There was a power-cut last night and I was left with no option to sit at home, sweating on a bean bag. Since everything these days runs on electricity, I decided to listen to the radio. Since most of the FM stations were playing, I was listening to AIR Rainbow. This is an often ignored radio station, lost amidst the Mirchis and the Reds, that runs on government funds and listeners’ patience.

Listening to the songs sent me back into the past. Most of the songs were Nadeem Shravan hits of the 90s, which we used to call Barber Songs, as you could hear them being played in barber shops all across the country. Now, Nadeem Shravan might not be AR Rahman or RD Burman, but they surely are amongst the largest selling music composers in the Hindi Film Industry. Much of it is due to the fact that they had simple, hummable tunes and easy understable lyrics by Sameer. Of course, Kumar Sanu lent his nose to all their songs. I remember scenes in my village every time I hear the Nadeem Shravan songs.

Add to that, there was this RJ hosting the show. He wasn’t exactly Ameen Sayani. I suspect he was an insurance agent in the day, going by the number of times he reminded his listeners that “Zindago bahut chhoti hai” and “Kise pata kab chali jaye?” I also thought he was upto some other fishy business in the daytime because he kept reminding his listeners that “Mujhe aapki massage ka intezaar rahega”. Thankfully, he got to speak for a minute at every interval. He made up for that by the songs he played. None of the listeners were responding to his nocturnal calls for ‘massages’ and so I was treated to some hits by Nadeem Shravan.

Now, the angst of Hyderabad youth about Sania Mirza marrying someone from across the border is well-known. It seemed like this young man was hell bent on taking potshots at Shoaib Malik.

The first song was ‘Saason ki zaroorat’ from Aashiqui. After talking of the importance of 0xygen and Carbon Di-oxide for survival, it says spoke about how just ONE lover is required for love.

Here, there was another appeal for the listeners to send in their massages. The next song was an appeal to return home, “Chitthi aayi hai”. With mindblowing lyrics like

Tere Bin Jab Aayi Diwali, (When the festival of Diwali came without you)

Deep Nahin Dil Jale Hain Khaali (Not the lamps, but the hearts have burned only)

Tere Bin Jab Aayi Holi, (When the festival of Holi came without you)

Pichkaari Se Chhooti Goli (Bullets shot through the watergun)

The next song was the extremely sarcastic ‘Pehli pehli baar mohabbat ki hai’ from Sirf Tum. This song has a banter between the boy and the girl. Sample this:

Guy: Tum kitni bholi ho (Oh you are so innocent)
Girl: (sarcastically) Tum kitne achhe ho
Guy: Tum kitni seedhi ho (Oh, you are so simple)
Girl: Tum kitne sache ho (Oh, how honest you are!)

By the end of this song, I drifted off to sleep, wondering what the ruckus was about.

In the morning today, I saw that Shoaib and Sania had married in a preponed ceremony last night.

Ah! The angst of a resented lover!