Mukesh – A Singer With a Timeless Voice

A Soulful Singer

Today is the great singer’s 101^st birth anniversary, he was born on 22^nd July 1923. He passed away in 1976, just 53 years old.

Without a doubt, he (or for that matter, his voice) has been a fellow traveler for the longest time in my life. In an era where Yesudas and Mohammed Rafi ruled the roost, i.e. in Kerala, I rooted for Mukesh. In the attic of our ancestral house at Pallavur, there used to be a few 78 rpm records, belonging to my uncle. Pehli Nazar, Anurag, and a few others, with Mukesh’s voice featured in them, lying around, collecting dust. It was only after I joined up for engineering that the music fever gripped me, and I started listening to Radio Ceylon and Vividbharati on my little Keltron transistor radio, during spare hours. I would painstakingly pen song lyrics in a notebook, after listening to the song (Hindi songbooks from up North had not yet reached Calicut), with many mistakes. The impetus boosting him to my favorite came after I read the book Mera Naam Joker and heard its songs. After that I listened to so many of Mukesh’s songs, committing them to memory, and belted them out in the bathroom, much to the annoyance of the others in the college hostel!

I have sung a couple of his songs just once, with my wife an accomplished singer, that was in Istanbul, at a program hosted by the Indian Consulate, where we sang a couple of Mukesh songs in tandem, the ones well-known to the people of Turkey – Awara Hoon and Mera Jootha hai Japani. Baris Manco, the late Turkish singer, and a friend of India was, if I recall right, present, and he used to sing Awara Hoon often during his shows.

It is not my intention to list here his great songs or go over their nuances. Nor will I attempt to detail his career chronologically, to figure out why he became one of the top three and remained there till his death.  Like many people before me have stated, he sang for the common man, he mirrored their sadness, ethos, pathos, heartbreaks, and depressive moods, during a period when India was in the dumps, especially in the 60’s and 70’s.

While many know the songs, the films, and the actors, very few know enough about the singer. Most will recall that Mukesh was Mukesh Chand Mathur, born in 1923, 6^th in the line of 10 children in a large Delhi household, a boy who was disinterested in studies – 10th class failed as his son Nitin puts it – and came to Bombay to make it big in films. It is said that he could only read and write in Urdu and penned his lyrics in Urdu all his life. As fate intervened, the great actor Motilal heard him sing Saigal songs at his sister’s wedding ceremony and gave him a stepping stone into the film industry. Eventually, the 17-year-old boy came to Bombay in 1940, tried to become a singer-actor in the film Nirdosh, failed miserably, and then settled down to establish himself as a singer. As he said in a BBC interview - it is better to become a first-class singer than a second-class actor. He struggled for quite a while in Bombay, working odd jobs - as a share broker, dry fruit seller, etc. before making it big. Though he continued to scout acting roles and acted sporadically until 1956, his first hit (mind you - not his first song, which was Dil hi Bhuja – Nirdosh 1941) as a singer was for Pehli Nazar in 1945, singing for Motilal.

Around 1945, he met, fell in love, and eloped with a wealthy Gujarati girl - Sarla Trivedi, when he was just 23, as her parents were against the union, Mukesh being quite penniless then. It was actor Motilal who helped him, and Neil, his son adds - Mukesh was a strict nonvegetarian who enjoyed his Johnnie walker, while Sarla would not touch nonveg, or for that matter anything grown underground!

Becoming popular, he was initially actor Dileep Kumar’s voice, delivering many hits in Andaz, Madhumati, etc., and as Dileep drifted towards Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh was discovered by Raj Kapoor. Even more great hits followed and then came the connections with Manoj Kumar continuing the hit parade.

Let us now check his collaboration with the many heroes, producers, and music directors and catch some trivia as we travel alongside Mukesh’s 53-year life. Unlike some of the other singers or actors of that time, he was meticulously dressed, and suave, almost always photographed wearing a well-tailored suit.

Mukesh imitated Saigal to start with, and he agreed it was his forte. Dil Jalta Hai was not going to be included in the film but was retained only after people flocked to the theatres because of the song. Saigal it is said (I don’t feel this is true) wondered when he had sung the song, after hearing it at first! Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahin (Bawre Nein) was another song sung in the Saigal style. Lata Mangeshkar mentions that Saigal gifted him his harmonium, a gift that Mukesh treasured all his life.  I am not sure if that was the instrument, which a fan stole and installed in his home, as an object of worship! Lore has it that Mukesh tracked him down and got it back!

