Singer S Janaki refuses to accept Padma Bhushan

Expressing dissatisfaction over the number of people from South India figuring in the Padma awards list for 2013, southern playback singer Sreeramamurthy Janaki Friday refused to accept Padma Bhushan award announced for her on the eve of 64th Republic Day, “I’m saddened by the fact that north India has been given more prominence than south India.

I’m extremely disappointed and I refuse to accept the award,” Janaki told IANS.

The 74-year old veteran made her singing debut in 1957 Tamil film “Vidhiyin Vilayattu”. She has crooned over 15,000 songs in a career spanning five decades across all southern languages and in Hindi.

She has a long association with singer S.P. Balasubramanyam. The two have sung more than 1,000 songs together.

She has won four National Awards and the prestigious “Kalamamani” state award of Tamil Nadu.

Maestro wins award at 105

At the age of 105, Hindustani vocalist Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan was on Friday chosen for this year’s Padma Shri award, achieving the distinction of being the oldest person to get a Padma award, agencies report from New Delhi.

In 2011, India’s first woman photo-journalist Homai Vyarawala was honoured with the Padma Vibushan at the age of 97. She died last year.

The repertoire of Khan, the vocalist from West Bengal, includes khayal, dhrupad, dhamar and thumri.

Currently confined to a wheelchair, Khan who has lost the ability to walk and whose hands have become gnarled with age, still manages to regale audiences with his powerful singing.

Also a poet, Khan has written around 2000 compositions under the pseudonym ‘Rasan Piya’.