An ode to Swarnalatha from her fan

The death of singer Swarnalatha - The lady with the most resonant, most appealing and most sensuous voice i have ever heard is indeed shocking to the entire music industry and millions of her fans including me. I would like to share my thoughts and outpour of my heart that never failed to sway to her metallic voice, a voice that was capable of penetrating deep into the soul and shake a thousand emotions out of it.
True to her name, her voice was golden, eternal. There are some voices that are created by god that are meant to sing, to spread joy to the people.Swarnalatha's voice was probably tailor made to suit this purpose. As a young singer, the first song that i sang on Tv shows and alway won prizes was Porale Ponnuthaayi, her National award winning song. Though i was only 10 when i first sang this song, i could understand the underlying intensity of the emotions conveyed through this song through the medium of her voice and it was the first voice that greatly inspired me from within. I have met her on one occassion at a studio. she had just finished her recording and i was about to begin mine. when she stepped out of the voice console, I fell at her feet. She blessed me and kindly asked me about my work. She wore a beautiful blue salwar and wore stunning gold ornaments. Her singing reflected her persona. So full of kindness, innocence yet a lot of intense emotions stashed deep within. It is hard to believe she died of lung infection as the kind of breath control she had, only a pair of bellows instead of lungs could produce! Be it the arabic genius humming in Humma or the heart wrenching Porale Ponnuthaayi or the playful akkada or the recent Evano Oruvan or vintage Ilayaraja hit like Malayil yaaro and the longing Aalana sedhi solli in Deva's music, She has been the other name for versatality.

The other day i was driving and listening to Kuchi Kuchi Rakkama from Bombay. Her voice was crytal- like, beaming away to glory through Rahman's composition. Though she was very reserved, she was the hot favorite of top composers of our times. She held her own throne, musical kingdom in the hearts of her fans.Her voice will always remain one of its kind, Her glory will never die. May her soul rest in peace. We love you Swarnalatha ji, forever.