Singing their way into people's hearts
It's not every day that you hear Japanese voices belting out lilting Kannada melodies. Takeshi Takubo and Hiroshi Chiba, who work at Toyota Kirloskar Motors, sent the audience, at Cubbon Park, into raptures with their perfect rendition of Kannada film songs like Anisuthide Yako Indu, from Mungaru Male, Jenina Holeyo Haalina Maleyo, an evergreen Raj Kumar hit, and Santosha ke Haadu Santosha ke, an energetic song picturised on the late Shankar Nag .
Takeshi Takubo, who came to Bangalore last September, says he picked up 'basic' Kannada in just a few weeks. All admiration for him, his colleagues began urging him to try his hand at singing. "They gave me the lyrics and I began practising," he says with a smile. Having progressed beyond 'namaskara' (hello) and 'dhanyavaada' (thanks), he says the language interests him to learn much more.
At the public function organised by Prakruthi, an NGO, at Cubbon Park on Sunday, Chiba earned a standing ovation when he launched into Huttidare Kannada Naadinalli Huttabeku, another Raj Kumar favourite.
The crowds swelled, the applause got louder and the evening ended with everyone joining in the chorus.
