Yesterday I listened to Pudhiya Mannargal after probably 3-4 years. Every time SPB starts Eduda Antha Sooriya, I seem to traverse the time span of 13 years in a carpet ride and within a moment I land on the day – 25th February, 1995.
I remember that day so clearly like it was nothing but yesterday! It was the first day in my life while returning from school, keeping the rickshaw on wait, I and my sister went to Kamal Music Store. It waw the first time I was going to any cassette shop by myself to buy something. I was nervous on my query and with much courage I asked the man on the counter ‘Do you have Tamil cassettes?’
The guy (Kamal, I came to know later) nodded and very coolly went inside coming back with four Tamil cassettes. I was so bewildered seeing so many Tamil cassettes in front of me, not being able to read the tooth breaking unknown names, not being able to find the name of the person I was looking for, that I finally I asked Kamal ‘Which are here by A R Rahman?’
Very coolly (again) he sorts and hands me over two cassettes – Pudhiya Mannargal and Gangmaster (Telugu). I remember, by that time I had almost ceased breathing with excitement!
This was the start. The start of listening to songs in an unknown language, the start of being answerable to all who think why I listen to Tamil songs when there are so many Bengali songs available, the start of a journey which even I was not sure whether I would be able to pursue. I don't know how many times I listened it over just to find out one day that I remember the entire lyrics of almost all the songs without understanding a single word! I can never forget how I used to sit for hours holding the cassette in my hands while trying to read the curved letters and how one day I came up with writing the first tamil word of my life - ra ha ma n.
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