A phenomenon called Asha Bhonsle .....

I have grown up listening to songs of Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhonsle, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd. Rafi, Yesudas, Bhupinder, Geeta Dutt. But I never thought that I would actually listen to any of them live on a stage ... that too in a foreign country!!

Yesterday Ina and I went to attend a concert by Asha Bhonsle and Amit Kumar (S/o Kishore Kumar). Initially I wasn't inclined to go since it was a good 25 miles from where we stay, and I thought the tickets were rather expensive. But we hadn't really gone out anywhere for a while, and this was a good way to unwind.

Asha Bhonsle at 75 is simply amazing. She is so full of life and energy that it just unbelievable. She not only sang numbers like 'Piya tu, ab to aa jaa' but also danced to them. Her energy was infectious ... she had the entire audience dancing and swaying to her numbers.

Apart from the fact that her selection and rendition of the songs was flawless, we discovered that she has an amazing sense of humour. The most entertaining part of the concert was her mimicry of other singers especially Lata Mangeshkar. She had the entire auditorium in splits.

Amit Kumar's voice is like Kishore Kumars in many ways ... and yet not quite the same. We discovered yesterday that the song 'Bade Ache Lagte hain, yeh dharti, yeh sagar' is originally sung by Amit Kumar .. and not Kishore Kumar!! Amit had several anecdotes from his time with Kishore Kumar, SD Burman and RD Burman. He is quite a performer.

To summarize, Asha Bhonsle and Amit Kumar gave an excellent performance for the folks at Phoenix, and everyone present enjoyed this musical evening. For me personally, it is something I will remember for a long long time.

Trying to do some good ....

Today was an interesting experience .... I had signed up to donate blood as part of a United Blood Drive in office. The sign-up form required me to identify all the countries I had been to since 1980. Since I was born in 1981, the list spanned my entire lifetime. It was fun to revisit the memories of all the places I have been to. So with that general frame of mind, I fetched-up at the camp and was directed to a technician who conducted the general physical exam. The exam was painless and quick. Then began an onslaught of questions ... that went on forever. The fact that I was an Indian, who had lived in several places within India and also travelled a fair amount within Europe and South East Asia in the last 6 years did not help matters. She got a quick little tour of northern India, trying to track all the places I had been to on an atlas, and identify what their elevation was, etc.

The sad part was that at the end of all this, it was identified that because I had jaundice after the age of 11, I am barred from donating blood forever. While I have regretted having that gol-guppa at Pragati Maidan on several occassions, which most probably led to my getting jaundice. I think I felt most miserable today.

I guess sometimes even when we try to help ... we are unable to do so.

Music Transcends All Boundaries

A recent opportunity to attend a Sitar recital by Ustad Shahid Pervez and a Mohan Veena recital by Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt made me think about the wondrous nature and impact of music.

The audience for both recitals was a good blend of people of different age groups, and from different parts of the world. It was a testament to the increasing popularity of Indian Classical Music.

For the 2-3 hours that the artistes performed, every member of the audience was transported to a different world ... a world free of our day-to-day worries and concerns ... a world full of harmony and peace.

If the language of the God's is indeed one ... then I am sure it is the language of music. It doesn't matter which part of the world you are in .... the seven (or twelve if you are a stickler) notes of music are the same everywhere. It is the universal language.