KAMLA SRIVASTAVA

Arecipient of the Devi Ahilya Award (2016), 87year-old Kamla Srivastava has always experimented with Avadhi folk music with a revolutionary zeal. Compliment her on her age and she says that age is just a number and she feels fit enough to live for another 87 years!

She shot to fame when she penned a Sohar (an Avadhi folk song sung on the occasion of the birth of a male child) for the girl child, ‘Eho Janmi Hai Bitiya Hamar, Saheliya Sohar Gawo’, against the set tradition of celebrating the birth of a male child.

“Why should the birth of a girl child not be celebrated?” pat came the passionate reply. “I am also a proud woman. During my university days, I was second to none. I played badminton and became a champion of Allahabad University. I also represented Allahabad University in national level athletics, learned music at the same time, did Nipun from Bhatkhande, Prabhakar from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, was ranked first and won a gold medal in singing in MA music from Kanpur University. Besides that I completed degree in arts, MA in Geography from Lucknow University, LT (teacher’s training). After that I became a professor at Bhatkhande. So, why should I consider girls any less than boys?” she reasoned.

And then, almost as an afterthought, she said, “I just wished to celebrate the birth of the girl child with song, dance and festivities to promote the birth of a girl child and to stop female foeticide”.

“I wished to tilt the balance in favour of our daughters. That’s why you will see folk songs in my book ‘Geet Vatika’, expressing joy at the birth of a girl. Girls are the key to our society and I hope the new songs will not only celebrate their arrival in this world but will also help them survive,” said Srivastava.

No wonder her trophy case

is adorned by 50 prestigious prizes celebrating her achievements. The more prominent ones include the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Yash Bharti Award and the Devi Ahilya Award, instituted by the Madhya Pradesh government for services rendered in the field of folk music.

“I learned classical music, light music but I chose folk music over others because this is real music for me, as it came to me from my mother, bua and other elders in my family. Avadhi folk music is one of the richest in the country. The beautiful thing about Avadhi folk music is that it has songs for every occasion in life: the birth of a child, mundan (the first head shave of the child), chedan (ear or nose-piercing ceremony), marriage, husband going outstation, daughter-in-law going to her mother’s place, and of course, all festivals,” said the octogenarian.

She has travelled to most parts of India, has sung for All India Radio and for radio stations in Sri Lanka, for years together.

But she has no remorse for not being a part of Bollywood like her contemporary Sharda Sinha. “I have always remained busy and I never sang for money. I sing for my satisfaction – even today. I remember Naushad Sahab called me to Mumbai for recording but I refused because I never wanted to be one with the crowd of singers in Bollywood. I was always happy with my husband Advocate RB Khare and my son. But my fans can listen to my songs in cassettes, CDs and DVDs.”

She said, “I still live in a joint family where my devar (husband’s brother) and devrani (devar’s wife) live with us. My son lives in Mumbai working for a private company. He has a daughter and he has empowered her. I feel my grand-daughter will do better than me when it comes to working for women’s rights.”