Dubai - "The lesson I learnt that day was how simplicity should be carried to the core of everyday life."
Published: Sat 26 Sep 2020, 8:43 AM
Updated: Sat 26 Sep 2020, 12:31 PM
- By
- As told to Sami Ha Zen
As a young kid in a village in Kerala, I first heard SPB on the cassette tape recorder brought by my brother-in-law who returned from the Gulf. While I hardly understood the Hindi lyrics, I hummed the song Tere Mere Beech, from Ek Duje Ke Liye. It was the first song the legendary singer sang in Hindi, one that won him the Indian National Award. I had no idea who he was, but the song stayed with me.
Then I met him. During my film school days in Pune, we were taken on a tour to Chennai and we, students, met him at his studio. "Boys, you can set out to do things you want to do or you can set out to do things you are marked to do and the choice is yours," he had said then.
The lesson I learnt that day was how simplicity should be carried to the core of everyday life. He was an embodiment of goodness.
The last time I met him was on February 24 this year at a ceremony, where both of us were awarded. While we have never worked together, he always made it a point to admire my work, one thing I feel extremely humbled about. I had made plans for him to sing in my upcoming movie. No matter how big a movie I may make, there will always be that void.
On August 8, I messaged him and he assured me he would overcome the 'mild illness'. Now I realise that a sookshmaanu (atom) can take away a life so well lived.
- (Resul Pookutty is an Oscar-winning sound designer, best known for his work in Slumdog Millionaire)
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