Diva Days

It’s a little after 10 pm. Trincas is starting to show just the first signs of Saturday night fever. Waiters shuttle in and out of the kitchen even before you can blink. The floor is warm with the buzz of gossip,arguments and bland pleasantries. And a teasing whiff of alcohol hits you the moment the gate-man holds the door open for you. On any other weekend conversations will be swallowed with generous gulps of whiskey,boredom defeated with with spoonfuls of Crispy Konjee Lamb as the flashily dressed crooner belts out Asha Bhonsle and Toni Braxton breathlessly. Today,however,is different. Jenny,beats the skin-and-sequin stereotype of a restaurant singer by more than a thin margin. As she walks up to the small podium,dressed in a loose navy chiffon top and black skirt,you wonder how she plans to strike a chord with the 100 odd people glued to their plates and glasses. The bassist breaks into a spirited jig as Jenny,nearly 50,greets the crowd with a voice hard to ignore – robust,velvety and strangely buoyant for her age. Soon after,she bounces from one table to another,greeting each patron,and yet not a single step out of rhythm. Trincas,is suddenly yanked out of its cocoon of ennui and impersonality,with a healthy shot of spirit – of the human kind.

About half an hour before Jenny took it upon herself to shake Trincas out of the comforts of familiarity and quiet,she took us nearly 35 years back,when music happened to her,then just 18-years-old. “It was right here that I re-discovered music in 1973. I never trained in music. And back in Chennai where I was born,the only brush with music I had was thanks to utensils that I used to play with and sing Malayalam songs,” says Jenny,who prefers to be called by her first name. When she went to Mumbai to study,she was introduced to contemporary English pop. “And then someone heard me croon and asked me if I wanted to sing at Trincas. I said,why not?”

There were inebriated louts,intimidating goons and the feeling of being censured as a ‘hotel singer’,but Jenny wouldn’t turn back. “It is here that I discovered jazz. And understood how much creative freedom it gives a singer. You can completely break a song down the way you wish,” says Jenny who started off with popular pop staples. Now based out of Delhi,and associated with a school,given a chance she would still go back to what she likes and knows best – music.