Latest / The Bridge by Sammy Chand / October 12, 2026 — "Sammy Interviews Nayab Midha"

Transcript

October 12, 2026 — "Sammy Interviews Nayab Midha" · The Bridge by Sammy Chand

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: South Asian music and culture can be.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Found around the world.
• 0:05
  Speaker 3: We track down the best and present it here for.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: You on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: Hi, this is Mali, you're listening to The Bridge with
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: Sammy Chan.
• 0:19
  Speaker 4: Hi, this is Akshay Kumar and you're listening to The
• 0:21
  Speaker 4: Bridge only on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
• 0:23
  Speaker 5: Hey everybody, this is Cobra State and you're listening to
• 0:26
  Speaker 5: me on The Bridge with The Sammy Chan.
• 0:34
  Speaker 6: Thank you very much for finding The Signal this week
• 0:37
  Speaker 6: on a brand new week on the bridge. My name
• 0:40
  Speaker 6: is Sammy Chand and I've got a special show for
• 0:43
  Speaker 6: you today. We'll be joined today by Nayab Mita, the poet,
• 0:51
  Speaker 6: the storyteller, the artist extraordinaire, who's going to be joining
• 0:56
  Speaker 6: us today to share with us the story of her journeys.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Across North America here over the last few weeks.
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  Speaker 6: She's been selling out pretty much every building she's entered
• 1:08
  Speaker 6: with her wonderful poetry and the show that's called Rajkumari.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: So we have the pleasure and we have.
• 1:16
  Speaker 6: The honor of being joined by Nayab today. An exciting episode.
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  Speaker 6: I'm looking forward to the conversation. And man, I've been
• 1:26
  Speaker 6: watching her just tear up the space. And what makes
• 1:29
  Speaker 6: her very unique... is if you walk up to somebody
• 1:33
  Speaker 6: and you ask them about the commercial prospects of being
• 1:37
  Speaker 6: a poet, you know, not very big. And what Nayab
• 1:43
  Speaker 6: has really done is she has taken that preconception and
• 1:47
  Speaker 6: smashed it into a billion pieces. And to me, that
• 1:51
  Speaker 6: accomplishment is about as impressive as all the sold-out shows
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  Speaker 6: she is doing right now.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: So shout out to Nayab Mirza.
• 2:00
  Speaker 6: She's going to be joining us today on the bridge.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: We've got a fabulous week ahead.
• 2:05
  Speaker 6: And as you guys know, over the weekend, I go
• 2:07
  Speaker 6: great digging for what was some of the brand new
• 2:10
  Speaker 6: cool music here for the show.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: We have a bunch of that for you. But folks, every.
• 2:19
  Speaker 6: Weekend, we do a top 20 countdown show. We bring
• 2:24
  Speaker 6: the top 20 songs that are the most popular here
• 2:28
  Speaker 6: on this show.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: And this weekend, the number one song was Dr.
• 2:34
  Speaker 6: Satinder Sertaj's brand new track called Guzarish.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Just came out on T-Series Music.
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: And we begin our Monday show with what was the
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: number one song from over the weekend.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the bridge.
• 3:19
  Speaker 7: Faaab gaahon se ho chukki hai rawaangi Abhi baadlon pe
• 3:24
  Speaker 7: chhaayegi diwaanegi Faaab gaahon se ho chukki hai rawaangi Abhi
• 3:30
  Speaker 7: baadlon pe chhaayegi diwaanegi Humme chithiyan mili hai mahatab se
• 3:36
  Speaker 7: Chithiyan mili hai mahatab se Koi bach nahi paayega shabab
• 3:41
  Speaker 7: se Aaj aaye hai Huzoor bin Kaaf se Ghazaashon pe
• 3:46
  Speaker 7: hor ki ziyai Music Music Music Music.
• 3:52
  Speaker 8: Music Music Music Music Music Music Music.
• 4:49
  Speaker 7: The intoxication in the eyes is more than the alcohol.
• 4:52
  Speaker 7: The intoxication in the eyes is more than the alcohol.
• 4:57
  Speaker 7: And the wonder of the miracle is beyond answer. I
• 5:00
  Speaker 7: have heard that there are rumors from Punjab. Focus on
• 5:04
  Speaker 7: the reports. Focus on the reports. We have received letters
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  Speaker 7: from Mahatab No one will be able to escape from
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  Speaker 7: Shabab Today has come Huzoor with no mask Please pay
• 5:22
  Speaker 7: attention to the requests Let's learn the language of signs.
• 5:45
  Speaker 9: This is the matter.
• 5:46
  Speaker 10: Of the eyes.
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  Speaker 7: How will we show the example of love? People ask,
• 5:52
  Speaker 7: come and tell us. The one who is educated in love.
• 5:57
  Speaker 7: The one who is far from noise and gulf. He
• 6:01
  Speaker 7: will teach us the customs accordingly. He will teach us
• 6:04
  Speaker 7: the customs accordingly. Sartaj kya padh hoge yeh kitab se
• 6:10
  Speaker 7: Jazbaat hain dilon me yeh betab se Guzarishon pe Guzarishon
• 6:17
  Speaker 7: pe Hume jithiyan mili hain mahatab se Hume jithiyan mili
• 6:25
  Speaker 7: hain mahatab se Koi bach nahi paayega shabab se Aaj
• 6:30
  Speaker 7: aayi hain Huzoor be nakab se Guzarishon.
• 6:33
  Speaker 11: Pe mahar kiziye Guzaarish is the track.
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  Speaker 10: A really cool music video.
• 7:06
  Speaker 6: But the really redeeming virtue of this song is that
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  Speaker 6: it's one of the rare appearances by Dr. Satinder Sartaj
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  Speaker 6: in Hindi. And currently, as I mentioned to you, the
• 7:18
  Speaker 6: number one song on our Top 20 Countdown show from
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: over the weekend.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: A song called Gujarish. Folks, October is all about Telvinder.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: And this song right here is called Mangda Vapaskyung.
• 7:32
  Speaker 12: Now you ask me to come back You have lost me,
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  Speaker 12: lost me, lost.
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  Speaker 3: Me, why?
• 7:39
  Speaker 9: Now you ask me to come back You have lost me,
• 7:42
  Speaker 9: lost me, lost me, why?
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  Speaker 12: Now you ask me to come back You used to
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  Speaker 12: laugh at me You used to mess with.
• 7:50
  Speaker 9: Me Now you say why not, why not, why not,
• 7:54
  Speaker 9: why not, why not.
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  Speaker 4: You used to laugh at me, you used to harass me,
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  Speaker 4: you used to talk to me, why not, why.
• 8:08
  Speaker 9: Not, why not, why not.
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  Speaker 7: Hey you, you.
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: Didn't value me, I fought the world behind you, I
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: didn't see you.
• 8:14
  Speaker 9: Standing in front of you. Hey you, you didn't value me,
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  Speaker 9: I fought the world behind you, I.
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  Speaker 4: Didn't see you standing in front of you. Magda hai
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  Speaker 4: wapis kyun, pila min.
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  Speaker 12: Khoya hai, khoya hai, khoya hai kyun, huni magda hai
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  Speaker 12: wapis tun Why are you asking me to come back?
• 8:52
  Speaker 12: I have lost you, I have lost you, I have
• 8:55
  Speaker 12: lost you Why are you asking me.
• 8:57
  Speaker 9: To come back? I have lost you, I have lost you,
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  Speaker 9: I have lost.
• 9:01
  Speaker 12: You, I have lost you Why are you asking me
• 9:04
  Speaker 12: to come back?
• 9:05
  Speaker 9: You say I am a.
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: Liar I did not do anything for you The old
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  Speaker 4: man of our love Couldn't even drink water You say I.
• 9:17
  Speaker 9: Am a liar BOOTA PANIPA.
• 9:28
  Speaker 10: Why?
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  Speaker 12: Tell me, why haven't you paid attention to me?
• 9:32
  Speaker 9: Why? Now I regret that I won't be able to
• 9:35
  Speaker 9: live as yours.
• 9:36
  Speaker 10: Now you ask me.
• 9:38
  Speaker 12: What have you lost, what have you gained from me?
• 9:42
  Speaker 12: Now when I ask you, what do you think of yourself?
• 9:45
  Speaker 9: Now you ask me, what have you lost, what have
• 9:48
  Speaker 9: you gained from me? We'll see you next time. Oh, man.
