NE NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON, OCT 3
On the occasion of the 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian diplomat stationed here has come up with an inspirational musical tribute, urging the apostle of peace to come to this world again to help people navigate through the difficult times.
Composed and sung by 2008-batch Indian Foreign Service official Sambhu Hakki, the Hindi song “Bapu Mere: A musical tribute to Mahatma Gandhi” was screened at an Indian Embassy event to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti on October 2.
“Our Bapu (Mahatma), please come to this world again. Help us to navigate through these difficult times. Show us the path of truth, teach us truth and non-violence. You are the messiah of peace,” says the English translation of the song.
Currently posted as First Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Washington, Hakki, who hails from Karnataka, has previously served at the Indian Embassy in China.
The lyrics of the song was written by Neeraj Saini, who also works at the Indian Embassy here.
“A tribute to Gandhiji, beautifully written, composed and sung by my two colleagues,” India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu said in a tweet.
During the event, he congratulated the two officials for the musical tribute.
The song has also been released on several popular online music platforms such as YouTube Music, iTunes and Spotify.
“This song is also dedicated to the memory of Jeffrey Bauer, a friend and a great pianist at the Gandhi Memorial Centre who passed away recently,” Hakki said.
Hakki is also a practitioner of Hindustani music. He has also learnt basic piano and guitar and has keen interest in different music traditions of the world.
“I am passionate about composing music and want to experiment with different genres of Indian and Western music traditions,” he said.
The song, loosely based on Raag Kamaaz or Mishr Khamaj, is one of the melodies that are part of his upcoming music album “Jashn-e-Zindagi (Life is a celebration)”.
