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Table of ContentsIntroductionSharda Sinha’s Life and Musical JourneyIconic Songs and Contributions to Folk MusicHealth Struggles and Final DaysLegacy and Lasting InfluenceFinal Song: A Tribute to Chhath PujaConclusion1. Introduction

The world of Indian folk music mourns the loss of Sharda Sinha, an acclaimed singer and beloved figure often known as ‘Bihar Kokila.’ Known for her heartfelt renditions of Chhath Puja songs, Sinha passed away on November 5, 2024, at the age of 72. Her passing, coinciding with the first day of the four-day Chhath festival, feels like a poetic tribute to her lifelong devotion to the sun god.

2. Sharda Sinha’s Life and Musical Journey

Sharda Sinha’s musical journey began with classical training, but her heart was drawn to the folk traditions of her native Bihar. As she brought the region’s rich culture to national attention, she earned the title of ‘Bihar Kokila,’ or the ‘Nightingale of Bihar.’ Her unique voice...

We are doing stuff that is indicative of fun,” Arooj Aftab says, quite seriously, in the flat staccato cadence of a test proctor.

The Pakistani-born, Berklee-trained, Brooklyn-based musician is talking about the singing on her new album, Night Reign, out May 31: the doubled vocals, the fresh harmonies, and especially the Auto-Tune that envelops her voice on lead single “Raat Ki Rani” and lends it that spectral pop aura. Aftab remembers asking the mix engineer, “Can you please put, like, T-Pain amounts of Auto-Tune on this and let’s see how it sounds?...

Classical singer Kaushiki Chakraborty, who is known for her prowess in Khayaal singing, is set to pay homage to Thumri vocalists at a concert in Mumbai this month. The singer, who has also lent her voice to the track ‘Kaaga’ from ‘Mirzya’, will pay an ode to her Gurus: Gauhar Jaan, Begum Akhtar, M S Subbulakshmi, Shobha Gurtu, Noor Jehan, and Kishori Amonkar.

Each segment will open with a specially designed audio-visual presentation that chronicles the life and journey of each of them. This will be followed by Kaushiki’s rendition of a traditional composition performed originally by the Thumri vocalist.

The performances will be followed by a new composition created and performed as a tribute to the Thumri vocalist, imagining how they would have performed.

The renowned vocalist has performed two concerts of the same theme in Germany and Mumbai last year. She is now bringing it to the...

New Delhi, Sep 1 (Ians) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has revealed how the ‘Bharat Kokila’ Sarojini Naidu had consoled his father Harivansh Rai Bachchan when he went outside his caste and married Teji, which was looked down upon at that time in Allahabad.

Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a poet and writer of the ‘Nayi Kavita’ literary movement. He is best known for his work ‘Madhushala’. He married Teji in 1941.

In the 14th episode of the quiz-based reality show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ season 15, host Big B welcomed Yojana Yadav, a senior news editor from Panchkula, Haryana to the hot seat.

For the Rs 3,20,000 question, Yojana was asked: Begum Akhtar was inspired to take up a career as a performer after she was lauded by which poet? The options given were A: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit B: Mahadevi Verma C: Sarojini Naidu, and D: Subhadra Kumari Chauhan.

After using the audience poll lifeline, Yojana gave...

The reason is not difficult to ascertain. Ghazals, in the days before mass media and mass dissemination of knowledge, were only known and spread by recitation in public events like ‘mushairas’ where prevailing social norms did not allow the attendance of women, leave alone their participation. There were women who wrote — but this was a most private endeavour and they usually remain obscure.

And there was "rekhti". Said to originate in early 18th century Lucknow with then Urdu poetry’s "enfant terrible" Insha Allah Khan ‘Insha’, and his cronies like Saadat Yaar Khan ‘Rangeen’, Meer Yaar Ali ‘Jaan Sahib’, it was an earlier form of "feminist" poetry, where male poets made use of women’s voices, idioms, mannerisms, and, even accents, to talk about issues from the female viewpoint — or what they imagined it to be

While ‘rekhti’ was an affectation that generally fizzled out as decadent living declined, the...

No doubt there was some rivalry between Zauq and Ghalib, as is between leading practitioners of any craft, but it did not lend itself to such snide behaviour from him as in the serial. His depiction in the film "Mirza Ghalib" is more balanced, where he does not lose his equanimity as audience beating him to complete some of his best known shers, and then, goes on to introduce Ghalib when the latter’s turn comes.

Sheikh Mohammad Ibrahim ‘Zauq’ (1789/90-1854) hailed from modest circumstances, being the son of a mere soldier in what was left of the once-glorious Mughal Army. His elementary education was at the house of a nearby cleric, who also wrote poetry and was consulted by aspiring poets. Their discussions made an impression on young ‘Zauq’.

"As I used to hear them, many verses stuck in my memory. My heart received a sort of spiritual pleasure...

Romantic and revolutionary fervour may seem polar opposites but this Urdu poet achieved a unique balance between them, describing his own course on: “Maqaam ‘Faiz’ raah mein koi jacha hi nahi/Jo kuu-e-yaar se nikle, to suu-e-daar (scaffold) chale” .

