Yugal, Milan Lama and Ali Zafar- Three singers from the banks of mighty river Ganga (Ganges)

Introduction to two special singers from Nepal

Yugal S

Yugal

We are so excited to introduce our featured singers from this region. We have two singers from Nepal. Although Nepal is not an integral part of India as a landlocked country with huge influence in its culture and music from mainland India we can not forget our brothers from Nepal. Especially, Yugal and Milan became such close friends in a short time. Yugal especially is a big supporter of the cause of this blog, we have to write about him here. Earlier one of his songs was selected to be featured on our feature on singers from the state of West Bengal. We truly appreciate his willingness to come out and write on our blog at that time. Here is your reward for that kind gesture.  We earlier had identified this singer for his superfine voice which resembled a lot like quality fine Kashmir silk, Pashmina, and we are more convinced here that he is a super talent need highlight here. Yugal is doing his studies on Masters in Strasbourg, Germany, and is single at the moment. When we told him that we are working on a feature on his profile he was very humble and wrote his self-assessment as not at par with other singers featured here before. But that is ok, you are one of kind we do not compare anybody here and that is not the aim as well.

Yugal says for him “Music is the shortest connection to the God. it’s the easiest and beautiful way to look into ones’ self”. A philosopher and that deep meaningful words come from a country where music is deeply rooted in religious activities.  He rightly acknowledges his greatest influence and favorite singer none other than Udit Narayanan, who is one of the finest male Hindi playback singers. Not many may know that Udit is from Nepal. That is why we said Nepal although a foreign country, all of India embrace singers like Udit as our own. He is absolutely a singer many in India consider as one of the best playback singers we ever had. Yugal also said he adores a few other Bollywood singers of fine talent like Sonu Nigam, KK, and Lucky Ali. He is also a big fan of AR music. Among recent young singers of his like is Arijit Singh.  He confesses that he is very camera-shy, so expect still video edits of his songs here. That is his choice.

Here Yugals’ friends wanted a collaboration with him to be on the blog. They wrote to us and here is what you wanted. A beautiful romantic melody Aisa lagtha hai originally sung by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik, sung in the following video by Yugal with his friend with the screen name xcruciator . He has a wonderfully great voice; We may cover your profile write to us when you see this. Thanks to Yugal’s friends for suggesting his profile.

When someone falls in love this is how one feels………………….

Here Yugal sing from his heart a most beautiful melody with smule profile ID Breeze a beautiful soul and Yugals’ favorite collaboration Piya Basanti Re. His voice and singing style are so unique we feel he is none like any other Hindi singer we ever heard.

The original Piya Basanti re, sung by Ustad Sultan Khan, and Chithra of Malayalam a very unusual song of choice. The pick of this song reveals a lot about Yugal himself. Coming from a mountain-rich state that lies in the lap of the great Himalayas, this song is a great expression of where Yugal is originally from. The northern parts of India largely face a lot of separatist movements which is depicted in the storyline of the original song. Enjoy. Sure Yugal and Breeze did excellent work here, Kudos.

If you do not know who is Ustad Sultan Khan, he was an Indian Sarangi player and Classical vocalist belonging to Sikar Gharana. He was one of the members of the Indian fusion group Tabla Beat Science, with Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell.

Since we talked about Sikar Gharana we would like to include this video about the Sikar Gharana music traditions. Here to-date the most prominent musician from Sikar Gharana Imran Khan playing Sitar with Ramon Rodríguez on tabla and cajón. Enjoy the peaceful sounds of this music nowhere else you will find. Kudos to westerners who embraced the traditions of India.

Yugal and Breeze again singing a love song Goonjisi hai; Excellent rendition, very beautiful expressions by both singers. ENJOY. Here Yugal, singing his favorite singers’ song (Udit Narayanan and Sadhana Sargam are the singers of this original version of Goonjisi hai. Listen to the video added below, one of a kind from Bollywood).

The original Goonjisi Hai. The beautiful face here is India’s Aishwarya Rai, Miss World, and Bollywood actress. ENJOY both the versions and we are sure you will be convinced how unique Yugal is. Beautiful and our favorite Udit Narayanan’s voice.

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Milan Lama

Milan Lama

Milan was spotted when we were covering the North Eastern state of Assam. Milan owns his songs and he is sure very grounded for his age. Milan like Yugal lives elsewhere where he is pursuing better opportunities. He lives in the big city of Tokyo and absolutely has a career interest in singing. Please see his youtube link here.  You may follow him on his Facebook here.

He mentioned that at the moment recording his own songs or has aspirations of doing so very soon. Wish him good luck with it. Lets us know when they come out, we will put it up on the blog.  He is an ardent fan of Bollywood songs and enjoys singing them like many Nepali youngsters. He had a voracious appetite for all genres of songs. But close to his heart is soft melodies that soothe one to sleep, this is the real inner Milan of that strong male voice. He doesn’t like to idolize anybody or imitate anybody. But one singer he mentioned to us is Kishore Kumar. Excellent choice of course. He spent hours building his own webpage and promoting his singing for his benefit. He absolutely shows all influences of the modern lifestyle of Tokyo. Although he selected some songs for us, we thought these Nepali songs highlighted his talent better. Here he sings a beautiful Nepali song, we don’t know the meaning but are awed by the professional touch.

