On the surface, Bade Aache Lagthe Hain (from Balika Badhu ; 1976) is a noticeably chirpy effort to extol love and Nature.
Deep down runs a contrasting sub-text, laid bare by the lines left unpenned.
You catch those unpenned-unsung lines in the notes of the violin as they caress the landscape, when the song begins to roll. They breeze in and out of the tall grasses with white plumes that dance against a crepuscular sky on the banks of a river weakly lit by an emergent moon.
In other fleeting moments, they are writ large on the expressions of the two actors, particularly Sachin.
It is this element, near-missable, that elevates it from just another hummable romantic score to a philosophical statement about finding meaning and beauty despite the limitations and burden of being human.
For this all-round performance, the song’s credits have to be shared widely and equally, every time it is discussed or presented.
So, here it is: Lyrics and ‘philosophy’ (Anand Bakshi), music (RD Burman), vocals (Amit Kumar), visuals (cinematographer Nando Bhattacharya) and histrionics (actors Sachin and Rajni; and naturally also director Tarun Majumdar).
As if this credit line were not long enough, recently, Chennai-based music-enthusiasts group Aarohi added one more name to it — Ram Subramaniam (19).
In its two-hour online show, Aarohi featured Ram’s rendition of Bade Aache Lagthe Hain, punctuated with the right pauses and pitch. Ram and his family together exemplify the song’s central message, having indeed “found meaning and beauty in spite of limiting factors”, as have the other singers and their families featured on that Sunday show, called ‘Anmol Ratan’ (priceless gems).
All of these singers/ musicians are autistic, and Aarohi brought them on board to celebrate World Autism Acceptance Month, April.
Ram’s mother Sripriya said the boy was swayed by music even as a toddler, but the period between ages 3 and 10 was best described as one of dormancy, as he did not act on this incipient interest in music.
“When Ram was around 11, we were in Mumbai. His school bus ride was an-hour-and-a-half each way. Thanks to the bus driver, who played old Hindi film songs, he was humming the songs and singing them with perfect words, not knowing a word of Hindi. With perfect emotion too. He had regained the lost skill,”said Sripriya, adding that now in Chennai, Ram has more “opportunities to learn Carnatic music.”
Rajeswari, mother of 26-year-old K Karthik, whose remarkably clean rendition of “O Mere Zohra Jabeen” was played, says: “When Karthik was two and a half years old, he would repeat the songs he heard on the radio, being able to pick up the tunes faster. Finding a tutor was a challenge, as dealing with his hyperactivity wore many tutors down,” said Rajeshwari.
As she put it, Karthik’s musical journey took a turn for the better, when music teacher Mehboob Ali arrived on the scene.
“The first time I listened to him, I had goosebumps,” revealed Mehboob, adding that it was surreal that the boy would not talk, but would sing as if it were the most natural and easiest thing to do. The music tutor went on to discuss how customisation and oodles of patience were pre-requisites for coaching singers on the Autism spectrum.
When the discussion turned to how siblings helped these young autistic musicians, Rama Datta — mother of Tejus Sri Datta (11), whose confident and powerful presentation of Kannane Kanney (from Viswasam ; 2018) added to the show’s liveliness — explained how her second daughter Shreyas was being “Teju’s second mom.”
“Far mature for her age, she takes care of Teju. If Teju’s improvement in her communication and social skills is noticeable, it is the result of Shreyas’ efforts and interactions. When Teju is not keen on going with music practice or homework, Shreyas would say, ‘I am going to do it. Will you join?’. And Teju would,” Rama elaborated.
To a question posed to her on the show, Kavitha Krishnamoorthy, co-director of The CanBridge Academy — which its other co-director Sharada Rajaram had earlier defined as space for young adults with autism to explore skills, which includes enhancing skills they might have already acquired — said that what applied to the general population applied to the autistic population: artistic abilities differed.
“As with the general population, anyone with autism will show an affinity towards an art form,” said Kavitha. “If you look at art as not just producing art, but really engaging with it, then all persons with autism, just like all human beings, are artistic.”
Other performances that made the show eclectic included a fluent keyboard presentation by Adithya Venkatesh (21) of a compostion by Kumareshji Rajagopalan in reethigowlai; neat renditions by Ananth KG (19) of Alliveni in raga kurinji composed by Maharaja Swati Tiru; Siddhartha (10) of Baaro Ganapathy, and Latika (16) of Radhe Shyam. Self-taught keyboardist Shailesh (10) played a medley, and the fact that he picks up tunes and plays them at will wowed the hosts. A thillana on the tabla by Jothi Kiran (14) added greater variety to the show.
Rendition of the Kishore Kumar classic Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas by Samyukta (18) came in a trained voice that hit the right registers — the fact that her mother had to hold the mike for her underlined a challenge inherent in getting some autistic children to give a live performance on stage. It was for this reason that only pre-recorded performances were played.
Singer-musician ‘Bombay’ Jayashri joined the show as “cheer-leader” for the young musicians. It is well-known that through the trust Hitham, she is engaged in developing the musicality of children with autism.
From Aarohi, V Balasubramanian and Vidhya Srinivasan hosted the show. Harishankar Mani set the tone for the evening, stating the purpose of the show. The coordination was done by Priya Sabu and Surendran Menon.
