One could feel the anguish in his voice when he briefly interacted with the media at the reception accorded to him by music lovers of the city.

 Rakesh said he had many miles to go and would not give up easily. "A ground in classical music would have been very useful," he regretted.  But he expressed satisfaction that his talent had been widely noted. "Ahead is struggle, though there are silver lingings, am getting some offers to sing in films," he said.

 His two sisters Neena and Reena also joined him in singing while Jyoti his beloved made a brief appearance on the stage to enliven the evening's proceedings.

Rakesh had a full repertoire of romantic numbers, starting with ‘Humen tumse pyar kitna’, he went on to ‘Dil diya hai, jaan bhi denge’, ‘Chappa chappa charkha chale’.