The life of legendary Punjabi singer Sardool Sikander took an unprecedented turn one ordinary afternoon when he landed in HMV’s Delhi studio. He went there for a recording with the troupe of Kartar Ramala as a tumbi player.
A lunch break followed the first session of recording. During the lunch break, while he was standing in the verandah with other musicians, he started humming a song. When his unintentional humming fell into the ears of his fellow musicians, they were taken by surprise. One of them then walked up to him and said: “Was it you who was humming just a few moments back?”
This pinpointed question from a fellow musician aroused a bit of suspicion into the mind of Sardool Ji who thought that his humming has disturbed the ongoing recording so he eventually said yes but with a bit of apprehension.
That musician then held him by his arm and took him to music director Charanjit Ahuja, who was brainstorming inside the studio with his colleagues. The guy right away told Mr. Ahuja, “Ahuja Sahab please listen to this boy, he sings very decently!”
After giving a gentle gaze to both of them, Ahuja Sahab said “Ok, then sing something” while addressing young Sardool, who looked a bit nervous. Sardool Ji then sang a song with complete dedication.
No wonder, his song pleased Charanjit Ahuja instantly. Thus, Ahuja Sahab immediately called up HMV’s manager and said: “I want to use this guy’s voice for my next album, are you up for it?”
The manager replied, “Yes, we would have, but our policy is that we lend support to only established artists.” Ahuja Sahab instantly replied, “Ok, thanks a lot.”
Ahuja then took out a piece of paper from his bag and wrote something on it. When that piece of paper got into Sardool Sahab’s hands, he almost jumped into elation since that paper had the recording date of his first song, the song which we all know as ‘Roadways Di Laari,’ and which made Sardool of Kheri Nuadh Singh into the ‘Sikander’ of Punjabi music he’s known as today!
Quite a tale haina 🙂
