YAAD KIYA DIL NE GROUP MEET AT WHISPERING WINDS, KANDAGHAT

Four years ago, when I wrote an essay about my home-station Kandaghat, titled ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is – Kandaghat In Shimla Hills‘ little did I know that it would be the venue for a meet of our Facebook Group ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘, on the 24th April 16; and that, I would be writing another photo and video essay about this meet.

There are many Song and Music groups on the Facebook; but, ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘ is different. Most other groups simply have members putting up urls of songs from YouTube and other sources and then members congratulate the choice of the one who has posted by such comments as “Wow”, “I love this too”, “Really nice” and so on.

‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘ is different and unique. It is a successor to my group ‘Dil Ki Nazar Se‘, which I had to abandon when some of the members insisted on just putting up urls from YouTube with very little or no contribution of their own. Here is the description o ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘:

“A group for serious music lovers who not just relish putting up and listening to songs but also identify these with Lyricists, Music Directors, Singers and Actors who brought the songs to us. The group pays tributes to these four classes of people on their birth and death anniversaries. The group is also interested in sharing knowledge about all aspects of songs including Raagas. The group also has thematic Music Fests at least once in a month. If you are a casual copy-paste music lover who can copy-paste ten songs (urls) from You Tube in ten minutes, this group is NOT recommended for you.

The name of the group has been derived from the title of a duet between Hemant Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar from the 1953 movie Patita starring Dev Anand and Usha Kiran.”

From its inception in Nov 2013, the group has come a long way off. Many of the members research everything about the song that they are going to put up, write descriptions that can compete with the best blogs, and everyone is on a learning curve of knowing more about songs and music.

Now who says Facebook is for dumbos only?

Here is my description of the leading lights of YKDN, written during one of the monthly Fests’ Results:

RESULTS OF CHAL SONGS FEST
12 – 13 SEP 15

Sincere thanks to you, dear Vipan,
It is finally YOU who has won,
You proved it, my dear friend,
A fest, without Ravi, can actually be done.

 

Your total conduct in this entire fest,
Was by far most praiseworthy and best,
You chose me the winner, I am humbled,
I would ANY TIME choose one of the rest:

 

I’d choose Raj Dutta, my dear brother,
There isn’t, like him, another;
I’d choose Sumedha Nair, whose posts,
Can bring to life long-dead ghosts.

 

I’d choose Evani Leela, whose junoon
Is the best under any sun or moon.
I’d happily choose Surekha, the greatest,
Who makes worthwhile, every fest.

 

I won’t err in choosing Surinder Grewal,
In passionate music lovers, he stands tall;
Or else, I’d choose Sumona, his pretty wife,
She brings to fest, loads of life.

 

I would readily put my money on Nitin,
It is just a matter of time before he’d win.
Then there is Maj Vishwas, whose selections,
Takes him to unimaginable directions.

 

And what about our new find, Sanjay Menon?
The Hindi avatar of John Lennon.
Or Hemalata Ayyagari, the debutante,
There is nothing that she can’t.

Manik, my behna, isn’t down the line,
Her presence in the fest is simply benign.
I would choose Manju, whose golden oldies,
Are amongst the best melodies.

 

What about our youngster Hauptmann?
I am, of his choices, already a fan.
One cannot ignore Amitabh Nigam,
You missed him as winner, how come?

 

And then what about Anindya Chatterjee?
He is at least ten times better than me.
And lastly, you yourself Vipan,
Is by far the best under the sun.

 

So, whilst as a “winner”, I must rejoice,
At the same time, let me forcefully raise my voice,
You are good, Vipan, really good,
But, I have to strongly contest your choice.

 

I am not saying this for effect,
Sorry, for being so brash and direct,
I am not worthy of being a winner,
When you have the galaxy from where to select.

 

My sincere thanks to you, once more,
Your sagacity and hard-work, I adore,
YOU are the WINNER of the Fest, pal,
Ravi, your poor choice, you can simply ignore.

Since that time, we have had hardly any contribution from Varun Hauptmann and Amitabh Nigam and only scanty contribution from Manju Saigal. However, another bright star emerged in the YKDN sky: Jaswant Singh Lagwal. Here is a fresh tribute for him:

Long after we are gone, they’d recall,
Our newest star: Jaswant Singh Lagwal,
He came like a whiff of hilly fresh breeze,
And is already in YKDN’s Fame’s Hall.

