Kabhi Alvida na Kahena…

“Chayan nahin bahar,Chayan nahi gharme”…..my passionate introduction to one of the ‘gods’ of my life was with this song .The one to introduce me was my cousin with the name ‘Chayan’. And trust me..for a long time he managed to convince me that it was ‘he’ who was referred to in this legendary song by my ‘god’ – none other than Kishore Kumar.The name itself is an emotion.Wrong…various emotions. Once introduced to his melody ,it became a lifeline for me and I guess many others.In every situation of life there is always one Kishore Kumar song. When I am down , crooning along with “Meri bheegi bheegi si palkon k pe rahe Gaye….”manages to lift my spirit.When it is raining , obviously the song that spontaneously bursts out is “Rim jhim gire sawan…”. And…my all time favourite that still brings goosebumps is “Mere Naina Sawan Bhadon”.Words fall short as I try to give vent to my emotions regarding Kishore ji.My childhood,my adolescence,my youth..all centred round the songs of Kishore Kumar.And as I approach middle age I carry my passion with me. My daughter grew up to the music of Kishore ji.Instead of a lullaby…as I am a terrible singer with an ear for music…I used to play ” Aa Chalke tujhe main leke chaloon ek aisi gagan k tale” and ” Nile nile ambar par”.And with these songs she slowly drifted off to sleep. These are only to mention a few.The vastness of Kishore Kumar’s songs is such that I cannot even scratch the surface in my outpouring. My only intention is to lay bare my heart as a tribute on his birthday. And my parting words are…True Legends never die….Kabhi Alvida Na Kahenaa.