Elderly in city find love for karaoke with old Tamil, Bengali, Hindi songs

Sixty-one-year-old Indra Purushotham, who was one of the attendees, says she loves to spend time signing yesteryear Tamil songs. “Music has been my only solace since my husband passed away eight years ago. Now, my kids are grown up and have families of their own, so I have all the time in the world to attend karaoke events,” she says.

It is also common for retired individuals living in gated communities, who were looking to spend time productively, to gather regularly for these fun singing sessions. Avik Chatterjee, who stays in one such property on OMR, says, “I like to meet up with others of my age for karaoke evenings because it makes us forget how old we are,” says the 69-year-old. He adds, “We have a WhatsApp group, where we discuss mehfil schedules.” Their community has a sizeable Bengali population, so apart from Hindi and English music, they sing Bengali film songs too.

The average age group of senior citizens who enjoy karaoke is between 58 and 65. But, the city has a 93-year-old singer too. Sashi Bhatt, an entrepreneur, underwent training in Hindustani and Carnatic music when he was a child. He says, “Though I didn’t practice for decades, my love for singing blossomed after I turned 80, when my grandchildren bought a karaoke set for the house. During a Diwali party nearly 12 years ago, I decided to give it a shot and haven’t stopped since.” Though his voice is a little shaky, he enjoys singing old Hindi numbers.

Almost all of the participants prefer music from before 1990 because, “We don’t understand the music of today’s generation — it has no soul,” say Gayathri and Balasubramaniam, a couple in their sixties, who loves to listen to English retro music. “We like visiting some of the pubs in the city when they have karaoke nights because we don’t have a player at home. It would, however, be nice if they could include more music for us oldies. Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan are our favourites,” she says.