2009! What a year its been!

It’s been a long time, since I have posted anything here. So without getting into why I didn't write soon, let’s get started. :)

Its 2:45 AM, 5th Dec, 2009 and I am sitting at work, in my cubicle, eating a cup cake right now. I am writing this at office as my laptop is broken, and the display is not working.

It’s 5th Dec, and it’s the day when I came into this world. It’s my birthday today, and I have mixed feelings as I am writing this. I would like to reminisce on the good and bad times which happened in 2009. What a year it’s been!

A lot of things happened, which I never thought would happen and changed my life for good. I still remember the month of March when I wrote my first ever rap song. It was just a verse with 7-8 random lines, but I was so excited about it and I was singing it all the time. It was the month of April when I got a call from Bikram for the auditions of India’s Got Talent. I cannot forget that afternoon when I received that call, and I was high on excitement. It was not the show that I was excited about, it was the opportunity to take my creativity to the world. I was high, so high!

I have many little dreams in my life, and it’s like a list that I have of it. I want to make all of them happen, before I die and go to the other world. It’s not that I want all of them to happen at once, I know everything happens at the right time. The list has items like - travelling the world, releasing an album, making a lot of money, blowing up Vegas, making my mum proud ... One of the items on that dream list of mine, was to come on TV, and guess what, it happened! I was on national TV two times this year, singing my own written songs. It was my own and I was not mocking somebody else's creativity. I will always remember the days - 14th July to 29th July, 2009 when I was living the life which I always wanted to live, sitting in a fancy hotel, sipping beer, dil di awaaz instrumental playing in the back, looking out of the window of my room, watching Mumbai, and thinking "this is LIFE"!

I know my mom was happy to see her son on TV and was excited to answer people who would keep asking her - "Mrs Cheema, was that your son on TV the other day, singing Chal Jhoothee?" I guess for a moment in my life, I truly made my mum proud and I could always feel it when she would call me, and say "Son, many people are asking about you. I am proud to have a son like you." I really wish my dad was there to see me on screen, as he was very fond of music. We used to go for a drive together every evening when I was a kid. He would put on an old tape of Mohd. Rafi and would sing. I use to love the chorus part and I used to sing with my dad.

I met a lot of people on Facebook and Orkut, after the show happened. I made a lot of friends, and some of them are my close buddies now. We are on phone all the time, talking about all kinds of silly fun stuff. I am happy to have these people in my life, and would pray that these friendships last long. I am sure Bikram would agree with me. Thanks to all you fans and friends for making us feel so special and loved. I can never express my thanks to you in words. Cheers to all mah people!

The next good thing which happened this year was that I got a promotion at work. It was a much awaited hike I received and I was happy to see my salary slip showing different figures than what it was, from the past two years. It’s always good to see your account having more money on the 1st, so you can buy more liquor on Friday's and shop for all kinds of fancy stuff, every weekend. I was happy to get my new business cards printed with "Senior Software
Engineer" written on it. Now, I was feeling the corporate industry the way I would like to.

It was in October, my cousin sister got married. I applied for leave, but my boss approved only for seven days. So that was one week of home cooked food, going out with old college mates, and of course, the big Punjabi wedding. My sister had asked me to sing Chal Jhoothee at her sangeet. I was kind of shy to perform, as I thought all the aunties and uncles will think - "Who is this boy, and is he the bride's cousin? What kind of song is this?" Lot of questions in my mind, and I tried to back out. But, it was hard to run away from my cousin sister, and I remember she was pulling me to get on stage and sing, while the cameraman hired for the wedding was busy taking my shots, rather than filming other guests. I finally got on stage and sang the song, with my cousins on my side singing the chorus part. It was fun. One aunty even started playing the dholki as I sang, and I was getting desi vibes thinking - “Man, we can do a desi remix of the song and we can ask this aunty to play the dholki". After that, it was Dil Di Awaaz, and all the guests started clapping with the beat. Some of aunties had weird expressions on their faces, as if I was saying something in greek. My mom was looking at me with a smile but looked a little shocked and confused, as she was watching me doing something like this for the first time, live. I was all red when I came down from the stage, with every one praising my song writing abilities, and my cousin saying - "See, it was not that bad!”

