Continued from part 3

Part 4

talupu moosina talavaakiTanae
pagaloo raeyee niluchunnaa
pilichi pilichee badulae raakaa
alasi tirigee veDutunnaa

"pAnDuragaDu" ill-treats his parents, renounces his "swadharmam" and falls for licentious ways. When realization and good sense dawn upon him, it is already too late. He loses his parents, loses both his legs and loses his senses. He is at the rock bottom stage in his life from where he sees no hope, nor does can he redeem himself. "padi nelaloo nanu mOsi paalicchi penchi, madi rOyaka naakennO oodigaalu jaesina, O tallee ninu nalugurilO nagubaaTu jaesiti, talachakamma tanayuni tappulu kshamiyinchavamma amma ammaa" starts wailing Ghantasala feeling every inch of the pain that "pAnDurangaDu" goes through dragging himself all alone in the thick of the forest. The redemption that "pAnDurangaDu" seeks, trying to atone for his sins, recollecting all the mis-deeds that he perpetrates against his parents, reflects in the utterly sorrowful voice of Ghantasala, particularly when he yells out "ammaa, naannaa". One cannot but be moved by the pathos of the situation by merely listening to the song that Ghantasala pours out his heart, soul and emotions into. On an equally morose note, "enDakannu yerugani illaaliki endukO ee vanavaasaalu, tarachi choochinaa bOdhapaDavulE daiva chidvilaasaaluu", observes Ghantasala in ponderous tone about Sita devi's plight (without missing the underlying pathos of the situation), in "ae nimushaaniki aemi jarugunO evaroohinchedaru". This ability of the singer, to magically transport the listener right into the context of the situation without supplying him any visual aids, particularly in sorrowful situations, brings into relief the amount of inner turmoil the singer undergoes, while digging deep inside of him and discovering the same nature of the pain the character on the screen undergoes.

While the character on the screen has the luxury of the many variations in facial expressions to convey the deep sadness within, the singer has the limitation of using only his vocal chords to convey the same amount of pain. Sorrow has many shades, stepping in increments from introspection, pondering, reflection and reliving, before finally bursting out. While the loud variations of sorrow are relatively easy to get hold of, the subtle variations of introspection, pondering and reflection are quite hard to come across and still be classified as mournful songs - "anDaa danDaa unDaalani kOdanDaraamuni nammukunTae, gunDae laeni manishallae ninu konDa kOnala kodilEsaaDa". Observe the part "gunDae laeni manishallae" (aarOpaNa) where Balu's tone naturally reflects the incredulity at Sri Rama's decision of making Sita Devi undergo one severe test after another. More than in just an observatory tone, the singer usually brings in his personal passions and personal judgements to the table, urging the listener to pay more attention at the plight - "pasi vaaDO aemiTO aa paivaaDu, tanu chaesina bommalatO talapaDataaDu, vaedhinchae bandhaalu aemiTO, vaeTaaDae ee aaSa kantu ekkaDO" (ninda). Again, the incredulity factor. How can situations be thus? Does the cruel game, that pits real people with real emotions against each other, all in the name of another day in the child's play, never end? A variation of resignation, that borders on philosophy, creeps in when the singer turns the focus on to the humans, their avarice, their greed, the root cause of all their sorrows, when he mocks "aanandam kona laeni dhana raaSitO, anaadhagaa migilaavae amavaasalO, kurisae ee kaasula jaDilO taDisee nirupaedai naava, chilaakaa ae tODu laeka" (vaedaantam)

The churning (madhanam) gets really intensified when the point of focus becomes personal. "evaru icchaarammaa inni akshaaraalu, aksharaala venaka inni ardhaalu, ae daevata icchindO inni varaalu, vippi naenu cheppalaenu aa vivaraalu". When words cannot sustain emotions, when words become the only resort to convey the same emotions, it turns into a paradoxical situation, when the expression is limited by its own means. In situations as these, the singer takes the aid of the common tools of the trade - a quiver of the tone here, the raised levels or the dropping down of levels there, a thundering of the voice of here, a surrendering to the situation there. "naa gunDe manTinka aaraedi kaadu, tanu veLLi naenunDi bratukinka laedu, tana Saapamae naaku tagilindi raa, pasi paapalae laeni illaayaraa, ee kannula kanneeTiki tudi aediraa (||aanaaTi aa snaeha||)" In this case, the high pitch of the song, the raised amplitudes in the voice would never be mistaken for happy spirit. Balu lets the voice quiver at all the right places, making the feeling of nostalgia as reminiscent as it bitter. Remorse (paschaattaapam) forms one more outlet for venting the sorrow buried deep within. Remorse relies on the reliving of the truth to bring out the bitterness at first which is washed away by the outpour of the penitence later - "tanDrinae naenainaa danDamae peDutunnaa, talligaa manninchu mellagaa danDinchu, kaaLi laa maarammaa, kaali tO tannamma, buddhilO lOpaalu diddukOneevamma (||laalijo laaleejO||". The thorough disgust that the character feels for himself boils over burning down all his bad deeds; and the repentance and penance for his sins sound all too natural and logical.

The feeling of losing the love of life forms a fertile platform for emotional outbursts. The sorrow in this case follows the same "accusation -> acceptance -> resignation" chronology. In the accusatory mode, aggression takes the top honors. Blinded by fury, the voice thunders "renDaksharaala praema, renDu kshaNaala praema, jyOti jwaalaga maarchae praema, neeti mariachi aemaarchae praema, idaenaa praema!". When the angers subsides and the voice of reason calls for acceptance of the status quo, the voice softens to "praema enta madhuram, priyuraalu enta kaTHinam, chaesinaanu praema ksheera saagara madhanam, minginaanu haalaahalam". Finally when all hope is lost and all that the character can do is find solace in the resignation, the voice turns philosophical and croons "kala chedirindi, kadha maarindi, kaneerae ika migalindi, kaneerae ika migalindi". In each of these phases, Balu embraces the sorrows of the characters involved, finding in himself the right tone for the entire range of this particular emotion, including its many subtleties, and carries it off on a personal mission, doing great justice to each of the variations. It is pretty ironic when philosophy becomes the ultimate resting place of all sorrows and Balu renders one, with the right amount of detachment, just for the occasion - "vaana kurisi kalisaedi vaagulO, vaagu vanka kalisaedee nadilO, kadili kadili nadulannee kalisaedi kaDililO, kaani aa kaDali kalisaedi endulO? (||evarikevaru ee lOkamlO||)". Settle here, for there is no place else...

nee gnaapaakala neeDalalO
nannepuDo choostaavu
nanu valachaanani telipaelOgaa
nivurai pOtaanu ||naenoka praema pipaasini||

(Cont'd in part 5)

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