PROFESSIONAL WHISTLER NAGESH SURVE CONVERSES ABOUT OWNING KISHORE KUMAR’S HARMONIUM, THE 200 ODD TAPES OF NARGIS’S VOICE AFTER SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER, ABOUT NOT GETTING CREDIT ON DOZENS OF FILMS AND FINALLY, THE REGRET OF NOT HAVING TRIED HARDER AT BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL MUSIC DIRECTOR

(This episode is in Hindi)

In the third and final part of our conversation with professional whistler Nagesh Surve,  we conversed about how he came to own Kishore Kumar’s harmonium, the 200 odd tapes of Nargis’s voice after she was diagnosed with cancer, about not getting credit on dozens of films and the regret of never having tried harder at becoming a successful Music Director. So please welcome Mr. Nagesh Surve, a man who has whistled in more than 1,600 popular Hindi film songs in the last 50 years, and who played live for us, some of his iconic whistles in songs like ‘Chaand sifarish’  and ‘So gayaa yeh jahaan’.

Hi, I am Atul Taishete and welcome to my podcast ‘Conversations with Atul’.

(‘Conversations with Atul’ is available worldwide on Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe to the podcast on any of the above mentioned platforms to receive regular updates on new episodes)

(This episode is in Hindi)

PROFESSIONAL WHISTLER NAGESH SURVE CONVERSES ABOUT COMPOSING MUSIC WHEN HE WAS MERELY 13, WRITING THE NAMES OF MUSIC DIRECTORS SHANKAR-JAIKISHEN AND FINALLY NARRATING ANECDOTES OF HIS INTERACTIONS WITH CELEBRATED MUSIC DIRECTORS MADAN MOHAN, OP NAYYAR, RAJESH ROSHAN, ANU MALIK AND JAIDEV

He had to schedule a recording after school because he composed background music for his first film at the tender age of 13. He was so obsessed with Music director duo Shankar Jaikishen that he used to write their names on walls like young couples in love do. In the second of my three part conversation, professional whistler Nagesh Surve conversed about how he got his first song to whistle in, why all the songs in the iconic film ‘Gharonda’ had to have a mandatory whistle, and finally he narrated engaging anecdotes from his interactions with celebrated music directors like Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar, Rajesh Roshan, Anu Malik and Jaidev.

So please welcome Mr. Nagesh Surve, a man who has whistled in more than 1,600 popular Hindi film songs in the last 50 years, and who proves that the two songs ‘Itna tu mujhse na pyaar jataa’ and the Oscar winning ‘Jai ho’ are similar to each other. Hi, I am Atul Taishete and welcome to my podcast ‘Conversations with Atul’.

THE CREW

Creator and Host : Atul Taishete

Producer : Suvir Nath

Sound Mixing Engineer : Aakash Kulkarni

Cover Art : Soumya Ganesh

Music : Imran Ali

Website Design : Samir N. Srivastava

(‘Conversations with Atul’ is available worldwide on Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe to the podcast on any of the above mentioned platforms to receive regular updates on new episodes)

(This episode is in Hindi)

PROFESSIONAL WHISTLER NAGESH SURVE CONVERSES ABOUT EARLY YEARS IN THE COMPANY OF LUMINARIES LIKE VASANT DESAI, BAL THACKERAY AND MUSICIAN DUO LAXMIKANT-PYARELAL, HOW AN INNOCUOUS PRANK INTRODUCED HIM TO SERIOUS WHISTLING AND HOW HE WAS A KEY WITNESS TO A HUGE PILE OF CASH IN PRITHVIRAJ KAPOOR’S SWIMMING POOL LOCKER

In the first of this three part episode, professional whistler Nagesh Surve conversed about his early years growing up amongst celebrities like Vasant Desai, Bal Thackeray and the musician duo Laxmikant Pyarelal, how his love for whistling started off as a prank he played on the older kids in his building, the tragic death of Music composer Vasant Desai and stories about travelling more than 160 kilometres in bullock carts from Bombay to Pune.

So please welcome Mr. Nagesh Surve, a man who has whistled in more than 1,600 popular Hindi film songs (like "So gaya ye jahaan", "Do deewaane sheher mein", "ILU ILU" & "Pyaar toh honaa hi tha") in the last 50 years, and who was a witness to opening Prithviraj Kapoor’s Swimming pool locker, in which was hidden cash, enough to buy a small house in Dadar.

Hi, I am Atul Taishete and welcome to my podcast ‘Conversations with Atul’.

