SPB fecilitated at the 17th TANA Conference

The singer who needs no introduction, Sree S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, was felicitated at the 17th TANA Conference at Chicago and was awarded the TANA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Among those present on the dais were Muralimohan, AVS, Uttej, Rajeev Kanakala, Raghubabu, Kamna Jethmalani, Navneet Kaur, Apoorva, Paruchuri Gopalakrishna, Gummadi Gopalakrishna singers Mano, R.P. Patnaik, Suneetha, Srikrishna, Pranavi, Sreenidhi, Sugandhi, Sumasri, Maa TV Super Singers contestants Dheeraj, Prashanth, Krishnakanth, Praveen Kumar and others. Lyricist Sree sirivennela Seetarama Sastry was also present. S.P.B.'s wife too was called on to the dais during the felicitation.

S.P.B.'s emotional speech moved everyone among the audience. He particularly remembered those people who were instrumental in introducing him as a singer in all languages, particularly Sree S.P. Kodandapani (Telugu), M.S. Viswanathan (Tamil), A.R. Rahman's father R.K. Sekhar (Malayalam) and K. Balachander (Hindi). Balu and his wife Savitri gaaru got particularly emotional when he mentioned how he got married to his wife at when she was 15 against the wishes of the family and how she had always taken care of their children when he couldn't spend enough time for his family.

Balu speaks after felicitation
SPB recollected how he sang for several lyricists, adding that he was lucky to have not missed even the senior-most writers like SreeSamudrala Raghavacharya, mentioning that he had the opportunity to sing one of the last lyrics of Sr. Samudrala (in the film Sree Rama Katha) too. He also particularly recollected how he was introduced to Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry by K. Viswanath about 25 years ago.

During his speech, Balu also sang some verses from Viswanatha Satyaranarayana's "aandhra vaibhavam", praising the Telugu language and culture. Upon the request of the audience, he took off `Srutilayale janani janakulu kaagaa...` rather very aptly for the situation and continued to sing more of the song (`raagam taanam pallavi...` from Sankaraabharanam). He also sang a bit from `sirivennela - sarasa swara surajharii gamanamau...` - and enthralled the audience like he has been doing for the last 43 years!

Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry recollected what Dr. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna spoke earlier to a public audience in the latter's own words: "Balu can be compared to me if he tries a little more. But, I cannot become Balu in this lifetime!" Earlier in the evening, the Seetarama Sastry couple prostrated to take blessings of the Balasubrahmanyam couple and shared their joy.

On the whole, the TANA conference was a feast for over 12,000 attendees, catering to people of varied interests, including religion, spirituality, politics, literature, music, dance, films and more. (more...)