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Thursday, June 19, 2008

Baahon kE Darmiyaan - Dedicated to my father

Song : Baahon ke Darmiyaan
Movie: Khamoshi
Singers : Hariharan, Alka Yagnik
Composer : Jatin-Lalit
Performed by : Sindhuja Bhaktavatsalam, Murali Venkatraman



It may appear unusual to dedicate a romantic song to one's father. But Khamoshi - the album has more connotations in my life than just music.

It was 1997. I was visiting home at tirunelveli from CECRI, my undergraduate college. My father was away for an official trip to Madras.

Hailing from a middle class (lower-middle class - sometimes I wonder how so many varieties of middle classes are there in India) family which stressed emphatically on education, moral values and minimal materialistic pleasures, it was really a struggle to do anything pertinent to music when I was growing up. Even the BUSH radio, which is still religiously serving us, was considered a luxury item. I was rarely allowed to listen to film songs since my father’s doctrine was, and is, that film music hinders studies. And with education being the only rudder to a better life, listening to music was considered a time-wasting-exercise. Nevertheless, my interest never ceased and I registered in my memory most of the songs I heard off and on.

Once I was in CECRI, in the absence of parental control, my listening and practicing of music grew to very high prorportions, however, I did not have a walkman or a transistor-radio to listen to songs. I had silently envied my classmates who had a walkman but told myself buying one of those was just the start of unending expenditures since cassettes were not cheap then (Rs 50 for CD-recorded cassette !). I had asked my father if I could get a walkman sometime and he had answered with a strong “No” since budget would not allow. also, in line with his doctirnes it woudl be a serious deterrent. A good AIWA walkman would cost more than Rs 1000 and he certainly could not afford it since it was a tight-rope walk for him every month with me going to college.

So, I had buried my desires. Dad came back from Madras to tirunelveli, and had reached home at night. I was just relaxing in the bed with some music played on the bush radio. He called me, handed me a package and said : “Open it” with a subtle smile.

And inside the package was a beautiful AIWA walkman.

My eyes gleamed and my heart skipped a beat. I said “thank you” to him (well.. real family situations are not melodramatic soap operas – that was my reaction) and found two cassettes given as a compliment for the purchase.

Needless to say one was Khamoshi. One could not ask for a better album. All songs were good but baahon ke darmiyaan was outstanding and I was really enslaved by Hariharan’s voice. Music and music players have become cheap these days and cassettes and even CDs are long gone, but what my dad bought me at a time he could barely afford will always remain etched in my memories and whenever I hear this song I get reminded of him. (That he has no idea about either the movie Khamoshi or the songs is a different thing altogether).

I also have fond memories of Khamoshi with my friends Srinath, Gump and Ravi in Columbia. In October 1999, I bought my first car, a 5 year old Nissan Sentra. Being the only guy with a car, it was normal to drive friends around. I had not forgotten the Khamoshi cassette. It was a usual routine to go for long drives in the night listening to Khamoshi songs and discussing some junk topics. Once on highway at 70 mph, probably overwhelmed by the gravity of the melody, Srinath remarked:

“indha maadhiri paattu kEttuNdE fast aa car OttiNdu pOy crash aagi seththup pOyidaNum” ( Translated – would like to drive the car fast, crash and die as I listen to these songs )

We looked at each other. I pulled over and stopped.

“Dei..arivu irukka ? ippadiya pEsuvE ?”

were some of the retorts we gave him. But later when I read in an article that Vairamuththu expressed his wish to be listening to “maalaip pozudhin mayakkathile” as he dies, I understood what impact those songs have had on Srinath. Unlike Vairamuththu, Srinath's expression of his admiration for Khamoshi songs was hardly poetic but certainly no less sincere.

Singing a song with Sindhuja is a difficult proposition generally with her razor sharp ears picking up even the most minute of slips. But it is always a good experience. And this is the first hindi song that I have felt mildly comfortable to attempt (As always, I am overly conscious about pronunciation and accent in any song / language). It is u for you guys to decide how good our version is.

20 comments:

  1. hey murali,

    gr8 work by u & sindhujaa.....simply superb!!!!!!!!!! song selection is really kewl & 1 of my fav song... good justice given by you both to this song.. keep rocking.... murali waiting to hear more songs from you... good & lovely way to go wid music.....

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  2. Anonymous10:08 PM

    Murali and Sindhuja:
    Great Job!

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  3. Very impressive. Soothing rendition. Murali- I could feel that you were a little conscious about your diction etc.. but still sounded good. well done guys!

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  4. Anonymous3:54 AM

    Murali, very nicely written post and an awesome rendition!!

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  5. Thanks for sharing this beautiful story from your past.
    Liked the duet also.

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  6. Murali,that was a very emotional n' a cute incident about the walkman..!

    similar incidents :)

    Incident 90/90 Marks + Song 6/10 Marks ( ellame reality show style aakattum :)

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  7. Awesome song Murali Bhai. A really emotional blog too. Well sung by both of you guys.

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  8. sooper murali.. welcome back..been a while...

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  9. I need some songs for making karaokes. I tried creating karaokes with different softwares like soundforge,audacity etc.But they never worked.Do you use any special software?Pls let me know what you use,because if you are able to rip the voice for vidhata talapuna you must be using some different software.

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  10. Anonymous10:31 AM

    Murali -

    One of my favs. Liked it , Good Effort :)


    - wishes, Sandhya :)
    -

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  11. wow a great song!! a fav. of mine!! and uve carried it so well!!

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  12. I can relate to your story ;-)..Liked the duet ..one of my fav song as well ..You will be at ease as you sing more Hindi songs.. Sindhuja was superb ...Hope to hear more Hindi songs from you :-)

    Cheers,
    -Vishal

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  13. Nice one both of you...

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  14. vishal:

    I will try some more hindi songs
    which dont have words like roobaroo khoobakhoo vafaa dn gufa :) (just kidding).

    Thanks to all of you.

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  15. Hi Murali,
    I really liked your singing, in this song.

    Thanks,
    Thahseen

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  16. Hi murali / sindhuja,

    This is the first time I'm visiting ur blog.. I searched for the song "Malare Mounama" in google and got ur blog in the search list. When I hear this Kamoshi song, the video of the song came in my mind.. It's that much similar to the original.. except the uniqueness in your voices.. No words to appreciate you guys..

    Sundar

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  17. Wonderful to listen to. I have no idea what the words mean but that doesn't really matter. For someone who wasn't allowed to listen to film music at home you have done so well - your concert with Mdm P Susheela would have been great no doubt! I agree with Vairamuthu - I would die listening to 'maalai pozhuthin mayakkathile' too...

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  18. Hi Murali,
    I came across your blog a few weeks back and have been really impressed by how musicians from across the globe are connecting now. Your songs are really lovely and I wish you all success, Do let us know if you visit the Phoenix area and we would love to hear you sing
    Deepa

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  19. I can say this is best rendition i have heard till now of this song...

    Sindhuja and your voice are too good..
    Perfect song....

    thnx for sharing your experiences.Few incidences of life we always remember.

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  20. Anonymous8:58 PM

    hai sir ur site seems to be very simple & nice
    how we can add my blog to google search

    ReplyDelete