20080419

What an evening


On Thursday 17th, I witnessed a 75 year old child performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. I say child because from the moment she walked onto the stage till the very last words she sang - the crowd simple enjoyed every bit of her jhatkas and matkas (antics) together with her awesome voice.
It was none other than our very own Asha Bhosale alongwith Amit Kumar (son of legendary Kishore Kumar) celebrating her 75th Birthday this year performing to a packed house in the historic Carnegie Hall - a performance hall where worlds best singers, musicians and performers deem it to be a respect to get a chance to perform.

There was a shrill in her voice when conversing with her tutta phutta English (broken English) which she duly confessed that she does not know much off, but when she sang it was simply enthralling and mesmerizing. She belted out songs from her training days, to her fisrt commercial hits in Marathi and Hindi cinemas, her remixes and some of other famous songs. Amit Kumar was a great support and he sang nostalgic songs from Kishore.
Here is one video that I was able to sneak (we were not allowed to click pictures or take videos)


While uploading videos, I came across another YouTube site - AforAsha - a YouTube Fan Club moderated by Jyoti. With her permission I am posting one video from her page here as she was close to the stage and had a better vantage point - you can click here to view more of her videos from the show.


All in all a great evening - wish fulfilled to experience Carnegie Hall - and this was the best possible way - an evening I think I and many other will always cherish witnessing a live legend.
And on the way home to the train station here are some pictures of Times Square.


104 comments:

Ankur said...

wow man... it must be fantastic to be there, listening to her... LIVE

She and Kishore sung so many great duets... and she is as wonderful as her di, Lata Tai...

I wish someday i would be listening to her performin live in some concert hall here in India...

and the pics are just amazing of Times Square... :)

Watching the video, its buffering... will comment abt it later :)

Have fun man...
Cheers!!!

Sameera Ansari said...

Woah!You saw and heard her live,so cool :)

Loved the pics and video,thanks for sharing.

kyamaloom said...

Woah!!

Lucky you Bhaaiii!!

Jaggu said...

Cool dude. its always great to witness such occassions. We can proudly say that we attended one of the nicest events.

Impressionist said...

damn u man!!
u are so lucky to see it live!
thanx for sharing the videos tho! :)

-I

Rho Tau GWIS said...

Wow!!! Looks like you had a great time!! Asha Bhosle is timeless!!

anamika said...

Hi ,

I have been quite a regular reader of your blogs and like your style of writing. I loved the one on Vada Pau.
Bapu vanchi ne mumbai ni yaad avi gayi.

Glad to know that you enjoyed the performance by Asha Bhonsle.

Unfortunately I've never got a chance to hear her but I was fortunate to hear Lata Mangeshkar in 1997 when she gave a live performance after a long time at Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai

Phoenix said...

was a great experience haan? :P

you know in the IPL matches they have banned taking cams into the stadium?but liek u i ll ahve to device some plans to sneak it in... :P

Mez said...

U really make me jump from my seat for want of a US visa asap.Lol

broca's area said...

u must have enjoyed....:)

Satish Bolla said...

lucky u..... bhai, i really envy u. i'll give up anything to watch asha bhonsle, lata mangeshkar and sonu nigam.

Prats said...

Wow!!!! Watching a special person you've always admired perform can give you a high...
If I were there i'm sure I would have been so dizzy that i'd have forgotten to listen...

Anonymous said...

well wow!!!

i m envious :-/

Anonymous said...

asha is timeless n ageless wonder!!!! times square, oh man :(

xcongs 4 new r61

Anonymous said...

long live asha n lata

Cinderella said...

Wow !
It must have been such a treat !!!

The times square pix were lovely !

Gunjan Aylawadi said...

boy!! lucky u!!

Lakshmi said...

Ive always like asha more than her famous sister lata..asha is definitely more versatile..and what songs ..:)

lakshmi

Sairekha said...

What fun! A live concert. Which is a bollywood concert. And, its asha bhonsle..:) Things only get better, don't they? :)

m.flowerr said...

Wow...you are so lucky! i awe you
:(

aneri_masi said...

hey ceedy...just dropped by to say am alive and well :) will comment on this one tomorrow, off to zzzz now !

aneri_masi said...

you are one LUCKY DEVIL! Wow! I absolutely love Asha for her spunk and spirit. Lucky, lucky, lucky you!

A said...

wow!

lucky u...

ceedy said...

@ankur
thanks man yeah it was an awesome one time experience to be cherished foreva....and the voice for a 75 year old lady - it was just mind boggling - i dunno if i will even be able to speak clearly post 60 ;)

ceedy said...

@sameera

thanks - it was a gr8 experience

ceedy said...

