RIYADH, 26 November 2002 — She could have been a typical housewife minding her home and family, or a teacher of English language and literature.
Yet, armed with a degree in maths and M.A. in English literature, talented Sheela Mani opted to call her tune... in the world of music. When music and lyrics synthesized so well with her beautiful voice there was no stopping her. A singing sensation was taking shape.
After staging a string of concerts at the Indian Embassy auditorium in Riyadh, she has seen her maiden album released with a bang in her native Kerala, in southern India. It also made its debut in Saudi and other Middle Eastern capitals last week.
The album, a repertoire of seven songs, one of which has been picturized, contains romantic songs comprising melody, pop, jazz and folk songs. Of these, three each are in her native tongue Malayalam and Tamil and one in Hindi. The Tamil song contains a mix of Tamil and English tunes, for which she had to improvise her voice.
Even to non-Malayalis, like this correspondent, the opening song, “Taka Dheemita,” sounded mellifluous by its sheer pace and rhythm.
It has already created waves on the Asianet, a popular satellite channel from Kerala. The song has been composed by Bala Bhaskar.
“To me, the lyric matters a lot. If a song has good music but no lyrical value, I wouldn’t feel like singing it. I emote well with lyrics,” Sheela told Arab News. It is because of the rave reviews by the mass media that Rafa Music of the UAE wrapped up a deal with Satyam Audio of Kerala and Vanilla Music of Saudi Arabia for promoting the album in the Gulf.
How did she turn to singing after being a promising student of mathematics and English literature? “My mother, Vasantha Mani, sparked my interest in singing, since she was renowned for her whistling concerts,” Sheela said,
Equally supportive was her husband, P.H. Subramani, general manager at Al-Faisaliah Business & Technology Services Co., whose encouragement underpinned her solo recitals at the Indian Embassy auditorium, where she gave at least 20 performances. A versatile singer, Sheela can belt out a fast number in Malayalam, Tamil or Hindi.
Her Hindi ghazal, "Ankhon may raho, bahon may raho, hoton pay raho, ya dil may raho" ( Be in my eyes, in my arms, on my lips, or in my heart) is at once enthralling.
Her meteoric rise from a housewife to a pop singer has caused a surge in demand for Sheela as a pop singer. So she will be flying out to Kerala’s capital Trivandrum this week to test the waters for a new singing career.