The Singer Is Dead Not The Song By : B. K. Karanjia He could have been an actor. Indeed he did act in "Nirdosh" and again in "Mashuqa". He should never have been a producer as he realised to his cost after " Malhar" and "Anurag". Only then, almost by accident , did Mukesh find his voice - the first of several thousand songs, the beginning of a 35 - year career as playback singer.

Mukesh is dead, But thousands of film songs he recorded can still be heard and his rendering of the Tulsi Ramayan, completed just prior of his death, will keep his memory alive for long years to come.

Asked once for the secret of the success of his long career, Mukesh replied : "Not one thing, but three - the ability of writers and music directors to create such songs, my own God given ability to do some justice to them, and the public's willingness to listen to them.

He could have added the familiar attributes of his own character that made him accepted and loved by the film world - his gentle, refined nature, his ability to spread sweetness and light within the circle in which he moved, his most childish weakness for food and wine and be good things of life, his readiness and willingness to oblige friends and causes.

So he would star in late evening performances, and go on lighting tours. He would travel to the remotest, almost inaccessible small towns at the behest of a music-loving friend, at great personal hardship and strain to his health.

He never heeded his doctor's warnings and was not deterred by four heart attack in rapid succession. With his winsome ways he charmed away even the constant concern of his near and dear ones, his wife, two sons and three daughters. Mukesh would never say No, and when death knocked, he couldn't.

"In his demise I have lost my voice." moaned Raj Kapoor. Indeed Raj has been a loser thrice over - Shailendra, Jaikishan and now Mukesh. His was the voice that in spite of limitations  of range and flexibility had that certain star quality that leant star luster to Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Manoj Kumar and several others. The emotions he poured into his songs, the agonies and the ecstasies of love, struck a responsive chords in the hearts of his listeners.

There is only this consolation - That we can listen to his songs and that his voice will continue to reverberate as long as people listen to and appreciate light music.