• 9:50
  Speaker 12: You know, raise your hand if you're excited about this album.
• 9:55
  Speaker 9: I have always called Dovinder....
• 10:17
  Speaker 6: The most transformative artist that we have ever had in
• 10:19
  Speaker 6: Punjabi music. It's a lofty title to throw at somebody,
• 10:23
  Speaker 6: but I've hung on to it since the very first
• 10:25
  Speaker 6: moment that I ever heard his music. You're seeing his
• 10:28
  Speaker 6: work on full display right there as we get ready
• 10:31
  Speaker 6: for this Painted Feelings album that comes out at the
• 10:34
  Speaker 6: end of this month on the 29th of October. Going
• 10:38
  Speaker 6: from Tilvinder to Karanajala, this song is called Ashkeh. And
• 10:44
  Speaker 6: it's from Karan Arjala's first of a two-part EP series
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  Speaker 6: that's coming out.
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  Speaker 1: This one is called Arjala One. This is the lead single.
• 10:54
  Speaker 10: Karan Arjala One.
• 11:10
  Speaker 13: This magic is in my hands. You see the heart
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  Speaker 13: in the heart. It stands in the.
• 11:14
  Speaker 10: Back of the neck.
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  Speaker 2: I walk straight.
• 11:16
  Speaker 13: I don't want to walk in the back of the neck.
• 11:18
  Speaker 13: I don't want to walk in the.
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  Speaker 10: Back of the neck.
• 11:22
  Speaker 13: I don't want to walk in the back of the neck.
• 11:25
  Speaker 13: I don't want to walk in the back of the neck.
• 11:39
  Speaker 13: Baby you're so fire.
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  Speaker 10: Baby you're so fire. Baby you're so fire. Baby you're
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  Speaker 10: so fire.
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  Speaker 13: Wherever I keep my feet, I keep my toes on
• 12:09
  Speaker 13: the ground. I came to the village for a kiss.
• 12:11
  Speaker 13: I didn't want to give a show-off, so I went
• 12:14
  Speaker 13: to India. I got a check, but I couldn't even
• 12:18
  Speaker 13: get a photo of the land.
• 12:19
  Speaker 10: I'm a young man, you're a young man.
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  Speaker 13: You're a young man, you're a young man.
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  Speaker 10: You're a bodyguard, I'm a bodyguard. I'm a bodyguard, I'm
• 12:30
  Speaker 10: a bodyguard. I'm a bodyguard, I'm a bodyguard.
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  Speaker 10: .
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  Speaker 13: .
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  Speaker 10: Dr.
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  Speaker 13: Satinder Sertaj, followed by Talvinder, followed by Karan Aujala.
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  Speaker 6: And a hot start to the Monday morning program right
• 13:35
  Speaker 6: here on the bridge. We'll be joined by Nayab Mida today.
• 13:39
  Speaker 6: I'm really excited about that conversation. And in the meantime here,
• 13:42
  Speaker 6: here's Dr.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: Roy.
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  Speaker 5: Hey, guys.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: This is Dr. Roy with today's Word on the Avenue.
• 13:48
  Speaker 14: In film and TV news, Bundeli folk devotional song Jabzidbe
• 13:52
  Speaker 14: Age Parvati from the film Hanuman Ansh, composed by Sadhu Estivari,
• 13:57
  Speaker 14: is reportedly making waves globally, surpassing 100 million views and
• 14:01
  Speaker 14: ranking number one in India and number two worldwide. Its
• 14:05
  Speaker 14: remarkable reach is a powerful reminder that raw regional storytelling
• 14:09
  Speaker 14: and deeply rooted Indian folk traditions can resonate with audiences
• 14:13
  Speaker 14: far beyond their cultural origins. In media news, Sitar virtuoso
• 14:19
  Speaker 14: Rishabh Rikiram Sharma has marked a major milestone with his
• 14:23
  Speaker 14: sold-out debut at London's Royal Albert Hall. Performing for more
• 14:27
  Speaker 14: than 5,000 fans while blending Indian classical music with contemporary
• 14:31
  Speaker 14: production and his Sitar for Mental Health initiative, the performance
• 14:35
  Speaker 14: featured an ambient original, a stunning sitar interpretation of Hans
• 14:40
  Speaker 14: Zimmer's interstellar.
• 14:41
  Speaker 15: Theme, and his upcoming Diwali release, Rama Rama, with Sharma
• 14:45
  Speaker 15: now taking the acclaimed tour to North America. In event news,
• 14:50
  Speaker 15: India has wrapped up the 2026 Asian Games on a high,
• 14:53
  Speaker 15: with the men's hockey team clinching gold in the final
• 14:55
  Speaker 15: event to take the country's tally to 21 gold, 27 silver,
• 15:00
  Speaker 15: and 38 bronze medals, with 85 wins overall. Finishing fourth
• 15:04
  Speaker 15: in the standings, India matched its joint third-best Asian Games
• 15:08
  Speaker 15: medal haul, capping a memorable campaign with a golden finish.
• 15:13
  Speaker 15: That's it for today's Word on the Avenue.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: Until next time.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much, Dr.
• 15:18
  Speaker 9: Roy.
• 15:18
  Speaker 6: We'll see you tomorrow on the big show. Looking forward
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: to Nayab Medha. Make sure you hang back for that.
• 15:25
  Speaker 6: She'll be joining us very shortly. This song is called Rebel.
• 15:29
  Speaker 16: Baaji mar gaya batale wala kabru, hun sida bill bohdi
• 15:33
  Speaker 16: uphe takteru Taap sakta ni koi ni main bill muda,
• 15:36
  Speaker 16: banga lehenge te kardunga gumsho da South India wapar mera chandanda,
• 15:41
  Speaker 16: phone karda ya peter rejo londanda Tenu jado me milage,
• 15:44
  Speaker 16: bill hor je milage, din lagda ni koi veed rahi
• 15:48
  Speaker 16: Yadraability level ne hai, maan ne.
• 15:51
  Speaker 9: Bhi bill ho sotya skayi.
• 15:59
  Speaker 16: I'm a big man now, so I don't know what
• 16:01
  Speaker 16: to do with everything. Why didn't you love me when
• 16:03
  Speaker 16: I was young? Why didn't you love me when I
• 16:06
  Speaker 16: was young? Why didn't you love me when I was young?
• 16:10
  Speaker 16: Why didn't you love me when I was young? Why
• 16:12
  Speaker 16: didn't you love me when I was young? If I
• 16:26
  Speaker 16: didn't find someone else, I would have found someone else.
• 16:29
  Speaker 16: When I'm thirsty, I drink water. When I'm thirsty, I
• 16:32
  Speaker 16: open my eyes and I'm scared. I never show my emotions.
• 16:34
  Speaker 16: If someone doesn't do it, I'll do it. I open
• 16:36
  Speaker 16: my stomach and I'm tired. I don't know when I'll
• 16:39
  Speaker 16: save my money. When I'm tired, I dance. I keep
• 16:41
  Speaker 16: my faith in the world. I don't believe in anything.
• 16:43
  Speaker 16: I don't believe in anything. I don't believe in anything.
• 17:05
  Speaker 6: Chimawai and Gurusitu teaming up for one of my favorites.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: From over the summer here.
• 17:09
  Speaker 6: And as we do every Monday morning, it's time for
• 17:12
  Speaker 6: us to invite Meera Sharma to the show.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: How are you today, Meera?
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: Hey, Sammy. Hey, everyone.
• 17:19
  Speaker 17: Meera Sharma here with your weekly dose of mindful sass,
• 17:23
  Speaker 17: helping you stay self-assured, spirited, and strong. Here's your reminder
• 17:28
  Speaker 17: this week. Stop comparing your chapter to somebody else's. You
• 17:32
  Speaker 17: might look around and think everyone else has it figured
• 17:34
  Speaker 17: out but you have absolutely no idea what their journey
• 17:38
  Speaker 17: has looked like behind the scenes. Your timeline is your timeline.
• 17:44
  Speaker 17: Your wins look different. Your setbacks will look different and
• 17:48
  Speaker 17: that's exactly how it's supposed to be.
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: So instead of asking.
• 17:52
  Speaker 17: Am I where I should be, ask yourself am I
• 17:55
  Speaker 17: moving towards where I want to be? Keep your eyes
• 17:59
  Speaker 17: on your own path. Your story is still being written.
• 18:02
  Speaker 17: You've got this.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Mira.
