‘Chalte Chalte Mere Ye Geet Yaad Rakhna, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’…The Notes Would Echo Even After His Demise
By D N Singh
‘Gori Hai Kalayiaan’ or Kalion Ka Chaman or ‘Oh Saiyan Deewane, to name a few born of the fusion of Bappi Lahiri with legendary playback remain an time melodies.
Bappi Lahiri when walked the streets of Mumbai, it was Lata Mangeshkar who discovered the genius within the young Bengali musician and helped him to the pedestal of fame. “ If it was not Lata Maangeshkar I would have been swept away in the competition” once recalled Bappi Da.
In an emotional throwback Bappi Da recollected that, the blessings of Lata Mangeshkar was with him when he was a young aspirant trying hard to get a space among the galaxy of great maestros of Bollywood.
Bappi Lahiri had an extraordinary quality of endearing the strangers and he credited for that trait to Lata ji, who died very recently, on Feb 6.
‘Abhi abhi thi dushmani..abhi hai dosti’ to ‘Aao tujhe chand pe le jaoon’ both became big hits with Lata’s voice and Lahiri’s composition which was soon followed by the great duet of Lata and Kishore Kumar ‘ ‘Jalta hai jia mera bhigi bhigi raton mein’ which came out to be a rage of that time.
Bappi Da was one of the youngest faces in the Bollywood music industry and he once remembered when Lata sang for his composed Bengali song after which Lahiri needed no further gate-pass to enter Bollywood’s music domain .
When he was just 4 years old, he was privileged to sit on the lap of the Nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar, and he preserved that black & white picture till his death.
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His song in the 80s ‘chalte chalte, mere ye geet yaad rakhna, kabhi albida na kehna’’ became a signature piece from the popular composer’s repertoire. The words of the above song still resonate in the horizon of music like a crescendo of emotion which, as if, Bappi Da left as his parting gesture towards the world of music lovers.
