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Singer Vani Jairam, who has won several awards for
her mellifluous voice and singing over the past
several decades, was honoured with a rare one on
April 10. She was named a ‘Vibrant Indian’ by
Developers India, an organisation devoted to
“India’s development, progress and amity”. The
citation revealed the growth of this artiste who has
sung in some languages that we have only heard of -
Marwari and Bhojpuri – apart from Tamil, Hindi,
Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Oriya
and Bengali.
Time was when there was not a single movie
without a song by Vani Jairam. Her classical
training stood her in good stead in rendering any
kind of film music – remember ‘Ezhu Swarangalukkul
Ethanai Padal’ in the movie ‘Apoorva Ragangal’ which
was a raga malika (based on Carnatic music) and
which won her the national award, and 'Nitham,
nitham nellusoru, ney manakkum kathirikka...' in
'Mullum Malarum'?
Born among four sisters in an orthodox family in
Vellore, Vani proved to be a child prodigy. She was
singing for the AIR when she was just 11 years old!
It was only after marriage and moving to Bombay
that she learnt Hindustani music under Ustad Abdul
Rahman Khan and then there was no stopping her. It
was a short step to Hindi film music and Vani said
she was eternally grateful to music director Vasant
Desai who introduced her in ‘Guddi’ with ‘Bholo re
pappi hara’ and ‘Humko manke shakti de’, that made
musical history.
Accepting the citation, memento, shawl, saropa
and kirpan (Sikh sword), the singer said in her
sweet voice that in these difficult times of war,
terrorism and corruption, it was “most important to
be human”, to be able to smile, to speak a few kind
words.
She remembered her Carnatic musician mother
Padmavathy and father Duraiswamy for having
inculcated the wonderful values of life that have
taken her to the very top.
She now concentrates more on singing devotional
songs. But she is also propagating the greatness of
Indian culture among schoolchildren, proving that
she richly deserves the Vibrant Indian award as a
cultural activist.
Anna University Vice-Chancellor, Dr E
Balagurusamy, Maj Gen Anup Singh Jamwal (General
Officer Commanding ATNKK & G Area), ‘The Hindu’
editor N Ravi (who was at one time her neighbour)
and violin maestro Kunnakudi R Vaidyanathan, who
spoke at the function, were all agreed that she
richly deserved the award for her unlimited talent.
The award was presented at the inter-faith meet
of Developers India to celebrate Baisakhi (the
Punjabi New Year) and Tamil New Year. “We hope to
promote understanding and cultural unity through
these inter-faith meets,” said the organisation’s
founder-secretary and convenor, Harbhajan Singh.
Vani sang a few ghazals, Punjabi numbers and a
Guru Nanak Bhajan after the award presentation which
proved that age had only made her voice sweeter and
her singing more soulful.
Courtesy: Chennaionline |
