Sunta hai Guru Gyaani!

Every year on Teacher’s Day, people ask me what is the meaning of teacher (Guru) to me.

My understanding of what is a guru or teacher stems from experiences extremely personal. "Teacher" word has a vast meaning for me . Life itself is a teacher and we are, all of us, Learners.

However,  There are no greater teachers than our choices. The choices we make, make us who we are. 

I went to school in a harsh hearted village on the outskirts of Delhi. What most students and parents in the cities take for granted is the kindness and considerate nature of teachers; something astoundingly rare in the villages. Thus, to find a kind teacher, inspiring enough to deserve to be called a guru was not only surprising, like heavy rains on a scorching day, but also extremely life changing.

I was in the 6^th standard of my god forsaken school. We were on a 3 day scouts and guides trip to the CITY! I was floating with joy. A child who has grown up in a city can never know the fascination a city holds for a village kid. We were all asked to dress up in our scouts and guides uniform. I was absolutely amazed to see girls and boys together in one place, with no sense of discomfort or awkwardness. I was in seventh heaven. Could it be? All of this was truly happening? There was a skip in my walk. Lots of students from various schools were attending. There were a number of contests being run.

One of those days we were asked to assemble for a cultural function. I was sitting in the audience when suddenly my name was called out by the speaker. I was stunned. I was only a young child. I wasn’t at all prepared. I had never been on stage in front of thousands of strangers. I walked on to the stage and bewildered and harrowed with stage fright I broke into sobs on the mike. And said “ Nobody told us anything about where n why we are going". I felt as though everyone was treating me and other children from my school as cattle. My Outburst touched few organizing committee members in a right way. They reprimanded the teachers from my school for such behavior. As one of them had also witnessed a horrible teacher humiliating me for the outburst.

As I sat backstage sobbing silently, a kind figure walked towards me. He said “Arre beta, rone ki kya baat hai? Itne pyaare ho tum. Koi baat nahi, ho jaata hai aisa.” His words immediately soothed my broken heart. Then he said something that changed my life and stayed with me ever since.  He said with the most penetrating reassurance, “Whatever happened to you today will make you better aware n skilled boy.. Provided you take it in a positive learning... Life does not end here “ "Beta Ab tum Itna Toh Samajh Jana Duniya Bahut Badi hai Aur Bade Kaam Karne Wale Bahut Kam.. Aur Jo Hain unme Bahut se vo log Bhi hain jinko Naa proper guidance aur Naa paryapt Saadhan milein hain…” “Whatever the odds are, try to bring positive n productive end result as that is what matters.”

 He was "HariOm Sharma", a PhD in Economics. Though he was not our teacher but he left impression on my life as the greatest teacher who taught me the greatest Lesson..

    We all encounter failure in our life but our teacher gives us direction. A guru, shall reveal itself in various forms, be it a book, a situation a child, a parent or mostly an enemy… GURU in its most core and basic form is KNOWLEDGE.

WISHING YOU ALL AN ENLIGHTENING TEACHERS DAY! 

unnati sheel desh hota hai unnatti sheel naujawano se.

Mai bhaarat Ka Baalak Hun aur Gaayak hone ke kaaran Desh Videsh me
yaatra karte hue dekh paata Hun ki duniya kahaa hai, aur mera Desh
kahaa, vikaas n pragati ki dar hamaare Desh se Kahin adhik hai,
pashchimi deshon mien.

              Par marm ki Baat hai ki Jin deshon me takniki
aivam bhoutik pragati hui hai wahaan par adhikaansh kaam karne waale
bhaartiya mastishk hi hain chaahe vah koi bhi kshetr ho, kyonki mai
apne aap ko maatr dugdugi bajte hi bandar naachne lage type Ka
performer Nahin maanta Hun, toh mere andar ek jigyaasu mann hai jo
deshbhakti aur Apni sanskriti se apaar prem kartaa hai, isiliye jiss
Desh me bhi hum jaate hain pane Desh se tulnaa karne lagte hain,
shaayad isliye ki hum aisi mitti tathaa sanskaro me pale hain, ki jab
bhi kisi ke achchhe Swarup ko dekhte hai toh sochte hain kaash bhaarat
mein bhi achche saadhan ho jaaye,

                 mai America ki Washington Shahar
mien apne band Kailasa ke saath Concert Karne gayaa thaa, Do Saal
pahle, hamaare manager jo ameriki naagrik hain ne bataaya ki George
Washington University mien pure sansaar ke ameer pariwar ke bachche hi
padhte hain, yahaan Tak ki bhaarat ke bhi Uchch Dhanaadya varg ke
bachche hi... Mere mann me prashn hua ki Phir vo ameer bhartiya
padhkar Kyaa karte hai to Pataa chalaa ki zyadaatar apne aap ko
amerika me hi kaamyaab karne mein busy ho jaate hai, yaa kuchh jo
vahaan padhte bhi hain toh bhaarat mein aakar bhi vo asli bhaarat jo
gaavon me bastaa hai se alag karke Jeevan jeete hai,
       
