The Dancing Pair (Instrumental | Fusion Music)

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHapU3QmLTo )

Last year, I wrote some pieces for Kalpavigyan, a Bangla documentary on science fiction. Although it was not used in the documentary at the end, the Dancing Pair is one of those. So I thought that I would publish it independently. (I have plans to publish the other pieces too, but more on it later.) Since then, I have revisited it a few times, wanting it to sound somewhat orchestral without giving up the Indian feel. The task is actually quite challenging, given that I don't have access to any live instruments (or any real training, for that matter). With only a few tabla samples at hand, the entire piece is written in Garageband. Those who have some idea about midi music would know how difficult it is to get the sound of good orchestral strings. I was apprehensive about the sound without any professional gadget or editor, but I did what I could. I think it has turned out quite well; I am happy with the music. It flows at a medium pace with gentle tones, reminding me of a world far less crazy than ours. Illusion!

A few days back, when the piece was more or less ready, Kavita said that the patterns felt intertwined, just like the threads in a braid. She started thinking about the video. Then came Srishti with a beautiful drawing of two fishes. Kavita said that she would capture the 'intertwined-ness' with them. Srishti drew a few more fish and some water. And behold, we have our first animation! We are super happy. They surely deserve a pat for the artwork and the animation. It opens up a lot of possibilities for the future. Stay tuned.

I dedicate this piece to Maa, who should have been here to appreciate it.

- Subhadip

All rights reserved.

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Credits
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Composed & Arranged by Subhadip Mitra
Video by Kavita Mitra

Artwork by Srishti Mitra

Thanks to Sandip Kar for his comments and suggestions. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

January 2021. Hyderabad. HoiChoi 

All rights reserved.

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The Thirsty Crow Song (Remembrance Edition)

                        ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17ElTfMMVx4 )

Looking back, 2017 brings a lot of fond memories. It was a happening year for us. Subhadip's family from Kolkata visited us in Hyderabad in March. And thus began "HoiChoi", our music channel. We made "The Thirsty Crow Song" (Blog page) to keep the kids (Shoumodip and Srishti) away from the TV and phones. 

Subhadip and his father kept the kids busy. They wrote the song and practised singing. But slowly, all other family members pitched in. Subhadip's mother, uncle, aunt and grandmother too! And me, of course. What a wonderful time we had!

But, happy times don't last long. This year, we lost Subhadip's mother. Never imagined this day would come so suddenly, so soon. 

Maa, we miss you.

(All rights reserved. Not to be copied/shared.)

- Kavita

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Ek Nazam - A Romantic Ghazal | एक नज़म | ایک نظم

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjBjk7Q9e1M )

विश्वास नहीं होता डेढ़ साल लग गए इस ग़ज़ल को बनाने में ! शुरुआत की मूल वजह, साथी गुरशरणजीत का ग़ज़ल-प्रेम। साथ ही शुभदीप का 'हट के संगीत' बनाने की चाह। लाल्टू-दा ने भी उनके कहने पर कलम उठाई। और सबके उत्साह से ग़ज़ल का ढांचा बन कर तैयार हो गया। इस बार गुरशरणजीत के सहकर्मी श्रीनिवास सुनचु जी ने तबले की बाग़-डोर संभाली। पर चाहे-अनचाहे, अन्य कारणों से रिकॉर्डिंग नहीं हो पा रही थी। लाल्टू-दा भी निराश हो रहे थे। आखिरकार, सभी अड़चनों को पार कर, 'एक नज़म' आप के लिए।

— कविता

(All rights reserved)

———————————————————————
लाल्टू की कलम से:  

होई-चोई के लिए इसके पहले दो गीत मैंने लिखे थे, जिनमें वैचारिक आग्रह हैं। साथी गुरशरण का कहना था कि रूमानी मिजाज़ का कुछ लिखा जाना चाहिए। इसलिए एक नज़्म। कोशिश तो ग़ज़ल की है, पर मुझे इस कला में महारत नहीं है। इसलिए ग़ज़लनुमा कुछ। हिंदुस्तानी ज़ुबान में ग़ज़ल में अरबी-फारसी के लफ्ज़ हों तो आम तौर पर उसे उर्दू ग़ज़ल कहते हैं। मैं उर्दू-हिंदी-हिंदुस्तानी को एक ज़ुबान मानता हूँ, इसलिए जो प्रचलित मुहावरे हैं, उन्हीं का इस्तेमाल है। इसे एक सहज प्रेम-गीत की कोशिश भर मानना चाहिए । खुशकिस्मती यह कि उम्दा मौसिकी और गायन का साथ मिल गया। इस वजह से यह गीत हर किसी को पसंद आएगा।

