2024-01-10 02:42:21
10 January 2024, 08:12 AM IST KJ Yesudas | Photo: Shen VS / Mathrubhumi
I listen to movie songs in three languages. Mostly at night, before bed. Although not having much musical training, listens to Carnatic music. My wife was born in Thiruvarur, Thanjavur. There are few people who do not know music. I listen to music to distract myself from my writing. There is a season in it, as in olden times the planks were taken up one by one in the stalls and closed. Tamil songs for a while, then Telugu, then Malayalam. Generally Malayalam is more.
The question came up in an interview recently. Who are your favorite singers? Madurai Somu in Carnatic music. Maharajapuram Santhanam, movie songs in tamil by tms. Ghandashala in Telugu. Yesudas in Malayalam. I was further asked what my criteria was. Not being a music critic, I can’t give a definitive answer. Then the interrogator asked in more detail: “Why A.M. Do you think Ghandashala is a better singer than Raja?” I said: “Ghandashala reveals a linguistic beauty for the Telugu language. It is not so accurate in Raja.” I then said: “T.M. The uniqueness of Thimil is revealed in Sundarajan. You can hear the purity of Malayalam in Yesudas.
The questioner, who is a musician, said that I am not listening to music, but to songs. That’s right. I listen to the song from the writer. Language is more important to me than music. I care more about poetry. I see music as an ornament to that poem. That is why I like the kirtans of Thyagaraja, Annamacharya and Purandaradasa. What I really enjoy about songs is the inip of language.
I don’t mean pronunciation. Not the melody. Not the style of singing. I doubt I can say for sure. A language has its own inner musicality. In terms of words, combining words, and the rhythm that is always present in that language, this comes up as a big problem when dubbing Malayalam movies into Tamil.
P. Sushila is a singer who reveals the full potential of Tamil. However, in Malayalam, the Tamil singer comes out when she sings ‘When the four stars cast blue eyeballs from within Yavanika…’. Sushila has sung many Malayalam songs very well. But they have not revealed their own version of Malayalam. Like Sushila, S. is a native of Telugu. It is revealed in Janaki.
When Yesudas sings in Tamil ‘Ninaivale Shilai irke Unakaka Vaythen…’ in that ‘Shilai’ the ‘Shi’ and ‘Unakaka’ and ‘Ka’ are not Tamil. A Tamil ear will understand it immediately. But, often we like songs only for their tune. Sometimes we like a really weird accent just because of that weirdness. Like ‘Manasa Maine Varoo…’ sung by Mannaday. My ear as a writer seeks only the honey that is full of that language. It is something hidden like fire in a stone very deep. Yesudas is the singer who pours honey in the Malayalam language.
What is the uniqueness of Malayalam revealed in Yesudas? I think most Malayalis know that. That is why Yesudas is worshiped there as a Gana Gandharva. However, most of the Malayalis have not noticed it. Because they live inside Malayalam; Like fish in the sea. But I live in Tamil. In a day I write, speak and even think in Tamil. I listen to Malayalam only for an hour listening to songs. That is why I give so much importance to this uniqueness of Malayalam. I am listening to TMS’s song with the ear of a Malayali. That is how the uniqueness of Tamil is known.
Yesudas’s Malayalam identity is revealed first in his voice. A true Malayalam voice, the voice of my uncles and aunts lingers in my memories. Yesudas’s voice is mostly sung by the Malayalees. There will always be a small Yesudas in the alcoholic gatherings. Later, many singers did only minor variations of Yesudas. Yesudas has two voices. One is Yesudas before the seventies. It’s a soft voice. Songs like ‘Annu Ninte Nunakujhi Pratukhi…’ filled with the sad sweetness of memories as if coming from old black and white photographs of uncles staring at each other with their mustaches. Through them I take a journey to old Malayalam. Thakazhi, Dev and Ponkunnam Varki, EM. Cavour, P.A.A. Aziz, Perumpadavam Sreedharan, V.T. Nandakumar… a world I lived in. A world that does not exist today. Can you say that there is no today? Today everything is there. Somewhere There needs to be a path to get there. That’s it. It is the voice of Yesudas to me.
Yesudas’ voice changed after 70s. A kind of humming of Kerala’s unique leather instruments started coming in that voice. The sound that starts with ‘Talir Vala or Tamara Vala’ comes from the navel. I think this is the voice most loved by Malayalees in Yesudas. or a rising tone ‘like a loud bell’. Many of the songs that Malayalees remember in ‘Mandasameeran’ are from this period. I remember many songs. Even those who don’t know the language ask if it’s Malayalam. Their tune is Thani Malayalam. Anandabhairavi raga is not generally used in film songs in India. Ilayaraja told me that it has a bhajan quality. But there are so many songs in Malayalam. ‘Aratin Anakall Ezhunnalli…’, ‘Poovangukula Pennu has a well-like mind…’ Yesudas’s voice brings them closer to us. Like flowing from a temple. As the word Kathakali has its connotation. Often these songs are accompanied by Chenda, Mizhao or Edakka. Yesudas’s voice will blend very well with those instruments. I have never seen that harmony in any other singer’s voice.
