Melody Queen Vani Jairam...(Contd...)  

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Vani has had the privilege of singing to all popular music in Marathi, Gujarathi, Marwari, and Bhojpuri and sung duets with stalwarts like Mohamad Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey and Mahendra Kapoor. In the South, she has sung innumerable songs in Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and Malayalam for top music directors.

As she talks about her other passion of social service, she gets choked with emotion, “I regularly visit cancer hospitals, sing for the patients and even make them sing along with me. Even last December, I spent some time at the Defence Hospital in Dehli, singing for cancer patients, specially to children who were lying in bed helplessly.”

Vani was excelled in rendition of multifarious dialects. She was the number one in Oriya films for eleven consecutive years and also won the best Oriya singer award in 1984 for the film ‘Debjani’. Learning many languages and the multifarious dialects is not a conscious effort for Vani. Vani ascertains, “Unless you care to learn and understand the song, you will not be able to give the correct expression to the words. There is no point in blindly singing something, you must go deep into it.

It is a blessing that people of every state feel I belong to them, my accent of songs in such. As for notating songs, I have my own method of doing and I am extremely quick at grasping any new piece.”

Vani gives vent to her emotions and feelings on the happenings around her, by writing poems or composing songs. Soaked in melody, she sings the song ‘Sinam thanikka marundu onru kodu muruga’ in which, seeing the injustice done in the world, she feels angry and pleads to Lord Muruga to find a remedy to this and give her the frame of mind to accept things as they came.”

Coming back to the subject of voice maintenance, Vani continues “I avoid oily and spicy food and am very strict about my diet. I cook myself and when we travel on concert tours, we mostly manage on fruits. Open throated practice everyday is a must .Your voice tends to rust otherwise. Certain physical exercises like regular walk is highly beneficial. It helps you face the day better. Well, who does not enjoy eating? But these are small things you give up (I wouldn’t call them sacrifice) to keep you going in your career.”

Perfect sruti alignment is one of the essential requisites of good music but when Vani strikes a note, it is much beyond that. The note touches your heart, penetrates into you, chokes you with emotion and very often makes you weep out of sheer ecstasy.

Vani observes, “we have to take serious care of sruti sudham in music. My Ustad always advised me to practice with a tanpura and never with a harmonium. Without getting into any controversy, I’d like to state my opinion that South Indian music focuses more on learning of a number of compositions rather than on the perfection of the notes which go to make the song. Again, music has become a commodity for marketing- it no more remains an art form. Only when you enjoy what you are singing, the audience will also enjoy the same. I have been very strict about never diluting my music just to please to audience.”

About the scenario earlier, she says, “Music directors of the past have really toiled over each composition. In the peak of my career, for five years continuously, I would catch the morning flight from Mumbai to Chennai, do recording at Gemini Studio, fly back to Mumbai by noon, then sing Marathi and Gujarati songs in different studios there and go home by night.

Also, every Sunday, I would go to Bangalore in the morning, record 12-13 songs and return to Mumbai by the same night flight. When film music started taking a different dimension, I started losing interest. Once, Ravi Shankarji said of light music, `Never ever take light music lightly.’ What I wish to point out is that, there is so much substance in light music to understand and reflect upon.”

In a non-commital way, Vani observes the present trend where music has become a common man’s property. Gone are the days, when especially lady musicians, were to have the required high pitch even to think about entering the film music field. Nowadays, anybody and everybody sings and possessing a musical voice is not at all a prerequisite. In a slightly pained note,

Vani says, ‘Probably, this trend is to remove the monopoly of a selected few. Taking from Nargis to the modern Karishma, we are tuned to a certain sweetness and clarity in voice when film songs are being picturised on them. Now, suddenly if you hear a gruff and hoarse voice singing for them, I feel it quite inappropriate.” Vani then sings the all time hit of Rafi, `Aap ke hasin rukh pe naya noor hai’ and explains how each word literally bubbles with life in such songs.

Delving and reflecting on life as a whole, Vani sums up, “We have no right to pass judgement on anybody. I only concentrate on improving myself every day. Vasanth Desaiji told me one thing- after the whole day’s work, if you stand in front of the mirror and are able to tell yourself that I haven’t gone down in my own esteem, that is the biggest award and reward for you. Looking back at my own life, I can boldly say that I have pursued my profession with utmost dignity and that I think gives a sense of great fulfillment to me.”"

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