• 18:06
  Speaker 6: And now let's turn this over to Daniel Johnson from
• 18:08
  Speaker 6: the UN News Department.
• 18:10
  Speaker 18: This is UN News Today with me, Daniel Johnson.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: The headlines.
• 18:14
  Speaker 18: The Nobel Peace Prize goes to former UN High Commissioner
• 18:17
  Speaker 18: for Human Rights, Navi Pele. We'll take a look at
• 18:21
  Speaker 18: her history-making record of service, picking up the pieces in Nepal,
• 18:26
  Speaker 18: An update six weeks since the deadly flooding disaster happened.
• 18:30
  Speaker 18: And in Gaza, almost every woman or girl has been
• 18:33
  Speaker 18: forced from their home. South African anti-apartheid lawyer and former
• 18:41
  Speaker 18: UN human rights chief Navi Pile has been awarded the
• 18:44
  Speaker 18: 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. She was honoured for her efforts
• 18:48
  Speaker 18: to promote peace and international law, the Norwegian Nobel Committee
• 18:52
  Speaker 18: said in a statement on Friday. The committee said the
• 18:55
  Speaker 18: veteran jurist had shown exceptional courage and integrity and led
• 19:00
  Speaker 18: the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order, while
• 19:03
  Speaker 18: applauding her instrumental role in ensuring that war crimes, crimes
• 19:07
  Speaker 18: against humanity and genocide are prosecuted. Ms Pile retired in
• 19:13
  Speaker 18: 2025 after more than 50 years of activism, which included
• 19:16
  Speaker 18: fighting apartheid in her country and defending civilians in conflict zones.
• 19:21
  Speaker 18: She heard the news while attending a meeting of human
• 19:23
  Speaker 18: rights lawyers on Friday morning in Nuremberg, site of the
• 19:26
  Speaker 18: war crimes trials of Nazi leaders after World War II.
• 19:30
  Speaker 18: Here she is now talking to UN News last September.
• 19:34
  Speaker 19: Obviously we're very grateful for the collective action taken by
• 19:37
  Speaker 19: the whole world to end apartheid. And I often cite
• 19:40
  Speaker 19: that as a positive experience. I didn't think apartheid will
• 19:44
  Speaker 19: end in my lifetime. So what happened? We had the
• 19:48
  Speaker 19: collective support of people. all over the world, even children.
• 19:52
  Speaker 19: If we can achieve that, we can have a better
• 19:55
  Speaker 19: human rights protection system.
• 19:57
  Speaker 18: Before stepping down, Ms Pile chaired the UN Independent International
• 20:01
  Speaker 18: Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. whose 2025
• 20:06
  Speaker 18: report said that Israel's actions in Gaza constituted genocide. The
• 20:11
  Speaker 18: current UN human rights chief Volker Turk welcomed the announcement,
• 20:14
  Speaker 18: especially at a time when human rights are under attack
• 20:17
  Speaker 18: on so many fronts, including from those who wield enormous power,
• 20:21
  Speaker 18: he said. Six weeks after Nepal's deadly flooding disaster, communities
• 20:26
  Speaker 18: are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they'll need
• 20:30
  Speaker 18: sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another
• 20:33
  Speaker 18: Himalayan catastrophe. the UN Children's Fund UNICEF said on Friday.
• 20:38
  Speaker 18: At least 1,400 people were killed and nearly 5,300 people
• 20:43
  Speaker 18: are still missing after a mountain of ice and rock
• 20:46
  Speaker 18: collapsed into local rivers, unleashing a massive torrent that washed
• 20:50
  Speaker 18: away bridges and homes. Speaking from Kathmandu, UNICEF spokesperson James
• 20:55
  Speaker 18: Elder described meeting orphaned children and families who'd lost everything
• 21:00
  Speaker 18: when two-metre-high floodwater swept away their homes and livelihoods.
• 21:04
  Speaker 20: Nepal produces only around one-tenth of a single percent of
• 21:08
  Speaker 20: global greenhouse emissions. Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention
• 21:13
  Speaker 20: on Climate Change have agreed to provide that finance, to
• 21:16
  Speaker 20: provide that support, to avert, minimise and address loss and damage.
• 21:21
  Speaker 20: But for countries like Nepal, those commitments have to quickly
• 21:24
  Speaker 20: translate into support that reaches affected families on the ground.
• 21:29
  Speaker 18: Today, areas of towns and villages impacted by the disaster
• 21:33
  Speaker 18: look like war zones, Mr Elder stressed, according to UN
• 21:36
  Speaker 18: partner the Red Cross, some of the most isolated communities
• 21:40
  Speaker 18: in Rasuah continue to need and receive airlifted relief supplies. Finally,
• 21:46
  Speaker 18: to Gaza, where almost all women and girls have been
• 21:49
  Speaker 18: forced from their homes and most are now enduring life
• 21:52
  Speaker 18: in tents or amid the ruins of their property. That's
• 21:55
  Speaker 18: the message from specialised agency UN Women, which said that
• 22:00
  Speaker 18: nearly 50,000 women and girls have been killed or severely
• 22:03
  Speaker 18: injured since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in October 2023.
• 22:08
  Speaker 18: That number includes more than 38,000 killed and 11,700 left
• 22:13
  Speaker 18: with injuries so severe that they now live with lifelong disabilities.
• 22:18
  Speaker 18: Women now head one in four households in Gaza, often
• 22:21
  Speaker 18: while facing deeper poverty and repeated displacement, with increasingly limited resources,
• 22:27
  Speaker 18: said UN Women's Sofia Kaltorp.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: Noor is one of them.
• 22:31
  Speaker 21: Her home was destroyed, her husband, a nurse, was detained,
• 22:35
  Speaker 21: and she has neither seen nor heard from him since.
• 22:38
  Speaker 21: She told us that at times he becomes so lost
• 22:42
  Speaker 21: in thought that she is unable to respond even to
• 22:45
  Speaker 21: her children.
• 22:46
  Speaker 18: Because of funding cuts, nearly two-thirds of the organisations contacted
• 22:50
  Speaker 18: by the agency in Gaza and the occupied West Bank
• 22:53
  Speaker 18: said they have been forced to put women and girls
• 22:55
  Speaker 18: on waiting lists or turn them away altogether. Every organisation
• 22:59
  Speaker 18: surveyed also reported an increase in gender-based violence, poverty and
• 23:04
  Speaker 18: mental health distress since 2025. and all but one had
• 23:08
  Speaker 18: seen an increase in child marriage. Daniel Johnson, UN News.
• 23:12
  Speaker 6: Thank you very much, Daniel. Folks, stand by here for
• 23:16
  Speaker 6: Nayab Mitha. Here's Priya Raghu.
• 23:19
  Speaker 22: Finally I found a love that grows so precise It's
• 23:22
  Speaker 22: a heart that grows so.
• 23:44
  Speaker 11: Baby, you make my heart pass for days Won't you
• 23:50
  Speaker 11: come down and say One million stars have been raised
• 23:58
  Speaker 11: Just to get close to.
• 24:01
  Speaker 22: You Finally I found you mi amor so enticing I
• 24:08
  Speaker 22: finally I found a love with swagger that's so hyphen
• 24:11
  Speaker 22: yeah Finally I.
• 24:12
  Speaker 11: Found a pure soul so enlightening Finally I found For
• 24:49
  Speaker 11: so long, I didn't know what I had been looking for. Baby,
• 24:57
  Speaker 11: knock me at my door. This doom, doom, doom is
• 25:02
  Speaker 11: so short.
• 25:04
  Speaker 9: I won't let you go. Our world ends in stone.
• 25:07
  Speaker 11: Even when we are gone, one day we'll know.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Someday we'll be free. For the world to see.
• 25:14
  Speaker 9: Even when we're gone, there's no way.
• 25:21
  Speaker 11: Finally Baby You make my heart get 180 Won't you
• 25:26
  Speaker 11: come down and save me One thing is cause I've
• 25:31
  Speaker 11: been waiting Just to get close to you Oh Close.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: To you You, you, you, you.
• 25:50
  Speaker 6: And ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct pleasure and
• 25:55
  Speaker 6: truly an honor to have Nayab Medha join.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: Us today on the show.
• 25:58
  Speaker 10: How are you?
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: How is everything in the U.S.
• 26:01
  Speaker 7: With you, Nayab?