 

Also, my course-mate and gentlest person on earth, Milind Madhav Hastak was missing from the Chal Songs Fest in Sep 15 and hence I failed to put up a tribute for him. So here it is:

Milind‘s favourites are Mukesh and Raj Kapoor,
Wherever he is, he is never, from the group too door,
He is a teetotaler and never drinks alcohol,
But, is often intoxicated with puraane geeton ka saroor.

Why Whispering Winds as the venue of the Meet?

Here it is in the words of Vipan Kohli:

“Now 24 Apr 2016 was a red letter day in the history of YKDN. Not because a few of us met and had a get together. Not because we had a great time. Not because we met for the first time. But because of all this and more over, it was the first get together hosed by Ravinder, Lyn and Mummyji. It was for the first time the get together was organised at Whispering Winds Kandaghat. I consider Whispering Winds Kandaghat as a monument. A monument built by Dr Mani Singh. Mani (gem) he really was. A horticulturist with a heart of a soldier. He built a house in the company of most picturesque surroundings with trees on both sides. Overlooking the horticulture research centre @ Kandaghat Dr Mani Singh ensured that he could oversee what he had nurtured with so much love and labour. He and his

family aptly named it Whispering Winds. Why was it named Whispering Winds? Ravi has brought out in his blog (Home is where the heart is)- because of being in the Ghats with perpetual winds in the area, which tended to tell tales of far lands. Ravi spent most of his boyhood in Whispering Winds.Due to all these reasons I consider Whispering Winds a monument of YKDN. So attending a Milan (Meet, get together etc are too common for what it was. It was truly a Milan) at the monument of YKDN was what made 24 Apr 2016 a red letter day.”

Surekha Saini had this to say:

“Ladies and Gentlemen …. I feel blessed to pay SHRADHANJALI to Dr S Mani Singh ji father of Ravinder PS Ravi. .. who united us together through his love for music. I wrote BARSI. . instead I always write death anniversary… bcz after visiting His house Whispering Winds at Kandaghat I found Him present between us as I saw the photo of Dr S Mani Singh ji in drawing room. Such a Noorani or Tejassvi personality as if he was talking to us telling us about his Empire.

When Ravi veer ji was showing me n my children his beautiful house, Mani Singh uncle was there with us ..felt Him saying, ” Look Surekha..I m a self made King and I established this wonderful Empire with my own hardwork. I m proud of my Son Ravi who has kept my DHAROHER as I wanted to maintain it.”…Whispering Winds is a beautiful place with heavenly surroundings and Ravi veer ji has maintained it’s divinity and originality. …imagine a person who loves his first car so much that he is still keep it with him..hw much he can love people related to him…this is bcz of the SANSKARAS give to him by his parents. ..S Mani Singh and Herkrishan Kaur…regards to both of them.”

Whispering Winds, Kandaghat, in short is a place whereat the winds speak to you, sing to you and remind you of all those “bhoole bisre geet or bhooli dastaan” as Raj Dutta put it as. Have a look at the surroundings that became the theme of next month’s Music Fest:

The idea of the Meet to be at Whispering Winds, Kandaghat, was conceived by Vipan Kohli as follows:

Vipan Kohli‎ to  Yaad Kiya Dil Ne
March 28, 2016

Dear Friends on YKDN,

It is proposed to have a YKDN get together at Kandaghat on 24 April 2016 from 1200 noon. We shall try to wind up by 3.00 pm so that those who wish to return to Palma to catch the Palma mail can depart well in time. All those who are keen to attend please intimate the following :-

(a) Whether attending Y/N

(b) Whether spouse accompanying Y/N

(c) Travel details

(d) Whether accommodation required Y/N

(e) Food preference V/NV

Please intimate the above details asap so that necessary arrangements can be made.

Thanks

41 Comments (10 Surekha Saini, Evani Leela and 8 others) later, we had the Meet planned.

After it happened, here is my immediate chronicle about it, on 24th April itself:

Ravinder PS Ravi‎ to Yaad Kiya Dil Ne
April 24, 2016

Yaad Kiya Dil Ne Kandaghat Meet
Sunday, 24th June 16

Ladies and Gents,

Today history was made. We had our second get-together at Whispering Winds Kandaghat. The idea was conceived by our dear friend and able co-administrator Vipan Kohli who went to all kinds of tribulations to reach here from Delhi.

