Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh): Married to violin virtuoso L. Subramaniam, playback singer Kavitha Krishnamurthy reveals the maestro loves to spring surprises, including a sojourn to Egypt’s pyramids on Valentine’s Day.
Once a “confirmed bachelor”, now a dedicated wife, mother, grandmother and artiste all rolled into one, the Padma Shri awardee believes patience keeps their relationship ticking.
“I got married to him (in 1999) when I was in my mid 40s. I was a confirmed bachelor and I was a very successful playback singer. I had just finished ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ and ‘Devdas’ and overnight I was going to be a mother of his children,” Krishnamurthy told IANS in a candid chat at the Amaravati Global Music and Dance Festival. “I was going to leave my city, shift from Mumbai to Bangalore. So what was going to happen to my career nobody knew, but I had made my decision that I was going to marry him and that was the best decision I ever made in my life.”
In her characteristic honeyed voice, the “Dola Re Dola” singer asserted, that post-marriage, she “never ever regretted” the change of city, the change of lifestyle. In fact, she credits her expansive repertoire to Subramaniam. “He made me do extraordinary things like sing with symphony orchestras, with international artistes, singing for the two presidents… These things wouldn’t have happened if I was only stuck with Bollywood. He made me see music in a totally different angle. I got the best of both worlds. The process of learning music continued because I was with him.”
Fondly recalling her first Valentine’s Day with Subramaniam post-marriage (in 2000) — the year when the Filmfare Awards for best playback singer (for “Nimbooda”) didn’t come to Kavitha the singer said the prolific violinist took her to Cairo in a surprise pick-me-up trip.
Kavitha says she believes she deserved the honour. “It was the evening of February 13t. My husband flew down on that evening and saw that I didn’t win the award. My husband said, ‘Listen you shouldn’t feel sad’. But I said, ‘I don’t feel sad but I wish I had got it.’ So he said, ‘Tomorrow morning is Valentine’s Day’ and he said that we will go for a drive on the morning. So he woke me up at 7.30 a.m. I wore an ordinary cotton shirt and jeans and driver was already there and so we drove to the airport and that too international airport, at the Emirates counter,” she recounted.
Subramaniam coaxed Kavitha to board the aircraft and after reaching Dubai, there was a connecting flight and the picture became clear. “Guess what? He was taking me to Cairo to see the Pyramids, because just before marriage I had told him that some day I want to see the pyramids. He is like that, he gives me a lot of surprises,” gushed Kavitha.
So any plans to return the favour this Valentine’s Day? Kavitha concedes it’s very challenging to whip something up in return, for her husband. “He has no time. The only place he wants to go is home because he wants to be with his granddaughter. He is very busy because this is the 70th year of India’s independence and he is writing a lot of music. So not on 13th or 14th but maybe sometime later this year,” the “Pyar Hua Chupke Se” singer said.
Reflecting on 17 years of their marriage, on a more sombre note, she says patience is the biggest virtue in any relationship. “Learn to have patience. There can’t be any shortcut. It (success) can’t happen in a day. Keep on woking without expecting end results. You have to surrender and suddenly you will see this relationship is working,” she signed-off, adding she hopes her husband gets the Bharat Ratna.
