Saturday 5th of June 2010 provided me with a chance to experience the Ghazal Maestro in person. The show was first planned for 3rd April and i had to miss it for personal reasons. Then it was postponed to somewhere in june and we jumped to the opportunity. Tickets were booked for the nearest row to the screen. Finally the evening arrived and we dressed in kurta's and pajama's left for the auditorium. It was 19:16 hrs when his arrival was announced, instantly i had goose bumps and my heart started beating faster. After introduction of the band, he started with "Kiya hai pyar jise humne zindagi ki tarah". It instantly struck the cord and every one was engulfed in the mesmerising world of Ghazals. It was a hot evening and also the auditorium AC wasn't working fine. This irritated him a bit and it came up with the next song, "Tumne badle humse gin gin ke liye". Continously for 2 hrs he sang the most famous ghazals, one after the other.
As if the singing wasn't enough, his band too was equally talented. There was atleast one jugalbandi between either the tabla and flute or between the tabla and sitar in every ghazal. After a break of 15 minutes, he again started for another 2 hrs. Every ghazal struck a cord in everyones heart and sound of wah wah could be heard from everywhere. Ghazals like "tumko dekha to ye khayal aya" and "hoton se chhu lo tum" were sung by the audience itself and he just came in with his variations which thrilled all. One more thing that was the highlight of the night, that was the ghungroo sound he made.
The evening ended with the farmaish of punjabi songs and he pleased everyone with, "Saare pind ch pwade paye", "chulle agg na ghade de vich paani" and boliyan.
All in all it was an experience of a lifetime.
