Begam Parveen Sultana....if there is one female classical vocalist who has had an impact on me immensely its been her... And lemme tell you I have heard quite a few female vocalists (since 17 out of 22 years of my life have been joyously spent being at the Sawai Gandharva Mahotsav held here in Pune, and I have had the privilege to listen to a range of vocalists from some true-blue legends, stalwarts of music to some absolute budding new talent)...but then *personally* for me, there has been so classical singer who has captivated me as much as Begam Sahiba!
My first memory of Parveen Ji dates back to 12th Dec. 1992 when I had attended Sawai for the first time at the age of 3, ofcourse I understood nothing but that Gujri Todi she sang somewhere still has its footprints over my memory which will last till the end. And when I found this on YT, it took me back to those days!
Raga Gujri Todi 1 - Begum Parveen Sultana
Raga Gujri Todi 2 - Begum Parveen Sultana
Raga Gujri Todi 3 - Begum Parveen Sultana
Raga Gujri Todi 4 - Begum Parveen Sultana
She has a voice that can do absolutely and literally everything...her ease in maneuvering over all the three and a half octaves is mesmerizing...the way she holds her notes, the subtle change in the timbre of her voice when she reaches inexplicable heights yet still commanding immense power, the absolutely terrifically lighting 'taan', the free-flowing way of embellishing the raag with her penchant 'murkis' and 'harkats'...she literally encompasses all stages of vocal histrionics and that too with absolute elan. When you listen to her, you find that her singing is somewhere a perfect mixture of holding back and letting go...and for me that is what makes her stand out!
And then every-time when she sings this as her concluding song for the ever-so-responsive Punekar audience, I weep like a baby....last year (2010) was just the same when she performed...and it is just the same now while I am writing this!! May this lady keep singing for ages to comes...I owe a lot to her for making my life a pleasured experience!
रसिका तुझ्याचसाठी मी एक गीत गाते,
हृदयात दाटलेली भावांजली वाहते....
(Fan/aficionado, I sing a (this) song for you,
Expressing my feeling infused in my heart)
Rasika Tujhyach Sathi Me Ek Geet Gaate..
0 comments:
Post a Comment