From soothing melodies to thumping tracks, lullabies stay in tune with the times

Back in 1813, when the ruler of Travancore Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi wanted to put her infant son Swathi Thirunal to bed, she asked Irayimman Thampi, the best Carnatic musician in her State, to write and compose a lullaby for her. It was one of the toughest tasks the musician had ever faced. He wrote and rewrote until he finally came up with Omanathinkal kidavo...which remains the most popular lullaby in Malayalam till date.From impromptu songs to proper lullabies, Malayalis’ association with lullabies has evolved over the years. We take a look:
A form of communication While experts say that infants need to be musically nurtured from birth, mothers have been unknowingly rocking their babies to sleep with soothing songs, from time immemorial. Sharmila Jayaram, a forest range officer from Palakkad says that she read about the importance of lullabies in an article when she was pregnant. “From then on, I started collecting lullabies of different languages. And when Reyaansh was born three months ago, I made sure I played some of the songs to him. My sister sent me an English lullaby, Lullaby and Good Night, via WhatsApp and he really loves to listen to it,” she says. According to her, lullabies are a form of communication between parent and baby. “I see Reyaansh often responding directly to the song by cooing and babbling. It seems such songs help develop speech better in them,” says Sharmila.
Sheila Ki Jawaani: ‘the hit’ lullaby It is not just soothing Malayalam lullabies that the kids are accustomed to these days but even Bollywood and Kannada chartbusters. One- year-old Jagan, son of Ayswarya Balachandran, a marketing professional, goes to sleep only if she plays Katrina Kaif’s popular dance number, Sheela Ki Jawani. “I am a bit embarrassed to tell people that he loves to watch Katrina’s dance number when he feels sleepy. But that’s the only way to get him to sleep,” she says. Jagan’s bed-time playlist even includes Kannada songs. “We do not have any Kannada connect, but he loves to go to sleep to Puneeth Rajkumar's Ninnindale.
The moment he finds a song interesting, he somehow conveys it. I download his favourite songs from the internet, some of which are Honey Singh’s Abhi Tho Party and Justin Bieber’s latest song, Sorry,” she says. Wayanad-based Rakhi Krishna’s one-and-a-half-year-old son Abhinav too loves to listen to Sheila Ki Jawani. “He wants me to sing it while I tuck him to bed. I am amused at their choice of lullabies which are so different from what my mom used to sing for me,” says Rakhi. Her son also loves to listen to Beethoven and other instrumental music when sleepy.
Old is still gold While Niharika and Nirupama are fond of fast numbers like Dil Dhooba from Khakee, their mom, Anaswara Bhanu, a 29-year-old media professional, ensures that her babies get exposure to some of the good old lullabies in Malayalam as well. “I sing for them Omanathinkal Kidavo, Unni Vavavoo and Thamarakannan Urangenam. One day, Niharika happened to hear the Tamil song Aaraaro Areeraaro Anbunikkai while we were at a friend’s place. She loved it and since then, I have been playing it to them regularly.”
Dads don’t lag behind It seems lullabies are not just confined to young mothers anymore. Even new-age dads are joining in too. IT professional Jishnu Ram’s one-year-old daughter Anamika loves to listen to him singing La Isla Bonita by Madonna. “I am a singer and I love singing to her. And whenever my wife wants to put my daughter to bed, Anamika wants me to sing it to the accompaniment of guitar. During the day, my wife plays a recorded video of me singing the song,” he says. Even dads who are not even bathroom singers are not spared from crooning lullabies. Anaswara says, “Since our kids are used to lullabies, Rahul, my husband was forced to learn a few songs. After a bit of googling, he now sings Unni Vavavoo for them, ” she adds. Well, it seems along with the good ol’ lullabies, item songs and even rock music are here to stay in the bed-time playlist of new age kids!
Jayasurya
Both my kids, Adwaith and Veda, used to go to sleep as soon as I start to sing Raree Rareeram Rarooo of Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare movie. I am not sure if it is because of my singing skills or whether they wanted me to stop singing!
Tovino Thomas
I wish I had time to sing for my daughter Izza. However, she wants her mom and grandparents to sing to her Unni Vavavooo from Santhwanam.
Jyotsna (singer)
I have been singing, Oru Daivam Thantha Poove from Kannathil Muthamittal for my son Shivam since he was three months old. He is now nine months old and whenever I sing for him, he stares at me without even blinking his eyes and then gives me a cute smile and slowly goes to sleep.
Evergreen lullabies in Malayalam
Omanathinkal Kidavo (1813) Irayimman Thampi
Unni Vavavo (1991)
Mohan Sithara
Thamarakkannan
Urangenam (1993)
S P Venkatesh
Kannum Pooti Uranguka Neeyen (1954)
V Dakshinamoorthy
Chanchadi Aadi Urangu Nee (2005) - Ramesh Narayan
Unni Araariro (1978)
A T Ummer
Pattu Paadi Urakkam Njan (1960) - V Dakshinamoorthy
Lalee Lalee (2013)
M Jayachandran
Raree Rareeram Raro (1986) Mohan Sithara
Kilukil Pambaram (1997)
S P Venkatesh