इक नज़म चाँद को पैगाम लिखनी है
इक नज़म आज तेरे नाम लिखनी है।
A message to the moon as a poem I must write
For you today a poem I must write

कही अनकही होंठों पर जो रुक गई
वो कहानी आज फिर बेनाम लिखनी है।
What was said and what wasn't
Anonymous that tale I must write

तिश्नगी है कि ये बावरा है ये मन
ग़ज़ल बा-बहर जाने जां लिखनी है।
Is it just a desire or is my heart crazy
A ghazal in meter I must write

बेइंतहा मैं रोया तुझे याद कर कर
इबारत कोहे-ग़म ऐ गुलफ़ाम लिखनी है।
Endlessly I cried thinking of you
A story of those mounting pains I must write

शबे-ग़म की ख़लिश और कब तक सहें
इक नज्म़ विसाले-यार ऐ जां लिखनी है।
How long do I live this night without you
A poem on being with you I must write

(English translation by Laltu).
[Laltu blogs @ http://laltu.blogspot.com/]

(All rights reserved)

———————————————————————
Credits
———————————————————————
Music: Subhadip Mitra 
Lyrics: Laltu 
Voice: Gursharanjit Singh 
Tabla: Srinivas Sunchu 
Camera: Subhadip Mitra, Kavita Mitra 
Titles designed by Srishti Mitra 
Video: Kavita Mitra 

———————————————————————
Image/Footage Courtesy 

———————————————————————

The following video clips and images, available under Pixabay license (https://pixabay.com/service/license/), were used.

https://pixabay.com/videos/bee-flowers-insect-bloom-nature-26668/

https://pixabay.com/videos/bird-fly-the-nature-of-the-meis-8875/ 

https://pixabay.com/videos/dove-bird-feather-flying-3728/ 

https://pixabay.com/videos/girl-thinking-resting-person-woman-369/

https://pixabay.com/videos/hands-girl-people-young-female-31654/

https://pixabay.com/videos/monarch-butterfly-butterfly-flower-8907/

https://pixabay.com/videos/nature-hd-flower-plants-gardening-20205/

https://pixabay.com/videos/rose-flower-blossom-garden-nature-21371/

https://pixabay.com/photos/wedding-women-girls-eyes-cry-1736957/

https://pixabay.com/photos/black-white-girl-woman-model-4197961/

———————————————————————
April 2020. Hyderabad. HoiChoi 
All rights reserved. 

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HoiChoi Theme Song

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke9Ba2tWukg )

Last time I wrote that ছুটি (Chuti) | छुट्टी (Chutti) was probably our longest project. Well, our theme song beats that record! It is almost as old as our channel. The piece was made, but I was unable to make up my mind about the video which would do justice to it. Finally, we decided to show our journey so far.

The music is very short and catchy and beautifully sung by Srishti. Although the video was taken more than a year after the piece was composed, she easily recreated the magic. The video shows what our channel is about and how we take pride in producing these completely original songs without any professional help. Made from scratch, these are fully in-house productions. I must mention, this is our first 4K video.

This is a unique piece and I am sure you are going to love it. Do let us know what you think.

Credits
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Composed & Arranged by Subhadip Mitra 
Sung by Srishti Mitra, Subhadip Mitra, Kavita Mitra 
Video by Kavita Mitra, Subhadip Mitra
--------------------------------------------------------------------

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ছুটি (Chhuti) | छुट्टी (Chhutti) - Freedom | A song in Bangla & Hindi

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhxVGHKiK1o )

'Chhuti' or 'Chhutti', the sixth musical offering from our HoiChoi, has probably taken the longest time to be made. It is more than a year now that Subhadip composed a really melodious Greek-folk inspired music from which the main melody of this song is derived (though in its present form, it is hard to believe that it is anything but Indian. Hopefully, sometime later, we will be able to put up an instrumental version of the original melody he composed). Initially, Indranil had put some words in Bangla for the tune that were going really well with the melody. Soma also started singing. I don't really know why, but then I felt an urge to compliment the Bangla emotions in Hindi! A big writer that I am, I cannot describe the struggle I faced to write those few lines. (And now, that the song is live, my joy cannot be described enough.) But excuse me, for I am not a poet like Indranil, so I didn't even try to capture the level of abstraction present in his words. What we have now, is a unique blend where the two languages are beautifully intertwined.

