Singing sweet melodies on a different breath

CHENNAI: Most of us have early memories of trying to whistle in the bathroom. Some of us grew up enviously listening to some neighbour or cousin whistle out the latest hits, effortlessly. But unlike many of us who never progressed beyond the confines of the bathroom, there is a bunch of people who have taken whistling to a much higher level and have made it sound like music.On Sunday evening, this talented group of people produced sweet melodies at a whistling musical concert organised by the Indian Whistlers Association. Venkataraman (65), a veteran whistler shared his story, “It all started when I was seven years-old. Those days I used to listen to Binaca Geet Mala which was aired from 9 to 9.30 pm. When veterans like Kishore Kumar songs were played on air, I would whistle along with them.” Though skilled in all three types of whistling like blow out, inward and teeth whistling, he admitted that joining the Whistlers Association had helped him to fine tune his skills in whistling. The Indian Whistler Association was founded by Rigveda Deshpandey from Mumbai in September 2004. This association has helped many more amateur whistling enthusiasts who have made it to the big stage. R Arunkumar, Zonal Head- South of the Indian Whistler’s Association (IWA) said, “Starting this Indian Whistlers Association has been a landmark occasion for whistlers like us. It continues to be a platform of sharing and learning.” Ramamurthy (53), a businessman who has been practising whistling for the past 25 years couldn’t agree more. Padmanathan (64), a vocalist and a whistler has also released whistling musical CDs.Ashwin (16), a Class 11 student said, “Many of us, though we could whistle, didn’t have much knowledge about music. Here we have learned the fundamentals like pitch, breathing out and ragas. Being a part of this club is a fantastic experience”.IWA today has four zones, with over 400 members. Anidhya Gosh said, “The whistlers are very talented and are capable of whistling not just film songs, but also classical, Carnatic and devotional music.” Adding to it, Ramamurthy said, “Periodically, we participate in stage shows for charity besides the paid shows.”Chennai and Mumbai continue to be the most active centres. IWA has entered the Limca Book of Records 2009 with 48 whistlers from all over India, whistling ‘Sare Jahan Se Achha’ in unison. But they’ve also gone beyond national borders: Divya Soundari(29), who participated in the International Whistlers competition in China last year, shared her experience, “The whistlers from China, Japan and USA were all trained to whistle western classical compositions, which is difficult, because there are no breaks in between. However, our team finished third.”Every single whistler had an interesting story to share with audience. There were some who had come from all parts of the state and even from the neighbouring state, Kerala to be part of the day’s show. Unlike in China and and the US, where professional whistlers make a living out of it, in India it still continues to remain as a hobby. IWA is committed to train young whistlers early at the schools itself to make them thorough professionals early.