Music directors

Anil Biswas was the music director who groomed the young singer who reached his brother-in-law’s doorsteps in Bombay. As the story goes, the producer Mazhar Khan would not allow a newcomer to sing. But after Anil pleaded, Mazhar acceded, only for Biswas to see that Mukesh developed cold feet at the last minute and slunk away to a bar, to drink and play cards. As the story goes, he was pulled into the studios and sobered up. Mukesh ended up singing the glorious DIl Jalta hain, to Jalne de (Pehli Nazar). Biswas later had to work hard to wean him away from the Saigal style and had him deliver many more hits, under his baton.

SD Burman – Strange is the fact that even though they collaborated sporadically, many of those songs became great hits. Songs like Chal ree sajni, O Janewale ho sake to (Bandini) are examples, but SD did not have much of an opinion about Mukesh and used him mainly for background songs. In an interview with Raju Bharatan, SDB said - ‘Talat’s no good as a singer, Mukesh is worse!’. When called to sing for Bombay Ka Babu, in 1960, SD seemingly said - “Look, Mukesh, I can’t promise that I would retain your voice in Chal ree sajnee. If after the rehearsal, in the final take, I find your rendition to be unsatisfactory, I retain the right to scrap the song!” Mukesh’s response: “But you always have that right, Dada. All I know is that you have called me to sing again for you after some 12 years, so trust me to put in my best. After that, as the song’s composer, it’s your privilege to retain or reject me.” It turned out to be a wonderful song. See a soulful live version.

Ravi Shankar characterized Mukesh’s singing style as - so straight and linear that the sporadic use of alankaars (subtle variations) magnified the beauty of his singing manifold. The song Hiya Jarat Rahet Din Rain (Godaan – Raaj Kumar 1963), which he sang for Ravi Shankar is quite interesting.

RD Burman also used him rarely, like his father, but came up with even more hits. Two songs spring to the fore, Ek din bik jayega (Dharam Karam) and Suhani Chandini raten (Mukti), not to forget Jis gali mein (Kati Patang). Nateeja Hamari (Puraskar) is unique, Asha’s voice sounds so different, while the dance looks kind of silly! Kahin Karti Hogi Woh Mera Intezaar (Phir Kabhi milogi) is soulful, and there is the ever-popular Lalla lalla lori (Mukti)…See Ek din bik jayega being rendered live.

Salil Chaudhri created fantastic songs for Mukesh, he was Salil’s favorite singer, boosting the latter’s career often, be it the glorious Kahi door jab (Anand), Suhana Safar (Madhumati), Zindagi Khwab he (Jagte Raho), Nain Hamare (Annadata), Ye din kya aya (Choti si Baat) or Kayi Baar yuhi (Rajni Gandha).  Salilda said once - Each word from his lips was a pearl. No one could sing the way Mukesh did, with the right diction, inflection, and intonation. His vocal timbre was out of this world. Almost every song I composed to capitalize on this timbre was an instant draw.

Initially, I thought of Hemant Kumar as Dilip Kumar’s playback for “Suhana Safar” in ‘Madhumati’. But Shailendra persuaded me that Mukesh suited Dilip Kumar no less than he did Raj Kapoor. The moment I recorded Suhana Safar, I knew Mukesh’s vocals had captured the spirit of that verdant setting in ‘Madhumati’. In later years, Mukesh brought a rare depth of expression to my “Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye” I still feel, ranks as my best for Mukesh.

He added - I like all the others. Manna Dey is a classical singer with a vast range. Listen to his song Aye Mere Pyare Watan from Kabuliwala (1960). Mukesh was my favorite and though his octave range was limited, he could sing with a mood and pathos that was unique. See a clip with Salilda directing Mukesh on stage.

Kai baar yuhi, was the song that got Mukesh a national award, interestingly it was offered to him since he wanted only a token amount of Rs 1,000/- for it while Lata would have cost Basu Chatterji 3,000/-! The gem Yeh din kya aya was done for Salilda, free of charge!

Roshan too had a great number of hits from Mukesh. Teri Duniya mein & Khayalon mein kisi (Bawre Nein) were notable numbers, Bahut diya Denewale (Soorat aur Seerat), Aya hai mujhe pyar (Devar), Apni Nazar se (Hum Log), Bade arman se (Malhar). The duo came up with so many great songs.

