Dark clouds hovering over, gulmohar branches stooping down, chirping sounds seeping in and gentle breeze blowing through. All we had to do was to open the doors and windows, to let nature peep into the living room. Monsoon songs didn't need a figment of imagination to paint a picture. A glance into the balcony was enough.
Arnab, Sundeep ji and Anand were the first arrivals and we started with some early 50's Asha Bhonsle suggestions from Anand. "Kai din se sawan barasta hai rim jhim", a rare duet with Shailesh Mukhrejee and composed by Arun Kumar Mukherjee was well appreciated. This was followed by Vinod's composition from Anmol Ratan "kaale kaale badalon men paani". We also enjoyed "Barkha ki raaton men dil jalta jalta jalta hai" from Shreematiji.
Bakshish ji, R.K Agarwal Saab and Rupesh joined us and we kicked of with the raaga that is associated with rain; Malhaar. Garjat barsaat bheejat aayilo and garjat barsat saawan aayo re made the audience demand for more of Roshan. Arvinder ji arrived at the door and said that strains of "pade barkha puhaar" helped him navigate."ghir ghir ke aasmaan par" and "sharabi sharabi saawan ka mausam" concluded the Roshan selection. Meanwhile Pradeep Sharma joined us and we were thrilled that we could hear some live singing. Javed Bhai was next to arrive.
The two Garjat Barsat variants promted Agarwal saab to mention two "badarva barse" variants of Salil."The Hemant & Lata duet "jhir jhir badarva barse" was followed by the Lata solo "rim jhim jhim badrava barse". Salil compostions continued with "thandi thandi sawaan ki puhaar", "sawan ki raaton men" and "hariyala saawan".
It was time for food and chai. Arvinder ji got Samosas, Kachori and Masala Idli which along with my stock of Osmania Biscuits and lovely Chai prepared by Anand whetted our appetite. The only thing still missing were sweets and the person getting them; Sudhir Kapur !
Anand pointed out that Vasant desai's "umad ghumad" is equally good as "hariyala saawan" and poined a few Vasant desai compositions that covered the Malhar family; Megh Malhar; Gaud Malhar etc. "jhir jhir barse sawani akhiyan" was also enjoyed. We then turned our attention to some Non-filmy songs. Hridaynath's "giri ghataayen aasmaan par" and Anilda's"naach re mayura" followed. Arnab pointed out that most of these were part of Varsha Ritu compilation and several were composed by Murli Manohar Swaroop.
Arnab then requested for "ye neer kahaan se barse" which was followed by Anand's farmaish for another Jaidev compositon "mitwa..badra chaaye re". There was a farmaish for the Bandini number "ab ke baras"but I chose to play a Sudha Malhotra non-filmi number based on the same traditional tune "nimbuva tale". Finally Sudhir Kapur arrived and Arvinder Ji commented "We were all waiting for the sweets" :)This prompted another round of Chai.
As Anand and myself we busy in the Kitchen, Sudhir ji took over with some numbers from the 30's and 40's. "manbhavan lo sawan aaya re" by Leela Chitnis from Bandhan "sawan ke badalon" from Rattan and "sawan ke nazare hain" from Khazanchi among them. Continuing in that vein we enjoyed S. Rajeshwara Rao composition from Chandralekha "man bhaavan saawan aaya" by Uma Devi and Jagmohan's "o varsha ke pehle baadal" under the baton of "Kamal Das Gupta".Jagmohan's rendition reminded me of his composition from Sardar "barkha ki raat men he ho ha" which we all enjoyed.
Satage was now set for Pradeep Sharma and he regaled us with "barkha raani zara jam ke barso". Bakshish ji then said "kuch mere zamane ke gaane ho jaaye" and i played " hum tum ye bahaar" and followed up with "rim jhim ke giit saawan aaye" as a representative of Sundeep ji's era.
As "kaise bhaaye sakhi rut sawaan ki" was being played Sundeep ji commented "These are the songs I expect from you" and I retorted " I can play these kinds of Lata songs day in and day out. Thanks to Anand we get to hear lot of Asha too". "boondaniyan barsan laagi re" prompted Anand to say that he was expecting "barse boondaniyan saawan ki" in the non-film section and then added; both are from 1958 ! Agarwal ji requested for the song from Shikast "kare badra na jaa na jaa".
"phir se aaiyo badra bidesi" was the next number followed by the Asha & Varha duet from Junoon "saawan ki aai baahaar re". We concluded with some evergreen duets "tara ri ara ri", "ghir ghir aaye badarva kaare" and the perennial "rim jhim ke taraane leke aayi barsaat".
We didn't have to play "zara thum jaa tuu ai saawan" to stop the rains for easy commute of the attendees. We had a respite from the incessant rains during the event. History repeated itself too as we had a similar experience on Aug 10, 2014 when we had a "monsoon raga" theme. Here's hoping that we continue to be blessed by the heavens.
