BESC pays music tribute to RD Burman on his death anniversary.

He passed away in 1994.

Yet, the melodies that he bequeathed, lingers to haunt a Nation, is hummed by bitter foes across borders and continues to be one of the most potent weapons in India’s arsenal as she tries to diplomatically push the boundaries of her sphere of influence.

Rahul Dev Burman, Bollywood’s Beat Buster Badshah – got a total of three Filmfare Awards in his life, of which the last (for 1942 a Love Story) was received posthumously.

The industry matching stinginess with the flood of adulation that music lovers showered on him.

Yes, he was even subjected to the ignominy of work earlier promised to him being taken away and given to people who started their careers as instrumentalists in his orchestra (Laxmikant-Pyarelal).

Fascinating nuggets like these were shared with the students as the Bhawanipur Education Society College (BESC) paid its tribute to the man who is credited with having revolutionised Bollywood music.

Sourav Goswami, not only took the students down memory lane with his very interesting musical discourse on everything RD, but also belted out one earth-shattering hit after the other, which, as has been customary over the last couple of generations, had the audience swaying to its beats.

Prof Vasundhara Mishra, rendered his evergreen compositions after which, Rajat Baid, an ex-student of the college and now a professional singer took the stage.

Rajat, who knew the vibe of the audience was quick on the draw – working the assembled crowd of about a hundred students to a frenzy that reminded one of the heights achieved by all-time hits like Piya tu, Chura Liya, Yeah jo mohobbat hai and the like.

Rajat was accompanied on the keyboard by none other than Prof Dilip Shah, the Dean of student affairs of the college, who also played some solo tunes with the finesse of a fanatic to the collective amazement of all present.

“Kabhi Alvida na kehna” played Prof Shah, RD’s eternal creations transcending, even testing the space-time continuum as the audience broke out in a spontaneous ovation.