When Thaikkudam Bridge co-founder Siddharth Menon bagged a chance interaction with guitarist Kalyan Baruah, they evidently spent a fair chunk of their time reminiscing about KK. The singer’s demise had had a lasting impact on Baruah, also a friend of KK, and one who had extensively collaborated with him. “He told me that fans of the singer had been encouraging the band to continue working. People wanted [his] songs to be performed. I turned up in Mumbai to meet Kalyanji, who asked me to sing a few of his songs. We felt his presence there,” says Menon, who is set to head on tour with the late singer’s band. 

“This is his band, with whom he has played for 25 years. When I started to work with them, they’d share anecdotes relating to their time spent with him. Kalyanji often recalls his discussions with KK, and how they’d talk of what they would do when they were old. He’d say that KK would say, ‘We’ll be in a wheelchair and still perform.’”
The band-mates, he says, would also guide him on crafting a set-list for a live audience. “They’d tell me, ‘This is what he would do at this point.’”