It was supposed to be a simple drive. It changed SP Charan’s life.Late in the Nineties, on a balmy day, Charan offered to drop his father, popular singer SP Balasubramanyam, at Ilaiyaraaja’s studios for a song recording. “It’s so vivid in my mind. My father was learning the track when Ilaiyaraaja uncle walked in. I was just sitting in a corner when Raaja noticed me. “Oh, you are back from the US? What are you planning to do in life?”, to which I mumbled something about setting up a business.”And then, Ilaiyaraaja asked him the inevitable – “Do you sing?”A nervous Charan again mumbled something about singing occasionally, without realising what was in store for him. “Nalla naal lam pakkam venam (Let’s not wait for a good today). Today you will sing.”With those words, ‘chauffeur’ Charan became ‘singer’ Charan.“It was supposed to be a male duet between Ilaiyaraaja and SPB. He isolated a couple of lines in that song and made me sing. When I went to the booth, both these people were standing right next to me...imagine my plight,” he recalls with a guffaw, about his debut ‘Unnakoruthi’ track from Punniyavathi. Thankfully, the two noticed his nervousness and left him alone in the booth to sing what would become a memorable debut.