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: It's fantastic. The weather has been amazing. I've got less rain,
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: more sun. So I think the U.S. is loving me.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Yes, it is definitely loving you.
• 26:13
  Speaker 6: And by looking at all of these stadium-filled businesses that
• 26:16
  Speaker 6: you've got going on out here, this is amazing. The
• 26:19
  Speaker 6: turnout has just been fantastic, Nayab. This is incredible to watch.
• 26:23
  Speaker 6: So congratulations on that.
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.
• 26:29
  Speaker 6: Well, I wanted to start by saying this. You've been
• 26:33
  Speaker 6: hanging out here for a good part of a month
• 26:35
  Speaker 6: or so in the U.S.
• 26:37
  Speaker 10: Yes.
• 26:37
  Speaker 6: Any things that you'll take back to you to India
• 26:41
  Speaker 6: as permanent fixtures in your life, be it something in
• 26:44
  Speaker 6: the food department or even socially or culturally that you
• 26:47
  Speaker 6: picked up while.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: You were here?
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: Oh, I've been loving.
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: Okay, I don't know if I should say this, but
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: I've been loving the Mexican food because that matches the
• 26:59
  Speaker 5: spice level I want.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: That's the right answer.
• 27:01
  Speaker 6: That's probably the one thing you don't get authentically in
• 27:04
  Speaker 6: India for sure, you know?
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: So I'm glad you took that with you. That's good.
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: And I think I'm going to.
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: Take this more than anything.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: I love.
• 27:19
  Speaker 5: how the community here is so, you know, close-knit, put together,
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: you know, everybody I meet on the show, people know
• 27:28
  Speaker 5: each other, and the kind of love that I've been getting,
• 27:31
  Speaker 5: I'm going to take that home for sure.
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: And I'm going to, you.
• 27:34
  Speaker 5: Know, before coming here, I was a bit sort of like,
• 27:36
  Speaker 5: I was a bit awkward about the fact that the
• 27:40
  Speaker 5: stories that I tell in India will be related to
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: here in the West because, you know, we're very different
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: in many, many, many ways.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: Of course.
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: And I came here only to realize the fact that
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: we're all living very similar lives. We all feel the
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: same things. We all are very similar in terms of
• 27:58
  Speaker 5: human emotion. And no matter where we go, wherever we are,
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: we have the feeling of home, that where we belong.
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: And it's similar.
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: I'm going to take that feeling home and I'm going
• 28:09
  Speaker 5: to pass that on to everybody that I.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: Know that, you know, it's all the same. It's nothing
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: to be scared of.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: That's, Good. Please do tell everybody they're back there. From
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: all of us over here.
• 28:22
  Speaker 6: Well, listen, I think that what you have noticed is
• 28:26
  Speaker 6: just how deeply connected we are back to, you know,
• 28:29
  Speaker 6: the motherland, so to speak. And a lot of people
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: think that when we move here that we become detached
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: and we pick up our American lifestyle. And that is
• 28:38
  Speaker 6: certainly true. Not to dismiss that at all. But I
• 28:40
  Speaker 6: think that one of the things that we do very
• 28:42
  Speaker 6: well is hang on to both of the sides. And
• 28:44
  Speaker 6: they are fiercely independent. You know, they both have their
• 28:47
  Speaker 6: own identity in our space. And so I'm really glad
• 28:50
  Speaker 6: that you were to take that back. That's a great observation.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: And of course.
• 28:54
  Speaker 6: You know, anything with Mexican food, you know, that you
• 28:57
  Speaker 6: can take from the U.S.? Okay, I want it.
• 28:59
  Speaker 5: I have packed a lot of hot sauces in my bag.
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: Good.
• 29:04
  Speaker 5: Closed some Macy's. I'm going to take all the discounts.
• 29:09
  Speaker 5: I will list and list from home, from all the
• 29:11
  Speaker 5: products that they want. Of course, all of that included.
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: But nothing above the love.
• 29:18
  Speaker 6: I wanted to start our conversation by saying, Of course,
• 29:23
  Speaker 6: applauding you on many different fronts. You have drawn so
• 29:27
  Speaker 6: many accolades in your career. You've accomplished so much. But
• 29:31
  Speaker 6: to me, when I look at your work, I look
• 29:33
  Speaker 6: at your work not only for what you're doing on stage,
• 29:37
  Speaker 6: but for all the trailblazing that you are doing as
• 29:39
  Speaker 6: you are building the path in front of you to
• 29:42
  Speaker 6: walk in front of. People don't necessarily notice that part
• 29:44
  Speaker 6: of this. And from my perspective, I think that that
• 29:47
  Speaker 6: should be recognized, that not only are you succeeding here
• 29:51
  Speaker 6: as an artist, but you are also in what has
• 29:54
  Speaker 6: been historically a very difficult lane to commercialize. You have
• 29:58
  Speaker 6: succeeded in that space as well. So first of all,
• 30:02
  Speaker 6: tell us about that side of this. And we all
• 30:05
  Speaker 6: know the amazing work that you do on stage and
• 30:09
  Speaker 6: the words.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: But this part I wanted to start with.
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: Okay. To be very honest, I.
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: Do something that people still recognize as a niche on
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: the outside, in the world, which I personally don't like
• 30:22
  Speaker 5: to believe.
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: I don't think poetry is a niche.
• 30:24
  Speaker 5: I don't think that the work that I do is just.
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: A small area. It's a huge thing.
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: Poetry is a huge part of our daily life. it's
• 30:36
  Speaker 5: in our speech, it's in our everyday thing, it's in our.
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: Rebel and it's in our love. It's everywhere, okay?
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: So, one, when people call it a niche and think
• 30:50
  Speaker 5: of it as a small genre or something very minor,
• 30:56
  Speaker 5: It sort of like pinches me that it is not this.
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: I take that as a fight of my own.
• 31:00
  Speaker 5: I take that as a personal fight to just, you know,
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: prove it that it's not it.
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: That's not something that I'm.
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: Doing or my friends are doing or my community is doing.
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: So yeah, poetry, since we've all lived and belonged and
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: languages have begun, You know, initially poetry started because we
• 31:18
  Speaker 5: didn't have pen and paper to write. So people started
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: to rhyme to remember things, to pass on stories. It's
• 31:23
  Speaker 5: one of the oldest, oldest art forms, storytelling and poetry,
• 31:26
  Speaker 5: to be honest. So yeah, one, I think there is
• 31:30
  Speaker 5: a point to be proven somehow that it's not a niche.
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: It's a whole genre. It's a whole big thing.
• 31:36
  Speaker 5: The initial struggles are always that, you know, you don't
• 31:38
  Speaker 5: get venues to do this because then there is a
• 31:40
  Speaker 5: language barrier. You know, people don't know what you're going
• 31:43
  Speaker 5: to say and you know what is Hindi poetry, what
• 31:45
  Speaker 5: is spoken word in Hindi. So the first bag is
• 31:48
  Speaker 5: always to cracker when you have people do this. Just
• 31:53
  Speaker 5: come work with us and just see what we do.
• 31:55
  Speaker 5: People don't understand. So they're like, comedy is more established, music.
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: Is more established.
• 32:00
  Speaker 5: So you can see this person is popular, this person
• 32:02
  Speaker 5: has released songs and all of that. Poetry, you can't
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: explain what you're going to do on stage much in another, like,
• 32:09
  Speaker 5: to another language. Poetry is something that is felt in
• 32:12
  Speaker 5: the very same.
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: Language it is written. You translate it and it's gone.
• 32:16
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: I think the.
• 32:17
  Speaker 5: Initial struggle to, you know, get a venue to perform
• 32:21
  Speaker 5: and then get people who will watch it, I think...
• 32:25
  Speaker 5: what we've done up until now is crack that code.
• 32:28
  Speaker 5: So anybody who's been wanting to do Hindi poetry now
• 32:31
  Speaker 5: will not trouble one in getting a venue or getting
• 32:34
  Speaker 5: a permission to do that. You know, all that legality
• 32:37
  Speaker 5: is what I feel personally. So yeah, so that question
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: is gone. You know, there is familiarity to the concept.
• 32:47
  Speaker 5: You have a person who's done this. So I think
• 32:49
  Speaker 5: a lot of our energy in the past three years
• 32:52
  Speaker 5: has went into explaining people what.
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: We do on stage. And we can't really explain much
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: of it. You really have to see it to understand
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: what we do.
