Whenever my father was hungry, he would land up at Bappida’s doorstep -Aditya Narayan On Bappi Lahiri

“Firstly Bhagwan Bappida ke aatma ko shanti de. He brought smiles to so many millions of faces with his music. I hope he is happy wherever he is. It is sad and alarming that we lost two stalwarts of the Hindi music world in just a few days .And then the music world also lost the great Sandhya Mukherjee , all in the span of 10 days. It’s scary… I remember Bappida from my childhood days. My father(singer Udit Narayan) always remembers Bappida for his warmth generosity and hospitality: Bappida’s doors were always open for my father when my father was struggling in Mumbai. Whenever my father was hungry he would land up at Bappida’s doorstep. He was sure to be fed . These are not small gestures in a city like Mumbai . I remember Bappida came for my fourth birthday party. This was the first party my parents could afford to have a party for my birthday.And I sang a song for each of the composers from their repertoire who came to my party. For Bappida I sang Chali aana tu paan ki dukan pe(Aaj Ka Arjun)… Bappida has always been very kind and sweet to me. In fact during the first season that I hosted Sa Re Ga Ma Bappida was one of the judges. I always remember him as being warm friendly and calm. I have always admired his music. He was a workaholic. I think he was composing tunes till the day God called him . I remember my father telling me that Bappida was one of the busiest music composers of his time; he had taken up so many projects that he would be working in multiple studios during the same day, hopping from one studio to the next. I had the good fortune of recording one Bengali song for Bappida some months ago. I know I always had his blessings.It was sad to see him in failing health for the last few years. When he came on Indian Idol he was on a wheelchair and he had difficulty moving around. I knew his health was deteriorating.After he got Covid his health fell apart. We all know how lethal Covid is when combined with other ailments. I guess he had to go when he had to go. But his songs will play forever. Yaad aa raha hai tera pyar. Love you, Bappida.”