Hell! I am actually the queen of Indian pop: Usha Uthup at JLF 2023

A woman’s personality has layers – layers upon layers wrapped around her soul and on her body – imposed by society. They tell her what she should be, and how she should act. But somewhere, in little corners of the country, there was a little girl, who would not be bound by these. Eager to learn everything, she would sit beside her Muslim neighbours and watch how they stitched a pajami. Then, she would head to a catholic school and return home to create some manjha for her brothers to help them fly kites.

Usha Uthup, the Queen of Indian Pop, known for her husky voice, Kanjivaram sarees, a large bindi, and enormous flowers embedded in her hair, is so much more than just that. When you see her up, close and personal. When you hear the person behind the voice, you immediately know that. The audience in her session on the first day of JLF 2023 did too. They saw Usha, the little girl behind this successful woman, and realised her real essence, in music and beyond.

I was making manjha, but in fact, I was the kite!

Usha Uthup

She was in conversation with Shrishti Jha, whose first book is a translation of Ullas Ki Naav, her father’s book on Usha Uthup’s life. The English translation called ‘The Queen of Indian Pop’ is filled with various nuances – beginning with her childhood, moving on to her singing in bars, and how she went on to become the Queen Of Indian Pop.

Falling, failing, and learning

One thing Usha remembers vividly from her childhood was that she was thrown out of the music class because she couldn’t just fit in the choir. 

“I realized early in my life that music isn’t my life but communication is, and what better way to communicate than music!”

Of manjhas and flying 

Usha had one intricate story about how she always made manjha for her brothers to fly kites. “I would delicately pick glasses from broken lamps, and bulbs, then mold them with cornflour, and press flowers for the ultimate coloring,” said Usha with lit-up eyes.

The best part? This manjha-making taught her a lesson she would always remember.  “No matter how I’d make that manjha, my brother’s kite would always cut other kites,” she said. And that’s when she learnt to fly high, just like those kites.

“I was making manjha, but in fact, I was the kite!”

The moment of realisation

Picture this. One fine day, you wake up to realise you are so much better than the others. And then, the realisation is followed by a moment of courage. How would that feel?

Usha’s moment of courage happened during a night at a bar called ‘9 gems’ with her aunt in Bombay. After the singers there had finished their performance, her aunt asked, “Usha, you can do better. Why don’t you go up and sing something?”

Usha was apprehensive. But after some nudging from her aunt, she decided to get up there and perform. There was no looking back. She continued to earn accolades and that little girl who would sit beside the neighbours to learn how to stitch, went on to become the unplugged singer of India.