He was accompanied in the morning by another dear friend and one of the gentlest persons that I know: Surinder Grewal from Ludhiana and two of his friends: Dr Sukhinder Gill from Chandigarh and Dr Avatar Padda from Chandigarh.

No sooner had we finished breakfast that Jaswant Singh Lagwal, his wife Kavita and son Neeraj arrived from Hamirpur. Jaswant came like Santa Claus: a shawl for Herkrishan Kaur, my mom, Kulu caps for the complete gathering and an idol of Goddess Saraswati.

The last to arrive was my sister Surekha Saini, her son Aakash, daughter in law Aarti, and grandson Angad and granddaughter Seerat. Surekha brought a pair of exquisite lamp stands and home (Aarti) made cookies.

We cut the Yaad Kiya Dil Ne cake before lunch and got our friends Manik Lakhkar Chava, Evani Leela, Raj Dutta, Maj Vishwas Mandloi and Nitin Shringarpure on conference call when Kavita being youngest lady blew the candles and cut the cake. The highlight of this moment was all of us singing Yaad Kiya Dil Ne in unison. Vishwas piped in on Harmonica and Leela with her exquisite Nightingale voice.

Here is the video of the song that we all sang together:

Here are some more pictures of the get together.

Thank you, everyone, for making it happen and making my mom Herkrishan Kaur, Marilyn Ravi and I walk on clouds.

Raj Dutta, my brother, put up two excellent videos of the get-together. Here are these:

Vo bhuli daastaa lo phir yaad aa gayi….. Sanjog
(na jaane inse kyo mil kar, nazr sharma gyi…1st stnza, 5th Line)
Dear YKDNians, Whispering Winds have whispered that History has been made on 24th Apr 2016, with successful MILAN of some lucky YKDN members….….History shall repeat again may be in near future…But until then vo daastan unn sab ko yaad aati rahegi….as this was the first ever Milan of YKDN in Ravi’s Kandaghat abode….It was memorable no doubt for the people who attended, but even those who could not and watched from the side-lines, our virtual presence was always with them– Ravinder PS Ravi, Marilyn Ravi, Herkrishan Kaur Mummyji, Vipan Kohli, Surinder Grewal, Surekha Saini, Jaswant Singh Lagwal and their family members.

Today, I am tempted to repeat a song that was put up by my brother Surinder Grewal in the MIL fest, listed at Sl – 616 of the TOTE, ‘Vo Bhooli Daastan…’ The emotive song by Rajinder Krishan was sung by Lata on the beautiful composition of Madan Mohan in the movie ‘Sanjog’…. But I have attempted to make the Maha/ Maa Milan of Kandaghat immortal… …. The first three-fourth of the clip is dedicated to the MILAN and the remaining to the members who watched so intently from the side-lines, feeling the abundant warmth of all revelers…Abha Suri Anand, Anindya Chatterjee, Namrata Tripathi, Cmde Vijay Tewari, Baljit Ahluwalia, Milind Madhav Hastak, RS Yadav Sirs, Nitin Shringarpure, Manik Lakhkar Chava,Evani Leela, Sumedha Nair, Anila Bhatia Ma’ms, Vinod Mohindra,Madan Lal Sehmbi Sirs,Geetanjali Dhulekar and Maj Vishwas Mandloi….

Lets watch this distinct MSOD, which you are likely to like !! Amen.

LYRICS
vo bhuli daastaa lo phir yaad aa gayi
nazar ke saamane ghata si chha gayi
vo bhuli daastaa lo phir yaad aa gayi
nazar ke saamane ghata si chha gayi

kaha se phir chale aaye, vo kuchh bhatake hue saaye
vo kuchh bhule huye nagame, jo mere pyaar ne gaaye
vo kuchh bikhari hui yaade, vo kuchh tute hue nagame
paraaye ho gaye to kyaa, kabhi ye bhi to the apane
na jaane inse kyo mil kar, nazar sharma gayi
vo bhuli daastaa lo phir yaad aa gayi