@sutta

yeh ek US me rehena ka fayda hai...specially NY - can see and have seen lots of big ppl - last yr saw the entire bachan khandan...

ceedy said...

@jaggu

yeah - it is a privilage i guess for staying here away from home

ceedy said...

@impressionist

thank you

ceedy said...

@carolinagal

yeah had a good time, asha is timeless and memory is permanent

ceedy said...

@anamika

hehe
thanks for liking the posts...and the ishtyle...

it is a great experience to see living legends

ceedy said...

@phoenix

yeah it was and will wait for you to put the pics of Kolkotta Knights on a rolll

ceedy said...

@mez

LOL!!! roka kisne hai.....remove your safety seat belts :)

ceedy said...

@brocasarea

yeah!!!

ceedy said...

@satish bolla

ok so what do you have - lets see to give up - I can arrange it ;)

bole to utha ke leke aa sakta hai kya :)

ceedy said...

@prats

yeah it did happen to me too....and some songs - certain memories flashed and i did shed some tears too....

ceedy said...

@veens

dont be

ceedy said...

@a

thanks and long live but the reality is they wont

ceedy said...

@cinderella

yeah it was an evening i will cherish for long time to come....

and times square itself is so vibrant - cant even capture it fully in pictures

ceedy said...

@gunj

thanku - see my comment for sutta above

ceedy said...

@gunj

thanku - see my comment for sutta above

ceedy said...

@backpakker

yeah - she is really a vibrant lady and can enthrall the entire crowd

ceedy said...

@ziah

haha - yeah things cannot get better - only if i had more money and cld sit really up front :)

ceedy said...

@m.flowerr

please dont!

ceedy said...

@aneri

guess you did not sleep - looking at the times on the comments :P

lucky kya no - aaj to ek connection che ghar sathe - and being here in NY i have seen/met lot of biggies...which i probably never would have been even able to afford back home....

ceedy said...

@anjuli

thank u

Anonymous said...

u really had a nice expreince...i dnt think i would have gone to listen to asha bhoslae sing..but from the way u describe it i t sems it was a fun experience...

Noushy Syah said...

I dunno who is she, but her voice is a 'wow' really.Must be fantastic to watched her live.

She must be a legend!

Nice songs and vid Ceedy, thanks for sharing.

ceedy said...

@samby

yeah it was cool....music and artists are personal preference - so respect your thought

ceedy said...

@noushy

yeah she is one of the oldest lady singers for indian bollywood cinemas....the other being her elder sister...

i guess you are close to london right - just goto Southall and you will see what a legend she is in any CD shop :P

aMus said...

wow!! u r so lucky....*envy!!!envy!!!

and somethings seems different around here. your template? looks good!!!

:D

Ankur said...

i must say u r lucky!!!


Cheers!!!

Cinderella said...

This is a lovely template..so much better than the previous one !

♥ÐÅyÐяєÅмє®♥ said...

asha..I admire her and so do i admire sunidhiu chauhan..they hav a very beautiful collection in their lovely voices

Satish Bolla said...

thanx a lot for the da concern. but u want to take my life???? arey, main toh aapko bhai samaj raha hoon.

anyways click here for some news abt this concert....

Mysterious Mia said...

so u had a great time cool mate. i am not a fan of asha actually but i guess if i had been away from my country for a while i too wud like to go for an event like this....

ceedy said...

@suma

thanks - it was awesome

and yeah the template I guess the mind is more calmer now :)thanks for that

ceedy said...

@ankur

thanks bud!!!

ceedy said...

@cinderella

the old template was just supposed to be for the week of valentines "red" et all - post that work eschewed my time and then comp broke - and had many complaints from ppl about it being a bit too much - but just cld not change it - so finally!!!!

btw - the background image - i created that - how do you like it....it from a free software from MIT - if you want I can give you the link :)

ceedy said...

@daydreamer

yeah - am waiting for Sunidhi to show up here....will surely go see her concert

thanks

ceedy said...

@satish

are bhai samajta hai - to wohi to bola - you said you can give up anything - so I said bol kya de sakta hai - ek baar payment mila to asha, lata aur koi bhi ho usko utha ke tere samne khade kar dega :P

are tera life leke pet pe lat thodi na marega

ceedy said...

@anvita

well - i think i just love music of every kind - have been to all kinds of shows from different countries - and this is special as i have grown up listening to her songs...

and about being away - you are right - every bit of nostalgia we get we try to lap it up :)

Mysterious Mia said...

hey btw like yur new template mate

ceedy said...

@anvita

fast reply -

see my response to cinderella above for the same

Prats said...

Love the blue in the background out here....great page now...is it reflecting your state of mind or is it just time pass...

