Forty-five years ago Trincas opened its doors to Usha Iyer and a Kanjeevaram-clad singing sensation was born. “I was a performer then and I wasn’t allowed to sit at the table,” she recalled. On February 19, 45 years later, not only did she have her own table, she had the house roaring for her.
Dum maaro dum was the throwback number that started a fab Friday night at Trincas with the in-house Hindi band. When the English band took up position, Usha was ready with Besame Mucho and Sway. The audience insisted on encore after encore. “Don’t forget I’m not getting paid tonight!” said Usha, sternly.
Usha fans at Trincas picked up a few tips over beer and kebabs. First, it’s easy to speak Tamil if you’re being coached by Usha — “Add a ‘W’ before ‘okay’ and that’s Tamil” but it’s tough to master Spanish and roll the Rs correctly... “No desvies la mirada” from the song Senorita was the most repeated line from that night.
“The first time Usha performed solo in Calcutta, it was in Trincas. People were surprised to see her but she held them spellbound with her voice. And we always had to have her chai and sambhar ready during the break!” said Sunny Puri, proprietor, Trincas.
t2 took a front seat to sing, holler and salute.
Did You Know?
Usha’s house in Cochin is called Trincas!
“Usha has this special quality of getting everybody together and livening up the whole place, whether on our morning walks or at an evening session,” said Kaveri Dutt, part of Usha’s CC&FC gang for over four decades.
“The thing about Usha is she’s always warm and friendly. Her offstage self is not very different from her onstage persona. She’s one of those people who’s always happy at someone else’s good fortune,” said Sheela Janakiram, a friend.
Usha Uthup with Nandita Raja, one of her oldest friends in Calcutta, whose label Kanishka’s also happens to design some of Usha’s saris. “She joins us on morning walks in CC&FC, whenever she’s in Calcutta. We generally just have tea and toast for breakfast after our morning walks but when Usha’s in town, she ruins everything by ordering samosas and other unhealthy snacks!” grumbled Nandita, good-naturedly.
Pictures: Rashbehari Das