             Meraa dill Bhar aaya ye sunn kar ki hamaare hamaare hi Desh mein ek vo log hain jo
Abhaavi hain, Aur ek Vo hain jo prabhaavi hain,  yadi vo jo kuchh
Prabhaavi hain vo Desh hit mein thoda dhyaan de toh Bahut Badaa
protsaahan bhaarat ke pragatisheel yuvaaon ko milegaa, aur jo yuva
padh likhkar apne aap ko isliye hataa letaa hai iss Desh ki mukhya
dhaara se ki iss Desh ko chalaane vale mukhyatah uss umr ke hote hai
jis umr mein hamaare Desh ki sanrachna kaanunan retirement ki hoti
hai,

          Bhaarat me 65%yuvaa hain,60 varsh ke baad hum apne badon ko kaam Nahi
karne dete aur Ghar ki saari zimmedaari khud sabhaal lete hai, lekin
pure Desh ki zimmedaari aur karybhaar apne badon ko jo adhikansh 70 ke
paar umr vaale hai de rakhi hai,    kaaran hai yuvaaon Ka buzurgon se
Kate kate rahnaa aur Apni soch ko badon se naa baatna.... par aaj Desh
ko zarurat hai yuvaaon Ka raajneeti mein aana aur Apni Urjaa se Desh
mein nayee roshnee laana...  

          Yadi Desh ke yuvaa californiya mein
sylicon valley mein Apni taakat se Anya Desh ko mazboot kar skte hain,
toh apne Ghar Apni Bharti apne vatan ko bhi sanbhaal sakten hai,
bhartiya yuvao mein Bahut adhik Shakti hai, Bas uss Shakti Ka Sadupyog
aur sanyojan karne ki ghadi aa Gayee hai... Mai apne Desh ke har
vayask aur Har yuva se apeel kartaa Hun ki kam se kam Sab vote Kare
chahe kitni bhi kathinaayee aaye par at least naye bhaarat ki Kalpna
sambhav hogi yadi hum Sab Vote Karen , yadi Hame candidate yogya Nahi
lagte toh hum vote ragister toh karaa hi skate hain, par aaj hamaare
Desh ko upeksha ki Nahi Apeksha ki Zarurat Hai...
Mere Pitaaji Ji kahte thhe
           

"Unnati sheel Desh Nahi Hotaa tank top vimaano se,
             Unnati sheel Desh Nahi Hotaa dhan ke bhare khazano se,
            Par Unnati sheel Desh hota hai, unnatisheel naujawano se"

The ever elusive shade....

The ever elusive shade...

 I live in real cosmopolitan city Mumbai n  live a stylish lifestyle now, Because my profession is to be mostly in public or camera s glare so much that sometimes I forget where I came from.. I have learnt many English words since I came, earlier I used to say I have a concert, now I say I have a gig... I enjoy this change excitedly....What a journey life is... In one birth I am witnessing many births n how life is all about learning...

    

     I am part of a beautiful musical reality show "lil champs"  which I am not only enjoying but living every bit.. And in one episode we had Anna Hazare (messenger of humanity n peace) and kids interacted with him n sang unusually amazingly  in that Episode.. I also came to meet n know Anna for the first time, his persona is full of the real" Buzurg" I have always imagined, since I left home... My Pitaa Jee  and Baba Jee used to wear Kurta  Dhoti and Topi and in my childhood. They were very particular about the cleanliness of their clothes. I think my father had three or four baniyaans and probably 2-3 socks. Each of these few clothes were old and obviously my father was using them since many years. That's why, his baniyaans were unbelievably clean yet had many holes in it. His socks had not a speck of dirt yet they were loose around the ankles and would bend over the edges on their own. These things in some supernatural way would make me feel like I am in the presence of people who are capable of preserving things that ought to be preserved, immune to trends and greed or even lust for the most mundane things in life. Chhoti cheezon Ki bhi bhook Nahi thi unhein. They made me feel protected and inspired. The way they lived their lives, was an example that no matter who you are, how you are or where you are, you have your role to play in the divine play of this vast universe. That you, how you live your life, what you believe, what decisions you make, big or small, can shape what you see in the mirror.