Shankar Jaikishan was the duo that teamed up on so many films with Mukesh and created many a wonderful hit. Virtually every film they did, had Mukesh singing and delivering hits. There are too many to name, but the songs from Mera Naam Joker, Sangam, Shree 420, Anari, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti hai, Yehudi, etc. are examples. Shankar told Raju Bharatan that at times Mukesh could be so besura (out of tune) forcing him to leave the recording studio. He would ask his assistant Dattaram to coach Mukesh and would get back to the studio only after Mukesh got it right. He added that after a few rehearsals, the final recording would be fabulous!

Kalyanji Anandji was the other team that often used Mukesh in their films, and Kalyanji had no hesitation to admit that Mukesh had been their ladder to success and recognition in the '60s. The list of hits is long, and songs like Dewaano se yeh mat poocho (Upkar), Chandi ki Deewar (Viswas), Dum Dum diga (Chalia), Hum Chod Chale (jee chahta hai), Jo Tum ko (Safar), Koi jab tumhara (Purab aur Paschim), Chandan sa badan (Saraswati Chandra) stand out as great creations.

Khayyam remembers him as a perfectionist who would rehearse a song for long hours. "We will record only when you are satisfied, he told me during the recordings of Raj Kapoor’s Phir subah hogi”. Woh Subah Kabhi to Aayegi sung by Mukesh and Asha Bhosle, is an interesting number and of course, the songs from Kabi Kabhi, which most would easily recall, are marvelous. See it performed, live on stage

Lakshmikant Pyarelal also worked on many a film with Mukesh, delivering super hits such as Ram kare aisa (Milan), Ek pyar ka nagma hai (Shor), Maina bhooloonga, Jot se jot (Sant Gyaneshwar), Tum bin Jeevan (Anita), Sawan ka mahina (Milan), Chanchal sheetal (Satyam Sivam Sundaram), Tan man dhan (manchali). Interestingly you can even hear a Tamil bit in his Kuncham Kuncham song (Immaan Dharam) for Shashi Kapoor.

He did get miffed a few times, to lash out, a rarity in his career. He was upset with Naushad and S. D. Burman after they stopped giving him songs.  ‘I just don’t want to talk about the recording promises these and other music directors made and never kept, opting for a fellow performer when each and every song I had sung for them, till then, had been a top hit’. He then drifted away to make his film Anuraag, which did not work out too well, though it had a couple of great songs tuned by him, Kise yaad rakhun standing out!

Actors

Raj Kapoor started to work with Mukesh in 1948, in Aah, and you can see Mukesh even acting as the tonga driver singing the song  Choti si yeh zindagani. Barsat cemented their relationship and so many hit films and songs followed. Soon, they became soul mates, Mukesh being Raj Kapoor’s inseparable voice, even though a few others like Manna Dey intruded at times, to create lovely hits. Rak Kapoor would never call him Mukesh, but preferred to call him as he was named, Mukesh Chand, and mentioned that Mukesh was forever bright, chirpy, and jovial, coming up with spontaneous wisecracks, and always brightening up any room. There are odd bits of Raj Kapoor singing in his voice on YouTube (he plays the piano as well), and you will upon hearing them understand how uncannily it resembles Mukesh’s voice! In Moscow, he introduces Mukesh to those who always believed Raj Kapoor sang his songs.

Whenever he became moody or upset, Raj says he would call Mukesh and they talked for hours and sometimes, he would hop over to chat and help him sort things out. He according to Raj Kapoor, stayed out of politics or other people’s business and never wished ill of anyone, forever the good Samaritan of the industry. Mukesh, nevertheless, kept his worries to himself, simply saying everything was first class or top of the world! Just before he left for his final tour to Canada and the USA in 1976, he insisted on finishing the song Chanchal Sheetal, even though it had not been scheduled. Perhaps he knew what was fated, and Raj says he left behind the unopened bottle of King of Kings whiskey, for the team, to be finished later.

Raj Kapoor said - When Shailendra left us, I felt I’d lost one arm; when Jaikishen passed away I lost another. But when Mukesh passed away, meri jaan hi chali gayi (I lost my life). I am the body; my soul was Mukesh.” He added - There was Mukesh-my soul, my voice, I was a mere body. It was he who sang to the hearts of the people all over the world, not me. Raj Kapoor was an image, just a carcass of flesh and bones. When he died, it was destroyed. I felt, there goes my breath, there goes my soul. I know what went away from me. There was a void, a vacuum and then I had to get over it and go on. This is the price an artist pays. Were it not for the voices of Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh, what would my cinema be?'

Manoj Kumar who had a long association with Mukesh, adds, “Most of my sad songs were sung by Mukesh. No one could match him in the tragic songs. My own favorite is ‘Koi Jab Tumhara Hriday Tod De’ from Purab Aur Paschim. ‘Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai’ from my film Shor is Mukesh’s signature tune. One thing about Mukesh: his songs were his only. The songs sung by Mukesh could not be sung by any other singer. The songs that were composed for Mukesh were meant only for him.”

