Girish Modi
By Girish Modi
I am perhaps one of the luckiest music aficionados as I met many musicians and singers from all parts of India during my younger days and got to know them in person. Main reason for meeting them is to understand each singer, and even though I am a Gujarati and don’t understand their languages. I also combine my love for music with love for photography, which they appreciate.
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, known as “SP” by his friends, was one of South India’s legendary singers who achieved pinnacle of singing like Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar. I was fortunate to spend a few days with SP and another great singer, P. Susheela in 1979 during his first concert in America and videotaped four of his concerts, a rare feat at that time. Susheela’s husband who is a doctor, had also come with her.
Three entrepreneurs from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh had just started an organization called Triveni in NY/NJ area. Because of my interests in music and photography one of them approached me for my free services.
The first concert was held in New York, and I believe it was for Telugu and Tamil speakers. Even though I hardly understood the South Indian languages, I enjoyed the concert. I was impressed by SP’s versatility and special mimic of a plane landing sound in one of the songs. In another song he mimicked Rafi Saheb’s “yahoo” from film Junglee. A 12-year-old tabla player named Raju was the main attraction in that concert and SP had given him time to showcase his talent.
Needless to say, Susheela’s melodious voice was out of this world. I called her Lata Mangeshkar of South India, which she appreciated very much; because just like Lataji, Susheela reads lyrics from a little book and hardly looks at the audience or shows any expressions while singing, unlike modern singers who do more acting than singing.
I had accompanied SP & Susheela to their three concerts in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. area over the following weekend. Upon return, we had another concert in New York because of high demand. By that time, we had become friends, and I also had dinners with them.
At this second concert in New York songs of other South Indian languages were also included.
This was a memorable concert because while they were setting up sound, the keyboard malfunctioned and the concert was in jeopardy.
However, it was saved because somebody had to pick up my accordion from my apartment in New Jersey, which had delayed the start of concert by two hours. SP not only appreciated my help but also called me on stage and thanked me for saving the concert by loaning my accordion.
He also sang a Hindi song of Kishore Kumar’s as a tribute to me. I had become the star among over a thousand attendees! By the way, at that time SP had not started playback singing for Hindi films such as Maine Pyar Kiya for which he received a Filmfare award and also gained accolades as Salman Khan’s voice.
While I was taping the video on my VHS recorder using a separate camera, SP thanked me publicly and asked for a copy of the video. SP signed a photo taken by me showing his approval of my photography talent.
It is a miracle that 39 years later I met SP again when he gave a concert in the Atlanta area. He was accompanied this time by the famous singer Chitra. He looked old and frail. Even though he had become a legendary singer and won many awards, I was not very happy listening to him this time. After the show, I went on stage and met SP. At first, he did not recognize me, but when I showed him a couple of pictures from the 1979 concert, SP recognized me. I then gave him a copy of the video cassette and reminded him that he had asked me to give me a copy. He thanked me and hugged me. I also met Chitra on stage and told her that I watched her singing “Rasik Balma” song from Chori Chori on YouTube. She asked me how it was. I told her it was observing Lataji’s facial expression who was sitting in the first row.
Next day they had a meet-and-greet with SP and Chitra. I went to this reception. I presented both of them with a photo album of the previous day’s concert and also a DVD of the whole concert which they both appreciated. SP and Chitra both signed the pictures for me on which SP wrote “Grateful Modiji”. My picture with SP & Chitra was taken by someone from the audience.
SP died of COVID infection two years later and that saddened me. I am proud to be associated with this legendary singer’s journey.
Girish Modi is an 85-year-old retired engineer who is passionate about Indian music and classical dances. He donates money to various Indian organizations and provides free photo service. Contact: girish39@yahoo.com.