         My wife sometimes calls me a cynic. She says I purposely refuse to see hope or good in what people are trying to do around us. I don't think I am cynical . Just that I want to be inspired. I want reason to hope, to believe and most of all to feel that change can come into this world.

        The everyday ki maara maari that i experienced since the age of 13 when I left the cool shade of the care and security of my father and Babaji, has drilled into me the fact that this world is a cruel place. And you better toughen up cause u r on ur own.

      

          We all, somewhere while glaring in the face of this burning world, keep trying to find that shade, that security from the corner of our eyes. Hoping to see a glimpse of it, as it fleets by...

        

          On the 7th of august, as I spoke to Arvind kejrival, to invite Anna to lil champs, he asked me if I planned to come to ram Iila maidan, to sing "amber Tak yahi naad goonjega " . I was skeptical. I wondered, as we all are used to wondering if this was another person, who would let us down. My song for him was secretly also a prayer to god that this movement is not a political game that the anger and hope that I felt were not going to turn into another one of life's lessons on practicality and the ugly truth. I asked Sheetal. What should I do. She said "if u have to ask me to be sure, don't go. It has to come from within. You are in support of the bill, you are not skeptical about it. But whether you must go out there and put your heart out, in the open for the media to disect your intention, your catch, the sides that you take,depends on whether you are inspired enough to make it all worth it. Probably, tomorrow, when you meet Anna in person, you will know what you want to do. Probably tomorrow you will see a sign. And no matter what you do, I'm proud of you. "

The next day, I felt a different kind of energy in myself. We were all waiting for anna at the gates of famous studio. Among the other things that I saw, walking towards me, I saw a man, old, smiling, strong. When he called out Vande, each cell of my being shouted Mataram. I would get goose bumps each time he would invoke the nation in his small soft voice.

As he looked at me, and I held out my hand, to hold his, and bent to touch his feet,I knew I would be at ram Iila maidan soon. I knew. As if god wanted me to  still have no doubt, he showed me one more sign.

               The man, who had a tight grip on my heart and my hopes, on the hopes of the nation, was wearing socks loose around the ankle, with hardly a grip. The ever elusive shade was standing over me. Smiling.

       

Let's Rock at Hard Rock

Lets Rock at Hard Rock

29th July 2011 is gonna be most memorable day of my musical journey, as it was first time in 8years of my career in my karmbhoomi Mumbai, I  performed in closed club sort of cafe (American Chain) for packed house of about 300 people, the enthusiasm n excitement was super, as I am spoilt by  my fans and music lovers for performing live in front of 10000 or plus audiences mostly, it was not usual kailasa set up..... It was me with coke studio s in-house band lead by Darshan Doshi singing my albums songs without rehearsal with this band, and few other coke studio s artists were lined up to perform.. So it was multi starer performanc in this event, the last solo act is me, and in the end all 6performers will come n do the finale song while I will already be on stage n join all for my bit in the finale song.... by the way this band is created by Lesle Lewis when he was composing tunes for coke studio @mtv... I was thinking whether I would be able to really sing at such noisy place where more then listening to live music, People enjoy outing , socialising, networking.. Upar se hamko aadat padi hai ki " "wherever we perform people don't eat or drink during performance" so it was kind of mix of excitement n nervousness... So I reached for sound check few hours before, n before actual sound check, some media interaction took place, still remembering the repeats of questions n answers as the sound check was on with other performers, and it was really tough to talk even one on one,, in that noise, all that exp left me thinking what kind of practice is this where people can manage everything from talking to journos to going for sound check all at the same time, anyway somehow sound check n media talk was done with good, bad,funny exp... When i checked my space in finale song with other singers i dint know what i am supposed to write n sing there n then so at rehearsal some thought came n i started singing my part that made all people present there clapp loudly, but i asked organiser that this part i just sang very new just came to me words n tune both, so had any of your video guy recorded this so that i can hear it back n learn it by heart but to my surprise all my album songs they recorded except the new one...Any way i left it Raam Bharose for actual performance time...nd my Manager Pakul told me we are supposed to come for performance at around 10pm... I checked in in near by Hotel to chill in the mean time n got ready to come back by rite time, when I reached the venue it was different scene altogether there, it was packed with countless heads, so somehow bouncers took all of us to one corner after struggling crossing mob.... I reached there 2acts before mine, n finally bouncer took me to d stage again aftr struggling during passing through mob people looked at me smiling.... N I started singing but my view was blocked because of very high stage n on stage monitors were also adding to that... I stood on d speakers n kept singing, the entire energy of the audience there  transformed in to a Power house.....one aftr the other 3songs I sang, and requests started taking place n sang two extra song without d permission ( that's a usual practice in my country) as performers are ruled by audiences here.... Entire performance I did standing on d speakers n without hearing monitors... Each musician of the band were looking at me n smiling n giving me all musical backings... which kept me giving my best in each song... And finally comes the finale song all the singers on stage singing Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho.... When my part came I started singing a tune with new words "Mai jab tere Ishq mien dooba rahtaa Hun, saare jag ko paagal paagal kahta Hun " people were singing along these lines... That was a magical moment for me n all .... All the questions were answered in that moment... Sometimes unintelligence helps experiencing such magical moments in creative world.... That was the finale at Hard Rock Cafe.......

