Travel Tips

We celebrated Diwali on 27th and 28th of October'08. This Diwali we organised our Annual Dealers Felicitations at Kalamandir and there performed the Legendary Mrs.Usha Uthup for us. She started her career in 1960s at Trincas Kolkata along with her sisters i.e. the Iyer Sisters, who were crooners and sang mostly blues, ballads and also rock.

Today Mrs. Uthup is 65+ and goig very strong. She has playbacked more than 12000 songs in English, Bengali and Hindi. I had the honour to hear her live in Trincas in the early 70s when I was in school. It was a great and rar occasion, when I inroduced Rakhi and Munu to her, who in turn made Munu sit beside her and blessed her, also talked for a while. When Rakhi told her that Munu is very thrilled to see her in person as she has seen her in Amitabh Bachchan starrer movie" Bombay To Goa", she smiled and replied she looked horrible then!!

On my request she also sang " One way Ticket" and the famous song from Hare Rama Hare Krishna " Dum Maro Dum". It was a great evening and she blessed us all with her usual smile. I took her permission to photograph her and video her live performance. She granted me permission with her smile and told dont' sell it!!! So Rakhi videographed her entire program and I took some videos in my mobile phone which I am loading in VT. Please have a look.

Diwali (or Deepavali) is a major Hindu holiday, and a significant festival in Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Many legends are associated with Diwali. Today it is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs across the globe as the "Festival of Lights," where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being. Diwali is celebrated on the new moon day (approx fifteenth day) of the month Kartika.

In many parts of India and Nepal , it is the homecoming of Lord Ram of Ayodhya, after a 14-year exile in the forest, after he defeated the demonic Ravan. The people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Ram by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (deepa), thus its name: Deepavali. This word, in due course, became Diwali in Hindi and Dipawali in Nepali. But, in South and East Indian languages, the word did not undergo any change, and hence the festival is called Deepavali in eastern and southern part of India. There are many different observances of the holiday across India and Nepal.

Jainism marks Diwali as the nirvana of Lord Mahavira, which occurred on 15 October, 527 BCE.

Among the Sikhs, Diwali came to have special significance from the day the town of Amritsar was illuminated on the return to it of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) who had been held captive in the Fort at Gwalior under the orders of the Mughal emperor, Jahangir (1570-1627). As the sixth Guru (teacher) of Sikhism, Guru Hargobind Ji, was freed from imprisonment - along with 53 Hindu Kings (who were held as political prisoners) whom the Guru had arranged to be released as well. After his release he went to the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) in the holy city of Amritsar, where he was welcomed in happiness by the people who lit candles and diyas to greet the Guru. Because of this, Sikhs often refer to Diwali also as Bandi Chhorh Divas - "the day of release of detainees."

The festival is also celebrated by Buddhists of Nepal, where majority of Hindu lives, particularly the Newar Buddhists.

In India and Nepal, Diwali is now considered to be a national festival, and the aesthetic aspect of the festival is enjoyed by most Indians and Nepalese regardless of faith.

Histor courtesey Wkipedia.

Usha Uthup is a popular Indian pop singer. She was well known for popular hits in the late 1960s,1970s and 1980s. Her maiden name is Usha Iyer.

Usha Uthup has sung in 14 Indian languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Gujarati, Marathi, Konkani, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. She can also sing in several foreign languages including Dutch, French, German, Italian, Sinhalese, Swahili, Russian, Nepalese, Arabic, Creole, Zulu, Spanish and English.

Usha Uthup lives in Calcutta. She grew up in Park Circus, near Mayfair Road. Her father Sami Iyer was the police commissioner of Bombay. She has three sisters (Uma Pocha, Indira Srinivasan and Maya Sami), all of whom are singers. Her Maiden name is Usha Iyer.She is married to Jani Uthup.

She was a frequent visitor to Vernon Corea's BBC office at the Langham in London and was interviewed on "London Sounds Eastern" on BBC Radio London. In 1968 she recorded covers of two pop songs in English, Jambalaya and the Kingston Trio's Greenback Dollar, on an EP, Scotch and Soda which sold very well in the Indian market. She appeared in disguise on Indian Idol 1 and 2. She is one of the co-judges of a reality show in Malayalam called Idea Star Singer 2007 and Idea Star Singer 2008.
Usha Uthup sang several songs in the 1970s and 1980s for music directors R D Burman and Bappi Lahiri. She also reprised some of R.D. Burman songs that were sung by others such as Mehbooba Mehbooba and Dum Maro Dum and popularised them to a distinct end. Some of her famous songs for movies (and associated music directors) include:

Song Movie Year Composer
Tashan Mein Tashan 2008 Vishal-Shekhar
Kabhi Pa Liya Tho Kabhi Kho Diya Jogger's Park 2003 Tabun
Din Hai Na Ye Raat Bhoot 2003 Salim-Sulaiman
Vande Mataram Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham 2001 Jatin-Lalit in conjunction/collaboration with Sandesh Shandilya
Raja Ki Kahani Godmother 1999 Vishal Bhardwaj
Daud Daud 1998 A. R. Rahman
Vegam Vegam Pogum Pogum Anjali 1991 Ilaiyaraaja
Koi Yahan Aha Nache Nache Disco Dancer 1982 Bappi Lahiri
Ramba Ho Armaan 1981 Bappi Lahiri
Hari Om Hari Pyaara Dushman 1980 Bappi Lahiri
Doston Se Pyar Kiya Shaan 1980 R D Burman
Shaan Se... Shaan 1980 R D Burman
Ek Do Cha Cha Cha Shalimar 1978 R D Burman

Usha's Hindi version of Michael Jackson's Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, titled '"Chhupke Kaon Aya'", can be found on the album Tom Middleton - The Trip (2004). A cover of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" is on another Tom Middleton album, Cosmosonica - Tom Middleton Presents Crazy Covers Vol. 1 (2005). She recently recorded a song called "Rhythm and Blues" with the Indian Rock Band Parikrama which appeared on Channel V on April 23rd 2007.

Usha's trademark is her massive bindi and her gajra (garland) that she wears in her head, as well as her Kancheepuram saris.

Usha Uthup is also an actress, often singing and acting in India's signature musical films. She acted in "Pothen Vava" a Malayalam movie in 2006 with Mammootty in the lead. She did the role of his mother.

She made a cameo appearance in the movie "Bombay To Goa" with Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha in 1972.

Filmfare Nomination as Best Female Playback Singer for the song "One Two Cha ChaCha" from Shalimar (film) (1978)
Filmfare Nomination as Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Hari Om Hari" from Pyare Dushman (1980)
Filmfare Nomination as Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Rambha Ho" from Armaan (1981 film) (1981)