South Indian cuisine is so variegated and tasty that it is impossible to tire of it, and everyone craves for the tangy and sharp taste of the savouries day after day. The sweet dishes are not far behind, and after any festive meal, the one question asked by those who missed the feast is, “what was the sweet dish?”
So one has to wonder about the almost fatal attraction that sweet dishes from eastern India have for us south Indians. It is difficult to get past 'rossa gulla', but 'ras malai 'and 'misthi doi ' take one’s consciousness to a different plane indeed. Such is the ceaseless joy of life’s surprising beauty.
So one has to wonder about the almost fatal attraction that sweet dishes from eastern India have for us south Indians. It is difficult to get past 'rossa gulla', but 'ras malai 'and 'misthi doi ' take one’s consciousness to a different plane indeed. Such is the ceaseless joy of life’s surprising beauty.
We talk of taste, delight and surprise also in music. When Begum Parween Sultana, hailing from eastern India, descended on the southern musical scene In the seventies, people were simply mesmerised. One could not but help think of Goddess Saraswathi. Her resonant voice, her regal demeanour, her vocal calisthenics, her roof-blowing top octave, her measured modulation, all left the listener in a stunned silence of musical nirvana.
And surely, the Begum came and regaled the rasikas in Parvathi too! Begum Parween Sultana has been conferred the title “Sangeet Samraa~jni” by the Assam government. She was born in 1950 in Nowgong, Assam, and trained under her husband Ustad Dilshad Khan of Patiala Gharana.
And surely, the Begum came and regaled the rasikas in Parvathi too! Begum Parween Sultana has been conferred the title “Sangeet Samraa~jni” by the Assam government. She was born in 1950 in Nowgong, Assam, and trained under her husband Ustad Dilshad Khan of Patiala Gharana.
Patiala Gharana boasts famous exponents like Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Begum Akhtar, and thumri singers Naina Devi and Girija Devi.
Begum Parween Sultana is the youngest-ever winner of the Padma Shri award (1976). She began performing at the age of 12. No mention of Parween Sultana is complete without her unforgettable rendition of “Bhavani Dayani” in Bharavi. There is also a fine film song in her voice (Khudrat 1980).
We now feature a fine Concert ( Ramanavami series, date 5 April 1977 ) held in "Parvathi" for the delight of the devoted rasikas.
Begum Parween Sultana is the youngest-ever winner of the Padma Shri award (1976). She began performing at the age of 12. No mention of Parween Sultana is complete without her unforgettable rendition of “Bhavani Dayani” in Bharavi. There is also a fine film song in her voice (Khudrat 1980).
We now feature a fine Concert ( Ramanavami series, date 5 April 1977 ) held in "Parvathi" for the delight of the devoted rasikas.
[ 01 Madhuvanti Khayal - 02 Misra Khamaj Thumri - 03 Misra Piloo Surdas Bhajan - 04 Bageshri Bhajan - 05 Manj Khamaj Bhajan ]
REMEMBRANCE OF DAYS IN "PARVATHI"
[ Dr. S Dandapani, retired as Professor of Educational Psychology from the Regional College of Education, Mysore NCERT after three decades of teaching graduate and post graduate students besides guiding Ph.d. scholars. He did his M.A. in Psychology from Presidency College, Madras and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Mysore. He was also a Fullbright Scholar in the USA under the East-West Center Exchange Program. The following text is extracted from the letter whose motif is shown above ]
" .... you brought musicians from all over India (including Parveen Sultana!) to regale Mysoreans during Sri Ramanavami...we, some of the connoisseurs reflect back to the memorable days of celestial music that we heard in your sprawling house. Those were unforgettable days...I used to pack my children and my wife to ....listen to the music of Jesudas and others with my tape recorder. I used to watch your supervising the 'pandalwalas' , erecting the structures a few days before the festivals with a hand fan to cool yourself. You used to look strikingly smart and sleek with your simple half-hand white shirt and dhoti and 'angavastram'. Your ancestral house with a lovely lawn in front, a portico, a sprawling drawing room where the portraits of your father and mother would be hung on the wall, your Puja room where your daughter also used to join the archana by the Purohit to do puja to Sri Rama....You were very fond of Madurai Somu! The great MDR with his tuft used to regale us with his baritone voice. I witnessed the concert of Radha- Jayalakshmi ....."
1975- RK NARAYAN, TOO, REMEMBERS FROM WASHINGTON D.C.
