January 16, 2011Neeraj Bhushan

Neelesh Misra: The Pied Piper

TV on the Radio. Image copyright Neelesh Misra. Graphics by Neeraj Bhushan.This is TV. No, this is Radio. THIS IS TV. Nooooo, this is radio.

Well, you may confront yourself likewise if you happen to switch to 92.7 BIG FM at 9 p.m.

At dot, you are seduced to walk down the memory lane, by a voice so very own.

This is the time when India’s first ever radio show of its kind is heating up heartbeats in 35 cities – Monday to Friday – as Neelesh Misra begins telling stories of the imaginary cities that he’s created, for you. The programme is called Yaad Sheher wherein you are promised some favourite numbers for one full hour. Simply ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

I asked Neelesh, “9 p.m. Prime Time !!!” “Yes”, he replied with confidence, “I’m trying my best.” He indeed is; and people are responding too. At 9, when they have hundreds of TV stations to choose from, viewers are turning into listeners, to hear some beautiful, intoxicating narrations, to re-live nostalgia.

yaad shehar with Neelesh MisraAnd you feel so content and composed as Neelesh takes you back in time, narrating stories of his childhood, growing up in a small town, leaving home, making it big, his isolation and the pain of migration. He shares his experiences with you and strikes a chord with the individuals who have led similar lives. He says, “All of us, in some way or the other, are part of the imaginary city Yaad Sheher.” Yes, this town indeed is a world of some golden memories; memories that every individual wants to relive and hold on to.

Having covered war, tsunami, militancy, flood, earthquake and naxalism, Neelesh has personally felt the rock-solid conscience of the nation and here, in ‘Yaad Sheher’, he tries to take the magma out to comfort his listeners.

His narratives cascade through times and cities as he emerges as a fine story teller, an art he learnt while working with the American news agency Associated Press, while the background simply freezes the watch, mesmerizing you with matching themes… as if everything is happening before you… before your eyes.

Also, Neelesh’s voice has both jaadoo and nasha, a combination that led him to pen the famous Jism number ‘Jaadoo Hai, Nasha Hai’. Certainly, he is a man to be watched — a man who understands the aspirations of small towns, a man who dreams of the metropolis, a man who feels the pulse of the new India and a man who respects values.

“With three-fourths of Indians under the age of 35, I find these dreamers at every corner when I travel across the sidestreets and village squares of this country. They are the stories of the changing India. They are India. This is the face of the young Indian living out a new freedom – to dream, to aspire, armed with the reassurance that it is now OK to dream bigger in the new India – and those dreams could well come true,” he says.

And yes, it is none other than Neelesh who can liken a barber with a painter or a classical singer. It is Neelesh who sees old grandmothers laugh like schoolgirls with two plaits. And it is also Neelesh who can hear rains. It is this Neelesh which India is listening to at 9, the prime time.

“Small towns exist in each of us. We carry a small town as we make our journey through the mazes of the metropolis. And hidden inside me too, is a small town guy,” he adds.

Neelesh calls himself a writer at large with dreams in his eyes and dust on his shoes. But since I started hearing him on the radio, I feel he is a Pied Piper. A Pied Piper who has become a sensation drawing fans and listeners now from 16 other countries also who are visiting him through social networks, to hear him. “This is a totally overwhelming response, way beyond expectations. Don’t know what to say, except: Thank you … keep listening!”

98 comments

  1. Hi , neelesh sir…
    Hope you are well
    Sir aap ki kahaniyan mein jo kashish hoti hai na , sach kahta hun main ekdam isi mein gum ho jaata hun ,
    You know sir main bhut poorana litsener nhi hun, mujhe bas juch hi din hua hai,
    par jab se sun raha hun , ab ek bi show main miss nhi karta ……

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  2. Aapki awaj bhut achhi h sach me emotional kar dete ho yaar. Mai sapno ki duniya me chala jata hu waise aapse ek baat batana chahata hu ki garima naam ki ladki se mai bhut pyar karta hu jab mai aapko sunta hu to usse miss karta hu.

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  3. YOU ARE TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
    GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDD

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  4. nelees ji me hu katie ajmer seher se .me jayada nhi khna cahungi bs itna ki apki khaniya to achi hai hi sath me rainy season me me floor per khdhi hoker brsaat me sunti hu to aapki stories jayada achi lagti h . mujhe aapki khani ”’barsat ki shaam” bhut achi lgi . thak u

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  12. Neelesh ji i am very happy and excited to listening your program very much but due to some problem i am unable to listen your story at 9 pm… So, i want to know that is there any other time of yaad sheher instead of 9 pm… Plz reply me

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  15. Neelesh Mishra ji aap ki jitni bhi stories maine suni h bohot achi lagi kuch time se nhi sun pa rhi hun next seasion kab se shuru hai ?

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  16. maain nilesh ji ki story bahut sunta tha, jab maain rajkot mein padhta tha. tab FM pe sunta tha. ab maain waapis yaha hamere gaon chala aya (ANJAR KUTCH), to yahan story sun nahi pata kyunki yahan fm nahi aata hai. to maain kaise sunoon stories?