• 33:02
  Speaker 5: It was amazing that yesterday we were doing in New Jersey,
• 33:05
  Speaker 5: we did about.
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: Seven, 800 people were there in the room.
• 33:09
  Speaker 5: So the woman who was working there came backstage and said,
• 33:11
  Speaker 5: you know, you're a superstar.
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: And I don't feel like that, you know, because there
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: are bigger stars that, you know, I look up to
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: and see. And I'm like, do you think that? Do
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: you feel that? She said, you know, so many people
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: have come to watch you. You are a superstar. You
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: should feel like that. And that was the moment it
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: hit me that, oh, my God, you've done something, Yotam.
• 33:30
  Speaker 6: You certainly have done something here. You are a superstar.
• 33:34
  Speaker 6: You know, it's very difficult to spill.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: Over from India to here.
• 33:39
  Speaker 6: A lot of people find it very difficult to do,
• 33:43
  Speaker 6: largely because the courage aspect of it.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: And I think you figured that out by being here.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: You're like, you know what?
• 33:49
  Speaker 6: It wasn't that difficult in terms of making that connection.
• 33:52
  Speaker 6: People are so aware of things back there in India.
• 33:56
  Speaker 6: It wasn't like, oh my God, I have to contextualize myself,
• 33:59
  Speaker 6: and then I have to prove to them that I'm
• 34:00
  Speaker 6: worth their time.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: No, we're watching.
• 34:04
  Speaker 6: But I also, from a greater level, and that's why
• 34:07
  Speaker 6: I wanted to begin with this, because it's important for
• 34:09
  Speaker 6: us to contextualize today's conversation. To me, what you have
• 34:12
  Speaker 6: done from a business level, and for opening the door
• 34:15
  Speaker 6: for future poets, and for people like this to have
• 34:19
  Speaker 6: the forum like you have built... to me is just
• 34:23
  Speaker 6: as great of an accomplishment as what you're doing from
• 34:25
  Speaker 6: the performance side of it to me.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: Because that is, it's such a battle.
• 34:29
  Speaker 6: A lot of people, unfortunately in our space that you're
• 34:32
  Speaker 6: involved in here, they don't make it out of their bedroom.
• 34:35
  Speaker 6: And I have, and, and they have fabulous words and
• 34:38
  Speaker 6: they have the fabulous anecdote and they have the, the
• 34:41
  Speaker 6: stories to that, that will move you. But the form
• 34:46
  Speaker 6: is so important. And so I, The commercialization of it, sis,
• 34:49
  Speaker 6: congratulations to you. That was probably, to me, one of
• 34:53
  Speaker 6: the biggest resounding things that you do. And so with
• 34:56
  Speaker 6: that being said, let's move to the art form. You
• 35:01
  Speaker 6: have done this in a way that maybe so many
• 35:04
  Speaker 6: people have not in the past. You know, translating this
• 35:09
  Speaker 6: into a stage show must have been something because I
• 35:12
  Speaker 6: don't think somebody sits down and starts writing poetry from
• 35:14
  Speaker 6: the perspective, let me.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Write a two and a half hour show. They just
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: write smaller parts.
• 35:20
  Speaker 6: But you did that with Rajkumari and, you know, this
• 35:23
  Speaker 6: two and a half hour show that you've been doing here.
• 35:26
  Speaker 6: Tell me, how did you, how did that come about?
• 35:28
  Speaker 6: How did you piece this all together? Were these mosaics
• 35:31
  Speaker 6: of past poems and different pieces that you were able
• 35:34
  Speaker 6: to kind of thread together?
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: Or was this intentional?
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: Okay, it was not intentional. Rajkumari is an accidental show.
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: I always say that.
• 35:42
  Speaker 5: Okay, so I used to do, I never even got
• 35:46
  Speaker 5: the stage time of two hours before Rajkumari happened.
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: I was an artist. I was a struggling artist back
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: in India.
• 35:55
  Speaker 5: I was just, you know, like sort of asking for
• 35:57
  Speaker 5: opening acts or, you know, curated open mics that happen
• 36:01
  Speaker 5: where you get your 10 minute or a 20 minute
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: to perform. So I only had a 20 minute set,
• 36:06
  Speaker 5: to be honest. I would just stitch my poems together
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: with a few songs with the musician on my side
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: and we would just do a complimenting each other kind
• 36:16
  Speaker 5: of a show like I would say a poem and
• 36:18
  Speaker 5: he would sort of sing a song and that was
• 36:20
  Speaker 5: it there was no story nothing and then one of
• 36:23
  Speaker 5: my poems got viral Muskurao is the piece that was
• 36:28
  Speaker 5: viral overnight. I had about a lakh followers I think
• 36:33
  Speaker 5: and I would sell about 30 to 40 tickets if
• 36:36
  Speaker 5: I had ever put a show back before that.
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: And that was it for me. And Now, overnight, we
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: put a show and we went.
• 36:45
  Speaker 5: Viral and we have about 300 people come to watch us.
• 36:48
  Speaker 5: 300 people had bought tickets. Now, from 30, 40, 300
• 36:52
  Speaker 5: people have bought tickets and now I'm scared to death
• 36:55
  Speaker 5: that whatever I'm going.
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: To do in front of these 300 people, I need
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: to have a better show. So, I had one week.
• 37:04
  Speaker 3: I had one week before that show. Now, I'm viral.
• 37:07
  Speaker 10: Everybody.
• 37:08
  Speaker 5: A day before, nobody knew me. And next day, I'm
• 37:11
  Speaker 5: on the road and people are recognizing me. So my
• 37:14
  Speaker 5: life has changed overnight. So my way of performing has
• 37:18
  Speaker 5: to change in those seven days.
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: So everything that I think, everything I was doing.
• 37:23
  Speaker 5: Up until then, those 15-15 minutes of pieces that I
• 37:26
  Speaker 5: performed at multiple places, I didn't even have the time
• 37:30
  Speaker 5: to do a trial show, to be honest. I have
• 37:31
  Speaker 5: just directly gone on stage. And I remember having 17
• 37:35
  Speaker 5: pages of a show written, of a.
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: Random show written in my hand. And I remember getting.
• 37:42
  Speaker 5: five, seven minute long standing ovation in India.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: That is so beautiful.
• 37:47
  Speaker 5: It was, and now it's 2.5 hours because we've reduced it.
• 37:51
  Speaker 5: But for the first time, I've performed for three and
• 37:54
  Speaker 5: a half hours, to be honest. I didn't know what
• 37:57
  Speaker 5: to cut, what to keep. So I just kept on
• 37:59
  Speaker 5: going with whatever I had in my brain. And then
• 38:01
  Speaker 5: over the past two years, Rajkumari has become what has
• 38:04
  Speaker 5: become because I've learned more about it.
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: I've, you know, sort of, done good about this show.
• 38:10
  Speaker 3: I've removed the pieces that I wanted to. I've built
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: new pieces around the show.
• 38:14
  Speaker 5: But on the first day, it was an accidental show
• 38:17
  Speaker 5: because I was popular and I had to have a
• 38:19
  Speaker 5: better show in hand.
• 38:20
  Speaker 3: It was the pressure that made me do it.
• 38:23
  Speaker 6: You know, there's nothing like a forcing mechanism like being
• 38:26
  Speaker 6: thrown into the swimming pool, as you say.
• 38:28
  Speaker 3: I agree.
• 38:31
  Speaker 6: So you were forced to get on stage like that
• 38:33
  Speaker 6: and do this. And I must imagine that a lot
• 38:37
  Speaker 6: of you is Rajkumari. Would I be assuming that to
• 38:40
  Speaker 6: be correct?
• 38:41
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: And, and right.
• 38:44
  Speaker 6: I mean, I know that you've referred to that way,
• 38:46
  Speaker 6: but I think that from the perspective of how you
• 38:48
  Speaker 6: piece these together and just in the story of how
• 38:49
  Speaker 6: this played out, that is just an incredible story. Now
• 38:53
  Speaker 6: going back to your previous life, if you don't mind
• 38:56
  Speaker 6: me bringing this up, you're actually an engineer who in
• 38:59
  Speaker 6: your time, you know, uh, started to go down a
• 39:04
  Speaker 6: different path, um, your father being so central to how
• 39:08
  Speaker 6: you became a poet on stage and left that life behind.
