Mukesh : The Melody And The Man           

                                                              By Girija  Rajendran

He wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth but he was certainly born with a golden voice. Mukesh must have sounded melodious even when he wept in childhood . He was the kind of voice that could effortlessly make you weep - " Teri Duniya Mein Dil Lagat Nahi ".

                    The unique trait of his singing was  that its appeal transcended the fate of the film. If you sat down to work out of his songs - to - film ratio , you would find him to be the singer who achieved the maximum popularity with the minimum songs.

                                          He had his natural habit of singing only hit songs. It became a habit with him because he never thought of a song in term of hit or flop. He just sang it as best he could and the listner decided no one could sing it better.

       I'll just name three films and the three songs remembered for them , to drive home the point.

                                     Think of  " Kala Aadmi " and the song that comes instinctively to mind is " Dil Dhoondta Hai Sahare".

                                     Think of  " Sawan "  and you have " Nain Dwar Se Man Mein  Woh Aake Tan Mein Aag Lagaye " .

                                     Think of  " Maine Jeena Seekh Liya " and you have " Tere Pyar Ko Is Tarah Se Bhulana Na Dil ".

 There was a 15 - years gap between the first two songs he recorded for O.P.Nayyar . The first one is       " Miss Coca Cola " , the " Jhuka Jhuka Ke Nigahen Milayen Jaten Hain "  duet with Asha , was an instant hit. When O. P. forget all about him for fifteen years and then recorded in his voice "Chal Akela Chal Akela" for " Sambandh ", the song was a runway hit a full year before the film came.

                   The goodness in the man came through in his voice as did his straightness and transparent sincerity. Lata Mangeshkar, therefore, spoke no more than the truth when she said you got the feel a " Bhala Aadmi " singing when Mukesh sang. The fact that he was a great gentleman was reflected in the    "persuasive" quality of his singing. There was always about it a sweet reasonableness.

  since money is the root of all evil , he lost he as fast as he made it .He was not happy unless he was exploited. This made him a misfit in the rat race that is stardom and production.  

                   He tried his hand both at being  a hero and making a film -- just to find out  the true meaning of failure after succeeding spectacularly as a singer. He was the richer for the experience in that he lost only his material not his vocal wealth. He made the happy discovery  that his true place was in front of the mike. He soon found his niche as a singer with the rare gift of blending  the sweets and the bitters of life.     

                       There was in his voice a God  - given touch of pathos that elevated an ordinary  tune to the level of the sublime. Such a man had to end up singing the Ramayan.

                       I came face to face with him only in the last year of his life  and am the poorer  for it. Poorer because we tuned instantly -- he had this knack of communicating his warmth to every person with whom he came in contact. But it would be wrong to say I didn't know him before that.  My favourite composer was Roshan ,so how could Mukesh not be my favourite singer ?

      Money was one luxury I didn't know in my childhood , but I distinctly remember how I saved up my meagre  ]ocket money to  possess just one Mukesh disc -" Jhiim Jhoom Ke Naacho Aaj ". The song synthesized both the joy and the pathos in Mukesh's voice , so my choice was symbolic. when I meet the symbol of the common man for the first time at the " Kabhi Kabhei"get-together , when I heard him joke about his own " ridiculous " that was to follow " Amitabh Bachchan's "  " Sublime " rendition of  " Kabhi Kabhei  Mere Dil Mein Khayal Aata Hai ," I recognised  in him a man who had lived  life to the full , drained  it to the drags and was yet not intoxicated  with success.

                 He knew no ego , was the soul-force of Raj Kapoor and was the picture of humility like Lata. That is why Mukesh and Lata got on so famously - they were both untainted by fame.

                 The goods that men do lives after than --- you will see how as Nitin sings tonight ...