“P Susheela” – a perfect synonym to “Nightingale” article by MR.Vasudevan

As she sang straight from her heart, they went straight into our soul.

“P Susheela” – a perfect synonym to “Nightingale” Quite often we come across connoisseurs drawing a parallel to any distinguished female voice with a Nightingale. A Nightingale’s singing has been described as one of the most beautiful sounds in nature. While this species could be hardly seen in our continent of South Asia, somehow we accept the supremacy of a nightingale as lavish praises have been showered by poets on this rare kind of singing bird over time immemorial for its sweet singing. Though we are not lucky enough to hear the whistling cresendos of a nightingale in this part of the world, we should still consider ourselves as most fortunate as god has made good its absence by giving us the rarest gift - P Susheela - whose sweet voice fascinates any one, any time, irrespective of generations. Lyricist Vairamuthu had once expressed his wish in one of his songs as “Thamizhil Kuyil paada vaendum”. Though I felt his wish had already been fulfilled by god long ago through Susheela, still, I am bit afraid to label Susheela (as) a cuckoo since it became a default over a period of time to call any female playback a cuckoo even if some of the voices actually sounded like a parrot. I pity those who are not able to distinguish the two. So, let me stay with nightingale, a superior adjective, to describe this sweet voice most aptly. Nightingale Susheela’s honey-soaked voice and expressive rendition comforted many wounded hearts – both on and off the screen – with a healing touch, from “Thangathile oru kurai irundhaalum” to “Mannavane azhalaama?” to “Amma enbadhu Thamizh vaarthai” to “Kanne Paappa! En kanimuthu Paappa!” to “KaNNaana Poomaganae KaNN urangu Sooriyanae”. From my childhood days, I got attracted by two female voices. One was that of MLV and the other one was P Susheela’s. The very first time I was drawn by this mellifluous voice stays lush green in my memory. Maybe, I was just 4 years old. It was a drizzling evening when I along with my mother had to take shelter at a kiosk near Marina Beach when the song “Unnai kaaNadha kaNNum kaNN alla” from the film Idhaya Kamalam was echoing from the radio, blending with a pleasant sea-breeze. Even today, whenever I hear this song, I recall that lovely moment with delight. The next one that immediately comes to my mind is “Malargal nanaindhana paniyaale” – another wonderful composition from the same movie which would compete closely with “Unnai kaanadha kannum alla” and “Ennadhaan ragasiyamo idhayathile” (brilliantly rendered by her with very apt expressions) for the top slot. Susheela’s sweet voice, Kannadasan’s poetic words and K V Mahadevan’s delectful composition merged together nicely to give us these memorable marvels. As I grew, a few years later, I was awestruck when I heard one more fascinating number in Susheela’s voice which really did something to me even at that tender age. The song was “Maalai pozhudhin mayakkathile” - a magnificent composition with splendid orchestration by Viswanathan-Ramamurthy, blending a vibrant sound of a Veena with a Violin and a Shehnai with excellent percussion support. It took some time for me to come out of the sober mood after listening to this song. From then on, it became an obsession for me to relish all those innumerable melodies in this mesmerising voice that were mostly composed by legends K V Mahadevan and M S Viswanathan. One should listen to Susheela’s voice without any background score to enjoy the flavour fully. Can you please close your eyes and listen to the opening few lines with excellent pauses - Gangai karai Thoattam……Kannipenngal koottam…… Kannan…. naduvinile! O! Oho! Kannan… naduvinile! Kaalai ilam kaatru…. Paadi varum Paattu…. Edhilum avan kurale! O! Oho! Edhilum avan kurale! What an experience it is! Here, you could hear only Susheela’s voice with a mild sound of Thamboora. Probably, Kannadasan had Susheela’s voice in his mind while titling his film as Vaanambaadi. Don’t we get ourselves hooked to when we listen to: Urugivitta mezhuginile Oli yaedhu? Udaindhuvittta silaiyinile azahagedhu? Pazhudhupatta Koavilile Dheivam yaedhu? Pani padarndha… paadhaiyile….. payaNam yaedhu?....... Idhaya Veenai…. thoongumboadhu…. paa..da mudiyumaa? Please