Chinmayi Sripaada recalls how music composer Deva would sing complicated ghazals despite not being fluent in Hindi after his death

Music composer Deva died on October 17 at the age of 75 from a heart attack. Singer Chinmayi Sripaada recalls her memories with him.

Singer Chinmayi Sripaada is mourning the death of music composer Deva at 75. The veteran died early on Saturday at a private hospital in Chennai from a reported heart attack. The film industry mourned, with Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, TN CM Vijay, and others attending his funeral. Chinmayi, who initially wrote that she didn’t know how to process his death, eventually penned a long obituary in his honour.

Chinmayi recalls Deva singing ghazals despite not knowing Hindi

Chinmayi Sripaada says she will always regret not making Deva perform a ghazal on stage.

After news broke of Deva’s death on Saturday afternoon, Chinmayi initially wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Just dont know how to process the passing of Deva Sir. Huge loss. (broken heart emoji).”

In a long note on Instagram, she then recalled how well the composer would sing ghazals despite not being fluent in Hindi. “Deva Sir. I am not sure how many people know - but he sang Ghazals wonderfully. He was one of the people who knew that I was a graded artiste of the All India Radio for Hindustani classical music and Ghazals - having won medals for both when I was in my late teens,” wrote Chinmayi, adding, “When I went to record for him - a few of those sessions he would sing a Mehdi Hasan saab or a Ghulam Ali saab's Ghazal and smile and say 'enakku avlo Hindi varaafhu maʼ (I don’t know Hindi well).”

Regrets not making Deva sing ghazal on stage

Chinmayi says that she will always have one regret when it comes to Deva: “I wish I really wish I had had the chance to make him sing a Ghazal on stage had I had the chance to be at some event with him. It will remain a regret all my life. There was always a positivity, kindness, compassion and empathy when he taught his compositions to even newbie singers like me when I'd debuted. And always super shabash and an applauding after a recording session. Which his son, Srikanth continues.”

Rounding off her eulogy for him, Chinmayi wrote, “I'll forever remember the various funny anecdotes, each legendary, each hilarious that would leave one in tears with all the laughing, of him playing on the harmonium, sometimes seated on the floor. I was blessed to have had the chance to sing for him. His passing isn't sitting right with me. Perhaps the inability to enunciate is also an expression of grief.”

Devanesan Chokkalingam, born on November 20, 1950, died just weeks before his 76th birthday. He has composed music for over 400 films in South India. His debut came in 1986 with the Tamil film Maattukara Mannaru, and he composed music for numerous superstars throughout his career. He is the man behind Rajinikanth’s intro theme, which the superstar uses even today.