’This city is kind, it never judges me’
Chandigarh never ceases to bring a smile on my face. It is the place I always come back to. It is the place where I write. It is here that the circle comes full. How can I call any other place home? I was born here. Forty-two years back. I still look at everything with awe reminiscent of a toddler.
Yes, my work as a lyricist takes me to Mumbai, but I feel so claustrophobic there. Be it for the lyrics in films like Delhi Belly, Fukrey or the National Award winning Nabar, or the TV serial Satyamev Jayate, I just go there to get work, not to do work. I write in this city; the space where the evening wind promises to tremble your lips. When I first went to Mumbai on film director Vishal Bhardwaj’s invitation to write for his independent album Aasman, he understood that a person like me would not be able to work there and would not be able to give his best. I wouldn’t have been able to produce that magic in the lyrics that every composer looks for. So, he allowed me to write from Chandigarh. The tradition still continues. I don’t mean any disrespect to Mumbai. Every city has its own character and pace. But I am myself in Chandigarh. The point is the peace that this city offers ensures that my creative juices flow seamlessly. The magnitude of open spaces in this part of the country is so astonishing that you are spoilt rotten and it is tough to even think about moving anywhere else.
But let’s be fair, not everything is right with this city. It does have a massive class distinction. On one hand are the people working more than 12 hours a day. But you also see youngsters who seem to do nothing except chasing women in their SUVs the whole day. But, people like me still try to find the richness in contradiction.
When I was writing Rozana, the title track of Ram Gopal Verma’s film Nishabd, I realised that I wouldn’t have been able to pen down that song anywhere else. It challenged me to the hilt and I needed to be in a place where there was no pressure cooker-like situation. I needed a lot of silence around me and this city ensured that.
Yes, I must admit that I am not very well-travelled; I haven’t seen many places to call Chandigarh the best. But then, when you have deciphered the meaning of home, doesn’t that space become pious, better than any other place in the whole world?
For an artist, the greatest challenge is to save the heart, not let it be affected by the cruelty of survival in an unforgiving place. I have seen the life of strugglers’ in Mumbai… Hats off to them! There is another reason why this city is very precious to me. It makes me feel wanted. It makes me feel important. It never judges me. The author is a Bollywood lyricist.