J/Yesudas- a singer par excellence - birthday wishes!

The first time I heard J/Yesudas was while watching the Hindi movie Chitchor in my native place. Then came the song "Devude Ichadu veedhi okati" from the Telugu movie Anthuleni Kadha. Somehow the mellifluous voice of Jesudas kept on lingering in my mind. His rendition of Telugu songs has always been soft as well as subtle. Many time it appears that he alone can sing sorrowful songs in Telugu so well. The HMV (His Masters' Voice) collection of Jesudas's Hindi songs in tape form almost made me slave of his his singing for about two decades. While his forte is sorrow and serious songs in Telugu, he rendered the romantic songs very well when backed up by lilting music. When it came to Telugu songs, language, its nuances, variations never bothered him and he appeared to have sung them effortlessly. One really wonders how a non-Telugu singer render Telugu songs with such a clarity, diction and softness! Devotional songs as well as atheist songs were equally well sung by him through out decades. There are many who try to sing in his way which shows his influence on Telugu songs! Many happy returns of the day to him and hope he continues to sing Telugu songs for many more years for many fans like me!