When the lyrics and the music were ready, we felt it should be sung by two singers of two different personalities... and so it was shelved for some time. Then, this summer, two good things happened. Ravi, who is about to submit his PhD thesis, joined us with his guitar (he also can sing) and Sara's family moved in as our neighbor. The project was revived once again, with more energy from a bigger team. Young Sara has a steady and strong voice - giving a nice contrast to Soma's smooth voice (I must say, over the last one year and a half, Soma's voice has really become something!). As rehearsals went on, the music started evolving. Probably because of Ravi's preference for Hindi music, the song slowly started taking an Indian guise. Oscillating between major and suspended chords, the arrangement came out as a mix of jazz and folk impressions. Abhishek and I  joined the chorus.

This time, we tried our hands on many new things. Live piano, guitar, and percussion added to the spirit of the song. Ravi had all the crazy ideas about video shooting. He insisted that we could really go outdoor. I was skeptical, given our limited resources and experience. Because of Ravi's insistence, we went to a place around Gandipet lake to look for a suitable location. The place had a big expanse of rock formations - it was just superb. All of us agreed.

We recorded the video over two days. Two of Ravi's friends, Basant and Satyajit, drove us in their cars (thank you guys! A treat is waiting!). But the stars of the day were definitely the three kids - Niharika, Srishti, and Reba.

Though a bit long, “Chhuti/Chhutti” has been quite a memorable journey.

- Kavita

Credits
------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Music Composed & Arranged by 
Subhadip Mitra 

Bangla Lyrics by Indranil Chakrabarty 
Hindi Lyrics by Kavita Mitra 

Vocals (Lead) 
Soma Chakrabarty & Sara Aparajita 

Vocals (Support) 
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Subhadip Mitra, Abhishek Sarkar & Kavita Mitra 

Guitar 
Ravi Shankar Prasad 
Piano 
Subhadip Mitra 
Percussion 
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Kavita Mitra & Subhadip Mitra 

Audio Editing, Mixing & Mastering 
Subhadip Mitra

Direction 
Kavita Mitra 

Camera 
Subhadip Mitra, Ravi Shankar Prasad & Kavita Mitra 

Video Editing 
Kavita Mitra & Subhadip Mitra 

Camera Arrangement 
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Kavita Mitra 

Transport Arrangement 
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Satyajit Tourani & Basant Sharma 

Video Appearance (Alphabetical) 
Abhishek Sarkar, Basant Sharma, Indranil Chakrabarty, Kavita Mitra, Niharika Chakrabarty, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rewa Anahita, Sara Aparajita, Satyajit Tourani, Soma Chakrabaty, Srishti Mitra & Subhadip Mitra 

Special Thanks to 
Laltu (for subtitle translations) 
Gursharanjit Singh (for Audio Interface) 
Sanjib Kumar Mitra (for helpful suggestions) 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

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एक देश बड़ा कब होता है

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut6Ro8SasWY )

एक देश बड़ा कब होता है?

नब्बे के दशक की शुरुआत में राष्ट्रीय साक्षरता मिशन ने साहित्यकारों से नवसाक्षरों के लिए सामग्री तैयार करने को कहा था। यह वह दौर था जब मध्य भारत में फिरकापरस्ती बढ़ रही थी और अयोध्या का मंदिर-मस्जिद विवाद तूल पकड़ रहा था। उन दिनों लाल्टू ने ‘देश बड़ा कब होता है’ शीर्षक लंबी कविता लिखी थी। यह कविता पहले बच्चों के लिए ‘चकमक’ पत्रिका में प्रकाशित हुई (जनवरी 1996) और फिर इस शीर्षक से नवसाक्षरों के लिए उनका छोटा संग्रह निकला (भारत ज्ञान विज्ञान समिति, देश बड़ा कब होता है, मार्च 1996, पुनर्मुद्रण 2007)।

(Pages 16 & 17 of Chakmak, January, 1996.
Copyrighted by the publishers.)

(Cover page of Chakmak, January, 1996.
Copyrighted by the publishers.)

