Sharda Sinha: Example of Folk Singing (Information Picture)
The absence of folk singer Sharda Sinha is the greatest loss to the folk song tradition where melody, music, indigenous languages, customs and traditions are all disciplined. Folk songs, especially Bhojpuri songs, have always aimed to be lighthearted and vulgar, but Sharda Sinha’s Bhojpuri songs are recitations of life values ​​and social traditions. Here is the yearning of rural women and the hard work of farmers. She often complained about puns and obscene words in folk songs and a few years before her death she had said – I want to start a cleansing movement in folk or Bhojpuri songs. She has said publicly that she wants to prepare a new generation. But today his wish has not come true.
Weddings, folk songs and the musical splendor of the Purvanchal Chhath festival might not have been seen today without Sharda Sinha, who is adored all over the world. In addition to folk songs, he also left indelible traces of his singing in light music, ghazal music, classical music and even some movies. Now, who will carry on their legacy seems to be a conundrum in today’s music and musical climate. Folk singers like Malini Awasthi, Maithili Thakur or Deepali Sahay are part of their tradition. But the search for the local charm of Sharda Sinha’s voice will continue.
The story of struggle in musical practice
When Sharda Sinha started singing, it was not an easy task for a woman from an elite family to get on stage and sing. It was a rebellion that shook tradition and the environment. Sharda Sinha’s life journey, her self-struggle and her artistic practice all have a transformative dimension. After the Padma Shri, he was awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution and practice in the inheritance of folk art. After receiving the Padma Shri, I had a long conversation with him. This interview is about his life journey, musical journey and his future plans. In this interview, he talks about his determination to make significant changes in Bhojpuri songs and music. She has said that she wants to teach folk music to new generations.
The discipline of folk songs is not easy
Sharda Sinha said in answer to the question – I always pay attention to choice. The good thing is that people like my songs too. But now I want to create a clean movement in folk music. Understand that this is what I want now. I believe that only when you maintain self-discipline yourself can you teach others a lesson.
He once said – Amidst the many temptations in life, I have always maintained great self-discipline and restraint. This is part of my meditation. For the past twenty-five years, I have been telling the people I love, if you have talent, follow the right path. There is no shortage of talent here, it’s just misguided guidance that leads children astray. That’s why I wanted to start a cleanliness movement – ​​especially in Bhojpur. A new generation needs to be given direction. They are in a hurry.
What does clean mission mean in music?
I asked him what the cleanliness movement meant? Are the vocabulary, expressions and descriptions of Bhojpuri songs and music clean? So he said – yes, you’re absolutely right. That’s what I mean. He also said – you see, there is no dirt in our world. But the way it is worded or expressed here, we can say without hesitation that it has become very dirty. Even without nudity, we can depict the makeup well and be closer to people’s emotions.
Nudity is not necessary in entertainment
Sharda Sinha said that such depictions also provide entertainment and in fact it is healthy entertainment but some people have started to think that nudity is necessary which is very sad. That’s why today people’s perception of Bhojpuri has become similar. They think Bhojpuri means vulgarity. However, this is not the case. This environment is created because of some people. It is said that one fish fouled the entire pond, which is exactly what is happening.
Now my next question to him is that people think Bhojpuri pop songs are synonymous with vulgarity or obscenity…but we also see vulgarity in Rajasthani, Haryanvi or Punjabi folk songs but why do people only target Bhojpuri Jaipur?
Lightly harming folk culture
To which he responded – That’s a very good question. Apart from Bhojpuri, you also mentioned those regional languages ​​that contain obscene content. Thank you so much. Many still target Bhojpur only. Obscenity, as far as obscenity is concerned, is common in many regional languages. You are speaking a dialect of the Hindi speaking region and I have also heard obscene words in Tamil. Heard of Bengali. But obscenity always hurts the dignity of any culture. The importance of folk culture cannot be taken lightly.
Folk ball professional practice
Believe me, when Sharda Sinha started singing, the professional tradition of folk singing had not yet developed. He worked hard for this. A ground struggle ensued. But later, a great achievement was added to his name: no folk festival in Bihar or Purvanchal is complete without his songs and there is no folk festival experience unless his songs are played of color and joy.
He said I worked very hard to collect folk songs. She used to collect songs from wherever possible. Each song has its own interesting story. But no systematic measures were taken. Suppose you picked two to four songs from the books of Bhojpuri, Maithili and Hindi poet-lyrist Vidyapati, Bhikhari Thakur, Mahendra Mishra or Gopaldas Neeraj and composed them – this never happened. This laid the classical foundation for many songs that are already sung in the villages. So people listened to it for years and found the song enjoyable. She had listened to the songs of farmers and workers, had heard women singing at weddings, and composed melodies and tunes for these songs. In this way, a professional tradition of folk singing was formed.
