BHOPAL: The man whose voices connects with the music lovers at soul level, whatever the genre- khayal, bhajan, ghazal or a film song- is quick to tell you that ‘unless you reach out to the core of the listener, you have failed in your endeavour.’ Seeing the way he made an instant rapport with the Bhopal audience as he performed at Ravindra Bhawan on Wednesday, it was obvious that he stands by his mantra.
Having visited the city after a gap of over three and a half years, the virtuoso singer said in a chat with TOI, “After staying indoors for over two years, I started doing live concerts again almost two months back and Bhopal remains a favourite destination. Agreed, there is fear of virus having mutated to various other levels, but then one has to wear the mask, use sanitiser and keep a safe distance at all times. After all, life has to go on.”
He made it clear that even though he had recently gone to Dubai for a concert, he will not travel to the countries where you have to be quarantined for certain days. “I’m just not ready to be quarantined in a foreign land, so it is better to visit places where things are straight and simple.”
When asked about the impact of pandemic in his life and other well-known artistes’, Hariharan said, “It is true that lesser-known artistes, actors, singers, painters, theatre persons had no or little savings, so they suffered more. But we all had to dip deep into our savings to pay the EMIs, rents and to run the home. In my case, I also had to pay a staff of 10 people and I didn’t cut a penny from their salaries. So, life was tough for all of us.”
The ‘Ei-Hairat-e- Ashiqui’ singer clarified that pandemic has been one of the greatest teachers too. When asked about its biggest takeaway, he said, “Pandemic has taught us all that people matter more than fast life. All of us were busy spending long hours on social media or busy in commercial pursuits. But Covid lockdown made us introspect and value what we have in life. I spent even more time on riyaz and focussed deeper on my craft.”