wait, this list is not yet complete. Play in your subconscious mind the opening lines “Iraivaa un Maaligaiyil…… ethanaiyo mani Vilakku! Thalaivaa un kaaladiyil….. en nambikkaiyin Oli Vilakku, nambikkaiyin Oli Vilakku! Oh! What a great renditon of a great composition! Could there be any wonder when such a soulful prayer got responded to by the Almighty when MGR was in death-bed @ the Brooklyn Hospital in the United States in real life too? We all stand stanstill as we listen to that concluding stanza in “Thirumaal Perumai” Song “Sri Hari Hari Gokula RamaNaa undhan Thiruvadi CharaNam Kanna as Susheela utters the Closing Viruththam portion phrases “Gnaana Malar Kanna! AAyar Kula Vilakke! - in particular, “Thaane Uruvaagi, ThanakuLLe Thaanaagi……” which emits only pure divinity in optimum measure. Aazhiyile piravaadha alai magalo? for the film Paesum Dheivam gives us a very great expereince as in this particular song Susheela didn’t utter a word but only gave humming throughout the song that synchronised beautifully with the composition (in Kaanada Raagam) engrossing our mind and soul. To be more specific, listen to Susheela’s humming after the Finishing Line of the Opening Virutham “Ulaga Thaai Petredutha Thalai Magalo” sung by TMS. Vow, isn’t it Divinely? We will now just recall those first two phrases, “Nalandhaana? Nalandhaana?” And, especially, the line “Indha penn patta paattai yaar arivaaar?” in Thillaana Moganaambal or the lines “Innoru kaigalile…. Yaar? Yaar? Naanaa? in Nenjil Oar Alayam. Don’t they evoke instinctive empathy from the listeners? Solla cholla inikkudhadaa! Of course, Literally. This song and “Manam padaithaen unnai ninaipadharku” in Kandhan Karunai sound so sweet to our ears in her sugar coated voice. There seemed to exist a special chemistry in the combination of A P Nagarajan-Kannadasan-K V Mahadevan and Susheela – a feature quite evident in another magnificent number too - Komaadhaa! Engal kula maadhaa! in the film Saraswathi Sabatham – brilliantly composed in Bheemplas with high pitched notes, tailor-made for Susheela. She never failed to excel in any high pitched note – singing it beautifully without any shrill or strain. Susheela simply conquered everyone by her stunning rendition of the song “Andha Sivagaami maganidam saedhi solladi” as she embellished every phrase of this song with exemplary sangathis and brigaas combined with expressive emotions, thus exciting the listeners from that brief Opening Aalapana till that Step by Step Closing of the Pallavi Line again in the end.. As music lovers, we hear so many songs belonging to so many genres. But, only a select few touch our heart so deeply and stay in our soul permanently. “Oru naall iravu pagal poal Nilavu” (Kaaviya Thalaivi), a glorious composition by MSV depicting the pains of separation of a daughter from her mother, takes us to a completely different plane as we get overwhelmed by Susheela’s awesome rendition. Such was the impact that as and when I happened to listen to this song and “Dheerka Sumangali vaazhgavae”, for a moment, I never wished to listen to any other song further. She remained special when it came to melancholies as she used to touch the emotion chord with greater precision to echo the pains effectively. Whether it was “Poo urangudhu pozhudhum urangudhu Nee urangavillai Nilave!” or “Kaadhal siragai katrinil virithu...” or “Ennai eduthu thannai koduthu….” or “Ninaikka therindha manamae” or “Engae neeyo naanum angae unnodu”, her soulful singing elevated those excellent compositions to the top. Even an unpaired bird needed Susheela’s voice only to sing its pain soulfully -“Sondhamillai, bhandhamillai, vaadudhu oru paravai”. This voice never ever irritated us with a shrill or strain even when it peaked up in an upper octave. To the contrary, it sounded sweeter and sweeter as is evident in “Kangal engae? nenjamum engae?”, “Ennai marandadhaen Thendrale?”, the everlasting “Nenjam Marapadhillai”, the mindboggling, national award winning “Paal poalave... Vaan meedhile…”, the effervescent “Vasandhathil Oar Naall… MaNavarai Oaram” and the phenomenal “Yaaraithaan nambuvadho paedhai nenjam”. She was able to maintain exceptional consistency in the scale of her sruthi throughout, with incredible perfection even in delivering those tough notes. At the one end, even simple tunes like “Aththaan en