THE CREW

Creator and Host : Atul Taishete

Producer : Suvir Nath Sound

Mixing Engineer : Aakash Kulkarni

Cover Art : Soumya Ganesh

Music : Imran Ali

Website Design : Samir N. Srivastava

(‘Conversations with Atul’ is available worldwide on Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe to the podcast on any of the above mentioned platforms to receive regular updates on new episodes)

BORN ENTREPRENEUR HARI DIVEKAR QUOTES FROM ‘THE GITA’ & CONVERSES ABOUT EGO IN BUSINESS, HIS STRUGGLE WITH LONELINESS & FULFILLING THE LAST WISHES OF HIS LATE WIFE 

How harmful is it to have an ego in business? To what lengths should one be willing to go to, to succeed in business? At what point should one do a stop loss? and what is the difference between small and big business aspirations? In the fifth and final episode with Business Icon Mr. Hari Divekar, he quoted from the Gita and conversed about the metaphysical. He revealed about the principles he followed in business, his struggle with loneliness and how he fulfilled the last wishes of his late wife.So let’s welcome Mr. Hari Divekar, founder of ‘Nature Trails’, one of the most successful resort brands in the country and a man who firmly believes that an entrepreneur is not someone with deep pockets, but someone who will find the money and build an empire.

Hi, I am Atul Taishete and welcome to my podcast ‘Conversations with Atul’.

THE CREW

Creator and Host : Atul Taishete

Producer : Suvir Nath

Sound Mixing Engineer : Aakash Kulkarni

Cover Art : Soumya Ganesh

Music : Imran Ali

Website Design : Samir N. Srivastava  

(This episode is sponsored by SMAHAART PET PORTRAITS. Get portraits of your pets done by a professional. Contact : [email protected])

(‘Conversations with Atul’ is available worldwide on Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe to the podcast on any of the above mentioned platforms to receive regular updates on new episodes)

BORN ENTREPRENEUR HARI DIVEKAR CONVERSES ABOUT HIS TIME WITH BNHS (BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY), SHARING DRINKS IN A TRAIN WITH MAESTRO KUMAR GANDHARVA & A CON-CALL WITH PRIME MINISTER INDIRA GANDHI

One of my all-time favourite quotes is that it takes twenty years of hard work to become an overnight success. In the fourth of my five-part conversation with Business Icon Mr. Hari Divekar, we conversed about the decades it took for his dreams to materialise, his plans to avoid an Ambani like feud in the family and how he is giving it back to his old staff.  He conversed about his tenure as Honorary Treasurer with the Bombay Natural History Society, also known as BNHS, his interest in the wild buffalo, his experience with holding snake exhibitions, his association with the legendary Salim Ali, and an once in a lifetime conference call with Prime Minister  Indira Gandhi. He also narrated funny tales of sharing drinks in a train with the stalwarts of classical music, Kumar Gandharva and Bhimsen Joshi.

So let’s welcome Mr. Hari Divekar, the founder of ‘Nature Trails’, one of the most successful resort brands in the country and a man who strongly believes that there is nothing more important in business than unadulterated persistence.

Hi, I am Atul Taishete and welcome to my podcast ‘Conversations with Atul’.

THE CREW

Creator and Host : Atul Taishete

Producer : Suvir Nath

Sound Mixing Engineer : Aakash Kulkarni

Cover Art : Soumya Ganesh

Music : Imran Ali

Website Design : Samir N. Srivastava

(‘Conversations with Atul’ is available worldwide on Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe to the podcast on any of the above mentioned platforms to receive regular updates on new episodes)

EPISODE 30 : PART 3 (OF 5) BORN ENTREPRENEUR HARI DIVEKAR CONVERSES ABOUT HOW HE FUNDED HIS RESORT BUSINESS AND HIS MULTIPLE

It is said that we learn from our failures far more than what we learn from our successes. In the third of my five-part conversation with Business icon Mr. Hari Divekar, we conversed about how a trip to Atlanta put him on the path to founding ‘Nature Trails’. He gave details on how he managed to fund his resort business, how the resort was a peripheral idea to begin with, and finally narrated funny tales with important lessons of his multiple business failures, which included selling watermelons and tamarind and rearing goats and rabbits.

So let’s welcome Mr. Hari Divekar, the founder and creator of ‘Nature Trails’, one of the most successful resort brands in the country, and a man who believes that it is important to convert your hobby into a business and your business into a hobby.

Hi, I am Atul Taishete and welcome to my podcast ‘Conversations with Atul’.

Creator and Host : Atul Taishete

Producer : Suvir Nath

Sound Mixing Engineer : Aakash Kulkarni

Cover Art : Soumya Ganesh

Music : Imran Ali

Website Design : Samir N. Srivastava

(‘Conversations with Atul’ is available worldwide on Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe to the podcast on any of the above mentioned platforms to receive regular updates on new episodes)

EPISODE 29 : PART 2 (OF 5) BORN ENTREPRENEUR HARI DIVEKAR CONVERSES ABOUT HIS FIRST BUSINESS FAILURE, HIS FIRST ROARING SUCCESS &

After finishing his engineering, he had a letter for a job at Kirloskars in Pune. He boarded the train, but instead of getting down at Pune, he tore the letter and continued onwards, in search of his destiny, to the big bad city of Bombay. In the second of my five-part conversation with Business Icon, Mr. Hari Divekar, we conversed about his first corruption laden government job, his first failed venture and his first successful business. We also conversed about how he transported snakes by train all the way from Orissa for BNHS snake exhibitions, his romance with buying land all over the country, which eventually led him to founding Nature Trails and finally, funny tales of escaping from women who were hell bent on marrying him.

