Kathmandu:

Time passes and memories fade, but the evergreen melodies of a master musician brought back memories tucked away in the backs of our minds on the afternoon of July 7. Musicians, singers, lyricists, family and friends had gathered at the Russian Culture Centre to pay tributes to the man and the musician who we all fondly remember as Dibya Khaling on his first death anniversary.

Chief guest of the function renowned musician and singer Ambar Gurung said, “We lost a very melodious and sensitive musician in Khaling. Nepali music is for Nepal, and we should always remember that the actual death of a musician happens when his listeners forget him. So let’s keep Khaling alive through his music.”

Khaling was one of the musicians, who left a very special mark in the field of contemporary Nepali music. He came to Nepal from Darjeeling in the early 70’s. Apart from giving music to Nepali songs, he also started the trend of having Nepali singers as playback singers in Nepali movies, going against the trend of having Indian singers singing Nepali songs. He also took Nepali singers to Mumbai and recorded songs in their voice. He was a man beyond his time and brought remarkable changes in the Nepali music industry.

Gurung and poet and lyricist Manjul also launched an album Dherai Dherai Lamo Katha (Too long a story), the last album composed by Khaling on the occasion.

As veteran singers and Subharambha belted out one song after another that had the musical magic touch of Khaling, one could not help but marvel at the musical genius of Khaling. Well-known artistes like Meera Rana, Prakash Shrestha, Bimala Rai, Roshan Raj Gurung, Lochan Bhattarai and Sailesh Singh, among others performed Khaling’s compositions a the ‘Shraddhanjali Sangeet Sandhya’.

Who forget the haunting music of the songs like Timi jun rahar le, Joon lagyo lek dekhi, Birsiyera maile pheri, Mero sano sansar, Mata lali gurans bhaye chhu and Priyasi ka yaad haru? His music still gives us goose bumps when we hear them and it was the same for all in the hall this July afternoon.

Those in the hall were kept spellbound by Khaling’s compositions that he had composed so many years ago.