The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Chronicling the life of a singer

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Monday, Sep 11, 2006
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Chronicling the life of a singer

Ten years ago, when Leen Thobias embarked on his dream project, he knew it was not an easy task for a young photojournalist to portray the life and times of a master singer whose golden voice has enthralled at least three generations of music lovers. For one, his subject, K.J. Jesudas, started his career much before Thobias was born.

Today, Thobias has reason to feel proud. He has been nominated for entry into the Limca Book of Records for his photobiography of Jesudas.

The collection of 200 pictures includes those shot by Leen himself and sourced from other people across the country. A photograph in which Jesudas walks along with his father, Augustine Joseph, adds historical value to the collection.

A prized picture is that of young Jesudas and P. Jayachandran sitting side by side after the first ever school youth festival of Kerala in which Yesudas bagged the first prize in music and Jayachandran topped the contest in mridangam.

Another poignant photograph was of Jesudas' recent visit to the house of Semmangudy Sreenivasa Iyer, the former Principal of Music College, Thiruvananthapuram, where he studied.

The collection includes photos of Jesudas posing with singers such as Antara Chowdhury, daughter of Salil Chowdhury, and K.S. Chithra during their childhood, as well as their present pictures.

"Though our lifetimes are apparently disparate, the underlying point of convergence is music itself, which is my first love and his sole vocation," says Thobias, a news photographer with the Malayala Manorama daily.

Once he had decided to chronicle the singer, Thobias made it a point to attend every function in which Jesudas made an appearance.

He also delved deep into the life, family, relatives, friends, foes and teachers of Jesudas. "It was then that I disclosed the project to him and sought his cooperation. To my great happiness, he agreed," recalls Thobias.

He is elated at the response to his public request for early photographs of the singer. "Within a short time, my collection was enriched with pictures of his infancy, childhood, school and initiation into music. But the most valuable one was the first photo of the baby Jesudas."

Thobias has held exhibitions of his collection at the Kanakakkunnu Palace here and the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Ernakulam.

T. NANDAKUMAR

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