Singing from the heart

K

araoke — the singing of lyrics of a song to its instrumental version, that originated in Japan and spread to different parts of the globe, has taken on a very popular and interactive form in our very own City under the name of Snehaloka which literally means ‘world of love’.

Started by the popular Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan along with his friends Janak Raj Madaan and Lalit Sanghvi, the group members meet on the second Saturday of every month and sing their hearts out to the popular tunes and melodies from the past.

“There is so much talent that (literally) goes unsung especially among professionals like doctors, people in corporate life and those not in show business that we decided to form a group like Snehaloka which will provide people with a stage and an opportunity to showcase their talent for music,” he explains.

Dedicated to the golden oldies from yesteryears in different Indian languages like Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam, the group of music lovers from Snehaloka get together to share the experience of singing in public. As a group they appreciate and encourage the latent singer in each one of their members to come out and shine.

Halu jenu ondadha hage Kansalu neene manasalu neene are some of the Kannada favourites and Raathkali ek khwab mein ayee, Kuch toh log kahenge, are some of the popular Hindi oldies but there is a vast collection of songs in their collection ranging from P B Srinivas, S Janaki, Dr Rajkumar and Gurukiran in Kannada to perennial favourites like Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar among several others in Hindi. The ever sporting Dr Vishnuvardhan took to the mike at different times during the evening so did most of the members and with Veena Bhat and her extended family adding to the gaiety, the evening had plenty of action and interaction to keep the crowd rocking.

“Becoming a good Karaoke singer takes a little bit of time and practice and one has to develop a knack of keeping pace with the timing and lyrics. We made this a membership based group and charge a fee to cover the expenses of hosting the event each month,” adds Vishnuvardhan.

“It is a place for people who enjoy music and want to sing to do so in a congenial and friendly environment. Our membership has grown over the last few months but it’s still informal and very personal with a family atmosphere,” tells Janak.