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SauravC Says

Nilangshu replies

Date : Sunday 1^st October, 2000
Time : 11.00 a.m. onwards
Place: Nilangshu Haldar's place, Calcutta

After reading Saurav C's account there is not much one can add except to write about Saurav and Nilangshu's contributions which they have been too modest to dwell upon.

I reached Nilangshu's place at 10.30. Going through his rich collection is a delight. There is very little of RDB that he does not have. Saurav C alongwith his sister arrived at 11 and were shortly followed by Amit and co. We got to hear unusual numbers from Nilangshu's treasure. All through Saurav was ribbed a lot, his sister being the chief tormentor with active support from Nilangshu. Souvik finally arrived with a recording of Pm's Oriya numbers. We got to hear to hear these songs for the first time.

After lunch, Nilangshu took the guitar with his cousin Tublu at the tabla and Saurav C in full form at the mike. Saurav got back at Nilangshu, by singing many Amit K numbers. Nabanita and Sushmita were superb.But it was without doubt Saurav's show all the way as he tirelessly sang for hours together with or without mike. And as already mentioned, Tublu played tabla to all the songs belted out with great aplomb. Their enthusiasm was infectious and Amit K too got into the act and sang whilst Sauvik and the rest of us swayed to the music.

The only time Nilangshu sang was to do a mean rendition of Dada Burman's Mono naa (Jaane kya tune kahi in Hindi) to his mother's, a great SDB lover, consternation. Time just flew. All through Madhumita was on her toes and kept us plied with snacks and flavoury Darjeeling tea.

It is a measure of. Badalda's high regard for Nilangshu that he came with his family and also brought with him two personal albums with rare photos of Pm. Saurav C. had warned us that Badal da is reticent in talking about Pm. He must have felt the Pancham vibes in the air because he opened up and talked at length about Pm. We were like little kids with free run of a candy store. The photo albums are a panchamite's delight. You get to see a different Pm, young and more importantly a happy Pm, relaxing, at work, at club, on holidays, with various stars. Two photographs of KK by the side of Dada Burman at the time of his death stand out . They capture KK's anguish and his sense of loss, which is beyond description. There are many other moments of Pm's life which all of us would love to treasure. We hung on to every word Badal da spoke, about the industry, about the times. He told us how Pm strove to give operatic effect in the orchestration of Jaago Sone walon in Bhoot Bangla inspired by West Side Story and many other kissas.

Saurav C was not done with Nilangshu, so he chose to sing Bade acchhe lagte hain for Badal da. Nilangshu as usual had the last word by declaring Saurav C's rendition better than Amit K's. Nabanita sang chain se hum ko superbly whilst Mrs Bhattacharya got into the spirit and sang Monay pawrey Ruby Ray.

The icing on the cake was Nilangshu playing Qatra Qatra on his synthesizer, which Sauvik was quick to notice, was the tune as Pm sings in the Gulzar album.Hopefully one will get to hear more of Nilangshu on his synthesizer.

A great time was had by all. A ton of thanks to Nilangshu, Madhumita and Nilangshu's mother and man of the match Saurav C and all the folks who came for making the day a memorable one.

Dikshit