Debut music video by veteran journalist Mayank Chhaya

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A new music video, ‘Tu Bata De Kya Iradey’ by Chicago based veteran journalist, book author, poet and painter Mayank Chhaya has hit the mark of 15,000 viewers on social media.

The song portrays a mix of emotions, of parting, of freedom, of relief and abandon, of life posing a question.

‘Tu bata de kya iradey apne dil ki tu suna.

Main chalun na chalun

Rahaten aur bhi mil gai teri yaadon ke siwa

Tu bhi apni khushi tham le, kar shuru apna silsila

Raaston mein ud jaun, meri marzi main jahan.’

Speaking about it, Chhaya told News India Times that the song had got a very good response, although for him even one genuine like would have been enough.

Chhaya said the particular song was born spontaneously nine years ago while he was driving and he just saved the tune by humming it into his phone.

He later wrote the lyrics for his tune. Chhaya said he did not pursue it further till Sa Re Ga Ma Pa singer Suparna Chakravarty, and her composer friend Anupam Mallik Mithun, liked it and showed interest in it.

Chhaya said the three of them worked on recording it professionally. “Anupam brilliantly arranged and additionally composed the song with Suparna’s singing it,” Chhaya said. “These days, people do not just listen to music. They want to watch it as well, and so a music video was a natural outcome,” he said.

Chhaya who has been known for his journalistic writings and his books, including the one on Dalai Lama (https://www.mayankchhaya.com), said he is not primarily a composer. But Chhaya has already composed two more songs after ‘tu bata de’. He said he intends to record one of the songs in his own voice early next year.

‘Tu bata de’ is a song in Hindi language. Chhaya said he has been writing poems in Hindi and Urdu, including ghazals, from the age of 13. “I have been writing for almost 50 years, although I have chosen not to publish them,” Chhaya said. “Perhaps I may do it some day soon,” he said. Of his poems, Chhaya said they were dependent on his mood. He considers himself an average poet at times and at times he comes up with poems of a high quality, he said.

Speaking of his singing talent, Chhaya said he used to sing at the Saturday assemblies in his school days. “I am an obsessive karaoke singer,” he said. Chhaya remembers singing ‘Yeh sham mastani’, a song of Kishore Kumar from the film ‘Kati Patang’. Chhaya does not call himself a singer, “I can only hold notes much better than many,” he said.

Chhaya said he considers the music video his interest and involvement at this time. He said he is not going to make a career out of it. He may compose 5-6 more songs, he said. “This is just an indulgence which seems to have worked in ‘Tu bataa de, kya iradey’,” Chhaya said. “I would happily say that I understand music extremely well,” he said.

The song ‘Tu bataa de’ can be heard on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CbqylaHrD4