aththaan”, “Paal irukkum Pazham irukkum”, “ThaNNilavu thaen iraikka”, “Vaa endradhu uruvam” and “Kannukku mai azhagu” magnetised the listeners. At the other end, challenging compositions like “Unn azhagai kanniyargal sonnadhinaale” (Uthama Puthiran), “Thaesulaavudhe Thaen Malar Naalum” in Hamsaanandhi (for Manaalane Mangayin Bhagyam), “En uyir Thoazhi kael oru saedhi” in Hameer Kalyani (for Karnan), “Dheviyar iruvar Murganukku” in Shree Raagam (for Kalai Koyil), “Azhagan Muruganidam Aasai vaithaen” in Thilang (for Panja Varna Kili), “Maraindhirundhu paarkum marmam enna?” in a sparkling Shanmugapriya and the unforgettable “Mannavan vandhaanadi” in a breezy Kalyani showcased Susheela’s singing prowess quite strikingly as these songs contained tough musical notations that demanded remarkable control over breathing and reasonable strength in the basics of classical music. Listeners’ joy knows no bounds when they hear her evergreen melodies “Aalayamaniyin Oasaiyai naan kaeten”, “Saravana poigaiyil neeraadi…”, “Chittukuruvi...muththam koduthu”, “Kannan ennum mannan paerai solla cholla”, and the most delectful melody “Kaadhal kaadhal endru paesa Kannan vandhaano!” (brilliantly composed in Dharmavathi – now synonymous with Madhuvanthi) as these scintillating tunes of MSV in Susheela’s voice lift up one’s spirit instantaneously. Her expressive rendition of those rarely heard haunting melodies like “KaNNile anbirundhaal”, “Vasandha kaalam varumo?”, “Oruvanukku oruththi endru”, “Sugamo aayiram, suvaiyo kaaviyam”, and “Raja chinna Raja, poonthalirae inbakkaniyae” refuses to erase either from this never-ending list or from our subconscious memory. She seemed to be in absolute delight while assuming the role of a loving mother or a caring teacher or an affectionate auntie to cajole with children with her sweet singing; so too we are, as we savour the lines “indha maankutti kaettu kann moodum….mm….Aththaimadi methaiyadi”, and “PachaivaNNa kili vandhu pazham kodukka, pattuvanNNa…. chittu vandhu… malar kodukka” and rejoice at such enchanting melodies as ”Muththaana muthallavo”, “En Rajaavin Roja mugam”, and “Chinna KaNNae Chithira kaNNae kaelamma”. It will stay as a perpetual secret how did MSV get such magical tunes from his intuitive brain that ignite us with a fresh energy. This splendid voice could n’t reach the North adequately as she could n’t get too many Hindi songs. Nevertheless, we get thrilled whenever we hear Naushad Ali’s Hindustani classical Kanavu kanda kaadhal kadhai kaNNeer Aachae? based on Dharbaari Kaanada (Akbar) and Madan Mohan’s original Hindi tunes in her voice for the Tamil Versions like “Naaanae…varuvaen” (Yaar Nee) and “Vaa arugil vaa” (Adhe Kanngal), thanks to Vedha-Kannadasan combo for aptly creating the replica. P Susheela being greeted by Hindi playback legend Lata Mangeshkar for her winning the National award for “Naalai indha vaelai paarthu Oadi vaa Nila” for “Uyarndha Manidhan” (1968). What’s amazing is that even for some of the child artists, her natural voice matched admirably without any voice modulation as songs like “Pachai maram ondru”, “Kuzhandhaiyum Dheivamum guNathaal ondru”, “Naarayana mandhram! adhuve naalum paerinbam” (Baktha Prahalaatha), Oru Marathil Kudi Irukkum Paravai Irandu (Enga Paappa) and “KaNN izhandha pillaikku Dheivam thandha dharisanam” (YaeNi Padigall) revealed the beauty in greater degree. Whichever voice echoed from the co-singer slot, this voice easily stood out and made us enjoy the contrast. For instance, please listen to the Song Vizhiye Kadhai Eazhudhu or MuthukkaLO KaNNgaL or Iyarkai Ennum ILaya Kanni as her captivating voice simply conquers the listeners. “Thamizhukkum amudhendru paer!” Of course. Especially, when Susheela sings! Though her mother tongue is Telugu, the clarity in her Tamil diction was commendable and we could hardly find even a trace of Telugu accent in her rendition of any of the Tamil songs. Had Thiruvalluvar born in the 20th Century and heard Susheela singing, probably, he would have been in a quandary whether to re-phrase one of his famous verses this way: “Kuzhal inidhu Kuyil inidhu enbar Susheelavin kural inimai kaelaadhavar” Countless melodies, captivating voice! Nenjam Marappadhillai ! Hay God! May I solicit one more birth in this part of the globe only to enjoy them perpetually. C V Vasudevan cv.devn@gmail.com