SURINDER KAUR-THE NIGHTINGALE OF PUNJAB

THE NIGHTINGALE OF PUNJAB SINGS NO MORE...

by M.IQBAL,COCHIN

The music lovers of the nation had to listen with immense grief the deparature of Surinder Kaur. The nightingale sings no more…
She had succumbed to death at New Jersey Hospital, United Stated, on the late night of the 14th June. She was admitted to New Jersey Hospital on 3rd May. She had to fight out incessant breakdowns of various complications and ailments and had been in long drawn comma. On 22nd December, 2005, she had suffered heart attack and was admitted to the General Hospital, Panch Kula of Punjab. After that she had gone to New Delhi to receive her Padma Sree Award.
The admirers in India was totally misfortune to see their icon had lost her life in an alien country and her body was not carried to here.
She is survived by three daughters. The eldest being Dolly Guleria, the celebrated singer who had performed so far along with her mother, following her footprints. The other two daughters, Nandini Shah and Pramodini Juggi are in New Jersey, who were looking after their mother while she was ailing in the hospital. Husband of Surinder Kaur was late
Pro:Joginder Singh Sodhi, who was a prolific writer and who was instrumental in providing all sorts of support as to reach the career of his wife to the zenith of success.
Surinder Kaur was born in Lahore to a conservative sikh family on 25th November 1929. At first her parents were reluctant in agreeing to their child to go for singing since it was taboo for a sikh girl to chose singing to be her career . But the brothers who had identified a real talent in her while she was 12year-old, did lend her support
However, as the initial objection of the parents began to fade away, they sent their child to Ustad Inayat Khan, the nephew of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Later she had her studies of music under Nizar Hussein and Pt. Mani Prasad.
It was on 31st August, 1943, the 14 year-old Surinder Kaur had her first performance when her song was broadcast over Lahore Radio. The song obtained mass appeal.
Her elder sister, Prakash Kaur, in the mean time got married. And her husband did encourage her for music. It is to be highlighted the singing bondage of these two sisters, whose duets appeared in perfect unision and appeal. It was in 1943, the Kaur sisters had recorded their first song, “maawan te teeyan ral baithiyaan”, which has not left it’s freshness as yet.
It was after partition their family had moved to Ghaziabad and she was married to Pro:Joginder Singh Sodhi. He was a man of letters. He was proud of his wife and made acquainted his wife with the literary doyens like Amrita Preetam, Shivkumar Batlavi,Pro:Mohan Singh and Nandlal Noorpuri.
It was Ghulam Haider, the great music director, who had introduced Surinder Kaur to the filmdom. Let us not forget Ghulam Haider had likewise introduced Lata Mangeshkara and Kamal Barot as singers to the masses. Surinder Kaur had a powerful, though short, role to act against Di li Kumar in ‘Shaheed’ in the year 1948. Under the baton of Ghulam Haider, Surinder Kaur sang three songs, “badnaam na ho jaaye mohobat ka fasaana”, “aanaa hai tho aajaao” and “thaqdeer ki aandhi…hum kahaan aur thum kahaan”.In the same year she had sung for two films. She sang for “nadiyaa ke paar” (1948) “akhiyaa milaake akhiyaa, rove din rathiyaa”. C. Ramchandra was the composer and Moti the lyricist. It was again Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal in “Nadiyaa ke Paar”. In “Pyaar Ki Jeeth”, Surinder Kaur had five songs, two solos, one duet with Ram Kamlani, and two chorus songs with Suraiya and Meena Kapur. “Nadiyaa ke Paar” had the music director, Husnlal Bhagatram and Rajendr Krishna and Qamar the lyricists. “main apne dil ke haatho badnaam ho rahaa hoon” and “ithne door hai huzoor kaise mulaaqaat ho” were the solos., penned by Rajendr Krishna and Qamar respectively. The duet and chorus songs penned by Rajendra Krishna were “Mai apne dil ke haathi badnaam ho rahaa hoon”,“kabhee panghat pe aajaa,mere sapno ke raaja” and “ruth rangeelee hai suhaani raath hai”. In “Sunehre Din” she had the song “thum rangh akhiya milaake nehaa lagaa ke” and the duets with Mukesh, “lo jee sunlo thum se kahthe hai” and “dil do naino me kho gayaa”, music director being Njaan Dutt and lyricist Dina Nath Madhok.
