From earth to Sunita Williams: Saregama celebrates her 59th b'day

Delhi: September 19th is astronaut Sunita William’s birthday. Her second innings in space, initially set for a mere 7 days, has been extended – possibly until February 2025. This means, she will be spending her 59th birthday in space.

To wish her a long life and to showcase India's love and admiration for her, Saregama chose their song 'Baar Baar Din Yeh Aaye' from the movie Farz (pictured originally on Jeetendra and Babita) where Babita’s name in the song, whom Jeetendra sang to, was ‘Sunita’ incorporating the line - Happy Birthday Sunita. 

Bollywood artists like Karan Johar, Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Jeetendra, Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan, Anup Jalota, Salim Merchant, Neeti Mohan, Ila Arun, Vijay Prakash and many others have lent their voice to sing the birthday song, sharing their renditions across various social media platforms.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DACzsUbIONr/?igsh=Z3IzaHoxNDl5Yzhw

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/000HIMgzay8

Not just celebs, school children from Euro Kids, Kangaroo Kids, Billabong High International School, Centre Point School and EuroSchool in over 700 schools across India are also joining the initiative. Students will be singing the birthday song and making greeting cards for Sunita Williams.

Vikram Mehra, Managing Director, Saregama India, added, “In India, 'Baar baar din yeh aaye' is the default birthday song. We've all sung it for over the last 50 years. But today 1.5 billion Indians are singing it for our Sunita Williams. Through the power of music, we wanted to show her our appreciation and share the love from India. By bringing together Bollywood icons, artists, and students, we wanted to give her a memorable birthday because each one of us wants Sunita to come back soon and come back safe.”

Navin Talreja, Co-founder, The Womb, added, "Sometimes it's about joining the right dots. We had an idea, Saregama had the song and everyone voluntarily joined the celebration. It shows our love and compassion for someone brave, someone who inspires us. The idea is a coming together of context, content and simple yet unignorable creativity. It's humane. It's motivating. It's the least we Indians can do to wish her a long life...tum jiyo hazaro saal. We are trying to make sure our voice is heard From Earth to Space."