Advertise on podcast: Gayati. Live. Breathe. Sing! Informal singing by Gauri Varma

Composed by the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar in the 19th century, using his pen name 'Aashiq Rang', this beautiful Bandish pays homage to Sufi Pir Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and at the same time, nostalgically describes the unique beauty of spring in Zafar's beloved homeland of India, a magical time when golden mustard and 'tesu' flowers bloom in lush forests, the mango trees blossom preparing to fruit, the koel sings, and young, fair maidens beautify themselves. A 'maalin' (woman gardener) brings an earthen pot and plants an array of flowers in it to take as an offering to the door of Khwaja Nizamuddin. Zafar remembers his promise to visit that hallowed doorway, a promise made a long time before, which he was unable to fulfill. My amateur rendition is based on Raag Shahaana Bahaar, in the style of the Agra Gharaana.

I have attempted a haunting love song with tender and sad lyrics. Two people who were deeply in love with an ethereal sort of love are separated by circumstances. But their love stays alive within their hearts and though they will probably never be together in the 'real world', they continue to commune through their thoughts and dreams and remain connected at a subliminal level. Originally sung by Pakistani singer Shuja Haider in 2014, the song was reworked as a longer, more complex duet directed by Haider and sung by Momina Mustehsan and Asim Azhar in Coke Studio Season 9 in 2016. The lyrics are unusual as is the melody in its use of varying rhythms and tempos. The song demonstrates an interesting fusion of Western and semi classical music. I have attempted a much simplified version of the duet as a solo, primarily vocal rendition with only a Tanpura accompaniment.

I have attempted a traditional Christian chant that goes back to the early centuries of the Christian era. It is in Latin and rejoices in the birth of Christ. It was incorporated into the formal Catholic liturgy by Poper Gregory but its early renditions predate his time. The chant says that Christ is born today and therefore the angels and archangels rejoice on earth today. All the just and righteous too rejoice saying, 'Glory to God in the Highest'.

I have attempted a beautiful, traditional wedding song which is rooted in the villages of the North Indian Gangetic Plain. Ascribed to 14th century music maestro, poet and Sufi Khwaja Amir Khusrau, the charming, lilting folk melody and lyrics go back centuries and such songs have been sung in the villages of this region for centuries. Amir Khusrau would have been inspired by current rural wedding songs and rituals when he composed this. The poignant song expresses the sentiments of a young bride-to-be addressing her beloved and large-hearted father. She asks him to find the sturdiest greenest bamboos to construct the wedding pavilion or mandwa in the courtyard of her paternal home and to celebrate her wedding with great splendour. She asks him to summon all the local astrologers to set an auspicious time, to invite all the local notables and to send her off with horses, elephants, parrots, gold, money and other valuables so that her mother-in-law doesn't taunt her that she came from her father's home without even a comb for her hair. She says that the threshold of her father's home is a mountain that she must find the courage to cross. Once crossed, she will enter the land of her husband and will not be able to return to her father's home.

I have attempted a favourite, traditional wedding song, probably sung for centuries by women of the Gangetic plains, especially in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The lyrics describe how that day is an auspicious one for Ayodhya and the joyous preparations that are taking place in that ancient city as Prince Ram is about to become a groom. The inhabitants plaster their courtyards and kitchens with cleansing cowdung. The priceless 'gaj-moti' or elephant-pearl is in evidence, a sign of the royal prince's splendour and power. A golden 'kalash' or pot is ritually installed in the marriage courtyard and a clay pitcher of water is placed , invoking the divine energy of the Goddess to bless the wedding rituals that are to commence. The youthful groom comes and sits on the low wooden stool or 'chauki' and ekders bless him by showering handfuls of pearls upon him.

I have attempted a favourite Punjabi folk song with Sufi tones. A simple rustic woman expresses her deep selfless love for her handsome lover or 'soneya'. She says that she prays daily to God for his wellbeing and wants nothing else. Her lover has given her so much joy that she is filled with gratitude and wants nothing but to live and die at his feet. She wants him to fully enjoy the prime of his life as Time waits for no one in this world. She prays that if his death is destined before hers, God should take her life instead, as it is her desire that her lover's hands prepare her grave.

On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, I am singing this simple, joyous, popular Hindi bhajan which is infused with loving devotion. The elephant-headed God of auspicious beginnings is fondly invited to enter our homes and bring along other beloved gods with Him, including the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh as also Sita, Ram and Lakshman. Lord Ganesh is asked to bless the home, remove all obstacles and shower his blessings on all its inhabitants.

I have attempted a favourite love song written and sung by Neil Diamond in 1972. Its intense lyrics can be varyingly interpreted: is he singing of an exceptional love between a man and a woman, or the soulful bond between himself and his guitar (music) or then the spiritual yearning and love between the soul and Divinity? I could not provide the beautiful guitarwork that enrichens his song, so choose to sing without any instrument, which undoubtedly takes away from the beauty and rhythm of the song, but nevertheless, I have made an attempt as I love its lyrics.

I have attempted a favourite Bhajan praising Lord Hanuman, the Shri Hanuman Lahari, composed in the 16th century by the mystic poet Goswami Tulsidas. This version was popularized by the singers Rajan and Sajan Mishra. This Stuti is replete with sentiments of Bhakti or loving devotion and extolls Hanuman who is the personification Himself of selfless devotion to Sita-Ram, endowed with strength, courage and compassion.

I have attempted a favourite song from the Hindi film Junoon (1979), which evokes some.charming scenes traditionally associated with a North Indian monsoon, especially in rural communities. Set to a lilting folksy melody, the lyrics in the colloquial Hindi of Uttar Pradesh describe the feelings that the dark clouds and cool breezes of the monsoon evoke in a young woman, after the searing heat of the Indian summer. The monsoon weather makes her romantic and playful. The singer describes how the buds of the jasmine and bela flowers begin to open in this season and release their heady fragrance. Tree branches sway with the movement of rope swings as the singer and other young women swing joyfully, their green 'chunaris' refusing to stay demurely on their heads, while their bangles tinkle as they move. The singer can't escape the rain and doesn't want to. Apparently complaining, she actually is enjoying getting drenched in the courtyard and terrace of her home. What is more, her lover's bed (placed in the courtyard or terrace as was the practice in the warm weather) also gets soaked in the gently falling showers of the monsoon along with her crisp, dry cotton chunari.

I have attempted a chant of six sacred Sanskrit verses termed the Nirvana Shatakam or the Atma Shatakam, composed by ancient Indian saint and Guru Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century AD. The verses describe the profound nature of the Supreme Blissful Consciousness or 'Shiv' that is, in fact, identical with the individual Soul or 'Jiva'. A beautiful poetic exposition of the Vedantic philosophy of Advait (Non Dualism), the verses describe Shiv as that unchanging Consciousness that is complete in itself, beyond the body, mind, emotions, attachments, desires, social relationships, Nature, religion, sin, virtue, death and even salvation. And all individual souls are its reflection and therefore also indestructible and sacred. The inner realisation of this essential Unity is true spiritual Liberation.

I have attempted a favourite song from the Hindi film Tamaasha' (2015) which has beautiful and unusual lyrics by Irshad Kamil. The song in the film is a duet in which a woman expresses her wish to always be together with her lover because his presence completes her and causes any sorrows that come her way to slip away. She is immersed in her longing to be with him through the daily hustle-bustle of each passing day and wishes that she could find a way to make hin stay with her a few more moments each time she sees him Her lover however, while attracted to her, seems to cynically question the adequacy of their togetherness to actually take away from the painful realities of life, which must be faced regardless of whether they are together or not.