Songs I Would Like To Try

Growing up I liked to sing. I would regularly take part in school activities that involved singing.

Then I reached adolescent age and my voice broke. I did not understand this well. All I remember was a terrible lack of confidence in rendering songs that I was able to belt out effortlessly just a few months before. I would yearn to sing but my larynx would feel as if it had lost lubrication all of a sudden leaving me a feeling of paralysis. I did not talk about it and at school since no one expected us boys to be interested in singing, the desire receded from conscious thought. Only when I saw a few other kids develop a deeper voice few years later did it realize what was happening.

This fear of singing lasted until I decided to take up Carnatic music in my 30s. My teacher showed me where my Sa or Shadjam is and I discovered I had a very bass voice. The Shruti I could sing in is a full octave below what is considered Five Kattai in Carnatic music. Consequently all songs composed for singers who are baritone or tenor were ruled out. Unfortunately since most film songs were composed for singers in that voice range it ruled out all songs of Rafi or Kishore. These songs are not easy on and throat which is a good thing since people would have laughed at my pretension. I later discovered that some songs (not all) by Mukesh were little easier on the larynx. These songs although were at a higher pitch, did not have the full range of two octaves. Finally we all know that anyone can bray like Kumar Sanu.

So here is a (work in progress) list of song I would like to sing. Some of them are duets and in most of these cases, I could easily pair with my daughter or wife who are far better singers than I am and could support me.

Anand - Meine Tere Liye Hi Saath
Ruki Ruki - Mast (duet)
Do Divaane Shaher Mein - Gharonda (duet)
Kai Baar yun Bhi Dekha, Rajni Gandha
Rim Jhim Rim Jhim 1942 A Love Story (duet)
Seene Mein Jalan Gaman, Gaman, Suresh Vadkar
Suhana Safar - Madhumati
Dil Tadap Tadap - Madhumati (duet)