When R. Baiju goes on long drives, he listens to old Malayalam film songs, particularly those sung by Yesudas. Often, he hums along and when he does, a wistful smile plays on his lips. This is all the music that there is in Baiju’s life these days. It was not so, in 1997.
Back then Baiju’s days used to be filled with the lilting notes of Thodi, Mayamalava Goula or Kaappi. Back then Baiju was one in a class of 20, aiming for a Gaana Bhooshanam qualification from the Sri Swathi Thirunal College of Music.
“All the others had some previous knowledge of Carnatic music. I had only a burning passion for the same,” says Baiju, whose house at Onaampaara, near Peoroorkada, did not have a burning light when he was a student. So, writing only the second year examinations and after completing the four-year course he bid goodbye to the ‘thampura’. He keeps in touch with only one batchmate of his, and that person now works as a clerk at a medical college in the city.
Baiju is but one of the many college alumni for whom music did not become a vocation or a way of life. There are many college alumni who work as government clerks, in private firms, as entrepreneurs.
“Even as a child I used to love riding the bicycle. So it is that I became a newspaper delivery boy; something that I continue to this day. I drive an autorickshaw and taxis for a living. But even now, I can’t help thinking one thing: if only I had the opportunity to study some music before going to the music college, I may have been a professional musician now,” he says. “Maybe, one day, music will play a part in my life again.”