This year would always be a memorable one for me, as it was different than the others in many ways. Many things happened, many people came in my life, I travelled a lot and saw the airport a lot this year, became popular in my city and at my workplace, got a career progression. It was a year of good learning, and I had a lot of experiences. I would like to see more of such years in future, only better.

To my family -
Mom, I would like to thank you for making me what I am today. With dad not around, we had our share of tough times and I know it was not easy for you all these years, working and raising a child. We were blessed and made our way through the bad phase, and I know it’s going to be sunny and bright on the way ahead. You were the only support I had and I always looked up to you. Thanks for raising me in the way you did, I owe everything to you mom. I hope I make you proud and keep a smile on your face forever.

Dad, I really miss you today as I have so much to share with you but you are sitting so far away. I know you are there with me, in my heart till my last breath. I wish you were here to see me grow, see me going to college, getting a job, living my dream of music. I wish you were there and I could tell you when I had my first crush, so that we can have that guy talk with you telling me what to do. I wish you could hit me, when for the first time I came home all drunk, because mom was too sweet and she only gave me a hard look and cursed. I wish you were there to tell me all the things I needed to know growing up, going through that transition of a boy to a man. I wish you were there...

It’s going to be morning soon now, and I have to run and catch my cab. I end this post with many mixed emotions and deep thoughts running through my mind.

Thank you GOD for all what you have blessed me with, and I hope to see you by my side for the many years to come.

Well, A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! I am happy to have lived 2009 the way I did.

2010, here I come...

Dil Di Awaaz Lyrics - Desi Playaaz

DIL DI AWAAZ

dil di awaaz, mere dil di awaaz,
Mere yaaro pao khapp ajj saari saari raat,
Sachi eh kahani suno mere jazbaat
me si baarvi da munda odi dasvi jamaat...
ho gya khraab kamm ho gya khraab
pyaar da si nasha, jiwe chardi sharab
kuriyaan batheriyan taan vekhiaa si mein
par hun kuch case siga vakhra janaab...
pyaar menu kita mere yaara kolo door,
ena kudiyaa de wich koi gall hai jarur,
dil de ke me si hoya bara majboor,
par ode wich haale vi si bhareya garoor...
menu mere yaaran samjhaya si bathera,
par agya si dil os kuri utte mera
jine lutteya si menu, menu apna bna ke
odi akhaan vich akhaan paake manneya si onu ...

mere dil di awaaz, mere dil di awaaz
dil di awaaz, mere dil di awaaz

dil di awaaz, sound of mah heart,
i was chillin in the club, poppin bottles from the top
12 in the clock, need anotha double shot,
honeys on mah side, lookin sharp in the spot...
woke up in the morning got a call for this show,
its I.G.T ... and I had to work on mah flow,
so i picked up mah pen, and mah lil notepad,
wrote down mah thoughts and wateva i had...
coz its love , respect and the money that we afta..
every show i go to, its a mad fiesta,
ppl recognise, girls go crazy...
wen i do mah acapella drop the beat goes hazzzyyy....
so lady.... this is how i made it...
rolly on mah arm , mah jeans a lil faded...
desi life, this is how we live it...
every day, every night, rollin tite, keep it rite...

mere dil di awaaz, mere dil di awaaz
dil di awaaz, mere dil di awaaz

India's Got Talent - The show that changed our lives...

I am not used to writing, but i don't know i am finding this Blog thing pretty interesting. So here I am, back with another post. Its about how the show - "India's Got Talent" happened to us, and changed our lives.

