Note: This blog isn’t really much about Arijit Singh and his Nepal concert; it’s mostly about a guy who you don’t know and don’t give a damn about.
Ever since the announcement was made earlier this year in July that Arijit Singh will be performing for the first time in Nepal soon, Ravi Bhattarai — one of the hundreds of thousands Nepali fans of currently (arguably) the biggest Indian singer — was looking forward to the day. The date for the concert was later set; and so were the ticket prices; that was when Ravi realized that he is not gonna be able to afford to attend the event that he really, really wanted to.
‘Phir Le Aaya Dil’ and ‘Aayat’ were some of many Arijit Singh songs that Ravi had been singing and humming for years — even while he was working as an InDrive rider, taking his customers to places. He had always wanted to be a singer and even got trained for it as he spent two years learning the art at Swarangini Music Academy.
The 23-year-old student from Sarlahi comes from a humble background who uses his cousin’s motorbike, whenever free, to do these rides. Apart from making some living (to some extent) for himself, he has also been trying to save some money so he can get himself a simple recording setup. Until two weeks ago, making some content for an educational consultancy was also helping him earn a few more bucks — which isn’t going anywhere post the TikTok ban; so yeah, there was no way he could get a ticket to that concert that were priced at 6500, 11000, 19000 and wait for it — 50,000 for the VVIP ones.
And then the day was here, November 25th. So our boy still went to the venue so he could at least hear one of his favorite singers sing some of the songs that he had admired for years. And it was not just him, there were thousands all around the venue who were there to hear the ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’ singer and maybe, get a glimpse of him.
All the nearby restaurants and even houses were full of people too. Ravi was still looking for a better spot from where he could witness this concert and then realized that there were around a dozen of buses there and people were going up to the roof from where they could actually see this thing. When inquired, he found out that 200 bucks will get you that bus roof ticket and well, finally a ticket that he could actually afford. Each of these buses had around fifteen people on the roof; yeah I know, you are already doing the math.
“I loved every moment of it. I was actually seeing Arijit Singh perform live right in front of my eyes. Unbelievable”, said Ravi. “People were enjoying and dancing so much that that windows of some buses even got cracked when they started jumping.”
It really was a dream come true (at least one of them) moment for Ravi. Some of his other dreams also include making music of his own. But lately, the reality check has been hitting him bad; the responsibility of being the only son with the pressure of making a good living for his family has him looking for his options to go abroad.
I hope whatever he does, he will be able to keep himself and his family happy. He has got a YouTube channel where he posts all kind of stuff – music related and otherwise. I am sure it would mean a lot to him if you check his channel out; and may be follow him on Instagram as well, or is that too much to ask? You decide.
Ravi’s current favorite Nepali singer is Sujan Chapagain and he hopes that he will be able to see him perform live soon.
Alright, enough about this guy. Wanna see some cool pictures from the concert? I’ve got them, courtesy of Prashanna Bajracharya from untitled.np — you got that right, the same folks that make some rad music videos.
So.Many.People — Official numbers are not out yet; but gotta be somewhere between 15-20k, hola teti ta, hoina ra?
See, I told you, I’ve got some cool pics.
Another one (in DJ Khaled’s voice)
Prashanna told me that it was a “magical night” and he had never seen such production in Nepal before. What do you mean, Prashanna who? I told you earlier, the photographer of all these photos.
Whoa!
Such a vibe!
Happy Tihar, y’all. Gai sakyo vanera kaha huncha; maile vandiye ni Happy Tihar, so Happy Tihar.
Oh shit! Almost forgot, Arijit Singh was there too.
Jokes apart, he is a solid guy — hella talented but still humble af!
I can seriously do this all day, I’ve got a Google Drive full of these pictures but I am sure you must be busy; so go do your thing and I’ll do mine.
By the way, big ups to Garage Entertainment and MN Events for making this happen. Keep it up, folks!
