Who is the most romantic of us all? Three men along with their wives are sitting in a circle and mulling over this question. One man blurts out that he has forgotten about today being Valentine’s Day.The second one asserts that V-Day is nothing but a commercial trap. The third smugly points to the bouquet of flowers on the table. Before the other two men congratulate him, his wife is quick to remind him that she had goaded him that morning into buying the bouquet for her as a gesture!

Love is in the air and Valentine’s Day has come to stay, whether people like it or not. Some express their love through gifts, some with words yet music continues to be one of the easiest forms of expression when it comes to all matters of the heart.

If music be the food for love, then play on. The bard of Avon believed that the two had a strong connection. He also had me thinking how love was expressed in different Indian languages. One of the top hits last year for Indian music on YouTube was a breezy romantic song that featured Bollywood hunk Hrithik Roshan and Sonam Kapoor. The entire song Dheere Dheere Se by Yo Yo Honey Singh seemed like a Mills and Boon story played musically on the screen.

Love is a popular theme in Indian movies and there are innumerable songs that reflect the different facets of the emotion. The song Hum Tere Bin Abh Raha Nahi Sakte by Arijit Singh from the movie Aashique 2 never fails to bring tears to the eyes. It has a certain pathos to it and makes one yearn for the unattainable. While Hum Tere Bin is relatively a new song, Tujhe Dekha To Yeh Jana Sanam sung by Kumar Sanu and Lata Mangeshkar from the blockbuster 1995 Hindi movie Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge continues to be the eternal favourite love song for several generations.

Premayil Naanum is a rollback to the golden melodies of old Tamil movie songs. It was a love song sung by two legendary Carnatic musicians MS Subbalakshmi and GN Balasubramaniam onscreen who played the lead roles in the movie Shakuntalai.

The immortal love between Radha and Krishna is highlighted in the magnum opus of Jayadev – Geet Govind. One of the songs from this lyrical work Priye Charusheele is sung by Ghantashala in this episode.

When one falls in love in a moment, how is the sentiment expressed in Kannada? M.D.Pallavi captures this moment in her song Onde Baari Nanna Nodi.

So sit back and enjoy listening to love songs in different languages. It’s time to smell the roses!

To listen to these songs on the show RaagTime Episode 11 – Love Songs on WCRS LP Columbus Radio Community click here.