Youtube Serendipity

A couple of months ago, I was at a party where someone sang a very peppy song that got almost everyone else to join into the chorus. For the last one week, I was trying to remember which song that was and was unable to do so. All I could recall was that it was an old, folksy number by O.P. Nayyar. I went through the typical irritation and agony of a person who has something on the tip of his tongue but is just not able to recollect what it is. Then it dawned on me that I could use the internet to overcome my torment. It struck me that this song was probably similar in genre to "Ude jab jab zulfein teri" which I looked up on Youtube. I then examined the other suggestions that were thrown up on the right side and, sure enough, found what I was really looking for, albeit in the form of a remixed version. I promptly searched for the original of "Kajra mohabbat wala" and heard it all over again:

The audio is, as expected, great but the visuals of actors in obvious disguises and the sight of a menacing Shetty putting in an appearance towards the end make it even more entertaining.

Another suggestion that popped up with "Ude jab jab zulfein teri" was "Tere husn ki kya tareef karoon" which I had not heard for a very long time:

In this song, I particularly like the lines "Main bhi hoon ajab ek deewana; marta hoon na aahen bharta hoon.." and not just because the words remind me of Ajit's 'liquid oxygen'.

Alongside "Kajra mohabbat wala", I found "Kora kagaz tha yeh man mera":

This is one of my favourite romantic songs - the tune, the words, the setting, the situation in the movie, the sheer chemistry between Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore and the voices of Kishore Kumar and Lata Manageshkar all contribute to making it memorable. And, of course, the mischief of Kishore Kumar where, in a live performance on stage, he lapsed into "Tera... chaudah.... pandrah".

This led inevitably to "Yeh shaam mastani" which is yet another classic:

Every song in the "Kati Patang" album is a masterpiece and, not surprisingly, I could see "Pyaar deewana hota hai" on the right hand side:

For the benefit of people who are into useless trivia, Sunil Gavaskar had mentioned once in a radio program that this was his favourite song.

And jumping swiftly and randomly along, I spotted "Badan pe sitarein lapete huay":

I could go on and on but this just showed me that Youtube surfing is as good a way as any of putting together a satisfying "Chitrahaar"-like experience. In the process, you may also come across a few songs that you do not have in your collection.

O.P. Nayyar, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Shammi Kapoor - forget Sunday, these guys can get you going even on a Monday.