HIM, HER AND THAT HAIR
The Hindu
Date: 09/02/2005



HARIHARAN AND his wife Lalitha give us glimpses of what keeps their marriage alive and ticking. Quiet and demure Lalitha seems to be a perfect foil for the flamboyant Hariharan.

Hariharan made his debut as a playback singer with Gaman, after making his name as a ghazal singer. His soulful song "Thamizha, Thamizha" for Roja (1993) under A.R. Rahman's baton made him a household name in the South. In 1996, Colonial Cousins, his album with Leslie Lewis, catapulted him to international fame. While Hariharan is busy with his singing career, Lalitha lives in Bangalore with their two sons.

SARASWATHY NAGARAJAN records as the duo chats.

Hariharan: Most people don't know that ours was an arranged marriage.
Lalitha: We had the horoscopes matched.
Hariharan: We met over a glass of juice.
Lalitha: My mom asked me to wear a Kanchipuram sari.
Hariharan: You had oiled your hair.
Lalitha: I had very long hair then. My hair was oiled and plaited with flowers.
Hariharan: She came across as a very frank person. Very innocent.
Lalitha: The first time I went to Bombay was after my marriage. We were married in 1984. At that time you were an upcoming artiste.
Hariharan: There came a time when I said, `Don't call me upcoming. Just call me an artiste.'
Lalitha: What I like about you is that you are a true musician. Your style is unique and you don't try to copy anyone. Truly dedicated to music. I think your first love, wife, children — everything is music. The rest follows.
Hariharan: There are times when I just don't feel like singing. After that I am totally in my shell. It happens sometimes. Especially when I am recording an album. Two, three months and I am gone.
Lalitha: I sometimes say, `You have not spent time with me today. You haven't spent time in a week.' Your reply: `I was home all the time.' `Home the whole day' would mean he was in his own world. You would say, `I had lunch with you, I had tea with you.' During lunch and tea, your mind would be elsewhere. Your toes move (keep time) even when you are asleep.
Hariharan: As a child my home was full of music. My father had a house in Thiruvananthapuram. My dad, H.A.S. Mani, a Carnatic singer, died in 1963. I was about nine then. There was a shop selling firewood right opposite the house. I was fascinated by the woodcutter there, his physique and stamina. He was my childhood hero. Then there was a small Siva temple. My mother used to tell me how I used to run there and get prasadam. Small memories of Thiruvananthpuram. My mother Alamelu Mani is also a singer. I used to be very scared of my father. Those days, you were in awe of your father. My first guru was my mother. I picked up ragas, varnams and keerthanams from her. I was 19 and in college when I first heard Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan.
I was zapped and joined him as a student. Luckily for me, he was open-minded. He is one person who had sung ghazals, film songs... In 1978, I listened to Mehdi Hasan. The kind of dimension he gave to ghazals was amazing. Basically, I love to sing songs. Ghazals are very conversational; it means to talk to your loved one. It could be to anyone — your child, partner, lover, God, nature. I try to put that conversational aspect into my film songs too. That kind of personal touch has to be there.
Lalitha: I enjoy many of your songs. "Uyire" (from Bombay) is right on top of that long list. I don't sing. I have stated that two singers in the family are enough. I prefer doing the management.
Hariharan: You manage our big shows like when we have a 40-piece orchestra. Then I have another show called Soul India when I sing all my songs in two hours.
(Ask him about his ponytail and... )
Hariharan: Well, it is very simple. I used to go to a hairstylist called Anand. He was quite a cat himself. Lot of style like Rajesh Khanna. He used to cut my hair and occasionally keep looking at himself in the mirror. (Imitating the hair stylist, he goes `khat, khat... .' with an imaginary pair of scissors). So he told me: Haribhai yeh thoda grow kijiye. Aap ke liye acha lagega. (Grow your hair a bit. It will look good on you.) This was much before Colonial Cousins.
Lalitha: (Mischievously) I started chopping my hair shorter and you kept growing it.
Hariharan: So I kept growing my hair and I got the name pony-tailed ghazal gayak. After three-four years, my time came. I became popular and people attributed my hair to my popularity. They wanted to know if I was a musical Samson. Some others wanted to know if it was something spiritual. I said, no baba. It's nothing. Now, maybe after a decade, people identify me with that. I'd better keep it. (Laughs loudly.)
Lalitha: I don't like it.
Hariharan: (Surprised) You don't like my hair?
Lalitha: I've got to plait it. I've got to take care of it. A lot of work.
Hariharan: I thought you loved it.
Lalitha: Really? Before a show, when I want you to portray a certain style for a song, I've got to work on your hair.
Hariharan: (Guffawing) It seems to be getting into everybody's hair.
Lalitha: Our sons, Akshay, who is 18, and Karan, 12, want to grow their hair like you.
Hariharan: Yes, both of them. They are inspired by my hair. They keep saying, `Dad, you have long hair.' So I tell them, first get out of your school and college and then do what you want. I don't have any hassles.
Before Colonial Cousins, I was known more as a ghazal singer. My albums Reflection and Hazir, which I had done with Zakir Hussain, had clicked. But ghazals don't have mass appeal. When Colonial came along, it was so different and fresh, it was a massive hit. The lasting image people carry of me today would be Colonial Cousins. It also attracted a lot of people who were not really into Indian music.
Lalitha: After Colonial Cousins, gradually your popularity started growing and we became accustomed to it. I used to manage everything and the Colonial Cousins' concerts used to keep me occupied for a long time.
Hariharan: Suddenly from 10 calls, it used to be 100 calls a day.
Lalitha: We didn't have any office personnel then. I used to handle the shows and produce them too. I enjoy it because it is something different from what I do. Of course, we do take a break. I make sure that every year we take off to some place together.
Hariharan: At least for a month.
Lalitha: Whichever places take our fancy. We have gone to Africa, places in India, Switzerland...
Hariharan: I just loved Africa. No phones or TV. I really bonded with my kids then.
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