Never whistle at night, for it attracts evil spirits, they say. Try it and you are warned of falling into huge debts; sometimes whistling forebodes ill luck. These warnings make one thing quite clear – it is not a good idea to whistle. Whistling is not a good habit and even casts aspersions on your reputation. Despite this there is a growing group of passionate whistlers. Nellayi C. P. Chandrasekharan is one of them.
Chandrasekharan does not call himself a professional like the many around. He still retains the amateur's nervousness, freshness and somewhere deep inside an ingrained feeling of guilt; a feeling that he is disobeying a warning.
Born into a traditional family in the little village of Rappal, Thrissur district, Chandrasekharan discovered quite early that he had a penchant for singing. When his family found this to be a digression, he tried whistling, a sort of bathroom whistler.
“Those early days were tough. Essentials were scarce and songs the only solace. Hiding from the elders I used to try out my skills. Alone on my way to school and back I used to whistle to my heart's content. The occasional visit to the ‘cinema talkies' was mainly to listen to the songs. Left with no money to buy a ticket I used to linger outside the theatre and listen to the songs. We did not own a radio those days. So when songs wafted through I could pick the tune but not the words,” remembers Chandrasekharan, who after retirement assists in bank documentation works.
Since his childhood days Chandrasekharan has been whistling. He never tried pursuing it seriously because of his family commitments. He completed his SSLC, and with a bit of typing experience picked up a job at Calico Mills, Ahmedabad. After a longish stint with the Gujarat PWD he returned home to find a job with Harrison Malayalam till his retirement last year.
Hobby
Though Chandrasekharan's whistling and singing talents were smothered he never abandoned this hobby. “It kept me going in life. I kept on practising but never had the courage to try it out on stage.”
The first time Chandrasekharan whistled on stage was at the Estate Day at Kaliyar Estate, Thodupuzha. “I thought the audience liked it. This gave me confidence to search other venues to popularise this art.”
Chandrasekharan has sung and whistled during intervals of music programmes at some church festivals in Thrissur and as part of television shows.
Chandrasekharan has a huge repertoire of Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil songs. But he loves to whistle songs with a tinge of pathos. “It is an art that can be developed. Practice will help, like any other art. Whistling requires good lung power, breath control, the lips must be supple and throat hydrated. There are many techniques. I use the popular blow-out method.”
Apart from whistling Chandrasekharan's other hobby is writing. He has written articles and feature stories in various vernacular newspapers.
With retirement and winding up of commitments has come a sense of fulfilment. Now, Chandrasekharan has been able to pursue his passion. But he feels that he has lost a lot of time. He has not tried solo shows or the possibilities of karaoke.
Whistling as an art has flourished. The Indian Whistlers Association (IWA), a registered forum comprises whistlers from all over India. When Chandrasekharan started off this was a dream. This art is growing.
