Guest Authors

Love is Bliss

Thumbnail image for Love is Bliss February 14, 2026

Wishing everyone a very Happy Valentine’s Day with guest article by DP Rangan (Our mid-octogenarian guest author today is an ever romantic. PG Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, Cricket, Bridge, Sherlock Holmes, History, Mathematics – his range of interests is limitless. An eternal peripatetic, he drops in India for change of his laundry, or medicines, during Spring […]

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OP Nayyar: The Composer Par Excellence

Thumbnail image for OP Nayyar: The Composer Par Excellence January 16, 2026

Guest article by Ravindra Kelkar as a tribute to OP Nayyar on his Centenary (16 January 1926 – 28 January 2007) (We have now reached the concluding post of the guest author in the series of tributes to OP Nayyar, coinciding with his centenary. OP Nayyar was one of the most complex personalities of Hindi […]

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OP Nayyar’s favourite instruments and his orchestration

Thumbnail image for OP Nayyar’s favourite instruments and his orchestration December 20, 2025

Guest article by Ravindra Kelkar in the series of Centenar Celebrations of OP Nayyar (b. 16 January 1926 – d. 28 January 2007) (Ravindra Kelkar is a well-known OP Nayyar-fan. The grand centenary celebration of Rafi on SOY inspired him to mount a similar centenary celebration for OP Nayyar. Ashok Vaishnav’s articles on RD Burman’s […]

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OP Nayyar’s Non-Film Songs

Thumbnail image for OP Nayyar’s Non-Film Songs November 4, 2025

Guest article by Ravindra Kelkar continuing the series on OP Nayyar’s centenary celebrations (b. 16 January 1926 – d. 28 January 2007) (Seeing the grand centenary celebration of Rafi on SOY in 2024, a known OP Nayyar fan Ravindra Kelkar proposed to celebrate his centenary, too, appropriately. Coincidentally, his centenary was still a few months […]

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R D Burman and His Orchestration Improvisations: Vocal Experiments

Thumbnail image for R D Burman and His Orchestration Improvisations: Vocal Experiments October 24, 2025

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav (We are celebrating 2025 as the year of RD Burman. He was acknowledged for his improvisations in sounds. Our guest author Ashok M Vaishnav has already covered his instrumental improvisations in percussion, string and blow (or wind) instruments. An important part of RD Burman’s orchestral improvisations was his novel […]

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The trio that changed the Hindi film music scene – RD Burman, Kishore Kumar and Rajesh Khanna

Thumbnail image for The trio that changed the Hindi film music scene – RD Burman, Kishore Kumar and Rajesh Khanna October 13, 2025

Guest article by Dr Rajesh Deshpande in the continuing series on RD Burman, with his songs for Rajesh Khanna on Kishore Kumar’s 38th Remembrance Day (4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) (The single most important factor for RD Burman’s fame is his songs for Kishore Kumar lip-synched by Rajesh Khanna on the screen. Therefore, […]

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R D Burman and His Orchestration Improvisations: Blow Instruments

Thumbnail image for R D Burman and His Orchestration Improvisations: Blow Instruments September 18, 2025

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav (When I mentioned that I would need help from our guest authors from the SOY-community to dedicate the year of 2025 to RD Burman in a befitting manner, Ashok M Vaishnav offered to write a few articles on instrumental improvisations by RD Burman. He has already anchored a series […]

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A Musical Association: RD Burman and The Kapoors

Thumbnail image for A Musical Association: RD Burman and The Kapoors August 29, 2025

Guest article by Dr Rajesh Deshpande (During our discussions about possible themes in RD Burman series, Dr Rajesh Deshpande made an obvious (!) mention of RDB-RK. I was taken aback that no one would associate Raj Kapoor with RD Burman. Dr Deshpande clarified he had in mind Rajesh Khanna! But our cross-understanding led to discussing […]

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The musical revolution: RD Burman and the 70s

Thumbnail image for The musical revolution: RD Burman and the 70s July 20, 2025

Guest article by Dr Rajesh Deshpande continuing the series on tributes to RD Burman (When I embarked upon celebrating 2025 as the year of RD Burman, I was aware of my limitations. The blog’s focus area was 1930s through 60s, whereas RD Burman was clearly a man of the 1970s onwards. I was deeply into […]

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R D Burman and His Orchestration Improvisations – String Instruments

Thumbnail image for R D Burman and His Orchestration Improvisations – String Instruments June 17, 2025

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav (SOY regulars are aware that this blog is celebrating 2025 as the year of RD Burman with some contribution from me and some guest articles. Among guest authors, our veteran Ashok M Vaishnav has taken up the cudgels with his first article in the series with RD Buman’s improvisations […]

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