Just to let you know...thematch between delhi daredevils and deccan chargers was fun with greta runs

Mysterious Mia said...

but valentine was like 2 months ago yaar?

ceedy said...

@prats

yeah state of mind - and also learnt a new software and triend my hand at designing/tweaking the code on my hand - resulted in this page...

will catch the highlights of the match tonite thanks :)

ceedy said...

@anvita

yeah i know - but i just did not want to borrow a template - so learnt and did this and it took time :)

Mysterious Mia said...

hey well done then......keep it up

kyamaloom said...

Apna Bambai bhi kuch kam nahi hai, aap aao and we'll meet loads biggies here too. :P

WritingsForLife said...

seemed like you had fun! :-)

I like your new template. I didnt like the old on that much. it was hard to read as well.

Romila said...

Wow! to the new template with the blue thingy, and Wow! too to your Asha experience at an envied place.

Deepti said...

Wow u heard her live!!!
Great video too

Cinderella said...

The background image is what makes the whole templatwe what it is !

Its awesome. Send me the link na. I'll try my hand too. But then I am so bad with the html codes and all, I dont even know how change a damn template...shucks !

Satish Bolla said...

Ceedy bhai, where can i find those cute li'l programming techniques to change the look of my blog? can u tell me the sites where i can find those?

ceedy said...

@anvita

thanku!!!

ceedy said...

@sutta

bombay ka toi comparision hi nahi hai - woh hai to yeh log hai - aur yaha aa sakte hai....

par i had no contacts in bollywood and could not afford seeing them then - so the advantage....

but now i know you!!!!

ceedy said...

@raaji

thanks and I remember you complaining before - just took time to get the right one

ceedy said...

@romila

thanku x 2

ceedy said...

@deepti

thanku

ceedy said...

@cinderella

Download "chaoscope" (search in google) - it a free software from MIT - that allows you to make these fractal images...

then i used photoshop to get the right color - and had learny HTML in school so was able to tweak one template to the way I want...it takes time but its easy...

ceedy said...

@satish

read my last response to cinderella above

or email me (email is on the main page) if you need help :)

bhai tereko sacchi muchhi ka help dega kya

Satish Bolla said...

r u there, ceedy n anvita????

ceedy said...

@satish

I am here

Satish Bolla said...

jus checking whether u r around

ceedy said...

@satish

as i said
if you need help with graphics
let me know
here is my email
chintandesai@gmail.com

Satish Bolla said...

okie, sent u an invite in gmail.

... said...

Whoa!!

Awesome.
I envy you.

Noushy Syah said...

HI Ceedy..

Check your email yea...I've sent it to you:)

p/s wow..I asked my Asian friends about this singer and woww..now I knew that she is damn famous in Bollywood - as BG singer as well as having many duets with other male singers namely Kishore Kumare<--hope I spell him right!

Awesome voice really!

Pavi!!!! said...

Ur Lucky indeed!Asha Bhosle has such a youthful voice! If one heard her, they wld never be able to guess her actual age!

BTW..lovely template..i din't like ur ol' template( was too dark for me)..but this one is so refreshing for the eyes!

ceedy said...

@clouds

thank you

ceedy said...

@noushy

thank you got the email - will do it as soon as i find some time

yeah she is a big singer and the guy she sang with is actually the son of kishore kumar (you got it rt except the e at the end)

thanks again

ceedy said...

@pavi!!!!!

welcome kcab

yeah when she spoke and then when she sang it was two different persons....and then when she danced - it was just awesome...

and thanks for the template - many ppl complained but i did not have time and did not want to borrow anything - so took time to figure it out and customised it...graphics et all

broca's area said...

nice template:)

aneri_masi said...

hey this kiva thing is quite similar to the "grameen bank" in bangladesh?

ceedy said...

@aneri_masi

yeah you are right the same concept as the grameen bank in bangladesh...

ceedy said...

@brocasarea

thanks :)

Anonymous said...

kaha rah gaye?

Anonymous said...

ahut dino se dikhe nahi online

Anonymous said...

ipl dekhte ho?

Anonymous said...

100. n today s GOD s bday

Pri said...

amazing!! her enchanting voice captured live..hmmm
how did u manage to sneak peek (thru the cam eyes) and shoot those videos?? :o

those good-for-nothing security guys!! *rolls her eyes*

m.flowerr said...

nice new look!

ceedy said...

@pri

first of all welcome back. the sad part is since it is sneaked in - the videos cannot be seen in the US - I got a warning from youtube and the videos are removed from all US servers for copyright violation :( but somehow I guess they are working overseas.....

As for Asha - shes is simply an amazing lady.....

ceedy said...

@m.flowerr

Thanku!!!