Friday, December 02, 2005

A Song For The Yet To Be Born

I am not married yet but when I marry, whenever that is, I know what I want: a daughter. For two reasons:

1. Daughters are loving and loveable. From a very early age, they become ladylike, in a very cute way. They are more receptive and more compassionate. Boys are brats.

2. This is the more important reason. I want to sing for my child Aaja Mere Pyaar Aaja, which was sung in the late seventies by Hemant Kumar for the film Heeralal Pannalal (Shashi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Zeenat Aman, Neetu Singh and Premnath). The music director was R D Burman. Premnath, a police officer in the movie, sings this song for his small daughter, Neetu Singh, before fate intervenes and takes the child away from him (can't recall if she was kidnapped or got lost in the Kumbh-Ka-Mela sort of thing). In the end, she recognises the father because of the song.

Now, it would be futile to praise Hemant Kumar. So much has been said about him already. The ultimate tribute came from composer Salil Choudhury, whose songs accorded Hemant Kumar (Hemanta Mukherjee to the Bengali audience) a God-like status in Bengal. "If God ever had voice," Salil Choudhury once said, "it would be Hemant Kumar's." The evidence lies in the scores of songs -- in Bengali as well in Hindi -- that Hemant Kumar has left behind. (By the way, he was the only singer who would light up a cigarette in the middle of a recording, in front of the microphone: the smoking, he believed, gave his voice a grainy effect.)

But of all his songs, Aaja Mere Pyaar Aaja will retain the no. 1 slot in my list of his favourites. As far as my knowledge goes, this was the last Hindi song he recorded. And this was perhaps the only song he sang for R D Burman. I would be glad if I am corrected on these details.

Listen to the song and you'll know what I mean. CDs of Heeralal Pannalal are not available (I don't know why. Even music cassettes were never available: I had been looking for 15 years), but now you do get it in some of the collections of Hemant Kumar.

11 comments:

Usha said...

That is a very cute thought - wanting a daughter and wanting to sing for her. With a doting father like you, she will never be lost in any mela.And I love those tiny bits of personal information - some memory that is and very inetresting. We know them as singers , now we know them as men.
But I thought God had Amitabh Bachchan's voice!!!
( I am tempted to pray for more rains in chennai cos that seems to make you churn out so many interesting posts!! No, let me wish you "raindrops on roses" and all your "favorite things")

Anonymous said...

I agree with you 200% on this one. Daughters are very caring and understanding. Would love to see your photograph as a family on Thought process. M.B.B.S. ke tarah! Any guess who this is?

Bishwanath Ghosh said...

Anonymous: Can't hazard a guess but I certainly know you are a well-wisher. Thank you.

NotFunnyNotFamous said...

Read the CornerShop Girl - Believe me that is one of the best posts I read on the blogosphere in months. I came here through a link on Neel's blog. Will come here more often....

Bye and take care.

Bishwanath Ghosh said...

Smiling Agony: You are welcome. Great to hear that you are also from Kanpur!

Visithra said...

ah u sound like my dad ;) but then generally most men want daughters ;)

Pradeep Nair said...

As the father of 13 year old boy, I can tell you it must be much easier to bring up a daughter!

Nina said...

Having a daughter would be the lesser of the two evils, I suppose. My father may not agree with that, though :)

Bishwanath Ghosh said...

So the opinion is in favour of the daughter. I better start training my vocal chords right away. Thanks all of you -- Usha, Visithra, Pradeep, Nina and the Anonymous.

Anonymous said...

If you want, I have this song in MP3 format. My email is pinchashodi at yahoo

About Medicine Blog said...

In the end, she recognises the
father because of the song.