FOR THE LOVE OF POETRY: Chandramohan Pillai with his album at his residence in Al Hilal. Photos By Anand Holla
Doha-resident Chandramohan Pillai has
been a banker all through his life till his passion
for verses took the better of him to write
once again. By Anand Holla
On a sultry evening, Chandramohan Pillai is enjoying Malayalam music pouring out of high-definition speakers at his Al Hilal residence. The veteran banker knows all the words of all the tracks on the CD. That’s not because he has heard them too many times, it’s because he wrote them.
“Many can’t digest the fact that a banker could also be a poet,” he says, chuckling. The Head of Administration and Facilities at the International Bank of Qatar flagged off his alternative career as a lyricist by releasing a Malayalam album in Doha last month. But Pillai hadn’t planned any of it.
“I grew up in Alleppey, in Kerala, India, and my mother was a Malayalam teacher. As she would read beautiful poems, poetry was ingrained in me,” he says.
But Pillai wasn’t exactly in touch with his inner writer. For a short-story writing competition in class 10, he wrote his friend’s story. Pillai recalls, “My friend’s father had remarried after his mother died. He always talked to me about the trauma he was going through because he missed his mother so much.” That story won him the first prize, and spurred him to continue writing.
Pillai then wrote short stories for local community magazines, and even began writing, directing and acting in dramas during his college days in Bangalore. In 1978, when he moved to Doha and entered the arena of banking, his writing bug went into hibernation. “I was ambitious and driven, with the single aim of building a fine career. I gave up writing as I got busy chasing my goals,” he admits.
Sometime in the ’90s, Pillai found himself jotting down random lines of poetry in a notepad during his leisure time. “When I would watch TV, or read something, a thought would occur to me and I would write a few lines around it. At times, I would write a whole poem,” Pillai says. But only his wife Kala knew about his newfound pursuit.
The themes would revolve around life, love or the devotional. “Like I would see a hanging lamp at my friend’s place that was running out of oil and its imminent fate of getting extinguished would strike me as a metaphor for life and death. You know, about how temporary our life is, and how this world around us will end one day,” he says.
As Pillai’s poems grew in numbers and their meaning, in strength, Kala pulled them all out of the various nooks of the house, around four years ago, and persuaded him to release a poetry book. “She loved the poems and believed in them. She pushed me into getting them printed,” Pillai says. When one of Pillai’s friends went through it, he gave it to noted Malayalam lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi, who was kind enough to offer Pillai quality advice.
“He appreciated my poems but also corrected me where I went wrong. He asked me to change some words and told me the importance of putting lines in a metre. His tips were invaluable,” adds Pillai, who then released the 14-poem book called Neer Thullikal (Water Drops).
All the while, Pillai’s fascination for old Malayalam music – he is a huge fan of legendary singer Yesudas – made him want to put together a concert of ’70s and ’80s Malayalam film music in Doha.
“Last year, I joined my college alumni from Alleppey in organising an event in which popular Malayalam music director Rajamani performed. I gave him my book of poems,” he says. Rajamani loved it so much that he told Pillai that they should make a music album out of it. “But he wanted to focus on one theme. I chose love, and had to write some more,” he says.
Next, Pillai revisited his stash of half-written poems and random thoughts and expanded on them till he had penned full-fledged ones that were fit to accompany the rest. Still uncertain of how it would shape out, Pillai went to Rajamani’s studio in Chennai and heard the scratch track.
“I was totally blown away,” he says, “Rajamani had turned my poems into such beautiful, layered songs. To hear my poetry strung together in such melody overwhelmed me. I decided to produce it and suggested that we get top Malayalam singers to sing all 10 tracks.”
Titled Mazhaneer Kanangal (Raindrops), the album has 10 tracks sung by the biggest singers of the Malayalam film industry: Madhu Balakrishnan, Swetha Mohan, Nishad, Sudeep, Sithara, Achu, Unni, Roshni Suresh, and Latha Krishna.
Just as the album’s music, Pillai’s verses too lean towards old world charm. He likes using simple words to convey deeper meaning. “And love is such an evergreen, universal subject that unites all of us, no matter our age, or where we come from. We may have different viewpoints on life, but in love, we feel alike,” says the soft-spoken poet who insists on keeping a low profile.
While Pillai was considering launching his album in Kerala, Qatar’s Malayali community’s demand for holding another music show in Doha was only soaring. So when another Malayalam music concert was to be held at the Regency Halls last month, coincidentally, all the singers featured on Pillai’s album were slated to perform. “Rajamani suggested that we should launch it in Doha,” says Pillai.
In a grand concert attended by the heavyweights of the Malayalam film industry, Pillai’s debut album was launched. And it was a roaring success. That very evening, 300 CDs, priced at QR10 a piece, were sold. “A month later, we have sold a total of around 700 CDs,” says Pillai.
Amidst all the fervour, Pillai was clear that he didn’t want a single buck from the album sales. “I had produced the album out of passion and my dream came true. But I wanted to give all the money to charity. So whatever we earn would go to a blind school in Indira Nagar, Bangalore,” says Pillai.
While he is already busy putting together his poems for a devotional music album, his album has reached the right ears as well. Last week, a top Malayalam director contacted Pillai, asking him to consider writing three songs for his upcoming film. He says, “It’s getting interesting.”
Pillai’s easy demeanour belies his 59 years of age. And that he could reinvigorate the trapped poet within him at this point in life is proof that it really is never too late. “I now realise that writing was always there inside me. I just didn’t reach out to it,” says Pillai. “That’s why self-realisation and self-belief is key,” he says, “And your parents’ blessings and God’s will, of course.”