इसमें सामान्य सी बातें कही गई हैं कि किसी देश का बड़ा होना वहाँ के लोगों के सुखी जीवन-स्तर से तय होता है, न कि उसके आकार या जाति-धर्म की अस्मिता से। शुभदीप और मैंने जब यह कविता पढ़ी, तो हमें यह एहसास हुआ कि यह बातें आज भी उतनी ही उपयुक्त हैं जितनी तब थीं। और अगर विश्व-इतिहास को गौर से देखा जाए, तो हम अपने आप को बार-बार इन्हीं प्रश्नों के सामने खड़ा पाएंगे जो यह कविता उठाती है। इतिहास गवाह है कि किस तरह जाति या धर्म की लड़ाई में मौत हमेशा इंसानियत की ही होती है। बच्चों, औरतों या समाज के पिछड़े वर्गों की उन्नति के बिना किसी देश के लिए बड़ा होना संभव नहीं। इस भावना से प्रेरित होकर, मूल कविता में से कुछ पंक्तियां लेकर, यह गीत तैयार हुआ है। कविता से गीत में परिणत करने के लिए हमने ऐसी पंक्तियाँ चुनी जो इस गीत को देश या समय के बंधनो से मुक्त कर दे। फिर छंद के मेल के लिए भी कुछ पंक्तियाँ बदली गयीं। लाल्टू ने इसमें दो पैराग्राफ और जोड़े। बदलने के बाद नए बोल कुछ इस तरह हैं।

आओ, सोचें मिलकर सब
इक देश बड़ा कब होता है?
क्या होता उसमें अलग,
इक देश बड़ा जब होता है?(2)

एक जाति या धर्म से
नहीं हुआ कोई देश बड़ा।
जमीं बड़ी, आसमां बड़ा,
या धन से भी न होता देश बड़ा।

जब जब जाति या धर्म के नाम
लोगों ने लिए हथियार,
देश तो टुकड़े टुकड़े हुए
ये देखा हजारों बार।

जहाँ भूख से बच्चे मरते हों,
लाशें सड़कों पर सड़ती हों,
वह देश कभी क्या होता बड़ा
जहाँ औरत जलकर मरती हो?

आओ, सोचें मिलकर सब
इक देश बड़ा कब होता है?
क्या होता उसमें अलग,
इक देश बड़ा जब होता है?

देश तो तब होता बड़ा
बच्चा बच्चा हँसता हो खड़ा,
साफ पीने का पानी हो,
पढ़ने को भली कहानी हो।

सब को मिले एक सी तालीम,
सब अच्छे कपड़े पहने हों।
बिना किसी डर के हम सब
जो मन में हो वो कहते हों।

देश तो तब होता बड़ा
हर कोई फूल सा खिलता हो,
बहार हो या बारिश हो
हर रंग का सपना दिखता हो।(2)

इस देश में बड़ा जो कुछ है
उसे बचाए रखना है।
साझी विरासत, साझा इतिहास
हमें संजोए रखना है।

आओ, सोचें मिलकर सब
इक देश बड़ा कब होता है?
क्या होता उसमें अलग,
इक देश बड़ा जब होता है? 

(Camera testing. All rights reserved.)

इस गीत के सफर में हमें कुछ नए साथी मिले। लाल्टू ने गुरशरणजीत से हमारा परिचय करवाया और अभिषेक भी हमारे साथ जुड़ा। सोमा और वह दोनों अपना साप्ताहिक काम निबटा कर हर शनिवार और रविवार को हमारे घर पर आते और गाने की प्रैक्टिस करते। गाने का ढाँचा बनने के बाद शुभदीप ने बच्चों को शामिल किया। उनके वोकलाइज़ेशन से गाने को एक नया आयाम मिला। उनके धैर्य और निष्ठा की जितनी सरहाना की जाए, कम है। खेलकूद, दोस्त, टीवी जैसे सारे प्रलोभन छोड़ कर घंटों प्रैक्टिस करते। रिकॉर्डिंग भी उन्होंने बहुत खूब की। विडिओ रिकॉर्डिंग के दिन अरुंधति ने भी खूब सहयोग किया।

(Serious singers. All rights reserved.)

इस गीत का वीडियो बनाने के लिए उपयुक्त चित्र खोजने में मुझे बहुत कुछ सीखने को मिला। कापीराइट-फ्री ऐतिहासिक आर्काइव का सागर जैसा विशाल भंडार मिला। चित्रों के माध्यम से भाव प्रकाश करने का अपना ही मजा है। इस विडिओ से मैंने इस गीत के सार को एक सम्पूर्णता देने की कोशिश की। हमने अपने एहसासों, दुखों, आशाओं और भावनाओं को संगीत और छवि के माध्यम से इस गीत में उड़ेल दिया है।

(The team. All rights reserved.)

