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Vizagites recall their fond association with SPB
File picture of legendary singer SP Balasubrahmanyam receiving honorary doctorate at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam from the then Governor ND Tiwari
- The untimely demise of the legendary playback singer comes as a rude shock to scores of his admirers who still find it hard to absorb the sad news
- As soon as the news of SPB’s demise broke out, many of his fans replace their profile photos in WhatsApp with SPB’s image as a mark of respect to the veteran playback singer who sang more than 40,000 songs in 17 languages
Visakhapatnam: The untimely demise of legendary playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam (74), dearly called as Balu, comes as a rude shock to scores of his admirers who still find it hard to absorb the sad news.
As soon as the news of SPB's demise broke out, many of his admirers replaced their profile photos in WhatsApp with SPB's image as a mark of respect to the veteran playback singer who sang more than 40,000 songs in over a dozen languages.
People from various walks of life pour in condolences, while some of them recalled their association with the legendary singer.
Interestingly, the marital life of 'Gaana Gandharva' began in Visakhapatnam at Sri Varaha Lakshimi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam. Their marriage took place in 1969 at the Pushkarini choultry Simhachalam temple. Balu was a devotee of 'Simhadri Appanna'. He was fond of spending time at Sivananda Murthy Ashram near Bheemunipatnam.
Many a time, he had enchanted people with his mellifluous voice in various concerts hosted in Visakhapatnam. Balu was the producer for 'Subha Sankalpam' movie. Most part of this film was shot in Visakhapatnam, a destination SPB looked forward to visiting.
Recalling his association with Balu, retired Simhachalam Devasthanam employee Pasarla Suryanarayana says, "In 1969, SPB, Savitri and two of the singer's friends approached me for their marriage receipt. Paying Rs100, the receipt was collected by the singer before having darshan at the temple.
Three days later, until another person came from the erstwhile Madras to the temple, I did not know that it was the great singer Balasubrahmanyam who approached me for the marriage receipt."
BJP leader Cheruvu Ramakotaiah termed the demise of SPB as a huge loss to the film and music fraternity as well as to the nation. But SPB's voice will remain etched in the hearts of people forever, he added.
Terming the death of SPB as tragic, Andhra University Vice-Chancellor P V G D Prasad Reddy said his voice will continue to live in the hearts of people. The V-C added that SPB received an honorary doctorate 'Kala Prapoorna' from Andhra University in 2009. He considers himself fortunate for sharing the stage space with the singer then.
Former Vice-Chancellor of AU and V-C of Centurion University GSN Raju mentioned that when SPB visited AU, he was all in praise of the university. "When the legendary singer visited AU in 2014, I spent quality time with him as I was serving as V-C then. He appreciated the way we developed the Music and Dance Department of the AU," recalls Prof Raju.
Visakha Sri Sarada Peetham pontiff Swami Swaroopanandedra Saraswati said that SPB had an inclination towards spirituality and used to stay in the ashram at Srisailam whenever he pays a visit to the shrine.