• 39:13
  Speaker 6: That must have been a very scary but very powerful
• 39:17
  Speaker 6: moment in life because here you are, you know, not
• 39:20
  Speaker 6: knowing where to go and what's going to happen in
• 39:23
  Speaker 6: this particular moment, perhaps with your exchange with your family
• 39:25
  Speaker 6: or whatever it might be, or even just in your
• 39:26
  Speaker 6: own direction if this is going to be successful. But
• 39:29
  Speaker 6: out of that, kind of uncertainty came this huge moment
• 39:32
  Speaker 6: where your dad puts his arm on your shoulder and says,
• 39:36
  Speaker 6: go for it.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: And give me that moment.
• 39:41
  Speaker 5: So my dad was very adamant about me doing this
• 39:44
  Speaker 5: job that I was.
• 39:45
  Speaker 3: Doing at Infosys. So he was after me. And when
• 39:48
  Speaker 3: I had gotten that job about three.
• 39:50
  Speaker 5: Years ago, in 2018, I had told my father that,
• 39:54
  Speaker 5: you know, if you let me, I don't want.
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: To do this.
• 39:56
  Speaker 3: I want to do poetry. And he said, no, I'm
• 39:58
  Speaker 3: not going to let you do this. You go do
• 40:00
  Speaker 3: this job. You have some experience. You do some logical things.
• 40:03
  Speaker 3: So I... I sort of.
• 40:05
  Speaker 5: Agreed and I did the logical thing. I did the
• 40:08
  Speaker 5: job for two, two and a half years. And two
• 40:10
  Speaker 5: and a half years later.
• 40:12
  Speaker 3: I had this offer from another company.
• 40:15
  Speaker 5: They said that, you know, you will organize.
• 40:17
  Speaker 3: Poetry events and you will get to perform as well.
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: And we'll pay you this X amount. And which was
• 40:22
  Speaker 3: a little above than what I was making then.
• 40:24
  Speaker 5: So I called my father and I said, I'm going
• 40:26
  Speaker 5: to leave this stable job and I'm going to do
• 40:28
  Speaker 5: the poetry because I heard you for two and a
• 40:29
  Speaker 5: half years. Now you have to sort of like hear
• 40:32
  Speaker 5: me out and, you know, give me this chance because...
• 40:34
  Speaker 5: If not now, then when? You know, I'm young enough.
• 40:38
  Speaker 5: I think I have age on my hand. I think
• 40:41
  Speaker 5: I can take this risk out. And if not, in
• 40:43
  Speaker 5: a year or so, I will get this job back again.
• 40:45
  Speaker 5: So my dad agrees to the fact that I have
• 40:48
  Speaker 5: followed his path for two years, but he.
• 40:50
  Speaker 3: Can give me one in return.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: So he says, okay, go for it.
• 40:53
  Speaker 5: And anything you need, I'm here for you. And right
• 40:56
  Speaker 5: after that, right after I leave my job, COVID hits.
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: And I'm jobless.
• 41:03
  Speaker 5: COVID hits, my event company gets shut down. I've already
• 41:06
  Speaker 5: left the stable job. I'm actually jobless for two years.
• 41:11
  Speaker 5: I did not expect that to happen. But I am
• 41:14
  Speaker 5: so grateful.
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: Because it was a blessing in disguise.
• 41:18
  Speaker 21: I just.
• 41:19
  Speaker 5: I never went back to any job. I just never
• 41:21
  Speaker 5: went back to doing the tech thingy. I knew that
• 41:25
  Speaker 5: I wanted.
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: To do this. There was a long, long, long... There
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: was a huge.
• 41:30
  Speaker 5: calling from my gut that we have to give it
• 41:33
  Speaker 5: one chance irrespective of the fact that you have a
• 41:35
  Speaker 5: job or not you have to give it one fair
• 41:38
  Speaker 5: one very hardworking very loyal shot and I had that
• 41:43
  Speaker 5: faith I won't deny if you don't have that faith
• 41:45
  Speaker 5: don't take the risk you have to have this faith
• 41:47
  Speaker 5: if you don't have that inner calling one should not
• 41:49
  Speaker 5: take that risk I know that the amount of faith
• 41:52
  Speaker 5: I had on myself I can't even sort of like
• 41:54
  Speaker 5: deny that I can't lie about that I had enormous
• 41:58
  Speaker 5: amount of faith in me that you know I'm going to.
• 42:00
  Speaker 3: Figure this out.
• 42:03
  Speaker 6: And in a very scary moment, that's really all you
• 42:06
  Speaker 6: really have at that particular second, you know, is that
• 42:09
  Speaker 6: it's in the scariest moment of your life, you leaving behind.
• 42:12
  Speaker 6: And under, you know, of course, COVID and so many
• 42:14
  Speaker 6: things going on, but still you had, you know, taken
• 42:17
  Speaker 6: a fork in your road there. You know, I've, in
• 42:21
  Speaker 6: your story, this is an interesting question coming from us
• 42:24
  Speaker 6: here in the U.S.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: To you. And that is.
• 42:27
  Speaker 6: that from our side, I've heard that you have referred
• 42:30
  Speaker 6: quite often to English literature as being an influence in
• 42:33
  Speaker 6: your career, not only from the perspective of a Jane
• 42:36
  Speaker 6: Austen or a Charles Dickens or any of those things.
• 42:40
  Speaker 6: You know, I wanted to ask you this. What do
• 42:43
  Speaker 6: they do differently than the richness of what Indian literature
• 42:48
  Speaker 6: has done? And not to say that this is you know,
• 42:50
  Speaker 6: any better or not, but it's a different school to me.
• 42:53
  Speaker 6: And I think that you kind of found that as well.
• 42:55
  Speaker 6: But what were some of the virtues in the storytelling
• 42:58
  Speaker 6: that came from the West that influenced your work right now?
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 43:03
  Speaker 5: So I have read most of my Western writers when
• 43:08
  Speaker 5: I was in school.
• 43:09
  Speaker 3: Okay. And when I went to college, somebody.
• 43:12
  Speaker 5: And I started participating in, because I used to write
• 43:15
  Speaker 5: in Hindi.
• 43:16
  Speaker 3: So honestly, apart from the.
• 43:18
  Speaker 5: Fact that I relate to what I feel, I've been reading,
• 43:21
  Speaker 5: what I've read in school, and I've also read a
• 43:24
  Speaker 5: lot more, but I wouldn't say I've read a lot
• 43:27
  Speaker 5: of West, you know, this side of the world. Because
• 43:31
  Speaker 5: once I sort of started reading in Hindi, once I
• 43:34
  Speaker 5: started reading in my language, I related the most there.
• 43:39
  Speaker 3: Because it felt like I know the roads that they're
• 43:41
  Speaker 3: talking about. I know the homes that they're talking about.
• 43:44
  Speaker 3: My influence completely, completely changed when I was, you know,
• 43:49
  Speaker 3: I was in college. I was in my.
• 43:51
  Speaker 5: Late teens and then my early twenties. I stopped reading
• 43:54
  Speaker 5: everything else. And I started reading my side of the writers.
• 43:57
  Speaker 5: I started reading Manto. I started reading Amrita Peethamji.
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
• 44:03
  Speaker 5: Then I never returned to, you know, fiction of the West, honestly.
• 44:09
  Speaker 3: I stayed there.
• 44:11
  Speaker 10: Yeah.
• 44:13
  Speaker 5: I think what impacted me more, honestly, was my change
• 44:17
  Speaker 5: of language in my college life. It impacted me more
• 44:20
  Speaker 5: because it felt like I'm hearing a story that is mine,
• 44:24
  Speaker 5: that is more mine. For example, when you hear a
• 44:28
  Speaker 5: dialogue from Hindi or a road of Bombay or something
• 44:33
  Speaker 5: happening in Indore, you know that it is around you,
• 44:35
  Speaker 5: you know that this is my kind of a story.
• 44:37
  Speaker 5: So honestly, that impacted me more and that impacted my
• 44:40
  Speaker 5: work more.
• 44:41
  Speaker 23: Yeah, I.
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: I gather that.
• 44:45
  Speaker 6: I also see when you're performing, by the way, that
• 44:49
  Speaker 6: there are so many different layers of work, not only
• 44:52
  Speaker 6: from the sense of literature, but delivery, the vocal influences
• 44:56
  Speaker 6: that are there, the cadence, how you work with the audience.