I remember finishing a meeting that busy day, and walking out of the conference hall when i received a call from Bikram. He was quite happy and asked me what was I doing. I told him that i was coming out of a meeting and was going towards my desk, and asked him what was happening his side. We spoke for a while and then he popped a question that would change my life. - "Hey Bro! ... would u like to join me in a talent show called India's Got Talent, i need a partner and I don't have one".

Now before we go further, let me tell you how i met Bikram Bhullar.

I was studying in my college in second year when i made a friend, who was actually my senior. His name was Lovedeep and when he graduated from the college, he went on to join Dell BPO in Mohali. I was in my final year now and he was working in this call centre, but we were still in touch with each other. I used to visit him at his PG (he had rented a place in mohali) everyday. Dell used to have (i guess they still do it) these shows every year where the employees would perform/sing/dance and they all would have a good time. Bikram was in a band and he used to play Bass guitar. He performed at these events regularly and was a well known guitarist in Dell. Lovedeep and Bikram became good friends, as they both had similar interests (music), and also their last names were the same - "Bhullar", making their friendship more stronger. In Punjabi's, its like if you have a friend with the same last name, you are more like brothers to each other, and would stand for each other no matter what. They used to hang out together all the time, get high together, check out gurls together ... if you know what i mean. I was also a member of this gang at that time, and I met Bikram one day at Lovedeep's place. He was like "Hi Wassup!" and i was like "Hey! nothin.. jus chillin". So you can say, we did not speak to each other much. Lovedeep told me that he plays the guitar very well, and he likes hip hop a lot. Soon we all friends started sitting together at times, getting high, and we all would sing and Bikram would play the guitar. It was after then, we all became good friends and started meeting each other quite often.

After my graduation in 2007, i got a job here in Bangalore and i moved to the city, rented my own place and started my new life. Me and Bikram were not in touch for a while and would only communicate a little on Orkut or Facebook. I got busy in my life but also continued making music on my PC. Bikram knew that i was making music,(as i used to publish links of my songs on orkut/facebook) and one day he asked me to check a Rap song which he wrote. The song was "Shikra Yaar". I liked the track and I told Bikram that he should record it again with a better mic, and i can probably add some more stuff to it later on. He sent me the Acapella of the song(vocals without music, are referred to as Acapella) and i started playing with it. He sang the song in Punjabi and i thought may be we can add some English verses to it, making it more groovy. It was then, i wrote my first ever Rap. It was not something very cool, but just random lines i had put together, but they were rhyming well. I recorded my vocals as well and sent it back to Bikram. He liked it and said that we should make more tracks together. It was then, when i realised that i can Rap too. I just got hooked on to this new thing called "Rapping" and started writing often. I used to carry a notepad with me all the time, and would write all these bits of words and lines which I would put together, later. It was fun and i was loving it!

So now, back to that life changing question that Bikram asked me - "Hey Bro! ... would u like to join me in a talent show called India's Got Talent, i need a partner and I don't have one".

I heard the question and i was like "what is the show about?". He told me that it was a talent show and would be aired on TV on Colors channel. He had asked couple of his rapper friends from Dell, but no one was willing to join him as they thought they won't get leave from work. He asked me whether he should go ahead and register my name in the show with him. I said "Yea Bro! go ahead! it will be fun!". I never thought it would turn out to be so much fun. So we both registered for the auditions, which were held in Delhi. We have a friend who lived in Noida and we stayed at his apartment. I took a flight from Bangalore, and reached Delhi quite late that night. Bikram was working on his laptop when i walked in, with my bag full of Cd's and my laptop. We sat together, chilled out for a while and started practising the song which we had to perform in the audition. The song was "Chal Jhoothi", a song that would change our lives(we never knew it would though). The auditions were to be held the next day, 8am, and we were supposed to be sleeping, getting some rest. But, guess what, we were up all night talking, jamming, practising the song, having a good time. We didn't sleep that night, and went to the audition venue in the morning, with our instrumental CD in our hand. Our eyes were all puffy and we looked so gloomy but still, we were excited. We reached the venue sharp at 8am, but our turn to perform, came at 4pm. It was a long day waiting in the holding areas, with other participants. We saw many different acts, some cultural, some urban, and were thinking - "Man! we are the only rappers around, are they gonna like us? Do they even like Rap?". Lot of questions in our heads.