उम्मीद है कि आप सबको गीत पसंद आएगा।

-कविता

[Laltu blogs @ http://laltu.blogspot.com/] 

Credits:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Composition & Arrangement: Subhadip Mitra
संगीत संरचना एवं व्यवस्था: शुभदीप मित्र

Lyrics: Laltu
बोल: लाल्टू

Video Concept & Direction: Kavita Mitra
छवि संकल्पना एवं परिचालना: कविता मित्र

Lead Vocals: Abhishek Sarkar, Gursharanjit Singh, Soma Chakrabarty
मुख्य स्वर: अभिषेक सरकार, गुरशरणजीत सिंह, सोमा चक्रबर्ती

Vocal Harmony: Niharika Chakrabarty, Rhythm Kaur, Srishti Mitra
हार्मनी: निहारिका चक्रबर्ती, रिदम कौर, सृष्टि मित्र

Vocal Improvisation: Gursharanjit Singh
इम्प्रोवाइज़ेशन: गुरशरणजीत सिंह

Audio Recording, Editing, Mixing, Mastering: Subhadip Mitra
ध्वनि रिकॉर्डिंग, एडिटिंग, मिक्सिंग, मास्टरिंग: शुभदीप मित्र

Video Editing: Kavita Mitra, Subhadip Mitra
छवि एडिटिंग: कविता मित्र, शुभदीप मित्र

Camera: Subhadip Mitra (Video/Stills), Kavita Mitra (Video/Stills), Arundhati (Stills)
कैमरा: शुभदीप मित्र (वीडियो/स्थिर चित्र), कविता मित्र (वीडियो/स्थिर चित्र), अरुंधती (स्थिर चित्र)

Special thanks to
Gursharanjit Singh (For Audio Interface)
Shana (For English Translation)
Srishti Mitra (For a Harmonic Improvisation)
Rashid Ahmad & SM Yusuf Abedi (For Urdu subtitles)
विशेष धन्यवाद
गुरशरणजीत सिंह (ऑडियो इंटरफ़ेस के लिए)
शाना (अंग्रेजी अनुवाद के लिए)
सृष्टि मित्र (एक हार्मोनिक इम्प्रोवाइजेशन के लिए)
राशिद अहमद और एस एम यूसुफ अाबेदी (उर्दू सबटाइटिल्स के लिए )

Photo/Footage Courtesy
----------------------------------------------------
All photos were adapted for color and aspect ratio.

The following photos, available under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), were used

Power & Equality by Steve Snodgrass from https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensnodgrass/4764673605
Protest by S Pakhrin from https://www.flickr.com/photos/kathmandu/98280341
Ajanta, cave 1, Bodhisattva Padmapani by Arian Zwegers from https://www.flickr.com/photos/azwegers/6351621784
AFGE's Human Rights Committee by AFGE from https://www.flickr.com/photos/afge/7096812215

The following photos, available in the public domain/CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/), were used

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reichsparteitagnov1935.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:More_victims_of_the_Calcutta_riots_of_1946.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emergency_trains_crowded_with_desperate_refugees.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bharat_Mata.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jahangir_in_Darbar.jpg
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=170237&picture=barbed-wire
https://pixabay.com/en/civil-war-virginia-1864-black-62990/
https://pixabay.com/en/people-child-slums-india-kid-3277563/
https://pixabay.com/en/people-homeless-male-street-1550501/
https://pixabay.com/en/girl-bicycle-sunset-peace-happy-203341/
https://pixabay.com/en/poor-child-children-homeless-sad-2061337/
https://pixabay.com/en/ghetto-warsaw-fear-child-armed-67736/
https://pixabay.com/en/girl-dog-poor-dirty-children-62328/
https://pixabay.com/en/african-africa-girls-students-2197414/
https://pixabay.com/en/child-labour-children-slavery-60556/
https://pixabay.com/en/girl-schoolgirl-learn-schulem-67694/
https://pixabay.com/en/rally-protest-people-street-road-2591087/
https://pixabay.com/en/woman-india-water-working-well-671927/
https://pixabay.com/en/odisha-orissa-india-tribal-tribe-2368224/
https://pixabay.com/en/gezi-protest-turkish-demonstration-1344963/
https://pixabay.com/en/happiness-joy-pure-air-freedom-1866081/
https://pixabay.com/en/women-s-march-sign-child-political-2001559/
https://pixabay.com/en/child-labour-1908-south-carolina-62922/
https://pixabay.com/en/children-burma-students-814886/
https://pixabay.com/en/literacy-joy-school-africa-life-2992887/
https://pixabay.com/en/lady-street-photography-woman-2408609/
https://pixabay.com/en/person-woman-india-fields-plantage-690245/
https://pixabay.com/en/highland-children-poor-children-3091747/
https://pixabay.com/en/people-group-many-child-education-3137670/
https://pixabay.com/en/videos/earth-running-blue-planet-space-3d-8947/
https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-sitting-on-soil-beside-cooking-pot-1002062/
https://www.pexels.com/photo/2-kid-s-in-gray-concrete-container-during-daytime-70336/
https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-and-white-black-and-white-depressed-depression-568025/
https://videos.pexels.com/videos/purple-and-white-flowers-during-windy-day-854701
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The Thirsty Crow Song

