1. Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty: 'Bon Jui Bonot He Jole'

'Bon Jui Bonot He Jole' – or 'A Forest Fire Occurs Only in the Woods' – is a moving musical documentation of the Second World War sung by Bhupen Hazarika and Anju Devi. The war is playing out not just in the skies of Assam but on the ground too, with Netaji’s Azad Hind Fauj accompanying the Japanese reaching Kohima, which was then within the state of Assam.

Much before the internet made access to information easy, Hazarika, through the song's lyrics, brought to a set of people residing on the periphery the ills of Hitler's anti-semitism and the wisdom of the Mahatma to lead Indians to freedom by discarding hate and violence. A 1960s number, it may be slow for 21st-century listeners but is a gem nonetheless, and a rare Second World War song in an Indian regional language.

2. Soumashree Sarkar: 'Allah Megh De, Paani De'

The legendary musician Abbasuddin Ahmad was born in what is India today and died in Bangladesh. In his compositions rang true the unifying folk sensibilities of the whole of Bengal, presenting a simple truth that little of what divides humans matters to nature.

The song 'Allah Megh De, Pani De' or 'God, Give Us Clouds and Water' is a timeless exhortation, and asks for rain in a land harangued by summer.

3. Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta: 'Naina Barse'

'Naina Barse' from the 1964 movie Woh Kaun Hai, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, is one of the finest melodies of Bombay cinema, and is one of the those Hindi film songs that evokes different emotions. An ideal song when you are overwhelmed with love, sadness, loss, pain, and even fear.

4. Pariplab Chakraborty: 'Lullaby for a Travelling Child'

"My love, remain a child,
The world will force you to grow.
My love remain a child, you will be sick and tired of
the world if you grow up.
It is so cruel that the moment you forget your
childhood it turns you into a stone!” - Ahmad Shamlou

Mehdi Aminian’s composition ‘Lullaby for a traveling child’ from the album 'Quieter than Silence’' has helped me navigate all these years in Delhi. From elections to the pandemic, from a series of panic attacks to personal loss – this song remained in my playlist no matter what. Written by the famous Iranian poet Ahmad Shamlou, the song is "dedicated to all the children forced to travel for a less brutal life".

Mehdi Aminian’s vocals, along with Mohamad Zatari’s oud and Leila Soldevila’s double bass, evoke a sense of quasi-transparent nostalgia. A sense which is quite indescribable through words. The song reflects upon the meaning of growing up and its relation to childhood.

Amidst the cacophony of existential negotiations, this song has always given me a safe passage – to take a pause and to ‘Be’.

5. Meenakshi Tewari: 'Paar Chana De'

The song is about the famous Punjab region folklore of Sohni Mahival and depicts the sad end of two lovers. I particularly like the lines 'kacchyeya da hona kachcha anjam ni' – to me, it talks about where unpreparedness in love can lead you. While most love songs talk about the intensity of feeling, the magic of a moment, very few warn you that what you want may not be what you get. The song takes on why it's necessary to deliberate on the consequences of actions, even though they may be taken while being in love.

What I take from the song is this: 'kaccheya te rakhiye na ummeed paar di'.

6. Seema Chishti: 'Banna'

'Banna' – sung by S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki and a chorus, from the Kannada film Bandhana – is a beautiful mix of romance, joy and colour. Knowing how the story goes, there is tremendous pathos too.

7. Siddharth Varadarajan: 'Zot Nit Keynmol'

Paul Robeson’s version of the song of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazis — in English and the Yiddish original — is one of the most inspiring songs of resistance out there. I first heard it in college and it still gives me goosebumps.

8. Taniya Roy: 'Quelqu’um m’a dit'

Carla Bruni's voice gives me a sense of peace, kindness and freedom. Despite not knowing the meaning of the lyrics, when I first started listening to this song on loop, it made me realise music has no boundaries, barriers.

9. Faiyaz Ahmad Wajeeh: 'Pamaria Nach'

I heard this rendition at a Dalit Muslim mela. It is sung in the Mithila area when a child is born. While the form is still popular, the number of singers still singing this kind of music is decreasing.

10. Arfa Khanum Sherwani: 'Kabhi Hum Khoobsoorat They'

‘Kabhi Hum Khoobsoorat They’, sung by Pakistani singer Nayyara Noor, has travelled with me through springs and storms. It’s a difficult song to hear. The nostalgia of our lost universe and the idea of building an impossible new world fills me with sorrow and hope at once.

11. Anirudh S.K.: 'Slaves and Bulldozers'

This song, sung by Chris Cornell with his band Soundgarden, helps me get my anger out. I like Cornell's vocals very much. It's a song of doom.

12. Jahnavi Sen: 'Dilemme'

Congolese-Belgian artist Marie-Pierra Kakoma – who goes by the stage name Lous and the Yazuka – wrote this song as a reaction to a fight with her friends. It explores themes of loneliness, the absurdities of racial discrimination and more – and all with some great vocals and a beat that will get your head bopping.

13. Ankit Dubey: 'Laadki'

Among the many relationships we have in our entire lives, there is no other like the one shared by a daughter and her parents. Take this as a message from your daughters, dear parents. To bring to your notice, whatever is written below is my interpretation of the song.

'Bhale Bagiya Teri Chhodi, Bhale Nindiyaan Teri Chori, Bass Itti Si Yaad Tu Rakhiyo Meri Baat'

I have let you down at times, thrown tantrums, and let me have my way. But you never showed your disappointment. There will come a time when I will leave home, leave the comfort of your lap. There will come a time when I will be on my own, facing the big bad world, without you to hold my hand and pat my back. There will come a time when I will not have your shoulders to lean on and offload all my worries and anxiety.

'Teri Laadki Main, Chhodungi Na Tera Haath'

Always remember, this daughter of yours will be there by your side forever. Nothing, I repeat, nothing, in this world is more important than you, the people who have my heart, who reside within me all the time. How is it that we understand each other without even saying a word? Maybe that’s why it is said, that a child and her parents are one soul.

Always remember, this daughter of yours will never leave your hands for anything in this world. That’s because you are my world.

14. Devirupa Mitra: 'Mahalaya'

Reams have been written about the uniqueness of the annual musical ritual of mahalaya broadcast on the radio – and its importance to the Bengali identity. From the sonorous emotional chanting of the chandipath to the rising cadence of the singing as Goddess Durga defeats demon Mahishasur, it is a seminal listening experience, especially when one thinks about how lakhs of people are similarly sitting next to their audio devices in the darkness, before the sun breaks through the sky.

15. Zeeshan Kaskar: 'Dastoor'

This poem was written when Pakistan's dream of democracy started deteriorating, in 1962. It was a commentary on Ayub Khan's regime in Pakistan.

Although writen in 1962, this song managed to make an impact during the CAA-NRC protests in 2020 in India.

I have a distinct memory of singing this song in one of my previous workplaces during an office party. Needless to say, I was asked to stop after the second verse which said "is khule jhooth ko, zehen ki loot ko, mai nahi maanata (I refuse to accept the open lies and theft of conscience)".

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