BANG! We nailed the auditions with "Chal Jhoothi"! It was a great feeling when we came out of the auditorium and every body was congratulating us. We never thought that the judges would like the song so much, as we thought they would hardly understand us and what we are saying. Anyways, we were flying high on having this success. I came back to Bangalore the next day and it was back to my usual life.

Our episode of the auditions aired on 5th July, 2009 on Colors channel, where we both were singing "Chal Jhoothi" on national TV! It was a sight never seen before, and I was really happy. I remember i was on my phone that whole night, talking to my family and friends. Most of my friends were like "How the hell are you on TV today? You never told us. Whats going on". I never told my friends that i was performing in this show, and i wanted them to be surprised when they see me on TV. I soon was popular at my work, in my colleagues, and in my friends. I was feeling it! This was what i always wanted.

We got a call in July first week, where the lady on the other side of the phone, told me that i and Bikram had made it to the Semi Finals of IGT. I was jumping up and down with joy! She told us to get ready and reach Mumbai on 14th July for the next shoot. Boy, we were ready as we can ever be! I packed my bags and headed to the city of dreams. It was my first time in Mumbai, and i was excited. I reached the hotel, with Bikram waiting for me. It was the first time we met after that audition, and we hadn't even celebrated the success of "Chal Jhoothi". So we were out looking for a Beer shop, as liquor in the hotel was kinda expensive. We got some beers, headed to our room, and had a good time that evening. The next five days were full of shootings for reality bytes(the movie bit which you see before the performance), rehearsals and other stuff. We used to leave early in the morning and would return late in the evening. But, it was a great feeling, being front of a camera all the time, rehearsing. It makes you feel like a celeb. By the way, we got some hot girls to perform with us, in our song, and they were really Good! If you know what i mean...

It was 20th July, the day when we were gonna do our thing once again, and this time it was "Dil Di Awaaz". It was a day for the main shoot of the Semi-Finals and we were all very excited. We performed the song "Dil Di Awaaz" and it was a divine feeling. Though the judges were not very happy, as they were with "Chal Jhoothi", but who cares. We had done something which has never been done before on Indian television. We were rapping in front of a nation that does not even accepts this genre of music. Other acts were of singing and dancing, stuff which India has already seen many times on other reality shows. We were doing something different. We performed a song written by ourselves and not by some other artist! It was ORIGINAL!

The results were out soon and we got to know that we haven't made it to the finals. We were a little sad, but a Beer made everything fine. Even Eminem was booed off stage many times, before he could make it. We had a chance to perform two times, on national TV with not even a single "boo" coming our way. We are glad to have done what we like to do. The show might have ended for us, but i guess its a new beginning for us with more fun to come. We made so many fans and friends after this show, and it feels so good to reply to their mails, scraps and comments. I guess we have left a mark on their hearts which wont fade away very soon.

This is just the beginning and we intend to go a long way with our music. RAP is "Rhythm and Poetry" and we are the "Urban Poets". So, keep your ears and eyes open, coz "Desi Playaaz" are gonna be back soon with more ... "Desi stuff".

Desi Playaaz profile has also been covered by simplybhangra.com website. Check it out! --

http://simplybhangra.com/news/fresh-artists/2471-introducing-desi-boyz-hrc-and-andy-b

It was a long one, but i had fun writing it. Its 15th August and its 6:00 am right now. A very "HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY" to all. I feel good to have given my feelings and thoughts some freedom through this Blog.

More to come soon...

-Harry

First one ... Here we go!

Well... this is my first ever Blog, so please don't expect a very intelligent presentation of thoughts, vocab etc. It might get better with time.

Its Friday, and its 12:22 pm right now and i am here writing a blog. I was supposed to be sleeping right now as i have to go to work in the night(doing night shifts), but i don't know... still i want to write this...

