Music best gift for our teachers, say Bollywood musicians

New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) From composing a tune to singing a song to giving financial help, Bollywood musicians are set to say thank you to their gurus in many different ways on Teachers Day Saturday.

'I will compose a special song to dedicate to all my gurus. I will not only sing my guru's praise in the song, but it will also fetch praises for my guru from listeners for guiding us so well,' singer Sukhwinder Singh told IANS.

'On this special day, I will give him a reason to be happy for accepting me as his shishya (pupil). It is the guru who fine tunes your calibre and capabilities.'

Versatile playback singer Sunidhi Chauhan said: 'I think the best gift to give my teachers would be singing a song.'

In India, Teachers Day is celebrated Sep 5 every year as a tribute to late president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was a zealous advocate of education and one of the greatest scholars and teachers of all times. He was also India's first vice president.

There are some musicians who believe there is no way you can repay your teacher for their guidance and support. So the best way to make them happy is to follow their teachings sincerely.

'My teacher or guru is like my god. I can never repay god for whatever he has given me, similarly I can never repay my teacher for what he has taught me. The best thing I can do is to follow his teachings and make him proud. That's what I'm trying to do,' said Kailash Kher, the singer who was catapulted to fame with his hit song 'Allah ke bande'.

Young singer Javed Ali, who has crooned numbers like 'Guzarish' ('Ghajini'), 'Arziyan' ('Delhi 6') and 'Jashn-e-bahaara' ('Jodha Akhbar') resonates similar feelings.

'I will gift my teacher my dedication and lifelong commitment to music. Anything else will be too small,' he said.

Sarod player Amaan Ali Khan, who is the son of sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, wants to do something very different.

'Till date I have not been able to make a raga, which will be the best gift to give my teacher since that will show that I have followed his teachings well. Making good compositions are the best gift I can give to my teacher. It's far from materialistic things, but I know that's something that will make him immensely happy,' Amaan told IANS.

But musicians like Annu Malek and Raghav Sachchar have a different plan - while the former would love to give financial aid to his teacher, the latter wants to gift his teacher an Iphone so that he can listen to music anytime.

'I read an article that said a few students in Chennai got together and contributed money to buy a house for their teacher. I would like to financially help my teachers, if they need any such help,' said Malek

Sachchar said: 'I want to buy an Iphone so that my teacher can listen to his favourite music any time and I can be in touch with him at all the time.'