Farewell SPB

It is very rare that greatness and humility come bundled together. I found this rare combination in one of the greatest singers of India, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam (SPB).

As for greatness, it would not do justice for a simple and insignificant person like me to sing praises of this greatly talented, dearly loved singer. The world is witness to his glorious, illustrious singing career.

I grew up listening to some of the male singers from Bollywood, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Hemanth Kumar and also Ghantasala, Yesudas, T. M. Soundararajan from the south indian movie industry. These singers were the finest, extremely talented and above all, most humble human beings. Between them, these singers gave unforgettable songs to the music lovers. They sang songs of almost every genre, ranging from sad, happy, romantic, soulful, melodious, to classical.

Then came Kishore Kumar in Bollywood and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam in the south. These two added a new dimension to film songs. They added pep and a new kind of energy to the songs that made them quite popular with the masses.

I have enjoyed many of SPB's songs. But my all time favourites are “Shankara…. nada sarira para….” from telugu film “Shankarabharanam” and “Kadhal rojave…” from Tamil film “Roja” and “Mere Rang Mein Rangne Wali….” from hindi film “Maine Pyar Kiya”.

I personally witnessed SPB’s humility when he came to a live musical show in the Middle East many years ago. As SPB was introduced to the hooting and excitedly screaming crowd, he took the stage and after the greetings and other pleasantries, he narrated a personal story from his life. This he did even before he started his singing. That was really the humility and greatness of the man. He paid his respect to someone who inspired him to become a singer.

This is a rough account of the story he narrated. During his college days, when he was studying for engineering, he used to go to the college on his bicycle. One day, as he was passing by a roadside tea shop, he heard a Hindi song playing on the radio. The song had some kind of a mesmerizing effect on him. He stopped the bicycle and started listening to the song. 

As he was listening to the song, his eyes closed and tears started rolling over his cheeks. When the song completed, he was completely overwhelmed by the effect the song had on him. The same thing happened for three continuous days. 

Later, after many days, as he stopped at the tea shop, the tea seller asked him curiously why he was crying while listening to that particular song. SPB simply answered he didn’t know why he cried. The song that had such an impact on him was “Deewana hua badal…..” from the Hindi film “Kashmir Ki Kali” and it was sung by none other than the great Mohammed Rafi. There was a thunderous applause in the amphitheater in response to the humility of the great singer.

As he finished narrating his story, SPB confessed that it was Mohammed Rafi who inspired him to take the path of singing. When he heard that particular song, it fueled up his passion for singing. After that he never looked back. And what an incredible, successful and illustrious musical journey that has been. 

It really takes a lot of guts and humility to praise someone else in front of a huge audience, to give credit to someone else, fanother contemporary singer, for being the inspiration for your success. And I believe that humility, and sincerity brought laurels to this great singer.

Success can easily turn a person into an arrogant egomaniac and a tyrant to other contemporary and junior singers. Bollywood saw the emergence of many new singers, who in a short time achieved popularity. What is sad about some of these singers is the way they showcased their arrogance and hatred in public. 

The ability to sing is a great gift from God and it is supposed to bring all the good human qualities in a singer. On the contrary, it is so appalling to see how hateful, self centered and arrogant some of these musicians turned out to be in recent times. Many of them lost their souls in their unquenchable thirst for power and lucre. They lost all sense of right, humaneness and humility. Worthless people like this may come and go, their music may last for a short period. They and their songs may end up in the trash bin of music history. No one will even remember them or their drab music. 

When it comes to quality of singing and character of integrity, these bunch of self centered riff-raff can in no way match the great singers of yesteryear. The songs of Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Hemanth Kumar and also Ghantasala, Yesudas, T. M. Soundararajan, SPB will be remembered forever. Not just music, these men will also be remembered for their humility and integrity of character.

It is quite sad that S. P. Balasubrahmanyam is no more. The country has lost yet another gem from our midst. But it is heartening that his songs will last forever. May his soul rest in peace!