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ARCHIVES

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Watch out this space for Dada Burman's autograph!

 The Author (Left) with Dada Burman in 1972

              " The year was 1972 and I was about fourteen years old then and very passionate about music (which I still am). The occasion was the silver jubliee celebration of the 70s blockbuster Amar Prem. That was a memorable day for me and even though it has been almost 32 years I can still recall the major details of the event clearly.

It was evening, and we were all geared up to attend the function at the Park Hotel in Calcutta. One of our friends kindly got us through, and we were very well received by all the stars present in their rooms... Rajesh Khanna, Sujit Kumar, Om Prakash, RD Burman, Madan Puri, Shakti Samanta, and of course, that grand old musical genius, SD Burman. Happily, I got pictures with Rajesh Khanna, Sujit Kumar, Om Prakash and SD Burman, and all their autographs, except Shakti Samanta's from that evening.

While I have pleasant memories of all those I met, I specifically recall that I was very impressed with Om Prakash and SD Burman. Om Prakash cracked quite a few jokes which had us all laughing for a while. After meeting everyone, I broke off from the group and was ushered into Shri SD Burman's room (I was the only one who was keen on meeting him.)

As the door closed behind me, he looked in my direction and crooked his long bony hand at me, asking me to come to him.

"Ki naam, khoka ?" (What's your name, boy) he asked me in a soft voice. I told him my name is Pradeep. "Tumi gaan shuno ?" (Do you listen to music?). Now, my Bengali was not too good, so I replied in Hindi that I indeed did, and took the names of a few  films for which he had scored the music.

"Besh toh. Eikhaane bosho" (Why don't you sit down, come, sit here.), he beckoned and then sang the first two lines of  O re maajhi, mere saajan hain us paar . "Have you heard this song?", he enquired. When I replied in the affirmative and informed him that the film was Bandini, his face broke out into a wide grin.

Then he hummed a few more lines of another song and, as if to test my truthfulness, asked  "Ei dhun ta sunechho?" (And have you heard this tune?). The tune did not sound familiar at all and I truthfully said "No."  He gave a short chuckle in his inimitable style and said, "Ei gaan ta akhonee toh compose hoyechhe. Rafi gaaibe" . (This song has just been composed!. Rafi will sing it.) He was pulling my leg! I can't be totally sure which tune he hummed, but I have a strong feeling it was Teri bindiya re, which was sung by Rafi Saab for Abhimaan . If so, I wonder why he didn't name Lata.

Then, his eyes started closing. Fearing that I would lose the opportunity to take his autograph, I deliberately started talking about Guide, while he listened half attentively. Without wasting much time, I quickly gave him my autograph books ( I had carried an old one and a new one). He slowly flipped through the old book looking at all the other autographs very closely, occasionally looking at me as if in appreciation, when he came across names of giants like Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar and Mukesh. Then, in the new book, he wrote the words which I will treasure forever.

For a couple of minutes after that, he chatted with me asking questions about my school, class etc.. I remember he asked me whether I enjoyed studies. When I looked back at him with a wary face, he appeared to have understood, and merely peered at me knowingly. I have since heard that he wasn't a man of many words, and truly, I found that with his very eloquent countenance he said all he needed to.

Then all of a sudden, he started inspecting the pleats on his dhoti very minutely, grimacing, and shaking his head. At this point, Panchamda walked in. Burmanda criticised the pleats, and wondered loudly on how he could wear it to the function. Panchamda started grinning. He would be straight-faced when his father's eye caught him, then start smiling again as soon his father turned away. All the while he was very careful not be caught grinning at his father's words.

By now, it was time for the function to begin, so we all dispersed.

Even though I was very young at that time I have lasting impressions of Burmanda. Somehow, his personality, aura and that look of worldly wisdom his face exuded made me feel like a   junta who has been granted a personal audience with an emperor. And when he spoke, he conveyed an indescribable kind of affection, similar to when my grandpa spoke to me.. Difficult to describe but very real and tangible.

On reflecting back on the meeting and particularly Mere saajan hain us paar, I get the distinct feeling that Burmanda was a teacher par excellence too who used to instinctively test everyone who claimed to enjoy music (such as me). Otherwise imagine asking a 14 year old in the Dum maro dum era to identify an utterly deep and soulful song like that from an equally emotional classic like Bandini !

Since my mother was very much into music, and masters like Pt. Brij Bhushan Kabra, Gyan Prasad Ghosh, and Mukesh, among others, used to come home often, since my very early childhood, my acquaintance with music and the importance of SD Burman was not alien to my young mind. I remember I was obviously in terrific awe of being in the presence of a person who had become a legend in his lifetime, and it was as if I was drinking in and savouring every second of my meeting with him. Perhaps, that is why I can remember so much about such an old meeting. I have never written about this meeting, and this account is bringing back a flood of old memories.

I cherish that short meeting with the maestro and it was my good fate to have met the man, who has churned out masterful tunes like a magician whose secret no one has been able to even fathom, let alone equal, till today.

"

- Pradeep Singhi