For us in the 80s, Radio and Akshavani were an integral part of our lives. Television was there, but TV time was primarily in the evenings. Radio also served like a clock, alarm. Radio ran continuously in normal middle-class homes. Some voices became immortal, even those reading the News.
My mom being a schoolteacher needed to know the time while cooking in the morning without seeing the clock. Radio was the solution. My father who would work in shifts had his own Radio schedule. So for years, we grew up listening to the radio. Radio did not go off even when we were studying or while doing homework.
Morning 8.30 to 9.30 was the time for Kannada movie songs in Vividh Bharathi. One good thing about Akashavani was that it mentioned all involved in a song which it played. The music director, the lyricist and the singers always got their credit unlike now. For years we kept on hearing the name of SP Balasubramaniam. That time we mostly heard 3 names – SPB, PB Srinivas and Dr Rajkumar. Out of the 12-13 songs in that slot, SP Balasubramaniam easily featured in 7 to 8 songs.
What we repeatedly see, listen, hear in our childhood remains forever. With the news of the demise of SPB, it feels like a very big part of our childhood is gone. So many of our childhood memories are attached with those songs and that divine voice of SPB.
He has sung almost 40,000 songs, but his impact on film music is beyond those numbers. How he managed so many songs and matched the voices of the actor on screen is a wonder.
For millions of us, who never saw him but only heard, enjoyed his voice, he is still there somewhere. Every time we hear his songs, he lives on. That is the greatness of art.
RIP sir.
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