Ek Rasta Hai Zindagi…

Plug into your music App, select Dil aisa kisi ne mera toda from Amanush, press Play and close your eyes as Kishore Da’s voice washes over you and you do feel heartbroken and desolate. Scroll some more and play Khaike Paan Benaras wala or Om Shanti Om and watch your feet start tapping on their own and your eyes light up. As a teenager, in the old days of cassettes (not even CDs), the Kishore Kumar collection was my prized possession and today his songs are my most played in Wynk.

Kishore Kumar is truly an icon, one of the greatest and most impactful, influential singers in the film industry and also a notable lyricist, composer, producer and scriptwriter. He was a live wire with his songs reflecting his versatility, dynamism and ability. He sang in many Indian languages like Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Oriya. His first song was Marne Ki Duaen Kyon Mangoon from Ziddi in 1948 and the last was Guru Guru, a duet with Asha Bhosle for the film Waqt Ki Awaz, 1988.

I could write pages on pages about Kishore Da’s achievements and awards, his contribution to the stardom of most of the stars of yesteryears, his eccentricities, and the anecdotes of the large-hearted man that he was and it would still be incomplete because Kishore Kumar was ‘all heart’. Kishore Kumar’s songs are not a memory of ‘his’ songs and films only but also of our childhood, romance, the best and the saddest moments of ‘our’ lives. And today, let us remember him through his magical voice which has been a part of us, our dreams & aspirations, our first love and heartbreak, the first car ride and the dance of a lifetime with our beloved; Kishore Da has been a part of it all, hasn’t he?

Kishore Da’s voice has a quality that transports you to the emotional wave the singer is riding on. He put Life in songs like Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi, Mere samne wali khidki, Dekha na hai re and Love in romantic songs such as Pal pal dil ke paas tum rehti ho, O mere dil ke chain… and Heart in sad songs like Hazaar Raahein mud kar dekhi, Mera Jeevan kora kagaz… play any of these songs and the mood will envelop you like an old family shawl, comforting and wellknown and something which feels it is your very own.

He used to put his heart and soul into all his songs and so touches us too.
Jeevan ke din chhote hi sahi hum bade dilwale” ...