26/02/2024
Chithi Ayi Hay.....unlike the original lyrics which was bade dinon ke baad, in real life its surely too early for millions of his fans. Speaking from my personal point of view, I first heard his velvet voice as a 16 year old teenager in the double LP Album Pankaj Udhas Live in Albert Hall and the song that instantly floored me was Chandi jaisa Rang Hay tera..... those days Hindi was still in the nascent stage for me leave alone Urdu, hence the best part of Pankaj ji's songs was that for novices like us, we could understand at least some of the lyrics not to mention about his silken voice and the smooth easy renditions. Totally impressed by the LP album, Double Cassette albums Nayaab, Afreen and Legends were very shortly added to my Cassette collection and they all eventually accompanied me when I proceeded to Manipal in 1989 to study Engineering and interestingly I found my room mate Nilesh also a huge fan of Pankaj ji and for me the bonus was that being a Probashi Bangali from MP, he used to explain lots of lyrics. Our preparations for exams used to be incomplete without his ghazals being played in our Cassette player in a soft volume!! Today, on hearing the sad news,I truly felt that a part of my teenage years is gone!! But as it is said Artists never die, they live in their creations!! You might not be with us physically but we will continue to hum Chandi Jaisa Rang Hay tera, Chithi Ayi Hay, Deewaron Se Milkaro na, Aap Jinke Kareeb hote hain to mention a very few!! May your soul rest i eternal peace Pankaj ji!!