Anup Jalota will perform at a concert in Toronto on New Year's Eve, his first in 30 years. Like Diwali, Valentine's Day, birthdays and wedding anniversaries, December 31 was a day to be spent with family, in particular with his late wife Medha. And no cheque was big enough to lure him away.

“For the last 15 years I'd neglected my career for Medha whose health was top priority,“ admitted Jalota, recalling how they had brought in 2014 together, in New Jersey.

On November 24, Medha who had undergone a second heart transplant, followed by a kidney transplant, passed away, leaving her husband and 18-year-old son bereft.

Speaking to Mirror just hours before he flew out to Canada, the Bhajan Samrat said: “Our son Aryaman will bring in 2015 with his friends at Princeton University. But tonight, we will spend the evening with 20 of Medha's friends, including Kathak danseuse Uma Dogra and psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria. We will laugh, dance, eat and celebrate Medha."

Jalota who had just finished recording a Nazrul Geeti in Assamese for a private album, confessed that he was trying to keep himself busy because solitude brought along memories of Medha. “Now that I have so much time on my hands I'm going to create some good music. Medha really enjoyed my classical work,“ he mused. “But since New Year is a time for celebration, I'm not going to make people sad with dukhi songs. I'm going to sing Duma dum mast kalandar!“