Ardent admirers of SPB turn nostalgic

• It is not just Balu's voice that left people spellbound but also his exceptional qualities and the compelling aura around him charmed people from various quarters

• SPB ensured that people around him stayed happy, recalls M V Raghu, film director and cinematographer

• Balu's cheerful companionship had a soothing effect on those working along with him and he had a good sense of humour, Raghu points out

Visakhapatnam: A sense of loss grips scores of S P Balasubrahmanyam's admirers as they find it hard to accept that the idol they worshipped for decades is no more.

For many, his absence is yet to sink in. On Saturday, ardent admirers of SPB started their day listening to his tracks. Music connoisseurs turned nostalgic as they shared their favourite renditions of Balu, part of his interviews, his definition of friendship and his fondness for his mother on social media platforms.

'This should perhaps be Balu's last concert', 'the singer said this during the show', 'he adored Mohammed Rafi', 'SPB was here during the function' along with a host of other captions were tagged on social media as netizens posted a plenty of forwards of their favourite singer in the form of videos and images.

In one of the forwards, SPB told what friendship meant to him. "One has to think before making friendship. But once made, it is like 'dampathyam' (marital life) which cannot be separated for the rest of our life. There will be times that you may not like a few of your friend's qualities, they might even end up bothering you. Either try to change them or bear with them. But don't break the friendship," SPB emphasised.

It is not just Balu's voice that left people spellbound but also his exceptional qualities and the compelling aura around him charmed people from various quarters. "He ensured that people around him stayed happy. His cheerful companionship had a soothing effect on those working along with him. SPB had a good sense of humour. I am glad I had an opportunity to work with SPB as a director of photography in movies like 'Swathi Muthyam', 'Sirivennela', 'Sitara', among others. In the film 'Kallu' that I directed, Balu was not only the music director but also essayed a role in the movie as SPB. I will miss him dearly," recalls M V Raghu, film director and cinematographer.

Some of Balu's admirers could not stop getting emotional. "No matter how hard I am trying to divert myself, I am not able to absorb the fact that SPB is no more. It is too disturbing," says B Gowri Kumari, an ardent admirer of the legendary singer who breathed his last on Friday.

Though his mellifluous voice is put to rest, SPB's songs will continue to echo in the households.