That’s why I feel a little strange when Yesudas sings Carnatic songs. It makes songs like ‘Mamangam palakuri kondadi…’ or ‘Pramadavanam again..’ more haunting. Carnatic music has a unique feel. Conjure up a picture of an Iyer sitting and singing happily after eating a good meal and putting saffron powder on it. Bhajana in its unchanging form. I feel like Yesudas is trying to become someone else when he sings it. I don’t hear many people who are very good at Carnatic music. Mani Iyer, M.T. If you want to listen to Ramanathan and others, you have to forget language and poetry. Madurai Somu reveals devotion and the beauty of the Tamil language. And also in Maharajapuram Santana. The criterion for singing well in Tamil is how one’s expression unfolds while singing Bharathi’s, or Periaswamy Toor’s works. There are those who are utterly defeated by it; M.S. People like Subbalakshmi. Tamil has a solemnity. Tamil is a language with many phonetic syllables. (Say Vallina Eshutu in Tamil). Only in some cases do those letters fit into words exactly. T.M. Soundararajan is the first among them. He is not a Tamilian but born in a Saurashtra speaking family. That searching voice in the line ‘Naan katuvanka ponen oru kavithe vankivanthen’ is truly the voice of Tamil. Thiagaraja’s telugu kirtans are in tamil voice. Thiagarajan was born and lived in Tamil Nadu. Telugus don’t even really understand that Telugu. ‘Nakumo Mo Kanale’ is a Tamil voiced hymn. It seems to me that Yesudas puts on a disguise by losing his own spirit in entering it.
Yesudas’ unique Malayalam identity is revealed in his accent. For example I have noticed some words. The word ‘Sringara’ is pronounced ‘Sringara’ by many in Tamil. If you want to hear the word ‘shrungara’ pronounced exactly by Iyer in a song, just sing Yesudas. Take a closer look. What strange pronunciations ‘Sra’ would have been rendered ‘nga’ by real speakers. At least a hundred words can be said as well. Example: Prabha, Hridiya, Abhinivesam… I often listen to Yesudas’s songs for this accurate Malayalam pronunciation (In India, Malayalees are the most accurate speakers of Sanskrit. Malayalees are also the most mispronouncers of English. When I went to that country recently, I felt that Malayali’s English pronunciation is influenced by Portuguese language. when he heard it called).
Yesudas’s Malayalam voice is revealed through the emotional changes he gives to the words. If we remember, we can see that many good songs remain in our minds because of the small expressions of emotion given by Yesudas. ‘Sumangalee Nee Ormakumo…’ is a song that Malayali people sing after they have been watered for sure. Its tune is very simple. To be honest, there is no such thing as a tune. It is just a kind of poetry recitation. But Yesudas makes it a powerful emotional experience. Note the special emphasis on the word ‘remember’. The song ‘Kuilin Maninadam Sukti…’ is also not worth mentioning as a tune. However, it is Yesudas’s special expression in ‘Two Kuvalayapookukkal Vithiram..’ that makes the song worth listening to even today.
I am wondering what the added value of Yesudas is. M.S. I have asked Viswanathan about it once. He said it was ‘pure’. “A voice like a wire.” It’s the golden wire” True, many songs stand on precision of syllables and tones. ‘Indravallari Poochudivarum Sundara Hemantaratri…’ There are many such songs that are filled with the melody of Shruti. When I remember, almost all the songs seem to fall into this category. ‘Leaves are flowing…’ ‘Vennatholkumudalote…’ Ilayaraja was once asked. It was during the recording of songs for the film ‘Naan Kadavul’. “Yesudas can go into the emotion of the song,” said Raja. I think that is more correct. Ghandashala and Muhammad Rafi are the only two people who should be considered along with Yesudas. Both express true feelings in the song. Not acting. Do not exaggerate emotions. ‘I have finished a shrine with stone slabs…’ is a devotional song that can be strengthened further if needed. But, Yesudas is writing in the middle of two lines of that song. (Wondering where TMS would have gone) MS. Viswanathan has given the same style of music in Tamil and sung it in the same style with Yesudas, ‘Iswara Orikkal Virunnilupoi…’ is a very precise emotional song.
Again and again I come to Yesudas to watch the ‘Dance of Malayalam’. A Shaivite once told me. There are many gods. But only Natarajan is the dancing god. That is why the truth is that the Saivas are the most beautiful of the gods.
Dance is the highest state of a person, an object, an expression. Malayalam dances. Through subtle emotional levels, ‘Ragabandhu, why did you come here…? Yesudas is a kind of Ali in Enthenee in the line. Yesudas emphasizes the word ‘Venkota’ in the line ‘Venkota Kuda Chutum and the light flew on the top of the mountain…’.
Where Anna is, everything is Anna. That day is Amrit itself. But the rice grown in the field becomes sweeter when cooked as rice and curries. Annam Brahma, the Annam of Sadhyavattam is the Brahman who comes and waits for us. Saguna Brahman. Dressing up for me through Malayalam Yesudas. Having become alienated from my language by deed, life and country, I find it through Yesudas as the sweetness of my soul. Every night I go to sleep filled with my dreams, my mother, father, relatives and ancestors rise up and fill me. Hail to the great cook.
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