Songs from our past
As a kid, my dad often requested me to sing old Hindi film songs on Mondays. That used to be his weekly off. Still is. Since nobody else had such expectations from me, i felt like a rock star. I belted out sentimental songs from gems like Dosti (1964) and Purab Aur Paschim (1970). There were other movies too but i don’t remember them in detail anymore. His favourites used to be Jaane walo zara mudke dekho and Jab zero diya mere Bharat ne — among others. He used to throw his head back on the chair and close his eyes as if relishing my songs. I automatically presumed that i’m a good singer. It was only after i left home to stay in a hostel the reality dawned upon me. One of my hostel mates even threatened to complain to the dean if i continued singing while washing my clothes. Another said, “Sing na, i want to laugh!” No wonder i stopped singing for good! But i did wonder how come my dad enjoyed my singing like nobody else did. Oh wait, there was nobody else! Only him in this category. I haven’t sung for him in a long, long time now but i’m sure that he’d still enjoy my voice. Maybe this has something to do with his affection for old films that helped him a lot in learning Hindi when he moved (escaped, actually) to Bombay. Or maybe he took immense pride in my accent-less Hindi. As usual, i don’t know for sure nor do i wish to be.