• 45:00
  Speaker 6: I mean, it's just magic to me, right? As a
• 45:05
  Speaker 6: performer watching another performer, you know, we're both here on
• 45:08
  Speaker 6: the radio together, as you are back in India on MyFM.
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: Shout out to MyFM. And shout out to your show.
• 45:16
  Speaker 6: But, you know, when I see that element of you
• 45:18
  Speaker 6: being a performer on stage, to me, that is a
• 45:22
  Speaker 6: really qualitative factor.
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: As to how you do what you do.
• 45:26
  Speaker 6: You know, when you talk about on stage performance element
• 45:29
  Speaker 6: of this, the written word is the engine of what
• 45:32
  Speaker 6: you do.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: And then you have this, you know.
• 45:34
  Speaker 6: Stage performance, let's just call it, let's just call it
• 45:37
  Speaker 6: the presentation element of this. Give me some influences in
• 45:40
  Speaker 6: that area that people may not necessarily have known that
• 45:44
  Speaker 6: you have borrowed from or you have gained from in
• 45:46
  Speaker 6: terms of.
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: Watching them perform.
• 45:48
  Speaker 6: And one would obviously say that, yeah, there's got to
• 45:51
  Speaker 6: be a wide range of people there.
• 45:53
  Speaker 3: I have shot the right name.
• 45:56
  Speaker 5: Okay, right before I got famous, I was binge-watching Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,
• 46:02
  Speaker 5: and nobody has impacted me more than that show. I'll
• 46:05
  Speaker 5: be extremely honest.
• 46:07
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: I have.
• 46:10
  Speaker 9: I have.
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: I haven't seen... But carry on.
• 46:14
  Speaker 3: I am blown away. I am blown away. I was
• 46:17
  Speaker 3: blown away with that woman.
• 46:18
  Speaker 5: It's, you know.
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: And, okay, if you were asking about a work from
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: West that has impacted me more, that is Marvelous Must
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: of Mabel. That's her story. I just... I just felt like,
• 46:27
  Speaker 3: you know... it's the story of a female artist.
• 46:30
  Speaker 5: You know, she goes around, she performs, she does her
• 46:32
  Speaker 5: thing and she faces the challenges a woman faces. You know,
• 46:36
  Speaker 5: sometimes I'm also like, I wonder and I'm bothered by
• 46:39
  Speaker 5: the fact that how years later the issues are still.
• 46:41
  Speaker 3: The same, but they are.
• 46:44
  Speaker 5: And, and I, And I was so amazed and impressed
• 46:48
  Speaker 5: and I wanted to do everything, big and huge, you know.
• 46:52
  Speaker 5: In the end, there was a dialogue that she says that,
• 46:54
  Speaker 5: you know, they say ambition is an unattractive trait in
• 46:59
  Speaker 5: a woman, so be it. But you know what is
• 47:01
  Speaker 5: really unattractive? Waiting for a window to open for you,
• 47:04
  Speaker 5: waiting for wanting to do something, waiting for somebody to
• 47:07
  Speaker 5: give you a call while you should just wake up
• 47:09
  Speaker 5: and stand up and do it. You know, it's an amazing, amazing,
• 47:13
  Speaker 5: that show impacted me like anything.
• 47:14
  Speaker 3: And apart from that, while I was in college, I
• 47:17
  Speaker 3: used to perform a lot.
• 47:18
  Speaker 5: I used to do a lot of spoken word in
• 47:21
  Speaker 5: Delhi University.
• 47:22
  Speaker 3: In random colleges.
• 47:23
  Speaker 5: So my colleagues then have impacted me a lot.
• 47:26
  Speaker 3: You know, they've changed a lot.
• 47:28
  Speaker 5: They've taught me a lot about voice modulation, how to,
• 47:30
  Speaker 5: you know, how and when to raise your voice, how
• 47:34
  Speaker 5: and when not.
• 47:35
  Speaker 3: So these competitions have helped me a lot.
• 47:37
  Speaker 5: And then, of course, the stage, you know, it brings out...
• 47:40
  Speaker 5: the kind of magic in you that nobody else does.
• 47:43
  Speaker 5: When you are on stage, you discover yourself in a
• 47:45
  Speaker 5: different way. So I think there's a huge credit to
• 47:50
  Speaker 5: the energy.
• 47:51
  Speaker 3: That the stage carries, the aura, and when.
• 47:54
  Speaker 5: You have the responsibility, and when you have people watching you,
• 47:57
  Speaker 5: and when you have to do something, your brain does
• 47:58
  Speaker 5: some magic, your body does some magic, and I think
• 48:01
  Speaker 5: that cannot be explained.
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: It's beautiful.
• 48:05
  Speaker 6: And I have two questions. You've been so gracious with
• 48:08
  Speaker 6: your time. I wanted to thank you for this. I
• 48:10
  Speaker 6: just don't want to end this conversation just because it's
• 48:12
  Speaker 6: so awesome. I have two questions for you before we
• 48:14
  Speaker 6: let you go.
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 48:15
  Speaker 6: The first one is a very 30,000 foot up question.
• 48:20
  Speaker 6: When I say the following to you, close your eyes
• 48:24
  Speaker 6: and describe this genre that you are in right now,
• 48:27
  Speaker 6: five years from now.
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: What are you seeing?
• 48:29
  Speaker 3: Five years.
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: Yes, five years.
• 48:31
  Speaker 5: Oh, I see somebody doing venues like Madison Square Garden.
• 48:35
  Speaker 3: Okay, I see myself doing that also.
• 48:38
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 48:40
  Speaker 3: And I see.
• 48:41
  Speaker 5: Doing the big venues like Radio City, like Royal Opera.
• 48:46
  Speaker 5: I see us having alleged characters in mainstream television and
• 48:51
  Speaker 5: mainstream films.
• 48:53
  Speaker 3: I see more work and more brands and more advertisements
• 48:56
  Speaker 3: flowing to this form of art because it's beautiful.
• 49:01
  Speaker 5: You know, when you sort of tell a story about something,
• 49:04
  Speaker 5: it automatically has an advertisement sort of a selling point.
• 49:07
  Speaker 3: And I see more stability. And I see.
• 49:10
  Speaker 5: Thousands and thousands of people pursuing this art form, That
• 49:13
  Speaker 5: is something that I see.
• 49:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 49:18
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 49:18
  Speaker 6: Along the lines of this, this is my final question.
• 49:21
  Speaker 6: I love to ask this question to the great artists
• 49:25
  Speaker 6: like yourself. There is a young girl that is in
• 49:29
  Speaker 6: India somewhere right now. Let's just say that she is
• 49:33
  Speaker 6: in the hometown of Sri Ganga Nagar.
• 49:36
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: Back in Rochester.
• 49:38
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: And she is nine years old. She looks at you
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: with really big.
• 49:44
  Speaker 6: Eyes and says, wow, one day I want to be
• 49:47
  Speaker 6: like Naya. What advice would you give her?
• 49:49
  Speaker 3: To be fearless.
• 49:55
  Speaker 5: Because I wasn't given that advice much, honestly. I always
• 50:00
  Speaker 5: tell people that I was raised with a lot of
• 50:01
  Speaker 5: fear and of society and.
• 50:03
  Speaker 3: Of this and that.
• 50:05
  Speaker 5: I would just tell her that if she is fearless
• 50:08
  Speaker 5: and intelligent enough, she can do much more.
• 50:12
  Speaker 3: Than I ever do in my life. Because I know
• 50:15
  Speaker 3: how much courage.
• 50:17
  Speaker 5: That I have, you know, sort of built and I
• 50:21
  Speaker 5: need about a thousand more of it. So she just
• 50:23
  Speaker 5: needs to be fearless and she just needs to have
• 50:26
  Speaker 5: faith in herself and go ahead.
• 50:28
  Speaker 3: She can do it. Anybody can do it honestly.
• 50:32
  Speaker 6: First, thank you so much for sharing that. Mayop, thank
• 50:35
  Speaker 6: you so much for your time today. And for being
• 50:38
  Speaker 6: so gracious, we are fans in the biggest way, as
• 50:41
  Speaker 6: you can tell by us all pulling up to all
• 50:43
  Speaker 6: of your events and packing out every seat.
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: There's not one left.
• 50:46
  Speaker 6: You know, if we could ask you for a second
• 50:48
  Speaker 6: New York show, I bet we'd fill that one too.
• 50:50
  Speaker 3: But nevertheless, I'm going to surprise you with that.
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: Maybe, maybe.
