Observe S.Janaki in stage shows whenever she is singing. She is an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna and always carries a photo of Lord Krishna in her song book. She has a habit of noting down all her hit songs in that book and sing in shows. In the same way she also has another habit.
Whenever she sings, she should have a kerchief in hand without fail. Even during her recordings, kerchief is mandatory in her hands! Once, SPB who has a habit of teasing his co-singers played a prank with S Janaki by hiding her kerchief. When the rehearsals for the song were done and everything was ready for the take, S Janaki was unable to open up her voice! Music director was asking her from the microphone saying, “Madam, what happened, what happened?” when he saw her searching for kerchief in tension. SPB apparently felt it was enough of his prank and gave her the kerchief. The moment S.Janaki got kerchief in hand she sang like a flowing river!
Another veteran singer Ghantasala also had the same habit. Whenever he went for recordings, his wife Srimathi Savitri carefully fold the kerchief and give exclusively to her husband. Ghantasala used to exclaim like a kid saying, “How can I sing without kerchief in hand!”