Manoj Kumar agrees that Mukesh was unfairly ‘mike-cast’ to sing heartbreak songs. “He sang some mischievous songs for me in Sanyasi and Dus Numbri. Those were big hits too. But somehow, he is remembered more by the sad songs,”.

Feroze Khan used Mukesh often. The songs from Dharmatma and Upasana are all classics today.

Rajesh Khanna too had Mukesh hits - Kahin door jab and Mein ne tere liye (Anand) as well the songs in Maryada are examples.

Jitendra on the other hand, can boast of the popular Yeh kaun chitrkar, Chandi ki deevar, Do kadam tum na chale, Hum to tere, and many more.

Dilip Kumar of course had many songs sung by Mukesh – Suhana Safar, Tu Kahe Agar, Yeh mere diwanapan hai, Gaye ja geet milan, Dil tadap tadap, Jhoom Jhoom ke nacho….are just a few!

Stray gems include Ansoo Bharai hain (Dattaram), Chal Akela (OP Nayyar), Zinda hun is tarah, Aa laut ki aja, Bhuli hui, Saranga, Haa diwana hu main, which are all numbers which add up to the long list of hits which made him one of the three greats Kishore, Rafi and Mukesh! The list goes on, but I must stop somewhere…

Pakistan’s late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto found Mukesh's voice quite appealing.  It is said that for months on end, she listened to Mukesh in her car, presumably to ease her work pressures.

The Mystique of Awara Hoon - When China’s Zhou En Lai came to India, he wanted to hear Awara Hoon live, but Talat and Geeta Dutt who graced the occasion did not know the words, so sang the first two or three lines over and over for a while. It is even rumored that Mao Tse Tung used to love the film Awara and the song Awara Hoon. In Turkey, one can listen to the Turkish Awara Nuu, as well as remixed versions of the original song. I will write about this separately.

Mukesh passed away in Detroit while on tour with Lata Mangeshkar, on 22^nd Aug 1976. I was in college then and I recall being quite upset, and later picking up the double LP album at Balu’s. See a video from the concert.

Strangely, people talked about purity of voice then, as the Bollywood industry had already made a switch, from heavy and deep female voices like Noorjahan to sharp and shriller tones of Lata and team, which set the standard for decades. Only recently has the Punjabi voice started its trip back and during the interim, there was only Usha Uthup with a booming voice amidst the sharper voices.

Mukesh was considered to be technically inferior with many slips and besur’s in his songs, compared to the Mannadey, Kishore, and Rafi, but he held his fort, while his nasal tone, and the feeling he conveyed, simply found its way directly into your hearts. His song ended up as an Aam Admi’s song, something one could relate to, warts and all. Singers like Manhar, Salma Agha, and Kumar Sanu continued the nasal trend and comments about such inferior tones eventually disappeared.

Listening to him, you hear chaste Urdu diction, not the usual movie star Bombay Hindi. A lovely interview at BBC and another more detailed one.

Lata Mangeshkar was perhaps closest to him – She says that even though senior, Mukesh called her Didi. She first met him in 1947 and almost immediately struck a chord. Mukesh was much senior to her - both in age as well as profession, he insisted on calling her 'didi' (elder sister). Nitin Mukesh mentions that his father called her Didi so that the coming generations understand that you can't call a legend by her name! But Lata says - "There was no particular reason for this. Everyone one in my family used to call me didi. So, he also took it up. But it's amazing that he never addressed me as 'Lata' till the end," she said. They had this special bond and both revered Saigal, both wanted to be actors and went on to do several stage shows.  Lata felt that Mukesh was never given complex songs. In a Hindustan Times interview, she said - "The problem is that Mukesh bhaiyya was never tried for complex and classically oriented songs because of stereotyping. It is not that he did not have the capability," Lata observed. But very few recognized Mukesh bhaiyya for his classical background," she said. "I cannot say with full authority. But I feel he (Mukesh) could have sung complex songs too if given a chance because I know he used to do regular riyaz (practice) along with his son Nitin, under a teacher,"

References

A Journey Down Melody Lane Hay House -Bharatan, Raju. Kindle Edition.

