ADVENTURE ‘I ALWAYS MISS DELHI’S GALIYAAN’

Singer Javed Ali reminisces about his childhood in Delhi and how the walled city will always be close to his heart

Singer Javed Ali may have gone places and won many a heart with his soulful voice, but he’s immensely attached to Delhi, the place he was born and brought up. The Capital has played a huge role in the singer’s life, from inspiring him culturally to providing a musically-rich childhood. The singer, who recently visited Gurgaon for a Sufi concert, relives his growing years in Delhi that comprised rehearsing with his ‘guruji’ and gorging on the sumptuous food that Old Delhi is synonymous with. “I have always been fond of food, and always miss Delhi’s galiyaan (lanes). Main jab bhi Delhi aata hoon, koshish karta hoon ki Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, Hazrat Matke Shah Baba jaoon (I visit Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, Hazrat Matke Shah Baba whenever I come to Delhi),” he says.

Ali grew up playing musical instruments, instead of toys. “My father would make me (do) riyaz on the tanpura. Pehle guruji ke paas jaata tha, phir school jaata tha. Phir ghar riyaz kar ke aata tha (I would go for riyaz before school, and come home only after another round of it). I never thought I’d become a playback singer,” he fondly remembers.

The Arziyaan (Delhi-6) singer, who has sung in a number of languages, always dreamt of becoming a versatile singer. Expressing gratitude for his training, he opines that making a career in music, nowadays, is relatively easy, “Aaj ka time aisa hai ki itne saare reality shows hote hai. Aap raaton-raat star ban jaate hain,” he says.