Arnab, Sundeep ji and Anand were the first arrivals and we started with some early 50's Asha Bhonsle suggestions from Anand. "Kai din se sawan barasta hai rim jhim", a rare duet with Shailesh Mukhrejee and composed by Arun Kumar Mukherjee was well appreciated. This was followed by Vinod's composition from Anmol Ratan "kaale kaale badalon men paani". We also enjoyed "Barkha ki raaton men dil jalta jalta jalta hai" from Shreematiji.
Bakshish ji, R.K Agarwal Saab and Rupesh joined us and we kicked of with the raaga that is associated with rain; Malhaar. Garjat barsaat bheejat aayilo and garjat barsat saawan aayo re made the audience demand for more of Roshan. Arvinder ji arrived at the door and said that strains of "pade barkha puhaar" helped him navigate."ghir ghir ke aasmaan par" and "sharabi sharabi saawan ka mausam" concluded the Roshan selection. Meanwhile Pradeep Sharma joined us and we were thrilled that we could hear some live singing. Javed Bhai was next to arrive.
The two Garjat Barsat variants promted Agarwal saab to mention two "badarva barse" variants of Salil."The Hemant & Lata duet "jhir jhir badarva barse" was followed by the Lata solo "rim jhim jhim badrava barse". Salil compostions continued with "thandi thandi sawaan ki puhaar", "sawan ki raaton men" and "hariyala saawan".
It was time for food and chai. Arvinder ji got Samosas, Kachori and Masala Idli which along with my stock of Osmania Biscuits and lovely Chai prepared by Anand whetted our appetite. The only thing still missing were sweets and the person getting them; Sudhir Kapur !
Anand pointed out that Vasant desai's "umad ghumad" is equally good as "hariyala saawan" and poined a few Vasant desai compositions that covered the Malhar family; Megh Malhar; Gaud Malhar etc. "jhir jhir barse sawani akhiyan" was also enjoyed. We then turned our attention to some Non-filmy songs. Hridaynath's "giri ghataayen aasmaan par" and Anilda's"naach re mayura" followed. Arnab pointed out that most of these were part of Varsha Ritu compilation and several were composed by Murli Manohar Swaroop.
Arnab then requested for "ye neer kahaan se barse" which was followed by Anand's farmaish for another Jaidev compositon "mitwa..badra chaaye re". There was a farmaish for the Bandini number "ab ke baras"but I chose to play a Sudha Malhotra non-filmi number based on the same traditional tune "nimbuva tale". Finally Sudhir Kapur arrived and Arvinder Ji commented "We were all waiting for the sweets" :)This prompted another round of Chai.
As Anand and myself we busy in the Kitchen, Sudhir ji took over with some numbers from the 30's and 40's. "manbhavan lo sawan aaya re" by Leela Chitnis from Bandhan "sawan ke badalon" from Rattan and "sawan ke nazare hain" from Khazanchi among them. Continuing in that vein we enjoyed S. Rajeshwara Rao composition from Chandralekha "man bhaavan saawan aaya" by Uma Devi and Jagmohan's "o varsha ke pehle baadal" under the baton of "Kamal Das Gupta".Jagmohan's rendition reminded me of his composition from Sardar "barkha ki raat men he ho ha" which we all enjoyed.
Satage was now set for Pradeep Sharma and he regaled us with "barkha raani zara jam ke barso". Bakshish ji then said "kuch mere zamane ke gaane ho jaaye" and i played " hum tum ye bahaar" and followed up with "rim jhim ke giit saawan aaye" as a representative of Sundeep ji's era.
As "kaise bhaaye sakhi rut sawaan ki" was being played Sundeep ji commented "These are the songs I expect from you" and I retorted " I can play these kinds of Lata songs day in and day out. Thanks to Anand we get to hear lot of Asha too". "boondaniyan barsan laagi re" prompted Anand to say that he was expecting "barse boondaniyan saawan ki" in the non-film section and then added; both are from 1958 ! Agarwal ji requested for the song from Shikast "kare badra na jaa na jaa".
"phir se aaiyo badra bidesi" was the next number followed by the Asha & Varha duet from Junoon "saawan ki aai baahaar re". We concluded with some evergreen duets "tara ri ara ri", "ghir ghir aaye badarva kaare" and the perennial "rim jhim ke taraane leke aayi barsaat".
We didn't have to play "zara thum jaa tuu ai saawan" to stop the rains for easy commute of the attendees. We had a respite from the incessant rains during the event. History repeated itself too as we had a similar experience on Aug 10, 2014 when we had a "monsoon raga" theme. Here's hoping that we continue to be blessed by the heavens.