(Awara Hoon – Turkish version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwL29HYiCBk

Awara Hoon – Five versions

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Chanson Indoe from Sadko – The Song of India

The Hindu Merchant at Novgorod and Khrushchev’s visit to India

I was drawn to this tale while referring to Khrushchev’s memoirs, which interestingly took me to the story of Sadko, and made me listen to a glorious tune titled “Song of India’ by Rimsky Korsakov. The haunting tune led me to the Indian favorite ‘Awaz De Kahan he’ (Naushad was certainly inspired by the overture and verse sections of the Russian Operatic piece – Song of India), by yesteryear’s Noorjehan (See a previous article). The story around the Russian song and its impact is fascinating, which goes on to connect India, Khrushchev, and Nehru, later influencing Khrushchev’s visit to India (and wrongly, Kerala) in 1955. Without further ado, let us now see what this is all about.

Ages ago, during a time when there were neither planes nor ships as means for quick transport, or communication, the only means for long-distance trade was the camel, an account of which I had provided some years ago. Traders traversing vast distances, perched atop the ship of the desert, after arriving at Caravanserai’s, conveyed stories from exotic places and events, later regaled their audience with stories of their travels. Imagine the scene, the weary trader relaxing with a tall drink, in the middle of a marketplace or town square, centering an audience with wide open eyes and bated breath eagerly waiting for morsels of words to fall out of the mouth of the enthusiastic speaker, speaking in hyperbole. We have heard and read about so many of these storytellers, such as Sindbad, then the teller of the Arabian Nights, and so on and so forth. The story of Sadko is one such.

First an introduction to Nikita Khrushchev and why I am telling this story. I came across this tidbit while researching the Sino-Soviet split of the 60’s, and the 1962 Indo-China conflict. Khrushchev was the First Secretary of the Communist Party at that time, and Nehru the Prime Minister of India. I will not get into the complex political aspects, the geopolitics, etc., in this article, but will just mention that the USSR had hardly any knowledge of India at that time. Once KPS Menon was appointed as India’s third ambassador to the USSR, things changed a bit and the hugely popular ambassador made quite an impression on the politburo. The relationship strengthened in 1955 and Nehru visited the USSR in June, a much talked about visit, especially the amusing incident on how he had Khrushchev remove entrance fees to public places, among others. A return visit was hastily planned, and the Russian Premier Bulganin was to visit India in 1956. The visit was advanced, and it was announced that First Secretary Khrushchev would accompany Bulganin. It was to become in the history of the Indo-Soviet relations, a laudatory trip, one which looking at the itinerary, was incredibly exhausting to the Russian team of 100 or so, flying into India.

We start this story therefore in 1955. Khrushchev is planning his hastily announced visit to India. Nehru had already come and gone and impressed one and all in Russia. As a magnetic and popular leader of the third world, his stature and stock were high and his visit was a great success. Unlike the erudite Nehru, Khrushchev was not that well-read, and he would always mention that he was of peasant stock. Visiting a largely unknown India was a tall task, and he ruminated quite a bit over it. Let me now take you to Khruschev’s own words.

Khrushchev said - Our knowledge of India, to tell the truth, was not only superficial but downright primitive. Don’t laugh, but I personally drew some of my knowledge of India from an aria sung by an Indian merchant in the opera by Rimsky Korsakov entitled Sadko. He sang: “Countless the diamonds deep in caverns of stone.” I knew that the weather there was warm, that the sea did not freeze, that the country possessed countless riches and that the animal world there was something fantastic. There were jungles. The very word made a very big impression on me, much bigger than now when we ourselves have seen what the jungles of India are really like. They’re not at all as exotic as they sound!

And that was how I read for the first time, that there was a Song of India. Curious, I got to the operatic piece and listened to it. The tune was very familiar and before it got over, I knew that was the inspiration behind the Indian favorite Awaz De Kahan He. All this made me even more curious. I decided to do a little research on the story of Sadko and the trader.

The opera is about the story of Sadko, a gusli/zither player, who leaves his wife, Lyubava, his home in Novgorod, to return a wealthy man, after many adventures. During his years of travel, he amasses a fortune, meets and weds the daughter of the King of the Seas, a mermaid named Volkhova, and travels to many destinations. While he celebrates his wedding with Volkhova under the seas, the Sea King is cursed and Sadko has to return to Novgorod. Volkhova accompanies him but transforms herself into a river so that she is always with him, as Sadko rejoins Lyubava.

It is somewhere in the middle of the story that Sadko meets many merchants by the pier of Lake Ilmen, and as it turns out, one of them is a merchant from India. While other merchants sing about their lands, the Indian ‘Hindu’ merchant sings a lovely song about his distant home.  That is the Song of India (Song of the Indian Guest) one that is also known as the Hindu Song or Chanson Indoue. Interestingly both the Russians and Chinese called Indians – ‘The Hindus’, people from Hindustan – Hindustan, just like the Turks call Indians- Hintli, ‘those from Hindistan’.

