'I will come for a day': KS Chithra remembers S Janaki's final voice message

K S Chithra's last conversation with S Janaki ended with a simple promise.

Janakiyamma had sent her a voice message saying she was travelling to a relative's house in Mangaluru. She told Chithra that she would return after the visit and wanted to spend a day at her home, saying she needed a change of scenery.

"She simply said, 'Naan varren oru naalukku' (I will come for a day)," Chithra recalled.

The visit never happened. As musicians and fans mourn the death of S Janaki at the age of 88, Chithra has remembered the legendary playback singer not only as an extraordinary artiste, but also as the woman she lovingly called "amma".

"I grew up listening to my amma's songs. Her voice has been with me since the day I was born. Even today, whenever I hear one of her songs, I can feel every emotion she poured into it. She was never my guru in the traditional sense, but every song she sang became a lesson for me."

Among the many relationships she built over a career spanning decades, Chithra says none was as special as the one she shared with Janakiyamma.\
Whenever she hesitated while singing, it was Janaki who gently pushed her to give more of herself.

"She would tell me, 'Don't be shy in front of the microphone.' She also used to say, 'If only you had begun singing when Babukka was alive, you would have sung so many more beautiful songs.'"

Chithra last met Janaki two days after the death of her son. They spent hours talking, unaware it would be the last time they would see each other.

Only a few days before her passing, Janaki had called again, this time with plans for a programme her admirers wanted to organise on December 7, her son's birthday. Chithra was among the singers who would perform.

"She was so excited about the programme. She would send me lists of songs to sing and even tell me which languages I should sing them in. She would ask me to call her once I started learning them so she could check my pronunciation."

For Janaki, music never stopped being an exercise in perfection. Even after decades at the top, she remained deeply invested in every lyric, every word and every performance, not only her own but those of younger singers she encouraged.

For Chithra, Janakiyamma's legacy is not confined to the thousands of songs she left behind. It lives on in the lessons hidden within those songs, in the encouragement she offered younger musicians and in a voice that, she says, has been part of her life for as long as she can remember.