ummido ke hansi mele, tamannaao ke vo rele
nigaaho ne nigaaho se, ajab kuchh khel se khele
hava me zulf laharaayi, nazar pe bekhudi chhaai
khule the dil ke darvaaze, muhabbat bhi chali aai
tamannaao ki duniya par javaani chha gayi
vo bhuli daastaa lo phir yaad aa gayi

bade ragin zamaane the, taraane hi taraane the
magar ab puchhta hai dil, vo din the ya fasaane the
faqat ik yaad hai baaki, bas ik fariyaad hai baaki
vo khushiya lut gayi lekin, dil-e-barbaad hai baaki
kaha thi zindagi meri, kaha par aa gayi
vo bhuli daastaa lo phir yaad aa gayi
nazar ke saamane ghata si chha gayi
nazar ke saamane ghata si chha gayi
vo bhuli daastaa lo phir yaad aa gayi
vo bhuli daastaa lo phir yaad aa gayi

And the second is about the venue: Whispering Winds, Kandaghat:

This meet was summed by Surinder Grewal in this manner:

“The Kandaghat Milan was great thing that happened in our lives…We knew each other so well but were meeting one another for the first time..In the people there we found a sweet mother who made us bring a tear in our eyes remembering our own mother…we found brothers, sisters, friends in the small gathering…and above all Ravi is so energetic I could not believe; you feel him everywhere in the party”.

Here is a neat summing up by someone who wasn’t there in the meet but keenly watches the proceedings of YKDN; I am talking about Baljit Ahluwalia, our respected senior:

“I have been watching with awe and admiration the recent happenings which culminated with the gathering of the core group of YKDN at Ravinder PS Ravi’s place in Kandaghat. The warmth and hospitality was so palpable that I could feel it from such a distance. Many of you met each other for the first time – but that was not a problem at all. It seemed that long lost friends were meeting after decades. The posting of status updates and participation in the various contests had broken the barriers long ago and it seemed that you knew each other intimately. The small video clippings and the exchange of gifts made it a Punjabish affair.

This only goes to show that bonding and camaraderie extends beyond uniformed people; it is an integral part of a well woven group which relies on each other for trivial issues. In fact, at certain times, a few comments by a few about the others can only be accepted if there is a tremendous amount of understanding.

A word about the Leader of the group – Ravinder PS Ravi in the last few years has ignited the passion and love for music and has been instrumental in raising a few FB groups. The manner in which he encourages others – young and old and the respect that he showers is only to be seen to be believed. I have not met him – but it seems that we have known each other for years. Some day the twain shall meet – and there will be outpourings galore.

I have been a distant observer of the various contributions because I am a keen follower of music over the years. I have often made my two pence contribution and have struck a strange bond with Raj Dutta, Vipan Kohli, Surekha Saini, Manik Lakhkar Chava and Evani Leela and other integral members of these groups. They are truly genuine friends and bask in each others’ glory.

On this memorable occasion, I can only wish each one of you many glorious years in the future. May your bonds become stronger and may you all contribute to the inimitable Bollywood music. GOD BLESS.”

There will be many more sunsets and sunrises across Whispering Winds, Kandaghat. Ladies and gents, please do remember that we shall await the next Meet of YKDN there; for, you can have these meets anywhere, but, your heart will tell you:

याद किया दिल ने कहाँ हो तुम
झूमती बहार है कहाँ हो तुम
प्यार से पुकार लो जहाँ हो तुम – २

(ओ, खो गये हो आज किस खयाल में
ओ, दिल फ़ंसा है बेबसी के जाल में ) – २
मतलबी जहाँ मेहरबां हो तुम
याद किया दिल ने कहाँ हो तुम
प्यार से पुकार लो जहाँ हो तुम – २

(ओ, रात ढल चुकी है सुबह हो गयी
ओ, मै तुम्हारी याद लेके खो गयी ) – २
अब तो मेरी दास्ताँ हो तुम
याद किया दिल ने कहाँ हो तुम
प्यार से पुकार लो जहाँ हो तुम – २

(ओ, तुम तो मेरे ज़िंदगी के बाग़ हो
ओ, तुम तो मेरी राह के चिराग़ हो ) – २
मेरे लिये आसमाँ हो तुम
याद किया दिल ने कहाँ हो तुम
प्यार से पुकार लो जहाँ हो तुम – २