Corona’s toll is rising

I am a music aficionado. In my young days, you could ask me about any Bollywood movie and I would tell you the lyricist, the music director and the singer. It started with Rafi- Shankar Jaikishan- O P Nayyar- S D Burman era and lasted till the end of Kishore Kumar- RD Burman era. There were brief flashes in the pan – Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Jatin Lalit, Nadeem Shravan , Anand Milind, Anu Malik era. But by the time highly talented Sonu Nigam made it to the top, riding on the ditties by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, AR Rahman and Pritam, I had almost lost interest in Bollywood music, instead choosing to go for retro music of 60s to 80s. Today, I can’t make out an Arijit from a Darshan Jariwala or an Amal Malik. Ditto female singers. After the golden period of Lata and Asha, there were periods of brilliance highlighted by the likes of Alka, Kavita, Anuradha and more recently Sunidhi and Shreya. But somehow I know longer get stimulated by Bollywood music.

In the above backdrop, I must confess that I have hardly heard or followed Sajid Wajid’s music, though I know they are sons of illustrations tabla exponent Ustad Sharafat Ali Khan and are highly talented. From some shows in which they appeared, I could also make out that they have very intimate knowledge of music and, in particular, Wajid sings quite well, in fact, as well as any playback singer of repute. Their repertoire includes blockbusters like Dabbang series, Partner, Ek Tha Tiger etc. It’s also a known fact that superstar Salman likes this music duo very much.

It’s most unfortunate that this highly talented and younger half of the duo, Wajid Khan, bid adieu to this world at an untimely age of 42 years, becoming another victim of this dastardly Coronavirus, though he reportedly had other health issues too. A powerhouse of talent with huge potential has been nipped in the bud.

These Corona times are distressing – people are getting killed during Corona times, many due to the viral infection. Oh god spare us the agony of Corona times and let Wajid’s young soul rest in peace!