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When I was watching the show from the wings , I wondered how these great men have been donning the stage of Kalamandir for last ten years! I mean in Euphony shows. Who could know when in the year 2007, the great Manohari Singh introduced this city with the inside stories of Pancham music with Jaane Jaan Dhoongta Phir Rahan in his sax (in Original Pancham, Euphony's stepping stone)that the legacy will be carried on ten years down the way in another winter evening by Kishore Sodha Raj Sodha duo? Since then a lot many times the curtain rose with staccato bars on keyboard leading up to the exotic brass blast of trombone and trumpet of Doston Se Pyar Kiya. Still when curtain rose and the spot light fell on the centre of the stage and Ramesh Iyer's guitar started with a bang, the seductive swing of a sweltve of that James Bond like title sequence flashed in our eyes again. When Kishore Sodha's thunderous trumpet of the iconic competition song sequence blew for the umpteenth time on this stage of Kalamandir, squeals and shrieks from all around didn't appear new. Audience didn't age. Music like this never grow old. Neither the trumpet of Kishore Sodha. When Raj Sodha brought that Panchamish rawness of Tum Kya Jano, it was that timeless tune which often rested in the tenor of Shyamraj in some other shows that got visited and revisited again. That's why though the dramatic entry of an unseen Kishore Sodha through the audience of the hall with the extended ad-lib prelude of Kya Yehi Pyar Hain was an attempt to innovate the presentation on stage, the mood remained vintage. When the spoon hit the wine glass, Ramesh ji's guitar and Raj ji's sax was an immediate throwback to all these years when these musicians never ceased regaling us with this blissful moments. From Chura Liya to Dum Maro Dum it was treading up and down the same path that gave us glimpses of those images of someone who reigned for three decades, hailed as the Prince of Bollywood music, whose mortal frame passed away 23 years ago but whose music is kept alive by these people who shared some of the most precious moments of their lives. We couldn't see Panchamda. We could reach up to him through a Ramesh Iyer, a Kishore Sodha, a Raj Sodha and a Sunil Kaushik. Standing backstage I was lucky to find the glitter in his eyes when a long lost tune, the title of Teri Kasam, was played before the show started. "Yeh gaana mere ko bhej dena, yeh gaane me Bhupiji lead bajaye they aur main rhythm guitar. Bahot din baad suna. Bhool hi gaye they maine". He forgot the tune which many of the then people chose to forget. Jahan Bin Hawan Ke. But as soon the track started from the console, Sunil ji's fingers caressed the right string in a jiffy and who could find any difference of the original soundtrack and the man playing the same tune live on that track! 12string sounded exactly the same as it did in the first interlude of Tujhsa Naraz. Audience got excited when the guitar buddies of Panchamda's team got together once more to recreate the the prelude guitar of Chehra Hain Yeh Chand Khila Hain. Shouts of Azarbaijan were coming from all corners. It didn't happen. May be some other day some other time.. after all Pancham Yatra that started 10 years back with these luminaries will go on for many more 10 years. But we got Ramesh Iyer's solo demo on Dekho Idhar of Boxer and Yeh Kore Kanware of Samundar. And again, music never grows old in their guitar... time passes but the sound that came from these very fingers doesn't pass. It stays permanent. After all they are the men through whom Panchamda crafted those tunes. They are the one who present us vintage charm of the past. Sunil Kaushik was the embodiment of those vintage days. It was as if ‘give me a lead and I will play the tune’. It was a blend of rare artistry when Kishore ji couldn't restrain himself from joining the soiree in a delectable impromptu jamming. It wasn't there in the script. It was the beckoning to recreate the past. Who can forget the four legends sitting on chair in a semi circular arch and making music live on stage! Kishore ji-Sunil ji's sawaal jawab was actually a duel of the past and the present. None won. None lost. New memories were born. We got the elixir, a treasure to cherish for long. Same thing happened when Kishore ji kept on repeating Pariyon Ka Mela in different octaves and Sunil ki matched it with effortless ease. At the end I again felt that after so many shows that Euphony organised in this venue, it matters less what songs are these legends playing. We may hear a Kishore Sodha-Raj Sodha duet Panna Ke Tamanna for the first time, we may get excited at the guitar buddies playing Duniya Mein Logon Ko instead of the usual brass leads but what touched us is the way each time they bring us to the man whom we never saw. So when Kishore ji and Raj ji would play soft ad-lib solos we could visualise the mellowed evenings in a Film centre, when Sunil ji would enthral us recalling how the songs of Satte Pe Satta were composed, our minds ride on a time machine where one Bhupinder Singh, one Tony Vaz, one Bhanu Gupta, one Ramesh Iyer and one Sunil Kaushik kept delivering music at the behest of their Boss. When Ramesh Iyer recalled the days preceding to the most fatal day of musical history, once again we felt how the memories of his Boss were kept alive with so much care. The show continued well beyond the stipulated time, a good many songs had to be clipped off, it ended as usually with a bang when everyone gave out another improvised euphoria of Pariyon Ka Mela, but, on the eve of 4th Jan, Ramesh ji's guitar solo on his Boss' swansong at the onset of the show perhaps left a bigger trail in retrospect. "Kuch na kaho, kuch bhi na kaho Kya kehna hai, kya sunna hai Mujhko pata hai, tumko pata hai Samay ka yeh pal tham sa gaya hai Aur is pal mein koi nahin hai Bas ek main hoon, bas ek tum ho ..." Time is eternal. And so is HE. This was one more of the evenings of last ten years of Pancham Yatra which made us feel that HE is for one and HE is for all who love Him and these musicians only brought us near to HIM. ( I have consciously kept my end-lines in bracket to acknowledge the contribution of some great friends of us without whom Euphony's Pancham Yatra would never have been possible. So many people came and a lot many went away but like the water of a quiet flowing river, they stood beside Euphony like a rock. More than the musicians, they are our friends. They are the ones who remained happy staying at the back. They are our very own, Calcutta musicians.Hats off to them..) Adieu.