Umita Kalyan Nepaul passed away on Friday
Image: Facebook
THE Hindu cultural tapestry in South Africa suffered a tragic blow when it lost one of its premier artists, a lady who from her teens enchanted thousands through the medium of radio and television – Umita Kalyan.
On that fateful day of her passing, she appeared normal and engaging in communication with all those around her. And within a few hours that evening, all that was about to change to the tragedy that we all are experiencing today.
There are no words, there are no sentiments, there are no accolades of her accomplishments. No flattering eulogy that could be enough to provide a pacifying balm to all of us who had the distinct honour and pleasure of crossing paths with Kalyan.
We all feel the gaping hole and the painful extraction from our midst of one who was arguably the most versatile Hindu female singer in the country – singing in all main Indian languages. In her inimitable style and mesmerising voice, she was eloquent and adept in any language.
Whether Kalyan sang in Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati or Telugu, you would swear she was born of that language origin.
Her talent was spotted by another singing sensation of yesteryear, Hoosen Vally.
Recognising the potential of her singing that could go great places, Vally contacted Tansen Nepaul at the SABC to assist with doing a recording of her music. On that day, it was more than musical notes that were exchanged between Kalyan and Nepaul. Unconsciously by both of them, a spark was lit that later translated into a love affair and a marriage that was made in heaven.
Between the genius musician that came in the diminutive form of Nepaul and the power-packed songstress Kalyan, you can imagine what an extraordinary musical sonata was born.
Kalyan joined Nepaul in most of his productions and programmes, and two beautiful children completed the musical orchestra. The rest is history.
Remarkably, Kalyan was self-taught. She later studied Hindustani classical music under the renowned Shrimati Munali Shome. Under her guidance, she prospered and reached new heights of excellence. She recorded numerous songs and appeared on many programmes on radio and television, having shot to fame in 1994 when she appeared on television for the ABH Musical Extravaganza.
Her last performance was when she enthralled the audience at the Zakia Ahmed Siddiqi memorial at Lotus FM.
I had the honour and supreme pleasure of having accompanied her in duets, singing Tamil golden oldie film songs of TM Sounderarajen and P Susheela at many concerts that commanded thousands of viewers online and on stage. As I had my copy of the entire song written in the Tamil alphabet and she had hers in English, I would quietly measure her pronouncing of the Tamil words against my copy written in correct Tamil alphabet.
I stood amazed that her phonetics were almost perfect and it was as if she was singing from Tamil alphabets. She was a perfectionist in every way and at times would be quite upset with Nepaul if the standards were lessened in any way.
Her melodies will continue to ring in our ears and fill our hearts with abounding joy. The voice that enchanted and exalted us, will never die in our hearts and minds. They will live on forever.
The thousands of us who were fortunate to have crossed paths with you will be forever grateful that one such as you walked alongside us and entertained us with aplomb and joy.