Please bear in mind that this is my last communication to you on this issue. If you think you have wasted your time, simply don't watch the show. It's an easy solution, isn't it?

Life with You is a Cup of Coffee

A very famous chain of coffee shops in India has this tagline written on its banners – 'A lot can happen over coffee'. True, but not at the coffee shops which sport the tagline. The loud music, the constantly blinking television sets deprive you of the leisure of having coffee, and the 'lot' that can actually happen over it. These coffee shops, in a way, symbolise the schizophrenic personality of our metropolises. There are multiple TV monitors showing different channels, and loud music playing some entirely different music totally unrelated to any of the channels. The volume of this music denies any kind of possibility of a conversation that should otherwise remain private and intimate.

There is a romance about coffee that alas, these multinational coffee joints do not comprehend. The South Indian hotels in Mumbai have this romance by default. The tiny steel glass and bowl coffee not only is better coffee, but carries with it an atmosphere that huge china clay cups don't recognise.

I, personally, have a special place for coffee in my heart (although I am a regular tea drinker), and also for those members of the opposite sex with whom I have had coffee. Romance comes in degrees, and having an intimate cup of strongly brewed coffee, is more romantic than, say holding hands! To all those girls and women, with whom I have shared this cup of coffee, I dedicate this song.

Haqeeqat Ne Aisa Pakda Girebaan: A Child of Night

While doing the background score of It's Breaking News, the scene that had us (Sameer Mhatre & myself) thinking most was the sting operation scene. We took a lot of pains to do that scene, and I must give due credit to Sameer Mhatre who was at his dynamic best while doing the scene. But what stumped me was what happens after the sting operation. There was a silence of almost 2 minutes after the sting operation scene, where Vidya (Koel Purie) seems to be at a loss of words and can't express anything to Sangeeta (Swati Sen) who looks at her accusingly. There is an uncomfortable silence for around two minutes.

After doing the music for the sting operation scene, we decided to stop as it was too heavy on us. It was 2 am, and we had our customary chai at dadar station before I started driving back home. The one visual that came coming back to me from the film was Sangeeta's accusing look at Vidya. Swati Sen had brought Sangeeta alive on screen. The success of her performance, I think, was that it made the viewer wonder what kind of a life Sangeeta must have led beyond what was shown in the movie. And that was what started me on to the song. Sangeeta's life… she's just about 20 in the film, an age when dreams rule you, when everything in life seems achievable, when you feel you can get away flirting with Reality. On my journey back home from Dadar, the entire song on Sangeeta came to me. Time: 2:15 – 2:50 AM.

हक़ीक़त ने ऐसा पकडा गिरेबाँ

और पड गईं सिलवटें ख़्वाब पर

ज़ुबाँ सिल गई है, बदन छिल गया है

और रूह रोती रही रातभर

दिन की रातें, रातों के दिन

जुग जुग लागे पल पल छिन छिन

मरते यहाँ हैं अरमाँ कमसिन

अंधेरों से गहरा नाता जुड़ा है

लेकिन उजालों से लगता है डर

एक ही छब और लाखों दरपण

ना कोई पर्दा, ना कोई चिलमन

दिल सेहरा और आँखें सावन

आँखों की बातें कोई न समझे

और हाथों की दुआ बेअसर

The tune and the words came together. The next day I called up Hamsika and sang out what I had composed. She, too, was most ecstatic. I took the song to a very talented musician, Sameeruddin, to be arranged. Hamsika and I went to Sameeruddin's studio late at night. He was still at work. He finished work at almost 1AM. We decided that we couldn't really work after that as all of us were tired. Sameeruddin suggested that we record the cue track of the song. Seby, Sameer's friend and another talented musician, took charge of the acoustic guitar and Sameeruddin himself sat on the keyboards. Hamsika went inside the dubbing room to sing the cue track. We switched off the lights and Hamsika began singing. She sang at one go and with great feeling. Seby contributed with his sparse but extremely effective strumming. Thereafter we tried recording that song twice but the same magic didn't happen. Hamsika & I decided that we'll let the song stay as it is. The song, right from conception to delivery, was a child of the night.