Ring ring, why don’t you give me a call…
Kashif Harrison
It’s always been about first love for me! Pehla nasha, pehla khumaaar type, no wonder I love that song so much! My first love story was with this 8-year-old girl. I was probably nine or ten myself. She looked at me and then guitars started playing in the background just like Main Hoon Na!
To cut a long story short, she ended up with my best friend. Ouch. I never could tell her how I felt, so she still doesn’t know! I even gifted her my favourite toy (Woody from Toy Story) that’s how seriously I loved her. Clearly, as you have probably gathered from my flirty shows, I am not shy anymore!
In 2013, I fell in love for the first time again and this time it was – and still is – with my first ever iPhone! Uff, the times I was standing, waiting for the phone… itna kuch agar kisi ladki ke liye kiya hota I would’ve been married abhi. Took me good four months of waiting to get mera wala phone lekin, woh kehte hain na, agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho to saari kayanath tumhe usse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai. Om Shanti Om, I can vouch for the truth in this!
Me and my phone are so happy together and now. I’m waiting for another first, hopefully it won’t be an iPhone this time!
Yummo!
Neelam Vasudevan
“Yummy, delicious, tasty, fantastic, awesome!” rave my kids. “Think we could make these more often?”
Oh yes we can!
Thanks to you, shining beauty, I finally get to make a much loved family favourite at home now. For years I have only been able to experience that delicious taste outside the house, and really wondered when I could lay my hands on you. See, I thought it was only an expert that could handle you. Now I can too. A gift from my family, and finally I have you. You make the best golden waffles.
I LOVE this machine! Never knew a kitchen gadget could make me fall in love with it! #waffles #wafflemaker
Zen and the art of…
Manoj Menon
On my weekly show Kashish on Monday evenings, I talk a fair bit about romance. Often listeners say to me, kabhi apna pehla pyar ke bare mein to batao!
To yeh lijiye…. Mera pehla pyaar, mera bike tha.
I am going back down memory lane, 1992 to be precise. I bought my new Suzuki Samurai when it was launched. It was a bright metallic red colour and I still remember how excited I was when I was taking it out of the showroom.
If you’re a bike lover like me, you’ll agree that the thrill you get from riding your bike, you can never get from driving your car!
I was very possessive about my bike. Nobody was allowed to touch it, not even my brother. One of my first jobs in the morning was to clean my beloved bike. And each evening I would ride out to the pani puri stall, not getting off even to eat my cherished late afternoon snack.
The bike was definitely my jeevan saathi.
On one occasion, I returned from shopping to find the object of my affections missing from its usual spot. Frantic, I ran about like a crazed man looking for it. I searched my pockets for the keys… and then remembered, I had put the bike in for servicing!
When I left India for New Zealand in 1999, I had to make the painful decision of selling my pyaari bike. As I gave her up and returned home in an auto-rickshaw, I couldn’t help but shed a few silent tears. The next morning, out of sheer habit, I ventured outside as usual to give the thing a clean, only to find, she was mine no more (sniff).
I still miss my first love, my Suzuki Samurai. Today I drive a sleek Mercedes Benz, which I love dearly, but it will never take the place of my cherished bike. Shayad isilye kehte hain, ke kisi bhi cheez se itna mohabbat na karo ke uske chale jaane ke baad uski kami mehsoos ho.
Elementary, my dear Priyanka!
Priyanka Tater
He was the smartest man I had known – sharp, astute, and intelligent (that’s an understatement); he had the powers of logic and reasoning, with microscopic eyesight, impeccable observation and the absolute ability to understand, deduce and conclude anything with perfect accuracy.
I followed every move, every act, every incident that happened in his life and simply couldn’t stop adoring him, loving him and idolising him. Once, I even thought of taking up his profession, just to be like him, but then realised that some professions require an IQ above 200! Alright, many of you may have known him too, and many may have shared similar emotions, but I don’t care, as long as I know that he was my first love. I only wish he had come out of those pages, bent down on his knees and… Had that happened, I probably would have been living in 221B Baker Street, London.
Well, for now he lives in my study and has a very special place in my heart.
You’re mine (with apologies to Beyoncé)
Uzma Beg
You can’t call him my first love, but he mostly definitely is a huge love of my life. If I call him the biggest love of my life, the real, true love of my life may throw both me and him out of the house!
It most definitely was NOT love at first sight… In fact his close shave and emaciated body actually put me off completely when I first laid eyes on him. He was so shy he wouldn’t even acknowledge all the effort I was making to get him! I tried to hold him, cuddle him, kiss him, but it was like throwing myself at a brick wall. I got nothing!
Not a believer in unrequited love, I decided to persist and made deadlier moves to attract him to me. Either our love story was meant to be or The Force up there felt sorry for me. After much convincing and cajoling I finally got a kiss! My first kiss from him, how can I ever forget! I was instantly engulfed in the warmth of his love and wanted to make him mine!
Love like this is hard to find; this relationship had to be made official.
I had made the decision to be with him and he had decided he wanted me. The only thing standing between us was paperwork. I impatiently got the red tape out of the way, nothing was going to stop us now.
We took off in our car, gazing into each other’s eyes, both excited to start our lives together. It was truly magical.
Opening the door to the house for him seemed so natural… opening my heart to him, easy.
He came into the house, curiously checking out every room and corner. Then he came towards me with trusting eyes that melted my heart. I could have cried with joy! He stopped near my precious mirror at the entrance, lifted one leg… and peed!
Oh, Triggy! It was going so well… Why didn’t they potty train you at the RSPCA?
For my ears only
Sagar Mehrotra
One thing that I have absolutely fallen in love with is my Sennheiser headphones. It sure beats the noise of the outside world. I have always been fascinated with that cool look, wearing the headphones for radio. It’s the “in your face” presentation that makes it a LOT of fun. That’s my recent Valentine’s love and I guess it’s gonna last forever now.
If music be the food of love…
Anup Kumar
There can be no doubt about what my first love is… it’s music! It always has been. I love all types of music, and you’ll always catch me humming or singing or listening to something, depending on what my mood is. You could perhaps tell my mood, based on the kind of music I’m with, at any given time!
When I arrived in Australia many years ago, I brought with me, carefully packed, my treasured collection of cassettes. My dream was to one day play these songs on air, sharing my love with anyone who cared to listen.
Today, having spent the last ten years with Indian Link Radio, I sit back and reflect on my journey so far in radio and music and what it all has meant and what it still means.
You know what my best radio moments are? Just jockey-ing! Just being able to get on air and play the hits, the jingles, take requests, and just have fun talking between the songs, with a sher or two thrown in, of course accompanied by background instrumental music.
Nothing makes you feel more alive – no matter what side of the radio you’re on, as long as the music doesn’t stop.