"Balu.. I told you to get well and come back soon, but you didn't listen to me. Where did you go? Did you go to sing for the Gandharvas? The world has become a cipher for me. I am speechless. I don't have any words to express myself. I don't know what to say. Every sorrow has a limit; this one is limitless," an inconsolable
Ilaiyaraaja had said yesterday on the passing of his
friend
and frequent collaborator
SP Balasubrahmanyam
.
Today, as his friend was laid to rest, the maestro set out to
Thiruvannamalai
, a place that is his spiritual calling, to pray for
SPB. A post on his official
Facebook page read: "Maestro Ilaiyaraaja paying homage to Dr. Shri SP Balasubrahmanyam at Thiruvannamalai". The Isaignani lit a
lamp
(
motcha deepam
) and prayed for his friend to rest in peace. The page also shared a pic of the maestro with the lamp.
SPB and Ilaiyaraaja go a long way, even before they became the legends they are now in the field of music. SPB had made his debut as singer before the maestro, but used to sing in light music concerts that Ilaiayraaja and his troupe performed before he became a music composer with Annakili. Their friendship continued till the end, despite facing a rough patch a few years ago, when they locked horns over a royalty issue. However, as it happens with thick friends, that was quickly resolved, and SPB even recorded a song for Ilaiyaraaja a few months ago, for Vijay Antony's Tamizharasan.
A doctor at the private hospital in which SPB had been undergoing treatment has revealed that the singer, who was so moved by a video message from his friend, asking him to recover soon and return, replayed the video and kissed him friend's image on the phone!