While writing this, I am listening to Zubeen Garg sing Assamese songs. To think that till a couple of days back I hadn’t even heard of him!

That reminds me, some time last year, the First Born overheard some song or other from my playlist and wanted to know how I happened to find the song. Perhaps the song—I don’t remember now which one—is from a generation much younger than mine, hence his curiosity.

“I must have heard it somewhere or other and liked it, so added it to my playlist,” I replied.

Frankly, I had absolutely no recollection about how the song happened to be in my collection.

You see, sometimes while watching shows on OTT, some songs catch my attention. Then there are songs on Instagram reels that force me to stop mid-scroll and send me on a quest to find them. While searching for songs, I stumble upon more songs and singers I had no idea about till then. That’s how the compilation grows.

What’s funny though is sometimes it is from the sons’ playlists that I find new songs to my liking, especially when they play their music on long drives. With the Shazam App in hand, I don’t even have to ask them to identify the song for me.

But

I didn’t find Zubeen Garg in any of these ways.

Right now, I am reading a book called The House With A Thousand Stories by Aruni Kashyap.

“What’s this about books, Shail?” I can hear my readers asking me at this point. “If you remember, you were talking to us of songs!’

Bear—but do not bare—with me, good people. All will be clear in the next couple of paragraphs.

So, back to the book. Come to think of it, I have absolutely no idea when I bought it or even what prompted me to buy it in the first place. Perhaps it is my interest in reading about different places, people and cultures. Or was it that someone had recommended the book to me? Your guess is as good as mine.

Whatever the reason, suffice to say that when I opened Kindle, intending to choose a new book to read, there it was in the unread books section. I was not disappointed. Assam, a place I have never been to, its people and the difficult times they lived in, all came to life for me.

Somewhere towards the end of the book, the storyteller mentions a song by Zubeen Garg, giving just the English translation of a few lines from an Assamese song. Out of idle curiosity, I searched—what’s Google for, anyway?—and found the singer and his songs.

Yes, I liked some of his songs and have added them to my playlist too. So, there it is, a novel way to find songs for my playlist. Pun unintended 🙂

©️ Shail Mohan 2026