Geet Gata Chal

So this is continuing from the post Bindaas Besharam that I wrote in July, about my tryst with Singing. Please read it before reading more.

It was all about how I made a fool of myself and my below average singing and despite being made fun of, I continued singing and trying to improve.

While that post was all about how one should do ‘what makes you happy‘ and not really give too much heed to ‘log kya kahengey‘, the scenario is not very different from the ‘passion vs profession’ debate. If you are not really ‘very good’ in what is your ‘passion’, it’s unlikely to fetch you money good enough to live a ‘good life’. That, invariably is the factor which makes people move away from their passion, and choose what will earn them a living.

So this post is all about what happened after I wrote the email, and where did my singing go from there.

Four months is a pretty long time. I initiated singing lessons to improve upon my singing and decided to put more focus on the ‘basics’ of singing, learning the sargam and not worry too much about singing movie songs (as I was NOT trying to impress anyone in particular anyways!!)

So with able support from my guruji, Umesh Tarkaswarji , I just stayed focus on working on the nuances of singing, the ‘taal’, the ‘sur’, the ‘pitch’ and was getting great encouragement and support from guruji in the whole process. Of course, the classes were completely online.

Last week, I was in Bhopal and guruji suggested that we meet at his studio and record a song. I was totally taken aback by the suggestion, as I was genuinely not sure if my singing had improved to the extent that I could actually record a song. Guruji of course kept on telling me that I was getting better, “aapko shayad nahin lag rahan hoga“, he would say.

Anyways, so there I was at his studio at 9:30 am on Oct 24, ready to stand behind the mike for the very first time, not for a speech, but for a song.

And guess what song he had selected for me? It was the famous Raj Kapoor number, sung by the great Mukesh “Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho misaal“. Was it a sheer coincidence that this was one of Dad’s favourite songs, one  which he would be totally mesmerised listening to?

Well, the pressure was building up as I got into the studio  booth for the recording:

The recording done, guruji was way too pleased with the effort. He was elated to see that all my hard work in the practice, had actually helped me ‘sing’ better. Pleased with my effort, I decided to share the clip with my family and select friends. The responses were way too encouraging. Some of them I am sharing here:

“huge huge improvement, almost flawless 🙏… great going 👏👏👏👏👏👏” – this was from the same person, Harsh, who had made the most fun of my previous song.

Awesome 👌 👏 bahut hi badhiya – from one of the best singers in the ‘Talent House’ group.

We all start where you did with singing on many many things. Only if we had your persistence and willingness towards incremental improvement. 👏👏👏👌.

How did you do this? This is by far your best. Kuch to alag kiya hai. Tell the secret. – 

👆🤖 Very nice Singing🎤🎹🎸🎺
Say my congratulations to him 👋👋
🌹🌷 what is his name & Where is he and his profession?🦜🦚🎺🎸🎤🎤🌹

Now to your brothers singing …
Wow wow wow…
He is amazing…Perfect voice, able to hit high notes with ease and so much depth. You can feel the meaning and he himself enjoying in his voice.
Loved it..Tell him to please please keep sharing with you so that I can enjoy too.
I m sure, I will be listening to this so many times..
Boy oh boy..He sounds so professional..
He is multi talented…Super duper yaar…
Thank you Thank you Thank you for sharing. I loved it, enjoyed it and will still enjoy it more… – from my sister’s friend.

And unlike last time, where I did not share the recording of the other song, I am more than happy to share this one. But the platform does not allow me to share the song directly, so try hearing it using the below link:

Kisi Ki Muskurahaton pe ho misaal

Now I am not sharing this because I have sung something out of the world. In fact, I would rate my improvement still marginal at best.

What thrilled me the most was what one can achieve through ‘constant practice’. This is the dirty, grunt work, done behind the scenes, with very little visibility on the actual progress being made. The coach/guide has to constantly encourage you to stay positive, not bother about the results, just day after day, week after week, continue to make the effort. But the body is quietly learning and improving, its realising that this is a hard nut (our mind) it has to deal with, and there is no point fighting against it.

Hope my journey from a ‘horrible/way below average’ singer, to someone who is ‘bearable’ will inspire others in their respective learning curves.

Adios!