It was many years ago, when all four of us were together at Harvard
University. I owe this vivid remembrance to my friend Raman Mehra who
is with me in the photographs and who sent me the photographs after
having preserved them over the years. I found Raman just by chance on
Facebook. He is CEO of a company founded by him in the USA and is still
in the Massachusetts area.!
And I have always loved Facebook since then as a means of connecting with long lost friends.
It is a wonderful feeling to know that one is still remembered even after the passing of years.
In the pictures you can see me with a long overcoat, which I always wore even in moderately cold weather, while the others are in suits without even a sweater. I still seek an excuse to put on warm clothes at the slightest hint of cold weather, even though I was born and bred in the Himalayan Mountains of Mussoorie!! lol!!
Many years just flew by and we went our separate ways. The few days or weeks or months or years we spent together became like a dream as the world of the present came before us.
Prof. Rasul, in the midst of us three youngsters, was a Visiting Professor of Geology at Harvard at the time. We used to gather at his home, where we met his nephew Kazi Jalal.
And it was there that we learnt that Professor Rasul was an excellent singer with a rich voice like that of the famed Saigal. He sang several Urdu Ghazals (Urdu Lyrics put to song),and we began singing along with him.
One of these we converted into a Qawwaalli, a group singing of Urdu Lyrics. And very soon we were famous in the Cambridge and Boston area, and even invited to far off places like Washington DC to sing "Qawwaallis".
For years after we parted I continued to sing Prod Rasul's Ghazal cum Qawwaalli
"Tumhaari Anjuman se Utth ke deevaane kahaan jaate"--
"Indeed, leaving Thy Love where can thy Lovers go?"
But I had no idea where Prof Rasul was or his nephew, the affectionate Kazi Jalal.
Then one day Raman Mehra made a horrendous effort to locate Jalal and he finally found him and got him in touch with me. That very day, I sang the old "qawwaalli" and sent it to Raman and Jalal both!!
Only yesterday I got a phone call from Jalal who is now Dr. Kazi Jalal a professor. We spoke for a long time sharing old reminiscences and old stories and asking each other what we had been doing all these years since parting at Harvard.
And then I asked about Prof. Rasul who was even then much older than us, our senior, so to speak. I was greatly saddened to learn that he had passed away a few years back.
But Prof Kazi Jalal told me that he especially wanted to tell me that for three days just before Prof Rasul passed away he had been almost continuously speaking of me!! In fact all of us and the good old days at Harvard as "singers"!
I was there deep in the innermost recesses of his heart and soul, even as he was in mine!
I still sing all the ghazals I learnt from him, the foremost being,
"Tumhaari Anjuman se utth ke deevaane kahaan jaate"
"Leaving Thy Love where indeed can thy lovers go?"
And I have always loved Facebook since then as a means of connecting with long lost friends.
It is a wonderful feeling to know that one is still remembered even after the passing of years.
In the pictures you can see me with a long overcoat, which I always wore even in moderately cold weather, while the others are in suits without even a sweater. I still seek an excuse to put on warm clothes at the slightest hint of cold weather, even though I was born and bred in the Himalayan Mountains of Mussoorie!! lol!!
Many years just flew by and we went our separate ways. The few days or weeks or months or years we spent together became like a dream as the world of the present came before us.
Prof. Rasul, in the midst of us three youngsters, was a Visiting Professor of Geology at Harvard at the time. We used to gather at his home, where we met his nephew Kazi Jalal.
And it was there that we learnt that Professor Rasul was an excellent singer with a rich voice like that of the famed Saigal. He sang several Urdu Ghazals (Urdu Lyrics put to song),and we began singing along with him.
One of these we converted into a Qawwaalli, a group singing of Urdu Lyrics. And very soon we were famous in the Cambridge and Boston area, and even invited to far off places like Washington DC to sing "Qawwaallis".
For years after we parted I continued to sing Prod Rasul's Ghazal cum Qawwaalli
"Tumhaari Anjuman se Utth ke deevaane kahaan jaate"--
"Indeed, leaving Thy Love where can thy Lovers go?"
But I had no idea where Prof Rasul was or his nephew, the affectionate Kazi Jalal.
Then one day Raman Mehra made a horrendous effort to locate Jalal and he finally found him and got him in touch with me. That very day, I sang the old "qawwaalli" and sent it to Raman and Jalal both!!
Only yesterday I got a phone call from Jalal who is now Dr. Kazi Jalal a professor. We spoke for a long time sharing old reminiscences and old stories and asking each other what we had been doing all these years since parting at Harvard.
And then I asked about Prof. Rasul who was even then much older than us, our senior, so to speak. I was greatly saddened to learn that he had passed away a few years back.
But Prof Kazi Jalal told me that he especially wanted to tell me that for three days just before Prof Rasul passed away he had been almost continuously speaking of me!! In fact all of us and the good old days at Harvard as "singers"!
I was there deep in the innermost recesses of his heart and soul, even as he was in mine!
I still sing all the ghazals I learnt from him, the foremost being,
"Tumhaari Anjuman se utth ke deevaane kahaan jaate"
"Leaving Thy Love where indeed can thy lovers go?"
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