And while, he could say “Bhoole se muskura to diye the woh aaj ‘Faiz’/Mat puch walwale dil-e-naa-kardakaar ke” or “Bazm-e-khayaal mein tere husn ki shamaa jal gayi/Dard ka chaand bujh gaya, hijr ki raat dhal gayi”, he could address his paramour as: “Mujh se pahli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang” and cite some gory and unsettling images of suffering to maintain “Aur bhi dukh hai zamaane mein mohabbat ke siva…”

Faiz Ahmed ‘Faiz’, who was born on this day (February 11) in 1911, was not the first revolutionary-romantic poet but the latest in an illustrious line that included the likes of Allama Iqbal, Shabbir Hasan Khan ‘Josh Malihabadi’, Maulana Syed...

Hyderabad, Feb 8 (Ians) Work has commenced for the revival and restoration plan of Sardar Mahal, a landmark near iconic Charminar in Hyderabad.

Arvind Kumar, Special Chief Secretary, Urban Development, stated on Wednesday that an art studio, a vibrant cultural centre and a small cafe will come up as part of the restoration work.

The official said the work has commenced in a tri-partite agreement with Kalakriti Art Gallery and Quli Qutub Shah Urban Development Authority (Qqsuda).

Arvind Kumar had recently revealed that Sardar Mahal will have an art gallery, cafe and heritage accommodation on lines of Neemrana Fort Palace in Rajasthan.

The state government already announced that Sardar Mahal will be developed as the cultural hub of the city, adding an attraction for thousands of tourists who visit Charminar, Mecca Masjid, Chowmahalla Palace and other monuments every day.

According to officials, Sardar Mahal, a palace built in European style by...

“Besides some upcoming performances, I am working on a couple of projects including continuing on ‘Women on Record’, a celebration of women in the gramophone era. Besides, my series on the rendition of Begum Akhtar’s works will complete 10 years in 2023. I am doing a concert centered around that wherein will be weaved anecdotes of Akhtar’s life. It will be about honouring her as an artist, and her life as well,” she tells Ians.

Though initially trained in Carnatic music, she later received guidance in the North Indian genres of Khayal (from Shubha Mudgal and Mujahid Hussain Khan), Thumri Dadra, and Ghazal (from Shanti Hiranand). Shah has performed at several prestigious national and international forums, including the Tansen Samaroh in Gwalior, The Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C., The Asia Society in New York and the British Museum in London.

Also planning to work with historian William Dalrymple on...

Europe’s Largest Indian Film Festival returns to Birmingham again this year for the third year in the row. Sister to the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival, (Liff), Birmingham Indian Film Festival will run from Friday 23 June until Sunday 2 July 2017. This year’s festival promises to be one of the best showcasing 11 Independent Films, 2 Music Documentaries and a host of talent over 10 days in 3 cinemas!

Cary Rajinder Sawhney, Liff & Biff Director, says: “We are delighted to bring Birmingham audiences a carefully curated selection of the very best new Indian and South Asian independent cinema; all films are English subtitled, offering a rare window into over a billion South Asian lives. This year’s selection includes premieres of new comedies, gripping thrillers, shocking horror and insightful true-life documentaries as well as bringing together UK previews of major award-winning films from the world’s greatest film festivals.”

The festival opens on Friday 23 June at Cineworld Birmingham,...

Srinagar, Oct 10: As the voice that enthralled thousands of ghazal fans fell silent Monday, people in Jammu and Kashmir remembered Jagjit Singh as someone with a 'rare gift' and one who took the ghazal out of the literary idiom and presented it to the masses.

The ghazal king died in Mumbai after a brain haemorrhage. He was 70.

Shabir Ahmad, an Urdu teacher, said: 'Jagjit Singh kept the tradition of ghazal singing alive in India after Begum Akhtar. While Begum Akhtar sang for the connoisseurs among ghazal lovers, Jagjit took the ghazal out of the.

The great Ghazal singer, composer, music director and entrepreneur who can undoubtedly be called the Ghazal King, Jagjit Singh is hospitalised.

Jagjit Singh is the first Indian composer, and together with his wife Chitra Singh the first recording artist in the history of Indian music to use digital multi-track recording for their (India's first digitally recorded) album, Beyond Time (1987).

Jagjit Singh had made his entry by singing in Gujarati film "Dharati NaChhoru" produced by Mr. Suresh Amin.  Even with great sagas like Noor Jehan, Malika Pukhraj, Begum Akhtar, Talat Mahmood and Mehdi Hassan dominating the Ghazal ...

Chicago – In between the second and third installments of his infamous “Apu Trilogy,” Bengali master of cinema Satyajit Ray made two films that were striking departures from his signature portrait of poverty-stricken youth. The first was 1958’s failed comedy “The Philosopher’s Stone” (sorry, Potterheads, no relation) and the second was 1959’s masterpiece, “The Music Room.”

This landmark classic is brought to electrifying life by Criterion’s magnificent digital restoration. The renewed picture quality allows Ray’s elegant visual poetry to be savored like never before. Without changing locations or resorting to heavy-handed symbolism, Ray is able to explore the decline of feudalism by depicting the life of a once-wealthy aristocrat whose bloodline is literally washed away by the ever-encroaching waters of the Ganges.

Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

Unlike Indian filmmakers of the day, Ray sought to integrate action and music into his narrative rather than feature them as separate entities.