Melodies and memories. Both overflowed at an event held here on Saturday to replay the songs and times of Kozhikode Abdul Khader, who sang alvida to life 41 years ago.
For a generation that grew up in Kozhikode in the times of Abdul Khader and M.S. Baburaj — full of music, theatre, camaraderie, compassion, romance and socialist dreams — the event triggered longing for the years gone by and filled their eyes with tears.
It was an unusual event of remembrance of the talents of four artists from the same family: Abdul Khader, his son and singer Najmal Babu, Khader’s partner and film-theatre actor Santhadevi (whose name was originally Damayanthi), and their son and actor-singer Satyajith. All the four have been part of Kozhikode’s sense of identity. Those who replayed the songs included Khader’s great granddaughter and three singers from Baburaj’s third generation. The event, organised by the Kozhikode Abdul Khader Foundation, Artists’ Collective and Ghazal Dhara, was named Sunayana, after Khader’s granddaughter (Najmal Babu’s daughter) who, as a teenager, ended her life by jumping in front of a train. Two instrumentalists, who had played for Khader and Baburaj, were there to play for the younger generation, too.
Scriptwriter John Paul recalled how Khader became the singer of Malabar like Mehaboob was the singer of Kochi. For non-resident Keralites, ‘Malabar Saigal’ was still part of their Malayali identity.
Film-maker and Kerala Chalachitra Akademi chairman Kamal, reminiscing on the humaneness, tolerance and the music-theatre tradition of the Khader-Baburaj times said that one of his regrets in life was that he was not born in Kozhikode.
Poet Alankode Leelakrishnan said that the love of music and the arts was a main factor in making Kozhikode a secular and tolerant city. He called for keeping up the tradition as a resistance to the march of fascist intolerance.
Playwright J. Shailaja pointed out that Khader and Santhadevi’s deep love and their long years of living together without a formal marriage would have been problematic in the present day. Tributes were paid to singer K.R. Venu, poet-songwriter P.M. Kasim and ganamela-drama organiser Vateri Hassan.
Democratic music
Earlier in the day, a seminar held as part of the event analysed how music, particularly film, theatre and radio songs and Mappilappattu, positively impacted social reforms in Kerala. K. Gopalankutty pointed out that the popular Hindustani-based music of Kozhikode knew no class, caste and religion barriers and was equally accessible to the elite, businesspersons, head-load workers or fishers.
Singer V.T. Murali noted that Kozhikode’s brand of popular music helped accelerate reforms within the Muslim community in Malabar. Musaffar Ahamed said music in Kozhikode was democratic and liberal and hence it served to democratize social life.
