Vinod Rajput – my passion is my pension
By Neena Badhwar
Who does not know in Sydney or even Perth or in Adelaide, the name of Vinod Rajput. A gentle and down to earth soul who is not only a gentle man but one who has entertained us all with his one and only passion, singing, says he, “I retired from my job fifteen years ago and my pension is my passion.”
Vinod’s passion has kept him young and so also his followers and fans who flock to his concerts as he will sing any singer’s renditions ”“ Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore, even Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Malik or a K.L.Saigal’s or any other that people ask him to sing.
He is happy to carry small speakers, his laptop and a mike to bring to small gatherings ”“ a self-sufficient and a person who delivers you happiness through his singing which he has been doing he says since he was fourteen. “My father discouraged me from singing so I never sang though I kept it to my heart. Then when I was in year ten my teacher asked me to sing and I sang my first song for which I got 1 rupee. It was a lot in the year 1959.”
Vinod moved to Australia in 1970, first to Perth, then Adelaide and now to the good luck of Sydneysiders, he has been entertaining us all, young and the old. In Adelaide under the local Indian association’s Rasik Ranjini banner, Vinod used to have monthly music soirees and ran a band called Bhangaroo. Not only did he sing golden songs of fifties and sixties as the first people of India who have settled here their first love is of those unforgettable songs that were penned by Sahir Ludhianavi and Majrooh Sultanpuri. Vinod has gone and written his own lyrics as well and composed music for them. He produced albums such as ”˜Bhangaroo Magic’ and ”˜Tribute to Mukesh’. He also tries to make CD’s of his concerts and generously distributes to his fans some of his popular music shows he has sung along with Pushpa Jagdish, Dr. Reena Mehta and has built a talented band of senior musicians called ”˜Band Baaja’.
Vinod has sung in many concerts, events and raised funds for charity including one recently for the Rotary Club, Chandigarh, even sang in Ludhiana and Punchkula for the seniors.
Vinod has for The Indian Down Under sung in four house-packed shows ”“ first one was on K L Saigal, then Raj Kapoor, then Shammi Kapoor and lastly Dilip Kumar and hopefully next one would be to pay tribute to the beautiful Madhubala.
Vinod studied Geo Physics at Kharagpur IIT at his father’s insistence who he says was able to witness him finally in Australia when he visited him and went along to his concerts, he was happy that Vinod was doing well in his job as well as pursuing his passion.
One always wonders when they retire what to do with all the time one has spare to kill. For Vinod it was readymade he did not have to think even for a moment as his instruments became his friends and he is in great demand at events, social and private and also for charity. Before he goes anywhere his reputation reaches as when he went to London, his IIT friends asked him to hold a music evening there.
In India Vinod worked for Oil india and then with Woodside Petroleum, Australia and remembers he was part of the team which was involved in the first major gas discovery in the north-west shelf.
Vinod’s first song was Mukesh’s ”˜Hothon pe sachai rehti hai’ and one can say that the song truly depicts this talented singer of Sydney, the next line of the song ”˜ jahan dil mein safai rehti hai’ as Vinod is surely a man of ”˜pure heart’ who has given all of us pure pleasure through music we all love to listen.
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