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXM9MpdLuJc )

It all started when our family from Kolkata visited us in Hyderabad. Srishti was literally counting the days, “Kakai (Shoumodip) is coming!” When they arrived, it was too hot to go out. But this didn't seem to bother the kids at all. They spent most of their time playing games on the mobile/laptop. It is amazing how they can play mobile games for hours without fighting.

Since they were spending too much time with screens, we tried to divert their attention elsewhere with this and that. Subhadip took them to the music room and asked them to sing songs, while he played the piano. Well, it turned out that the only common song both of them knew was the national anthem of India. After singing that for a couple of times, they were more than ready to go back to play games.

“What else can we sing?” 

They tried a few more new songs. 

“We've sung all the songs in the world!” declared Shoumodip. 

“Learning new songs takes ages. Can we do it tomorrow?” 

“Okay, then let's make our own song,” suggested Subhadip. 

“Really? What song can we make?” That seemed to arouse their interest. 

“Anything. Let's try this - এক দিন একটা কাক উড়ে বেড়াচ্ছিল (one day a crow was flying).”


“Can you make a song from that?”

“Yes. Why not?”


Subhadip's father suggested, “You could write a song on the thirsty crow story.”


“Okay, let's try.”

The seed had been sown. The kids took the job seriously. Pen in hand, they started writing with knitted brows. But, even before five minutes had passed, they started - 

“Mine is way better than yours! You write like a kid!” 

After some more competition and with some help from Subhadip and his father, it was ready.

On a summer day, a crow was flying.
“I need water.... Where is water?” It was crying.
Suddenly it saw a round pitcher.
“At last,” it said, “there is water.”

But the pitcher was too narrow, its neck too long.
The crow tried hard, but it all went wrong.

Then it saw some pebbles, round and small.
“There may be a way to drink it all.”

Plop! Plop! The stones filled the pitcher.
Slowly, (and) slowly up came the water.
“Yipee! Yipee!” It cried with delight.
Drinking all the water, it took a happy flight.

Subhadip quickly came up with an easy tune and they picked it up pretty fast but not without more fighting.

“You are not singing properly! Look at me! This is how you should say ‘there is water’! This should be sung with more strength.”


“Don't teach me. My voice is better than yours! ‘Water’ sounds better if you sing it softly ....”


But even among all these quarrels, one thing was plain – the urge to do it as best as they could; they got so involved that all other activities became secondary – even mobile games. They would practice for hours for the next two days!

Finally, we decided to record the song. The recording was another event! After a few practice rounds, there was a new complaint – 

“My voice is not audible at all. You are too loud!”


Slowly they realized that singing together is not like singing alone and it does not matter if you cannot distinguish your own voice all the time.


Meanwhile, the other family members were enjoying the change the kids were going through. The whole house was humming the tune. It wasn't too difficult to convince them to participate in the chorus. Even our Dida (Subhadip's grandmother) didn’t want to miss the fun and wanted to be a part of the chorus! Considering she is more than eighty, her spirit is amazing.


Then came the video recording. This was again a tedious job as everyone had their own suggestions and opinions. Also, they were to return to Kolkata the next day and so we had very little time to record. Subhadip’s uncle helped us with the camera.

Now, everybody is back home relishing the memories of the making of this song and eagerly waiting for the next opportunity to get together and create more magic.

- Kavita

#theHoiChoi #theOriginalHoiChoi #HoiChoiAtYouTube #HoiChoiChannel #theHoiChoiChannel #হৈচৈ #होइचोइ #HoiChoiMusic #theHoiChoiStory #HoiChoiBlog #होईचोई #হইচই