However, Surinder Kaur had her preference to stage programmes rather than in play back singing. She used to tell that in stage the feed back was instat and the repartoire, whereas one had to wait for days for play back singing. She had the immense aspiration to revive the rich Punjabi Folk Music and she did succeed in it. This made her a pioneer in the Folk as remarked by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. She used to sing classical, folk, bhajans, ghazals and sufi kalams. Verses of Bulleh Shah, Baba Sheikh Farid and poets like Shiv Kumar Batlavi were chosen. Along with the inseparables, Prakash Kaur and Asha Man Singh, she created marvellous magic on Punjab’s indigenous music especially folk..Surinder Kaur had really conceived to her heart the essence of Punjabi music in a very earthy manner. Her indefatigable strain and struggle for the cause of the music of her land which had spanned over six decades had imbibed all the verve, vigour, veracity and volumeness of the land . The present style of music Punjab is ever indebted to it’s Gurji Surinder Kaur. In her treasure of music there were songs for all walks of life for the people of Punjab.The rusticfragrance soaked in the sweetest voice naturally attracts from generation to generations.
Though it is not possible to quote her outstanding songs, since they altogether comprise to a large ocean, some are quoted. “haaye oye mere daadia rabba”, “ik meri akash kashni”, “gori diyaan jhanjraan” , “bale bale ni ambraan to rab jhadka”, “andar jawaan baahar jawaan”, “lathe dee chaadar utte saletti chan mayio”, “jutti kasuri”, “vev mundewa hev shawa” etc are a few of them. It has also to be mentioned the songs rendered by Surinder Kaur and Prakash Kaur. “kalaa doria kunde naal adiya oye”, “suhe ve cheere waliye”, “baajre da sitta”, “sui ve sui”, “maina deor de viah vich”, are only some of them. They represent the diversity of music and rendition of the artist. The Kashmiri song “gari draam kemi taam” of the sixties is enchanting. Ghazals like“jo there gham nu hanske sahaar lentheme” are worth mentioning. Eminent singers from Punjab like Jagjit Singh, Hans Raj Hans, Gurudas Mann, Sardool Sikander are among her fans.
Seeing the deplorable state of today’s music mill which run out of soulessnes, the Punjab di bulbul had said “the singers of today sadly do not sing with the strength of their voice and control, but on the beat of the music and orchestra… We had only two instruments on the stage. We do not give separate miches to the instruments , so that the voice dominates… The new generation should also look to improve the selection of songs. It needs a more literary refined touch.” Yet on another ocassion she had told, “today the half baked singers are being exploited by the music companies”. She had advised the naïve aspirants attracted by the glamour world that learning classical music was always beneficial. Here, we can see the real spokeswoman championing for the purity and charm of our own music.Last year she was accorded with the prestigeous Padmasri puraskar of the nation as an honour for her life time career for the pure and rich Punjabi music which had enthralled crores of people the world over. She was conferred with the Sangeeth Natak Academy award in 1982. Punjab Government had accorded her the award for The Singer Of The Millenium. It was Guru Nanak Deva University of Amristar which had bestowed her with Doctorate. The Pride of Punjab had always the honour in the hearts of the crores of people. She had shared many ocassions of national importance with Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru who remarked her “mothi”. Music being the spiritual power transcending boundaries she is loved by the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Pakistan on her visit President Musharaf had invited her to his residence as a mark of honour.
What is rest assured for the music lovers is the fact her daughter Dolly Guleria follows her mother’s footprints for the cause of real art. She is a respected artist in and around Punjab. Besides her mother’s enchanting melodies, she sings her own. She had her studies of music from late Khan Sahib Abdul Rahiman Khan of Patiala Gharana. She has a number of albums and has sung for films. It is a matter of pride and pleasure that Sunaina, daughter of Dolly Guleria has also followed the suit. She also preserves the lineage of music. It was in 1995 the trio, Surinder Kaur, Dolly Guleria and Sunaina had cut an album under the caption “Surinder Kaur- 3 generations”.
The Nightingale has lost. But for us her melodies will be ever touching our soul, and Surinder Kaur is the epitome of music culture of India..Adieu for Surji…
--M. IQBAL, COCHIN