Thursday, November 22, 2012

Vandana Jyotirmayee, the 'Daughter(Beti)' of Gaya, who is currently a lecturer in Salalah College of Applied Sciences in the Sultanate of Oman. "Music runs in her veins.shines on foreign shores


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-17315040,width-300,resizemode-4/Vandana-Jyotirmayee.jpg


PATNA: Thousands of kilometres away from the Indian shores and despite being a teacher by profession, she passionately continues her pursuit of classical vocal Indian music. Decades of her 'sadhna' resulted in the release of her first album, 'Ardaas', in New Delhi earlier this month. The album is a collection of eight devotional songs, including bhajans in praise of Shirdi's Sai Baba, penned and composed by her. 

Music has to be part of my life. Music and spirituality go hand in hand for me and Sainath helps me in balancing every other thing in my life," she said in reply to an online questionnaire from Muscat, the capital of Oman. 

Releasing 'Ardaas' on November 2, India's eminent esraj player Ustad Alauddin Khan said, "It was a pleasant surprise for me to hear such a soulful voice from a person who is not a full-time singer. This shows her dedication for music." Vandana sang bhajans, Sufi songs and ghazals at the concert that followed at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. 

She was initiated into music at the tender age of three. Speaking of her music legacy, she says, "I got it from my maternal side. My mother who was trained in Bharatnatyam and Kathak dance forms during the 1960s, also sings very well. My interest in ghazals and qawwalis was developed because of my uncle's very fine taste of music." 

She was introduced to the formal training of Indian classical music by famous thumri singer Kameshwar Pathak from Gaya gharana. "After I moved to my father's place, I became the disciple of Pandit Shambhu Upadhyaya from Kirana gharana." 

Her grandfather was a professor of Hindi in Magadh University and their house is located in Professor's Colony on West Church Road of Gaya. "I owe a lot to Gaya as all the memories of my childhood are simply golden. I was brought up in a completely musical and poetical atmosphere. Poets like Janaki Vallabh Shastri and Mahadevi Verma would come and stay with us." 

After studying at Nazareth Academy, Gaya, Vandana studied music as a subject till BA from MDDM College, Muzaffarpur. She got her Master's degree in English literature and media management and later completed MPhil in mass communication. She has also done television programme production course and was sponsored by Unicef to do a six-month trainers' training course on community development. She shifted from Patna to Muscat in 1984. 

Asked about her role models, she says, "I grew up with the ghazals of Begum Akhtar, Jagjit Singh and Ghulam Ali. Farida Khanum and Asha Bhosle are my favourites in terms of ghazal and I adore Abida Parween and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan when it comes to Sufi music. Bhajans of Kumar Gandharva and Kishori Amonkar are very close to my heart. In Indian classical music, Parveen Sultana and Girija Devi are my favourite." 

Vandana would now prefer to "give more time to music and carry on with performances and concerts as and when time would permit because nothing can be more fulfilling and enriching than music". But, then, she says, "My plans are all designed by the Almighty." It is this unflinching faith in Him that makes her write and sing in one of her bhajans: 

... Mann bhawara hai

Sai naam ras 


Peekar bhoola hai jag saara
Rain basera in charanon mein
Ab toh karega ye banjaara.







source :TOI




No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Love 4 Bihar on Facebook