Like Arabian Nights and Sindbad, these opera pieces trace their origins to various sources such as fairy tales. Rimsky-Korsakov mentions that Sadko’s story is likely from the 11^th-12^th centuries when Christianity was slowly taking over from a locale where pagan beliefs prevailed. Novgorod was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in Northern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the West to the Northern Ural Mountains in the East. The end came in 1478 when Ivan III once again invaded, seized, and annexed it to form part of the other Russian states. It was during the 13^th century when Mongols arrived in Russia that Indian and Islamic trade intensified, via the Silk Road, even though Novgorod escaped occupation.

Anyway, Russian music was over time,  infused with oriental motives and secondly, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov who was once a sailor himself, often wrote music inspired by the sea. The Sadko opera was completed around 1898. The middle piece in the opera was the Indian song, and it went on to became very famous in the Western world later, and get immortalized in India, thanks to Naushad getting inspired by it, when tasked to make music for Anmol Ghadi. But it is unlikely that many know about the original Song of India, in India.

Russians of course, the affluent ones, and the party bigwigs got to see all the great operas in Moscow and that is how the splendor of India reached their ears and influenced their thought, as it did in the case of Khrushchev. The Song of India was popular among many musicians in the 1930s and 1940s and oft-repeated in many versions.

So, how did the song go? There are a few versions in vogue, the original versions with translations, and an extended Mercer translation. Listen to the Russian Leo Kuznetsov version here, with accompanying visuals. The Ukrainian Ivan Semyonovich Kozlovsky (1900-1993) was a leading opera singer in the Soviet Union; a favorite of Stalin, and in another section, Khrushchev mentions his familiarity with this version and the line about diamonds. A good instrumental version can be heard here.

Khrushchev did not find much favor after the 60s and was eventually ousted, perhaps because he was never a Stalinist, because he was moderate, because of drought and related difficulties in Russia in 1963, as he antagonized China, and finally, because he negotiated peace with the West, following the Bay of Pigs furor, to reduce cold war tensions. In 1964, the Kremlin circle stripped him of power, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier.

Beginning in 1966, Khrushchev began his memoirs. He initially tried to dictate them into a 10 lbs. German tape recorder slung over his shoulder while walking outdoors, to avoid eavesdropping by the KGB. Sergei Khrushchev, his son, later handed over the tapes to the KGB, but copies had been made, some of which had been transmitted to a Western publisher. Sergei instructed that the smuggled memoirs should be published, which they were in 1970 under the title ‘Khrushchev Remembers’. In this voluminous collection, Khrushchev has a section on India, which makes very interesting reading, as you must have realized seeing how he talks about his knowledge of India having been gleaned from Korsakov’s opera piece.

Now we get to the second part of this article, Khrushchev’s impressions of India.

The state visit 1955

After a trade treaty had been signed between the two countries in 1954, Nehru made a state visit in June 1955. The return visit planned for early 1956 was advanced to the winter months of 1955 and a large contingent of some 100 Russians started their tour of India in Nov 1955. 

Age had caught up with Khrushchev and he frequently confuses names with places, in his memoirs. For example, he believed he spent a couple of days touring Kerala, while in reality, he was traveling around Coimbatore, Coonoor, and Ooty. Perhaps Kerala was stuck in his mind as it had voted a communist government into power, later in 1957. Nevertheless, it was all the State of Madras that he toured around, not transgressing into Cochin and Travancore kingdoms, and Kerala had been formed only in 1956. Let’s now check out some highlights from Khrushchev’s memoirs relating to India, noting that he makes it clear that he is visiting a capitalist country.

The dignitaries were put up at the Presidential palace, much to President Rajendra Prasad’s annoyance. Khruschev mentions Prasad’s comments were relayed to them: “They have put the Russians there, and they are going to make a foul mess of my palace. They are going to eat meat there, not to mention drinking alcohol”.

They did all the usual stuff while on the road, wearing Gandhi caps, climbing on an elephant, receiving garlands from maidens, having Kumkum applied on their foreheads, and visiting farms and factories, dams, and educational establishments, including the NDA at Pune. Ah yes, and a tiger cub was gifted, at Rudrapur.

