Manna from Bengal

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">In this era of instant coffee and passing fads, some things just go on. Like the legend of Manna Dey, who has now made Bangalore his home. "I love to perform on stage and even now go to all corners of the world to sing," says this 80-year-old. He leads a disciplined life, still putting in two hours of riyaz everyday.<br />His journey began in 1943 when he went to Bombay with his uncle KC Dey, a singer, because he wanted to learn from different gharanas.It was Vijay Bhatt, father of Mukesh and Mahesh Bhatt, who gave Manna Dey his first break. "After Ram Rajya, there was no stopping me and I lived in Bombay for 55 years. Now I have decided to make Bangalore my home."<br />Manna-da carved a niche for himself in the industry though most of the time he didn''t sing playback for the hero. "But I was the first choice for difficult songs, based on classical tunes. Later, I did change my style and started singing lighter numbers like Aao Twist Karen."<br />At that time Manna Dey says there was tremendous competition from Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mehmood, Kishore Kumar and Hemanth. "But it was very healthy. Rafi used to get most of the songs because he had a marvellous voice and most heroes were attracted to his."<br />"My songs for films helped me to prove whatever I had to. But my Bengali songs were rewarding in another way. In Bengal, no function is complete without my singing."<br />He listens occasionally to today''s music and particularly likes the tunes of<span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> Lagaan</span> and AR Rahman''s music. </div> </div>