You tour all year round but how often do you change your set list?

Mitali: Frankly, we don’t know how our next concert would unfold, except for the fact that it would start with a duet. Usually after the first song we can feel the pulse of the audience and decide on the songs we would play.

What’s a day in your life like?

Mitali: It’s very normal. He does riyaaz in his space and I, in mine. Then we read poetry and share it with each other. Eating, watching a movie on TV or talking about news… we share a lot but we practise separately. Like any husband and wife, we sometimes fight, complain… about the usual things.

How did the two of you meet?

Mitali: I was his fan. Well, going back, when I was in Bangladesh I listened to all the great singers –– Sandhya Mukherjee, Arati Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Pintu Bhattacharya, Lata Mangeshkar, Rafi saab. My brother bought home a cassette on which there was a Bengali song by him (Bhupinder Singh). It was a very different voice. I became a big fan of his music. When I arrived in Gujarat to study, I had no plans to come to Bombay because a middle-class Bengali family girl was expected to study, return home, marry and settle down. But then I met him (in 1978). I couldn’t speak the first time I met him. And he had heard me on TV (on a programme called Aarohi) and liked it. I never thought I would settle down in Bombay. We married in 1983.

Bhupinder Singh: She is a greater performer than me. She has always been on the stage but for me... I used to spend a lot of time in the studio. She has full command on stage. I still follow her and learn from her.

Mitali: But the kind of work he has done and the people he has worked with, he is a legend. The kind of thinking he does while composing, it’s outstanding. I have never heard another Bhupinder. He is very talented but maintains a low profile.

Ghazals are no longer popular among youngsters…

Mitali: There is no publicity on TV. But people who love ghazals are still cutting albums. There are so many great young singers here and in Pakistan. To sing ghazals you have to understand the language. Recently, I was talking to some people who had come down from the US and they asked if Indian music was all about Bollywood. I was ashamed. India is full of variety.

Bhupinder: Also the recording process has changed. The instrumentation is different. Now everything is played on the keyboard. There is no violin or saxophone. There is no dholak or tabla. Everything is created on the keyboard. So, you can’t get the quality.

What next for you?

Bhupinder: We’re planning two-three albums of which one is around Sufi… the work of Bulleh Shah. Another one is a religious one. Hopefully by September-October, the first album should be out.