Let me share some information about me. I was born brought up in Chandigarh city. I just love the place! ... nyways.. i always had a huge interest in music since i was a little kid, listenin and bouncing to all the new punjabi songs. I didnt have a computer till the age of like 10-11 yrs, so TV was the only entertainment i had at that time. I think it was only after i passed my 9th class, my mom bought me a computer so that i can study and get good grades. But guess what, the first thing that would open up in my PC was the media player and the songs which i would borrow from my friends. I used to paint in paintshop, listen to music in my headphones, and mom used to think that i am studying or doing something creative.

I was in 12th class when i heard about this thing called Internet and i really wanted to have one. It was a big need for me as most of my friends had it at the time, and i used to hear stories from them, like what all crazy things you can do with it. Mom was not at all supportive as she thought i might be using it for the "wrong" stuff. But i really needed an Internet connection, so i just collected some money which aunties and uncles gave me on occassions, and bought a new broadband connection. Mom was kind of upset but it all went fine with time.

I got introduced to a whole new world of music through Internet. It was genres like Hip Hop/Rock/RnB which i found very fascinating. I was in my college when i started listening to Rap and hip hop, as most of my friends including college seniors, would play Hip Hop, every time i would go visit them. So i just got hooked on to it. Punjabi music was also going on in my head along with hip hop/rock. I came to know about these softwares with which you can create music of your own. All you needed was the setup file of the softwares, a PC, a little knowledge of how to use a PC(which i had a lot), and an ear for music. I downloaded my first music software called Fruity Loops, and i was playing with it everyday. I still remember i used to come from college by 2pm, would kick the CPU button with my foot while i am changing my clothes, and would get ready to bang the afternoon loud. I had a big setup of speakers, which i bought from the money i had saved, and it had like 12" twin woofers with 3" tweeters in them. It was my prized possession and i just loved to play music loud, with the bass to the maximum, coz everyday i would have the house only to myself. Mom used to come back around 5:30 pm from work, and by then everything was setup nice and clean like nothing happened. I spent three years of my college life listening to music, and not really paying attention to my books and to my mom yelling at me all the time for not studying. Life was good!

After my studies were over, i went for an interview with my friend, and got selected by Wipro Technologies as a Software Engineer. I was happy to have got a job, just after college, but was scared as i had to leave my home, and move to Bangalore. After saying goodbyes to Mom and my friends, i came to Bangalore and started working. First three months were a nightmare, no north Indian food, language problems, no friends. The only thing that kept me going was the beautiful weather of the city which stays cool through out the year. I settled down slowly with my work and made some friends too. It was time now to do something about my music ka "keera", as it was still in me somewhere, causing chaos coz i had been ignoring it.

I somehow gained interest in DJing and i eventually found a DJ school in Bangalore, and talked one my friend into joining it. It was a one month course where they teach you some basic stuff about DJing. It was fun and i learnt some tricks on the equipment. I used to hire the equipment at my place and would again jam, like i used to, in my college days, keeping my south Indian neighbors all disturbed and angry. I was doing good but still i was not feeling it. Something was missing and i was not enjoying it, and i used to think why the hell am i playing somebody else's songs when i can try and make my own. I again downloaded my favorite music softwares and started making beats, even though i didn't had any professional training, and i can hardly play any instrument . It was fun now and i was happy making my own stuff rather playing somebody else's. My cousin who lives here with me, used to give me feedback on how my music sounds like, and if i needed to change any sound or put any effects. So you can say he was a critic, which i really needed, in order to get better with my music.

Its been my music that has kept me going till date, otherwise i wouldn't have survived sitting in front of a computer 9-10 hrs everyday. I don't hate my job, but i don't love it either.

Well, i have a lot to talk about, but i guess enough for now... Lets keep some for the future posts.

I hope i continue blogging and writing my thoughts here each day.

will be back soon...

-Harry