They Sing Their Hearts Out for All the Moms
Three elders who enjoyed the musical program, from left, Bhagwati Parikh, Shakuntla Malhotra and Sudha Trivedi.
By Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON: It’s a tradition that has grown over the past 17 years and even though he is preoccupied with the restaurant business, Rajan Radhakrishnan feels the tug at his heart every Mother’s Day to sing and bring a smile of joy to his mother who is 9, but alas, she lives far away in India. Instead, he sees his “parents in the eyes of the seniors here”, as he looks at the audience, and “their smiles remind me of her”.
After the songs, on stage (from left) ISCA President Arvind Patel, Rajan Radhakrishnan, Sudha Trivedi, Alpa Shah and Neeta Mehta.
So Rajan brings his crooning, melodious voice to the stage where the Indian Senior Citizens Association holds its meetings, whenever Mother’s Day or Father’s Day comes around (Rajan’s father passed away in 2012 at the grand old age of 94) and entertains them with songs from yesteryear that the older crowd can relate to and even sing along to those favorite lines.
Past ISCA President Lalit Chinoy with his wife Chatur at the program. They are moving to Seattle in June to be close to their son.
This Saturday afternoon May 10, right after the ISCA held its monthly meeting, the banquet hall of India House was filled to capacity with over 400 seniors – some with their sons and daughters, and even a occasional grandkid – as Rajan and his accompanist (and business partner at Madras Pavilion restaurant in Sugar Land) Alpa Shah got on stage to serenade the audience.
Rajan Radhakrishnan and Alpa Shah sang for the seniors on Saturday, May 10.
It was the same setup as last year when the duo sang over a dozen songs. Alpa, a keen Bollywood movie watcher and lover of filmi music, gave a short introduction to each song – its music directors, lyricist and playback singer – before diving into the song. Alpa started the set of 16 songs with two odes to mothers and a nod to the classic songs. “Old songs are like friends, so we all like the”, she said.
The seniors listened attentively, quietly. In their golden years, some were short of step, hard of hearing, and short of sight and with a cane or walker for help, they were full of patience and nothing but praise for Rajan and Alpa. Their restaurant, Madras Pavilion donated the catered the lunch that was served afterwards in the lobby.
A satisfied Rajan packed up the sound equipment that afternoon. The following evening, Mother’s Day, not quite content with his performance, the effervescent Rajan sang again with Mahalaxmi at the Tamil Foundation dinner!