We really feel he sing Nepali better than anything else. Hear another Nepali movie song here.

My heart will go on- Celine Dion song by Milan x 2 Milan himself make a joke that this is his twin brother singing with him. It really looks like it. We like that Milan joking. Keep the cool.

Milan singing about Hawayein

Milan is very encouraging and very responsive to any comments he receives. As well he listens to every one of his collaborations. Here Milan sings a Hindi classic from Jab we met on his invite to the song.

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Alizafar from Jamshedpur_Jharkhand

Ali Zafar

We have such immense pleasure to bring Ali to our blog. He comes from a part of India not much represented in the National scene as far as singing is concerned. This blog never forgets all those people who live in India who never got a chance to be in the limelight. Ali Zafar is outstanding among a very crowded male Hindi singers on Smule. Again why he is so special? We believe he has a very distinct identity that is his very likable singing style, mastery of techniques; this makes him so distinguishable from many male voices currently in the playback industry. He is tremendously talented, extremely camera-shy and the picture above is obtained with so much pursuing. We happen to see him first a few months back singing some of the Hindi classics. Very fine singing by this great singer, you yourself judge by playing these videos. Here he sings a great Classic by Lata and Rafi Saab, Alis’ favorite singer. Paushali co-singer in this video is a phenomenal singer of Hindi singing Smule.

Tal se tal mila with Sulguna Nanda, we have to mention Sulguna is a fine singer. We have included her singing in our feature on Odisha singing with Jugal Karan.

In the following video Ali singing with a super phenomenal talent Tarangini whom we featured here in one of our earliest picks. This particular collaboration invite from Tarangini is one of the most played videos on Smule sing. Agar tum mil jao.

Ali Zafar singing yet another beautiful song here. ENJOY. Asi deewanagi.

Music of Jharkhand and Nepal

The Adivasis of Jharkhand (Mundas, Santhals, and Oraon)s are born dancers and singers. Their songs and music are joyous and depict the festive spirit that prevails whenever there is an occasion for people to get together. The indigenous musical instruments and the traditional tribal costumes and jewelry worn by the dancers, add to the beauty of the dance. Our readers from Africa will sure find this very interesting seeing similarities of African tribal dances and musical instruments.

Nepali Dohori , it is long exercise and yet one of a kind. The singer Pashupati Sharma is awesome in this video. ENJOY.

We like to thank all our singer friends that we cover here in this feature; a big expression of Love from the heart of the SIB team.

END NOTES

We genuinely hope you all enjoy these blogs about India’s music up and close, by going through each state and knowing each of these young singers. We tried to know them through the Smule app and messages and more by listening closely to their singing. We learned a lot about how each culture uses the music and the variety displayed by this sub-continent; this journey amazed us beyond any expressions we can write here. All these singers seem to carry the influences of their surroundings they grow up. Their music styles although change when they move to a more modern life yet in the heart of heart each singer expresses a deep touch of their self. Yugal and Milan thanks for being part of India’s culture. “Ali Zafar” you are an awesome singer, keep singing. The background you coming from and how you try to keep up with the rest of the world is amazing. We love you for your great singing. Thanks for agreeing to be a part of this blog. We are honored.

LYRICS TIME

We are leaving you with two poems written by a young Nepali Poet Arun Budhathoki of recent times. He like our singers educated Abroad and write in English. ENJOY. Arun’s poems come from loneliness and feeling very different, which many artists who live abroad can relate to.

Arun Budhathoki

Arun Budhathoki

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Lonely

The street is lonely

The wind doesn’t stop yelling

The trees shiver in the cold

While people live within their insulated homes

Lonely, lonely, lonely

The sky is absolute grey

The surroundings severely pale

St. John River mute like a shattered lover

While people live within their insulated homes

Lonely, lonely, lonely

Downtown is empty

King’s Place wears dejected look

Traffic lights blink in pain

One by one

While people live within their insulated homes

Lonely, lonely, lonely

This house is so peaceful

I don’t feel any cold

The winds keep swooshing outside

While I live within this insulated home

Lonely, lonely, lonely

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Brown
Arun Budhathoki

Everything is brown
The world
The color of her
The color of her eyes
Lighter brown
We are brown
Our world is brown too
The kisses we share brown too
Her hair is brown too
Her hugs and everything brown
The stars flashes like a brownie
The road stuck between the crossroads
The signs are brown too
My fingers
The words I type
Thoughts in my mind
My skin
The air I breathe
The food I eat
The water I drink
Everything is brown
My heart is brown
My soul
My heart
She makes my world brown
END

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All readers, from all over the world please come back every week and please write so that people know you all support the cause of this blog. Thanks from our hearts. Come back every week and support us by writing a few lines of your thoughts every time. We love all of you to be a part of this celebration of Music.

Lots of love

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SIB team