"With the snap of fingers, rubbing of palms and light taps, can you create the sound of rain yourself? With no musical instruments, no sound effects", Said Asha Bhosle ji

आँखें बंद कर के बरसात का आनंद लीजिये. शुरुआत में रिमझिम वर्षा का अहसास फिर तेज होती जा रही बूँदों की आवाज, बादलों की गड़गड़ाहट और अंत में बरसात थमने का आनंद. सब हाथों का कमाल, न कोई वाद्य,न कोई साऊंड इफेक्ट

It is raining heavily in Mumbai today. Sitting near the window, I could feel the sound of the raindrops falling, sometimes slowly and sometimes heavily, like the sound of music.

Suddenly, many years ago, in this very rainy season, I remembered a unique meeting with the queen of melody, Asha Bhosle. That was my third meeting with the rainbow-like personality of a voice, Asha Bhosle, in her Prabhukunj flat. That too was a rainy season. The sky was covered with dark clouds and the city of Mumbai seemed to be holding its breath. A few days ago, a Bhojpuri/Hindi musician had passed away, with whom Asha ji had worked some time back. A very sensitive Asha ji was heavy-hearted. We both were sitting on the sofa. The monsoon clouds were crawling on the windows, and the air of the room was filled with lots of memories and a strange silent pain. There was sadness in Asha ji's eyes. I wanted to start the interview, I was trying to create an atmosphere with random talks, but Asha ji was not in the mood at all. Every now and then she would get up and look out of the window.

In the middle of the large room, a huge pillar holding up the ceiling stood silent like a stupa. Suddenly without any warning, it started drizzling outside,  few light drops falling with a tapur tupur sound , almost as if the sky was hesitating and . I talked about the climate and Asha ji was just about to say a few words in response when she stopped hearing the drizzling, slow rhythm of the rain. Her gaze again shifted to the grey sky outside the window. She stood up and walked towards the window. Slowly, she moved the curtains swaying in the wind to one side. The sound of the rain grew louder, filling the silence between us. Tip tip tip, the raindrops started to fall on the window sill in a rhythm and Asha ji started snapping her fingers in sync with the rhythm. The sound of her snapping fingers, matching the soft ‘tip tip’ of the drops, was almost hypnotic. As the rain intensified, she too rubbed her palms together and played a tune exactly like the sound of heavy rain. I was speechless. With such skill Asha ji started to reproduce the tune of rain exactly with her fingers and palms, creating a rhythm with her fingers and palms. These two sounds, sometimes getting softer and sometimes louder, felt as if they were speaking to some deep emotion inside her.

For a few moments it felt as if the rain outside and the music inside her had become one. She turned towards me, her face was shining with drizzled drops of rain and she said, 'Close your eyes and enjoy the rain. In the beginning the feeling of drizzling rain, then the sound of the drops getting stronger, the rumbling of the clouds and finally the silence when the rain stops. If you try, we can create the same sound as the tune of rain with the snaps of our fingers, rubbing our palms together and with light taps. Amazing, isn't it? No instruments, no sound effects.'

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Asha ji kept on speaking and I felt as if the rain had become her orchestra and she was its sole conductor.

Asha Bhosle keeps her heart open to every sound, every feeling. She once told me, 'Music is not just about songs, it is about feeling every note, every word, every silence between us and nature.'

That day I saw, for Asha Bhosle ji every moment is a raga, every sound is a verse, every joy is a chorus. She finds a tune even in sadness. She said, 'When you sing honestly, both your pain and your joy become a part of the song. That is what people hear.'

Asha Bhosle ji believes that music should come from the soul. She said, "'I have always sung from my soul. That is what my Maai and Baba have taught me. If you cannot feel the song, the listener will never feel it either,' she once told me.

Even today, Ashaji has a restless and curious heart. "Age is just a number. I still have so much to explore, love cooking my favourite food, travel, just go out and live in the open air. There is so much to do, so much to see."

Ashaji is known for her occasional cooking and her loving behaviour with close friends. She often invites friends and family over for a home-cooked meal. "Cooking is like singing. You need the right material, the right mood and a little love," she once said laughingly.

Ashaji has faced many storms in her life, but she has weathered each one with calm and wisdom. She married a man twice her age at a very young age stubbornly, and incurred the wrath of her mother and elder sister Lata Mangeshkar. The married life was full of tragedy. The husband was arrogant, short-tempered and an alcoholic. They separated. Ashaji raised her children almost single-handedly, and at the same time found the strength to sing thousands of songs in several languages. Then years later, she found a soulmate with the king of music R D Burman and became his life partner. But do good days last long? After R Dji's death she was alone once again.

"Life is like a song. Sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's sad, life is like rain, sometimes it's a drizzle, sometimes it's a deluge, but you have to sing it with all your heart, live it with all your heart, no matter what."

The things she told me, that philosophy has helped me move forward in life.
Today, even at the age of 91, Asha Bhosle is in the news for her amazing music and song performances. When she received the Lifetime Achievement Award, she said, 'The journey is not over yet. As long as I can sing, I will keep singing.' She is also active on social media, sharing her memories, her recipes, and sometimes even singing for her fans. In a recent post, she wrote, 'Every day is a gift. Find the music of your heart and don't be afraid to sing it loud.'

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For Asha Bhosle, every sound is a music, raindrops are a rhythm, every smile and every tear is a story and every day is a new song waiting to be sung. She teaches us that music is everywhere - in the rain, in our laughter, in our tears. We just need to know how to listen to it. 

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