At Madars, it appears Rajaji was quite an imposition, irritating the otherwise joyous dignitary.  “This ascetic man kept talking to me during the performance, giving me no chance to follow the course of the concert and enjoy it.”  In his opinion, if large factories were brought into this heavily populated country, the high level of mechanization and automation would result in a mass of working people being driven into the army of the unemployed, and poverty would only increase. He stuck to the Gandhian ideal: the spinning wheel was the only industry needed.

Morarji Desai - In Bombay, Desai, the prime minister of this state, had a hostile attitude toward us; he had been opposed altogether to our being invited to Bombay. He and I understood each other quite well, but our views stood in absolute opposition. He firmly supported a pro-American policy and held that India should develop in the classical capitalist pattern.

But when it came to the travels down South and into the cooler environs of the Nilgiris, he assumed he was in Kerala - Before we went to Kashmir we went to the state of Kerala and added - One thing about Kerala that has remained in my memory was the endless rows of palm trees being grown commercially. Coconuts were harvested from them. We were shown how that was done. People scrabbled skillfully up the trunks of the trees. Their feet were bound with rope and seemed to stick to the tree trunks. Then from the treetops, they would throw down the coconuts.

At Coonoor (Khrushchev thought that was also in Kerala, it was the Singara plantations owned by the Madhwani’s) - We were also shown tea plantations in Kerala. What we saw in Kerala made a sorry impression. Everything was done by hand; then the leaves were thrown in a heap on the ground. I joked: “If Soviet citizens who drink Indian tea could see how it’s processed, they’d probably lose their appetite for it.” In our country, the sanitary standards are stricter at tea plantations. There was nothing like that in Kerala. But the owner gave us a very polite reception and treated us to tea and fruit.

In all, they spent 27 days, visiting India Burma, and Afghanistan. Ms Rahimbabaiveva, Deputy Minister of Culture in Uzbekistan was included since it was believed that Kashmiris and Afghans supposedly had ethnic connections to Uzbek. The entourage was about 100 people, of which 50 traveled with the leaders, including a lady cook and cargo planes to ferry baggage. Three Ilyushin 14s and other planes were deployed, and they even did trial flights to each locale. They touched at Delhi, Agra, Bhakra Nangal, Bareilly, Rudrapur, Terai, Bombay, Pune, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Coonoor, Ooty, Calcutta, Burma, Chittaranjan, Sindri, Jaipur, Srinagar, Delhi, Kabul and back.

NY Times - At one point Nehru told Bulganin that it was rumored he wore a bullet-proof vest; "I do not," said Bulganin. "Feel me." Nehru good-naturedly poked an inquiring finger at the Russian’s chest. Then Bulganin turned to the crowd and raised his hands high in a happy prizefighter’s salute.

Bangalore (again, Khrushchev thought that was in Kerala) - In Kerala, we visited a respected fellow countryman, of ours, the great artist Svyatoslav Roerich. His father [Nikolai Roerich] had also been a famous artist, and his paintings were on display at an exhibit in Moscow.

Taj Mahal - It is enough to mention that great pearl of artistry, the Taj Mahal, every tourist visits this place, taking delight in the white stone structure, which doesn’t even seem to be of stone because the material is of such exceptional whiteness. This was built in a century-long past, yet to this day it bears witness to the high level of culture of the Indian people. On the other hand, when I looked at the poverty all around, the thought occurred to me that the rulers didn’t consider working people to be human, but forced them to erect palaces and mausoleums, leaving them to die from the heavy burden of their labors. The rulers didn’t take the people into account and had no regard for them. They only needed hands to do the work, and they squeezed the living juices out of their subjects. Today these buildings are the pride of India, monuments to its art.

KPS Menon accompanied them on the trip and mentions that the documentaries made later - revived a thousand memories of the three most hectic weeks of my life, when I accompanied Bulganin and Khrushchev on their hurricane tour of India from Kashmir to Coimbatore, from Bombay to Calcutta. It was also a comprehensive tour. From Delhi, dry and cool, and the Punjab, even drier and cooler, they flew into the sweltering heat of Bombay. Thence we took them higher and higher, to Poona, 2,000 feet above sea level, to Bangalore, 4,000 feet high, and to Ootacamund, 8,000 feet high, where the crisp air refreshed and reinvigorated them. From Ootacamund they made the precipitous descent to Coimbatore and were charmed by the coconut, areca-nut, and banana groves they saw on the way. There followed the hottest and most tiresome part of their journey: Madras, Calcutta, and Rangoon. Finally, they went to Kashmir. There they saw the snow, discarded their bush-shirts, donned their fur coats, and felt at once at home and nostalgic for their own Central Asia, as Babar once did when he saw a caravan arriving in Lahore from Kabul.

