Mumbai, April 4, 2025: Nobody came to Borivali’s Chikuwadi on Friday expecting to dance. They danced anyway. The second day of Mumbai Samachar’s ‘Mathrubhasha Bhagwat Saptah’ was already three hours deep into Bhaishri Rameshbhai Oza’s spiritual discourse by afternoon. Thousands had been sitting, listening, absorbing. Then Padma Shri Kailash Kher walked on stage with his Kailasa Band and the sitting stopped.
He opened with Kaga Sab Tan Khaiyo, Main To Tere Pyaar Mein Deewana Ho Gaya, and Aaoji Aaoji. Warm-up songs, essentially. Then he paused and told the crowd something personal.
“Borivali and I go back a long way,” he said. “When I first came to Mumbai in 2002, Borivali station was where I got off. My career began in 2006. Twenty years later, I’m back performing in the same place I’m grateful for that.” He spoke about the event too, calling it unlike anything else. “The mother tongue is not merely a name. We must not forget our roots. People here are getting Bhaiji’s wisdom alongside music. That’s like fragrance blending into gold.” Then the music took over.
Tauba Tauba pushed the temperature up. When Kaise Batayein Kyun Tujhko Chahen came on, people were holding phones in the air, reading lyrics off their screens, mouthing every word. Kher read the room and moved straight into Preet Ki Lat Mohe Aisi Lagi. The dome, already warm, got warmer.
Then he said he had a surprise.
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“Surprise ki pudiya khol raha hoon” and launched into the Gujarati folk number He Ranglo Jamyo Kalandarine Ghaat. The crowd broke. Young, elderly, didn’t matter nobody was sitting anymore. Age, it turned out, had nothing to do with it.
For the finale, he asked everyone to switch on their phone torches. “This hall should look like a stadium,” he said. It did.
Closing with his signature humor, Kher acknowledged Mumbai Samachar editor Nilesh Dave “What a Dubey is in North India, a Dave is in Gujarat a scholar of two Vedas. He edits Asia’s oldest newspaper.” Chief sponsor Saurabh Mehta of Skyline Infra and his wife Ishita Mehta, co-sponsors Rameshbhai Parekh of Gandhar Group of Companies and Santosh Singh of Showbiz Events, along with Jignesh Bhuta of Hitech Events, Dr. Yogesh Lakhani of Bright Outdoor, Raju Savla, and Vijay Shah were all recognized for making the evening possible.
One last thing before leaving the stage he turned to the dignitaries seated behind him, told them to forget their titles, and started singing Ye Duniya Ut Patanga, Kith Hath Te Kithe Tanga. Every one of them got up and joined in.
