A singer who was a fan of Rafi & Suseela

Kochi: "I am not scared of facing death but I can't imagine not being able to listen to the divine voice of Suseelamma (P Suseela) or Mohammed Rafi," legendary playback singer P Jayachandran always used to tell his friends.Jayachandran always took pride in introducing himself as an ardent fan of Rafi and Suseela. "Jayettan's most cherished moment was when he received a tie used by Rafi. It was an invaluable treasure from Rafi's kin in 2022," said Balu R Nair, the singer's close friend who produced the Carnatic music album of 10 songs by Jayachandran. Those who worked with him and knew him closely described him as a master of his trade. "If Sachin Tendulkar is a complete cricket player, then Jayettan is a complete singer," said P Balachandran, film music critic and former Ranji team coach.Balachandran recollected an incident during the recording of the song ‘Neelamala Poonkuyile…' for the film Ponnum Poovum, when Jayachandran didn't stop singing till he could "catch the soul" of the song. Yet he was not happy and said he has not yet done full justice to the song. It was Jayachandran's habit to ask the composers to sing the song in their respective tune and then he would improvise."While singing a song, Jayachandran would naturally imbibe the mood of each word by absorbing its meaning in an effortless manner," Balachandran said.It was this that attracted Tamil composer Ilaiyaraaja, with whom he sang 300 songs, including timeless songs like ‘Rasathi Unnai…' and ‘Kaathirunthu Kaathirunthu'.Though he was known to be short tempered in nature, he loved his fans and would often call them his relatives. Jayachandran will always continue to live in the hearts of relatives through his evergreen songs.