Cosmos

 While watching the recording of one of his recent shows in Europe, something struck me. Whatever it is, the kind of vibrations his vintage era (1976-1980) songs give me, cannot be matched nor can it even be explained. Though I knew this long back and have also shared it time and again in different forums, what struck me that evening was something profound and different. Let me explain.

For starters, I am not a fan of his stage shows and there are multiple reasons. While I am not getting into the reasons now, the very fact that I was watching his stage show on YouTube-that too for an hour- made me wonder as to what happened to me. But this is not that ‘something’. One particular song from that era was being performed and without my being aware, I started humming that song simultaneously swaying from one side to another with my foot tapping the floor. At that particular moment, I realised something.

I get those special vibrations because it has a direct connection with my childhood. I listened to those songs as and when those were released (many times even before the movies were released) and the moment I hear those songs now, the bulb automatically switches on giving those visual effects with me seeing myself as a school - going kid in the house where we lived, keeping the transistor radio close to my ears, at times sitting, at times standing and most of the times doing nothing..

These and many more unexplained feelings, get reflected as vibrations when I listen to those songs again now. Remember the Law of Thermodynamics – Energy can neither be created nor destroyed?

Going back to my childhood days again, but this time even much earlier- my middle- school- days, one evening we were watching a movie in a cinema hall. A song started on the screen and within a few minutes, my mother remarked – ‘Isn’t the singer ------‘? – to my father. I heard that name for the first time and was confused. Having listened to names like Suseela and TMS repeatedly, by then I had concluded that these were the only singers in Tamizh film music. ‘So, what is this ‘new’ singer?’, I thought and decided that my mother was in some other world. How could there be another female singer apart from Suseela?

Little did I know then that the singer was not new and that she had made her debut more than 10 years before that. Little did I realise that I was going to constantly listen to that voice very soon and that from then on, forever. There is one more connection with that song and this shall be told in the end.

Even after this incident, I did not pay much attention to the songs sung by that singer, though I did come across some of her old songs now and then.

Flash forward by 5 years. I have already described that evening when I listened to a particular song from a movie which happened to be the first movie of somebody and how that song failed to make an impact on me that time. That song and many other songs in the following years were sung by that singer. But at least for the next 3-4 years I was not enamoured by that voice and till date I do not know the reason. In the same vein, I do not know when the transformation happened and when I started liking that voice and when that voice became one of my most favourite voices.

Certain things can neither be defined nor can these be explained.

The most striking aspect in that voice is the versatility. And yes, the expressiveness. And yes, the sweetness. Once in an interview to a Tamizh magazine, ILaiyaraaja said no singer in Asia can match the versatility of Janaki, not even Lata Mangeshkar and as usual he hit the nail on its head. Show me one singer who can sing like a child, like a 16-year old, like a middle-aged woman, like an old lady and …even like a teenaged boy. And show me one singer who can sing a classical song, a sensuous song, a pathos song, a folk song- all with equal felicity.

The song I am taking up today encapsulates that voice.

Talking about that song, long ago, say sometime in the year 1978, a classical arts critic whose cynicism equalled his knowledge, mentioned that of all the songs he had listened to (until then), this song was the best simply because of the haunting melody. He kept mentioning this time and again whenever possible. But let me tell you that this song is one of my evergreen favourites not just because that gentleman praised it.

The song brings out the emotions, feelings, and passions of a 16-year old girl, in a way possible only by two geniuses.

I have seen people break their heads on the raga of this song (of course, they do it for almost every song as if that is the most important aspect, finally ending up in deciphering it wrong most of the times!). Let it be clearly understood that it does not follow a specific structure.

The most beautiful feature of Senthoorappoove ( 16 Vayathinile) is the tune.

The most beautiful feature of Senthoorappoove is the orchestration.

The most beautiful feature of Senthoorappoove is the arrangement.

The most beautiful feature of Senthoorappoove is the voice.

No, I have not lost my mind. The fact is everything about the song is so beautiful that it is next to impossible to stick to one particular aspect.

Listen to the strumming of the guitar in the beginning.

Listen to the bells followed by the brief staccato on the flute.

Listen to the group of strings playing in 4 different octaves like an organic progression.

Listen to the subtle bass backing the strings.

Listen to the flute cooing like a bird.

Listen to the tabla play ta ka dhi mi/ ta ka.

Listen to the same guitar piece which appeared in the beginning again.

Listen to the vocals in the Pallavi and notice the absence of percussion throughout with the bass guitar and its brother backing the vocals.

Listen to the sudden change in the first interlude with the flute sounding rather eerie and the percussion sounding the tisram beats.

Listen to the strings play a continuous melody which becomes subtle as the solo-violin takes over.

Listen to the flute-backed by the folksy instrument- which transports us to a green field.

Listen to the guitar again play ta ka dhi mi/ ta ka and the flute towards the end.

Listen to the lines in the CharaNam and the expressions shown by the voice in keeping with the meaning of the words, with the flute interjecting now and then.

Listen to the two sets of strings superimposed on each other with the subtle flute acting as a glue, in the beginning of the second interlude.

Listen to the musical bromance between the oboe and the flute.

Listen to the leitmotif in guitar and the flute again.

Listen to the flute mimicking the birds in the second CharaNam.

Listen to the voice in the song which challenges the birds!

Now, you know the reasons for those vibrations.

By the way, the song I listened to in the cinema hall way back was ‘Unnidaththil ennai koduththen’ from ‘AvaLukkendRu or manam. Sung by Janaki, and with music by that master called M.S.Viswanathan, the song has a combo-horn played by a 28-year old man who went by the name ‘Raja’ that time and who had travelled to Madras in 1968 from a remote village in South Tamizh Nadu.

Do I need to say more about ‘connections’?