• 50:56
  Speaker 6: Um, so thank you so much for joining me today
• 50:59
  Speaker 6: and best of luck with the remaining, uh, few weeks
• 51:02
  Speaker 6: or whatever week or two you got left here in
• 51:03
  Speaker 6: the U S and I hope, uh, you know, those,
• 51:06
  Speaker 6: those Mexican hot, Chili pepper sauces do well.
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: In Indian food. I hope they translate well to the
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: Indian food, too.
• 51:13
  Speaker 5: I hope so.
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: Thank you. The great Nayab Mida, everybody.
• 51:18
  Speaker 13: Yes.
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: No worries, Nayab.
• 51:19
  Speaker 6: We'll see you soon here across the U.S. What a
• 51:22
  Speaker 6: nice conversation that was. Shout out to Nayab Mida for that.
• 51:26
  Speaker 6: And now, folks, let's bring in our own Doita Dasgupta,
• 51:29
  Speaker 6: who joins us every day here on The Bridge as
• 51:32
  Speaker 6: part of our attempt to keep you up to date
• 51:35
  Speaker 6: on all these great artists that we have on the show.
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: How are you today, Doita?
• 51:40
  Speaker 24: Thanks, Sammy.
• 51:41
  Speaker 9: Hi, everyone.
• 51:42
  Speaker 24: This is Dhrita Dashgupta, your Ruckus Avenue Radio music correspondent,
• 51:45
  Speaker 24: back with some fun facts about your favorite artists. Canadian
• 51:49
  Speaker 24: rapper and producer Tesher rose to prominence through his unique
• 51:52
  Speaker 24: brand of genre-blending mashups and remixes on YouTube and SoundCloud.
• 51:57
  Speaker 24: Tesher released his debut original single Young Shah Rukh in 2020,
• 52:01
  Speaker 24: continuing his string of viral hits. Tesher and his music
• 52:05
  Speaker 24: are one and the same, a blend of two cultures.
• 52:08
  Speaker 24: As he draws on both the South Asian heritage and
• 52:10
  Speaker 24: the Western culture he grew up in, Tesher aims to
• 52:13
  Speaker 24: create music that resonates not only with the South Asian diaspora,
• 52:16
  Speaker 24: but with the global audience. Tesher's single, Jalebi Baby, has
• 52:20
  Speaker 24: taken the world and TikTok by storm and has made
• 52:23
  Speaker 24: history along the way. The multicultural song is a hit
• 52:27
  Speaker 24: in every way imaginable, with combined global streams surpassing 100
• 52:30
  Speaker 24: million in just the first year of release, and with
• 52:34
  Speaker 24: over 21,000 TikTok creations using the song, totaling in 95
• 52:38
  Speaker 24: million views. Jalebi Baby seemed to be the start of
• 52:41
  Speaker 24: an impending musical revolution.
• 52:43
  Speaker 3: Well, that's all from me.
• 52:45
  Speaker 24: Now back to you, Sammy.
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much, Torita.
• 52:50
  Speaker 6: Yeah, Tesher's been an interesting artist here in North America
• 52:53
  Speaker 6: and has done an amazing job of Keeping up with
• 52:56
  Speaker 6: the times and evolving his sound. He's a prophetic songwriter
• 53:00
  Speaker 6: and a music producer. And this new one that he
• 53:03
  Speaker 6: just dropped here last week is called Possession.
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: Hope you guys like it.
• 53:10
  Speaker 25: With your eyes, you cast a spell on me. You
• 53:14
  Speaker 25: make my head go up like a bar of liquor.
• 53:17
  Speaker 25: You call out to the whole world if you talk
• 53:20
  Speaker 25: to me in red. Take me along with you, take
• 53:24
  Speaker 25: me along with you.
• 53:25
  Speaker 10: Sweetheart, what do I tell you now? I'll fall for you.
• 53:29
  Speaker 26: Sweetheart, Dareda na main bhi jama.
• 53:42
  Speaker 27: Ye andhri raaton mein kai raaz.
• 53:47
  Speaker 28: Hai Woh kaatir nigaaon se koi bach.
• 53:55
  Speaker 11: Na sakay Ye andhri raaton mein kai raaz hai.
• 54:07
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Let me talk to you.
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: What are you supposed to be?
• 54:47
  Speaker 2: Another bad girl trying to get close to me?
• 54:49
  Speaker 26: I can sleep through your costume and read your mind
• 54:51
  Speaker 26: But I can't resist having a good time.
• 54:53
  Speaker 28: Do you feel me?
• 54:54
  Speaker 26: Don't tell me Don't tell me Don't tell me Don't
• 54:57
  Speaker 26: tell me Don't tell me Dardaana main bhi jama.
• 55:18
  Speaker 27: Jo bhi tumko paane mein Fana ho gaye Woh pagal diwanon.
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: Mein Mera naam.
• 55:31
  Speaker 11: Bhi hai Yeh andheri raton mein.
• 55:46
  Speaker 28: .
• 55:48
  Speaker 2: .
• 56:07
  Speaker 29: I tried to leave before You always blocked the door
• 56:15
  Speaker 29: You know all the reasons I can't fight.
• 56:19
  Speaker 28: You and my demons Let me go Let me go
• 56:29
  Speaker 28: Let me go.
• 56:48
  Speaker 6: And a big shout-out to Nayab Mida for joining us today.
• 56:52
  Speaker 6: And let me tell you what you just heard. You
• 56:55
  Speaker 6: heard a woman who refuses to let anyone call poetry
• 56:58
  Speaker 6: a niche. Nayab Mida takes that personally, and she calls
• 57:03
  Speaker 6: it her own fight. You heard how Rajkumari was born,
• 57:07
  Speaker 6: by accident. A 20-minute set, 30 or 40 tickets a show,
• 57:11
  Speaker 6: and then Muscurao goes viral overnight. 300 people buy tickets,
• 57:16
  Speaker 6: and she has one week... 17 handwritten pages, three and
• 57:20
  Speaker 6: a half hours on stage because she didn't know what
• 57:22
  Speaker 6: to cut.
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: So she kept everything.
• 57:25
  Speaker 6: And Ahmedabad stood on its feet. You heard the call
• 57:28
  Speaker 6: to her father after two and a half years at Infosys.
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: I heard you. Now hear me. If not now, then when?
• 57:36
  Speaker 6: And a father who said, go for it. Then COVID
• 57:39
  Speaker 6: took the job she left for. Two years without work.
• 57:43
  Speaker 6: She calls it a blessing. She cracked the code so
• 57:47
  Speaker 6: the next poet doesn't have to beg for a venue.
• 57:50
  Speaker 6: She planted a field of trees whose shade she may
• 57:53
  Speaker 6: never sit under. She planted a field of trees whose
• 57:56
  Speaker 6: shade she may never sit under. Thousands of poets will
• 58:15
  Speaker 6: walk through a door she opened and never know who
• 58:18
  Speaker 6: opened it. That's a pioneer. That's legacy already. And when
• 58:24
  Speaker 6: I asked her what she'd tell a nine-year-old girl in
• 58:26
  Speaker 6: Sri Ganga Nagar, she said, Be fearless! Because nobody told
• 58:31
  Speaker 6: her that. Nayab midda.
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: Nayab midda.
• 58:36
  Speaker 6: Give her the flowers. You heard it here on the bridge.
• 58:39
  Speaker 6: I hope you enjoyed today's conversation. I'll see you guys tomorrow.
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: And I'll leave you with Jasmanak. The song is called Kande.
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: See you tomorrow, everybody.
• 59:00
  Speaker 23: Aapta chal gaya naukri we mul pehde tooride Shaid minnu
• 59:06
  Speaker 23: dasna ni chonda ho Shaid hath rakhna hi chonda ho
• 59:10
  Speaker 23: Jaan jaan minnu tadfonda ho Lashan saari preet e gudi.
• 59:14
  Speaker 7: De Khaate kara ke dekya we vich dab gaya tooride
• 59:20
  Speaker 7: Aapta chal gaya.
• 59:22
  Speaker 10: Naukri we mul pehde Ve kohte utte.
• 59:26
  Speaker 23: Kaan bolda, minu haan bolda, kal van di taan sachana
• 59:34
  Speaker 23: Saanu ve tu naan bolke, dil jeer sutea, leer o
• 59:40
  Speaker 23: leer sutea
• 59:44
  Speaker 9: Thank you.