    MAAIN KYA BATAOON……. maain nilesh ji se milna chaahta hoon.

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  17. neleesh ji mere pass shabd nahi k mai apki stories, aapke songs, aapka band called nine sab bahut bahut bahut bahut bahut bahut bahut pasand karti, ur voice and the way u present ur stories is awesome,…..
    when u narrate these stories i feel that i m living those stories……
    please dnt stop writing ever……i m ur big big fan,…
    kya kabhi aapse mil paungi…
    please wapas aajaiye na fm par missing u badly… love u sir

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  19. Reblogged this on The Gappuccino ~ g caffè ~ and commented:
    Neelesh calls himself a writer at large with dreams in his eyes and dust on his shoes. But since I started hearing him on the radio, I feel he is a Pied Piper.hear some beautiful, intoxicating narrations, to re-live nostalgia.
    Simply ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

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  21. sir, i heard many stories, i like every story of yaadon ka idiot box. plz tell how can i download audio clips, stories of yaadon ka idiot box bcoz i get very weak radio’s signals at my place and sometimes i have missed many stories. plz help me.

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  22. I love you my dear friend please phir se aap aa jaiye
    i am waiting for u
    please come
    mere saare dost aapko like karte hain
    main sunday ko purani kahaniyan sunna nahi bhulta
    main aapko dekhna bhi chahta hun.
    I am missing u
    “DOOSRI SHAADI” “JEETE HAIN SHAAN SE” “DHOOP KA KONA” “SAAT PHERE”
    sab pasand aayi

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  25. nilesh mishra ji mai aapka bahut bada fan hoon .aapki tarah mai bhi bachpan se stories aur poemes likh raha hoon. aap mere liye pradna bane hai verna mai geetkar banne ka sapna kab se chod chuka tha.aap ke geetoo mai ghajab ki freshness hai.yaad shahar ki storis ka to javab nahi.ummid hai film indrasty mai pahuchkar jald hi meri aapse mulakat hogi.yaad shahar ki stories lekar jaldi vapas aaiye.aapka geet ‘maine dil se kaha….’ mera favriat hai. -ankur sushma navik, young and youth writer,poet and the student of mass comm.age-18 only.

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  27. i like the voice that tells stories and the way they are told 🙂 really…. gud stories…and the songs are also so gud…

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  28. I like “Yaad Shehar” on big fm. God has gifted Neelesh a great voice and he’s utilizing it in the right way.

    I have heard “Dhoop Ka Kona” was a great story.

    Could you plz let me know from where can I listen all these stories, if unfortunately i miss any show.

    Honestly, I’m just found of his voice.

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  29. It’s really an awesome program, stories r very well narrated n d matching conceptual songs track adds to d feel of d story.

    thanks to such a wonderful program which is actually conveying the moral to the souls of the youth of the nation.

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  30. mujhe yeh show sunne ki aadat ho gayi… plz phir_se shuru kijiye… i am badly missing it ……………….. i like d story sath phere aur bhi bohat sari pasand hai agar mujhe stories phirse padni ya sunni ho to from where i can get all stuff?

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  31. MAIN NEELESH JI KA BAHUT BADA FAN HU. SARI STORIES SUNTA HU. FIR SE NEW STORIES LEKAR WO AAYEIN. MAIN UNKE PAPA SE BHI INSPIRE HONA CHAHTA HU. UNKA SCHOOL DEKHNA CHAHTA HU. OR JO HELP HO SCOOL KE LIYE.

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  32. …shabd nahi hain mere paas… kaise bayaan karoon apne vicharon ko aapke prati… bas itna kehna chaahungi… aapki aawaaz logon ke dilon ko nahi logon ki aatmaon ko chhu leti hai… dil se dua hai bas uhin apna sath banaye rahkna…

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  33. neelesh is smply awesssum… i luv his voice so mch… i listn to the stories wid my mum n dad… dey too admire so mch… i told ol my frnz who wer nt radio listeners bt nw dey thmselvs tel me dat yaad shahar rocks!! nd neelesh rocks too!!!:-)

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  34. yar apki stories se jyada usko banyan karne ki style dil chhu lele wali hoti hai. kabhi yad shahar me us pyre se bewafa ko lana jiski majboori bhi souda thi.

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  37. I really like all the stories… Coz i like to listening and reading stories… Specially when a person is telling it in such a beautiful way… I feel bad when i miss any program…!!

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  40. yaadein bohat hi accha programme hai……………

    Shiv anr shivanji ki kahani mujhay bohat hi acchi lagi………………………

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  44. Hi,

    I couldn’t hold myself from appreciating you for your priceless skills you have of narrating stories. Not only the content of the stories are beautiful but also the style powered with emotions and feelings.

    I also read the article about your visit to the red light area. Good indeed.

    Keep up the good work.

    Regards,
    Tarique Khan

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  47. It’s good to listen story on FM. It reminds me of my grandmother who used to tell story night after night, everynight when we were small.

    Thanks for posting this.

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