Mumbai: Noted singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam always maintained that K. J. Yesudas, who entered the industry four years earlier than him, is a guru figure to him. While both are stalwarts when it comes to filmy music, SPB never saw him in the same row as Yesudas with whom he has crooned many numbers.
Balasubrahmanyam never in wildest dreams thought of pursuing singing as a profession. He aspired to become an engineer, which was also his father's dream. Young SPB aimed at securing a government job which would have earned him Rs 250 per month back then. But destiny had bigger and much melodious plans stored for him in recording studios.
When SPB entered the industry in 1966, the South film industry was brimming with established singers like Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao and P. B. Sreenivas while Yesudas' fame was growing beyond the Malayalam industry.
In his early days, when SPB got opportunities to croon alongside Yesudas, their conversations were limited to exchange pleasantries. The reasons, as the singer revealed in a Telugu interview is Yesudas' reserved nature and his own complex of not being formally trained while his fellow singer possessed in-depth knowledge about Carnatic music, kritis and nuances of each raga.
Balu, as he is fondly called by his industry friends and fans, in the same interview revealed that he grew closer to Yesudas in past two decades after they got to spend more time together during their trips abroad for concerts.
During one such tour to Paris, SPB and Yesudas returned to the hotel at around 11:30 pm. The former being vegetarian used to have food cooked by his better half at the hotel room. On that night, the couple came to know that the event organizers forgot to arrange food for Yesudas in their adjacent room. What Balu did next cemented a denser and even stronger bond with Yesudas.
"Room service," hears Yesudas who was fast asleep after the concert. When he opened the door, what he sees is Balu standing there with rice and rasam for him! Yesudas, who lived without food for three days during his early days, wouldn't have minded going to bed having only water but SPB' care and concerned for him did not let him starve.
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During an event, recalling the incident, Yesudas had said, "I will never forget that meal, and I do not think any meal can give me that satisfaction. That is the care he (SPB) has for me.'
From then on, Yesudas treated SPB like his younger brother while the latter had always regarded him as a guru figure in his life.
In 2017, SPB paid his respects to Yesudas, his 'guru, brother and father figure,' by performing a paadha puja. Reciprocating SPB's love, Yesudas at the low key event had said they were one and the same. "We are ekam, not dwaitam. We came through music, and Goddess Saraswati is the blessed mother for us."
The two icons came together in 2018 after 27 years to render ‘Ayya Sami’, a song for a bilingual film directed by MA Nishad. The same year they crooned Shivam Shivam, fro Telugu action-drama Saakshyam.
These are only the known parts of the story of an enduring bond between Balu and Yesudas, that despite changing fortunes and vicissitudes of life, transcended decades.