Local reports mention that they stopped at the village of Vadamadurai where a thirsty Bulganin is believed to have drunk some coconut water in a farm, which these days is known as the ‘Bulganin Thottam’. They stayed at the Ooty Raj Bhavan and had their hair cut by a local barber. It is also mentioned that they planted trees in Bangalore, and one of them I believe is possibly around, though leaning heavily.

According to the New Yorker - Bulganin has been stately, Khrushchev animated. Bulganin has not seemed to be enjoying himself much, and at times has looked like a product of taxidermy. His blue eyes have been expressionless, as if made of glass. He has, however, been consistently polite and thoughtful. Khrushchev, on the other hand, has been full of life and spirit; indeed, he has expressed himself with an exuberance that some educated Indians at least, consider boorish.

As time went by, Bulganin was starting to tire, and Khrushchev (his junior in the political hierarchy - Khrushchev's position as head of the Communist Party imparted greater authority and control than Bulganin's position as head of the government) took over. At Bangalore, Khrushchev confirmed that Russia had recently exploded a hydrogen 'bomb. As Khrushchev put it, the scientists had done this - to "see whether their calculations were right, adding the Soviet Union would never be the first to use this power."

The next few years became a period of turmoil all over the world. The U2 plane was downed, the Nandadevi incident occurred, America invested heavily in Pakistan, the specter of a nuclear holocaust loomed on the horizon, the Bay of Pigs happened, Mao went ballistic, and China invaded the Indian borders in 1962, following a Sino Soviet split. Khrushchev steered the USSR in those days and fortunately proved to be more moderate, for which he eventually paid a price and got ousted.

I thought this might be interesting to readers, many of whom would not have heard about the song of the Indian trader and how it impacted the minds of the high and mighty in distant Russia, just like Raj Kapoor and the songs of Mukesh did, during that period. Even in Turkey, where I lived during the late 90’s, the average Turk could hum a couple of lines of the song Awara Hoon, a song from Hindistan. Similarly, ‘The Song from India’ had in 1946, inspired Naushad in creating his masterpiece Awaz De Kahan He in Anmol Ghadi, a tune which he claimed entered his thoughts through a dream, and which remains in many Indian minds, even today.

The state visits of Nehru and the return visit by the Russians are barely known to the youth of today, and they may not care, anyway, but then again, history was never taught rightfully in our schools, it was simply imposed, and everybody dreaded those lessons. I hope it is a little bit more interesting to students these days, for any event can be an interesting story replete with anecdotes and asides if some effort is taken. These are all incidents that created a nation, and her worldly relations. Nevertheless, history is also being manipulated these days and is even being re-written sometimes, to suit political views.

I deliberately did not get into the political sides and impacts of the visit, for it would be dreadfully boring for a casual reader. Not everybody looked forward to the arrival of these guests and its potential implications, fearing an Indian tilt left, which never happened. Khrushchev stated – Nehru was not a Communist, but is a bourgeois political figure and a democrat, who had his own political views. We understood that although he was not a Marxist, or a supporter of the Soviet type of governmental system, he did want to do good for his people, and he wanted life in India to be organized on a democratic basis. He still talked about socialism then, although rather vaguely, and it was hard for us to understand what kind of socialism he had in mind in general. After all, the term "socialism" has been dragged around a lot and is somewhat the worse for wear.

Getting back to where we started, ‘The Song from India’ became immensely popular in the Western world after Sarah Brightman sang it in the album Dream Chaser, Tom Dorsey made an instrumental version, and Mario Lanza did a tenor. Eventually, it ended up as one of the melodies used for the number ‘Beautiful Ohio’, which went on to become the official song of the U.S. State of Ohio. Beautiful Ohio was written by Ballard MacDonald in 1918. In 1969, the Ohio General Assembly made the song the state’s official song. In 1989, a bill was passed to adopt a new set of words written by Wilbert McBride. McBride’s version provides a more accurate portrayal of Ohio by including things such as the state’s cities and factories.

So much for the song and its popularity, needless to mention it made quite an impression on Khrushchev.

Finally, most of you may not know, that this plant, Dracaena Reflexa Variegata, (we had one at home for years and did not know!), one that many of you would be familiar with, is also called ‘The Song of India’! I have no idea why it is so…

References
Rimsky-Korsakov and His World - edited by Marina Frolova-Walker
Khrushchev remembers - Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev
Propaganda aspects of the Bulganin -Khrushchev visit to India in late 1955 - Harry B . Irvine
The flying Troika – K P S Menon

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