There are certain artistes you remember for the classical, indeed traditional tones they brought to their music. There is always Kundan Lal Saigal to speak of. When you hear his voice, deep and profound, you know how rich music ought to be if it means to have permanence in our hearts and souls. Think here of jab dil hi toot gaya / hum jee ke kya karenge. It is a plaintive song, the words are simple and yet the pain is killing. When in the next few lines you hear Saigal sing, ulfat ka dia hum ne / iss dil mein jalaya tha / ummeed ke phoolon se / iss ghar ko sajaya tha, you know it is the sense of loss which affects him and in turn affects you. But move on to a more soothing number, so jaa rajkumari so jaa, for instance. That soft touch of the parental, of love that binds in familial manner, is what you sense coursing through your being. And don't forget the sheer magic which rises from Saigal's Bengali number, ekhoni uthibe chand / adho alo adho chhaya te.

And then there is Jagmohan, equally adept in Bengali and Urdu songs, though in these parts it is the Bengali songs that have given him much deserved immortality. The chithi songs will always be his claim to fame, besides so many others, such as the Nazrul numbers gobhir nishithe ghuum bhenge jaaye and tumi ki ekhon dekhichho shopon. Have you heard such lilting numbers from him as ik bar muskura do / honton ki ik ada se sau bijlian gira do? And, to be sure, the number ye na bataa sakunga main / dil ko hai tum se pyaar kyun brings back to you that certain flavour of old times, when matters of the heart were a little more subtle and more sophisticated than they are today. Reflect on the ontora: pehle milan ki chhaon mein / tum se tumhare gaaon mein / ankhen hui theen char kyun / ye na bataa sakunga main. It is all vivid, this poetry which translates itself into melody.

Back in the 1960s, S.B. John gave us a memorable song, one people in their sixties and seventies will not easily forget. The song is, of course, tu jo nahi hai / to kuchh bhi nahi hai / ye mana ke mehfil jawan hai haseen hai. Go on to the following lines: nigahon mein tu hai / ye dil jhoomta hai / na jaane mohabbat ki / raahon mein kya hai / jo tu humsafar hai / to kuchh gham nahi hai. These are songs the likes of which you will find aplenty in what used to be the black-and-white, more pristine world we once inhabited. Mehdi Hasan and Noor Jehan sang the beautiful duet, aap ko bhool jaayen hum / itne to bewafa nahi / aap se kya gila karen / aap se kuchh gila nahi.

Earlier, in the 1940s, Noor Jehan and Mohammad Rafi came forth with a duet which yet remains unparalleled for its almost tranquil pathos. Yes, hum if you will yahan badla wafa ka / bewafai ke siwa kya hai / mohabbat kar ke bhi dekha / mohabbat mein bhi dhoka hai. Mehdi Hasan's uss bewafa ne daagh-e tamanna dia mujhe / badla meri wafa ka ye achha dia mujhe and Mukesh's hum tujh se mohabbat kar ke sanam / rote bhi rahe hanste bhi rahe are songs you need to hum through your lonely nights.

Come back to the field of Bengali music. How can you not sing, even if it is a few lines, from tomar shonge dekha na holey / bhalobashar desh ta amar dekha hoto na or prithibi amare chaaye / rekho na bedhe amaaye or maa amar shaadh na mitilo / aasha na purilo or modhur amar maa-er hashi / chander moto jhore / maa ke mone porhe amar maa ke mone porhe?