Miracle followed me

Neem Ka Ped (Baba Ji)

Three Years back I got merried n shifted in new Bunglow in Juhu, in this bungalow my wife planted a Neem Tree, aftr almost one year  I shifted this 3feets tree at my studio kailasa... Apart from music my hobby is to know n observe people n plants s nature, and I knew that in maharashtr Neem Tree does not grow because of weather conditions as it needs lots of dry heat..  And strong sun... But as my life is full of Miracles n surprises.This Neem Tree at my studio grew from 3feet to 30 feet in just 9months of time.... Whoever is seeing that from the beginning is shocked.. It's all because of everyday the music is being made in kailasa n it's energising the surroundings... As music is the food of soul n soil... Although I have been seeing miracles on and off through out my life specially in last 8years (since I stared music career) but this one is really shook me,, Through such incidences I see God around me... Now this is the story to connect I was born in Village where in my courtyard there was a NeemTree n I was very emotionally attached to that, I used to call this tree Baba Ji .... When I was 5years my family migrated in the city Delhi, and I used to miss this neem tree.. I connect with this one as though Baba Ji has Returned to my life.... Also I am attached to this one like a baby attached to Mamma or baba.... I forget sometimes that I am a known person or celebrity to the world n like anybody I start singing to this tree all the the songs I used to sing in my very early days of childhood with my father under that Neem Tree (Babaji ).. And passerby stop by n surround me n end up clicking Pictures... N I laugh that I am mastmoula in my own world... And world is seeing what they want to see.... I talk to Baba ji smiling....And Baba Ji is standing besides me n blessing me... 

Music is healing people from all kinds of pain..

Music is healing people from all kinds of pain.. I observe this not as
a singer or performer only, but how I experience life in general...
When I meet people in life n get compliments I generally don't take
that seriously as world is really huge n full of sorrows n happiness..
And each compliment brings so much responsibility to be good n
worth..... Everyday we read newspapers n see news full of "DUKH"....
And unnerving.. And how music is fulfilling mankind n human beings
lives for better so that this world becomes livable... It's just eight
years of my music carrier n everyday I experience magic n miracle in
many sights to behold..we all live in music n with music in every move
of our life whether knowingly or unknowingly music completes us. I met
one unknown lady at some hospital in town(Mumbai) where I visited some
family friend, n happened to be called by Some unknown woman running
after me saying"my sister is a worshiper of your music n wants to see
you once, so I met the charming lady who was recovering from heart
surgery and she held my hand n started crying, to my surprise she kept
holding my hand n crying almost 15mnts, neither I or she spoke a
single word... I requested her to cry as much as she feels, so that
she will feel light . n later I shared Some jokes with her, I made her
lough n smile, before i left,the lady blessed me...this lady told me
that she is recovering fast from all pains...because she is allowed to
keep her iPod n she is listening to all my music.. She comes from a
rich family, but pain never get influenced by your financial
conditions..this experience brought me more close to the supreme
force... This magic of music I am seeing everyday through worlds
eye... I am blessed , God made me able to make somebody cry or laugh n
decrease the pain... Music heals life......