So let’s welcome Mr. Hari Divekar, the man who founded ‘Nature Trails’, one of the most successful resort brands in the country and who, in hindsight, feels that everything was an adventure and everything was a gamble in his life.

Hi, I am Atul Taishete and welcome to my podcast ‘Conversations with Atul’.

THE CREW

Creator and Host : Atul Taishete

Producer : Suvir Nath

Sound Mixing Engineer : Aakash Kulkarni

Cover Art : Soumya Ganesh

Music : Imran Ali

Website Design : Samir N. Srivastava

(This episode is sponsored by SMAHAART PET PORTRAITS. Get portraits of your pets done by a professional. Contact : [email protected])

(‘Conversations with Atul’ is available worldwide on Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe to the podcast on any of the above mentioned platforms to receive regular updates on new episodes)

EPISODE 28 : PART 1 (OF 5) BORN ENTREPRENEUR HARI DIVEKAR CONVERSES ABOUT EARLY YEARS IN A SMALL VILLAGE, LANDING IN BOMBAY WITH JUST FIVE RUPEES IN HIS POCKET & HIS HILARIOUS ENCOUNTERS WITH GHOSTS

He came from a family of postmasters, always on the lookout for jobs within the government, and yet, his only interest lay in creating something of his own. In the first of my five-part conversation with business icon Mr. Hari Divekar, we conversed about a naughty childhood which included escaping from classes in school, catching live snakes, dissecting birds, creating paint brushes out of the tails of squirrels, being kicked by donkeys and dancing on freshly laid elephant shit.  We also discovered his penchant for narrating ghost stories as he recounted multiple funny and scary experiences with the surreal.

So let’s welcome Born Entrepreneur, Mr. Hari Divekar, a man who came to Bombay with dreams larger than the measly five rupees in his pocket and created ‘Nature Trails’, one of the most successful resort brands in the country.

Hi, I am Atul Taishete and welcome to my podcast ‘Conversations with Atul’.

THE CREW

Creator and Host : Atul Taishete

Producer : Suvir Nath

Sound Mixing Engineer : Aakash Kulkarni

Cover Art : Soumya Ganesh

Music : Imran Ali

Website Design : Samir N. Srivastava

(‘Conversations with Atul’ is available worldwide on Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe to the podcast on any of the above mentioned platforms to receive regular updates on new episodes)

EPISODE 27 : PART 2 (OF 2) LITHUANIAN PAINTER & ART THERAPIST AUDRONE BRAZAUSKAITE CONVERSES ABOUT LEAVING HER COUNTRY FOR LOVE & THE SCIENCE OF ART THERAPY. SHE ALSO SINGS TWO LOVELY LITHUANIAN SONGS

In the second and final part of my conversation with Audrone Brazauskaite, we conversed about how she was named after a boat her parents dated in, how her father surprised her by flying down and waving from a plane at an art camp and what it means to migrate to a foreign country for love. Audrone conversed passionately about how her profession as an Art Therapist helped her personally by becoming less judgemental and more humane, and also pushed her further as an artist from someone who largely drew landscapes to painting more abstract forms.

So please welcome Painter and Art Therapist Audrone Brazauskaite, a woman who, as a child, was in a tearing hurry to become an adult and, who … surprise, surprise … closed this lovely conversation by singing two beautiful Lithuanian songs for us.

 Hi, I am Atul Taishete and welcome to my podcast ‘Conversations with Atul’.

 THE CREW

Creator and Host : Atul Taishete

Producer : Suvir Nath

Sound Mixing Engineer : Aakash Kulkarni

Cover Art : Soumya Ganesh

Music : Imran Ali

Website Design : Samir N. Srivastava  

EPISODE 26 : PART 1 (OF 2) LITHUANIAN PAINTER & ART THERAPIST AUDRONE BRAZAUSKAITE CONVERSES ABOUT A GRANDFATHER SENT TO A CONCENTRATION CAMP, SPIES IN ART SCHOOL & THE CULTURE & HISTORY OF LITHUANIA

Did you know that the country of Lithuania restored it’s independence as late as 1990? Are you aware that Lithuanian is one of the oldest living languages in the world? Have you ever heard what a Lithuanian song sounds like? Now tell me honestly, do you even know anything about Lithuania, it’s history and it’s culture. If you were as ignorant as I was before this deeply moving conversation, my guess is … Not

So in the first of my two part conversation, let me help you know and discover Lithuania a little better by conversing with Painter and Art Therapist, Audrone Brazauskaite.

As with her country, Audrone too has a story of her own which includes a grandfather who was deported to a concentration camp and was never seen again, a father who founded an airport, her roots in nobility, spies in her art academy and what it felt like to celebrate Christmas behind closed curtains during soviet times.

So let’s welcome Painter and Art Therapist Audrone Brazauskaite, a woman who has seen a whole country live in silent trauma and someone who strongly believes that art prospers best under adversity and limitation.

Hi, I am Atul Taishete and welcome to my podcast ‘Conversations with Atul’.